How much more division can this nation withstand?

[kentuck]

Before it cracks completely like Humpty-Dumpty? It's torturous for the people to be subjected to such division constantly. It was not enough to attempt to recover from the divisions of the elections of 2000 and 2004. Both were very divisive and harmful to our nation.

But when Bush and the Repubs rammed the war down the throats of many Americans, because many did not agree with the war, it only created more animosities and divisions. They have not hesitated to divide this nation at every opportunity.

Bush and the Repubs then came out with their "Social Security" plan which divided the nation even further. And now, they have jumped on the Schiavo case, which is another divisive issue. How much more can the people withstand without cracking? This is a serious situation, in my opinion. Our nation needs something to unite us or someone to unite us. We cannot continue with this division.

[rzemanfl]

1. Unless it's to unite to kick those assholes now occupying

Washington out, I'll stay divided, thank you.

[Warpy]

7. Uniting with people who are DEAD WRONG in the name of "unity"

is the silliest suggestion I've ever heard.

Undoubtedly this whole thing will have to play out for those fools in Washington, in the DLC, in wingnut churches, and in pubbie endowed business schools to be completely discredited. I'm not going to actively fight the process, nor am I willing to aid it. I fully realize that only when the utter stupidity comes to its full fruition can any of us have a hope of educating the morons now charging full steam ahead to dismantle everything good in this country.

So rave on, Democans and Republicrats. Keep free trading Americans out of jobs, out of wages, out of hope for the future. Keep squabbing over a yuppie minority and ignoring the working class majority. Keep cramming old time religion into every aspect of civil law, and keep silent even when you know it's wrong.

Just don't act surprised when the country is divided and things keep getting worse.

[ClassWarrior]

11. Show me how the words "DEAD WRONG" apply to people whose...

...voting records are considerably better than the most liberal Republicons?

Don't get me wrong. I also condemn the DLC on all the issues you named and many more. But that doesn't mean these puppets can't be USEFUL puppets. Why does your argument assume that we're the "usees" and not the "users?"

NGU.

[toymachines]

2. of course this is serous, UNITY is the most important thing in my opinion

our country seems to have forgotten this. it is a matter of apathy and our population being brainwashed by tv, and those who control the tv. look away from the telescreen guys! you just want to yell at them to snap out of it, unite with us, fight those who try to divide us... but it rarely works, they have quite a hold on them.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. What division?

There were no protests yesterday. The MSM said nothing about them, therefore there must have been none to report.

The Iraqi elections were a great success and percipitated mass demonstrations against tyranny throughout the Middle East. As for the fact that the slate that won in Iraq has many anti-democatic tendancies, don't worry about that. As for the fact that that slate also calls for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and the repeal of Bremer's decrees, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Bush is a great President. All the fair and balanced talking heads on Sunday morning talk shows said so.

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. The New York Times isn't part of the MSM?

Activists Protest Iraq War on Anniversary
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 20, 2005

Filed at 7:55 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Anti-war activists marched in the streets of American cities big and small Saturday, stopping traffic and lying down alongside flag-draped cardboard coffins to mark the second anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

Some of the demonstrators were arrested in New York as they demanded that U.S. troops be brought home.

``This country was founded by acts of civil disobedience,'' said David McReynolds, 75, of New York, as he marched along 42nd Street. ``We have an obligation to make our resistance public and to say as clearly as we can that the war is illegal.''

In San Francisco, hundreds of protesters rallied in Dolores Park in the city's Mission district, holding up posters with photographs of dead American soldiers. The protesters then marched to City Hall for another rally.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-War-Anniversary-Protests.html?oref=login

Perhaps you just weren't looking very hard.

[Jack Rabbit]

29. My post, sir, was a willful exaggeration

I think the tone made that clear.

In fact, I was aware of this piece in The New York Times. However, when The New York Times gives yesterday's demonstrations no more coverage than a wire servage report, and that not very prominent, it is minimizing the event. The Times did not give the demonstrations their due.

[coloradodem2005]

4. I don't know.

I really don't know. It seems to me that a majority of Americans support Bush and his plans. It seems that a vast majority supported the war. I am getting more and more to the point that if people are blind to what they represent then I have no use for them.

[ClassWarrior]

8. "Seems" is the key word. Remember, Bush** is a master showman.

Did you see the latest Newsweek polls? Close to two-thirds oppose Junior**'s handling of the war. To quote Twin Peaks, "The owls are not what they seem..."

NGU.

[RandomKoolzip]

15. That's the thing.....

A large number of people genuinely like Bush and his policies. But a larger number of people also agree with the typical liberal platform. It's the word "liberal" itself that people object to; that's the result of the pinpoint marketing that the GOP does so well, and which we haven't even realized that thay're doing.

[ClassWarrior]

5. Division is the Radical RW Masterplan.

Divide and conquer. The Neocons CAN'T win this fight fairly, so they kick at every crack in society. We can't play into it. We - Progressives - are ALL in this together. And there is only one true enemy. The Radical Right Wing.

NGU.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Agree.

[blogbear]

6. Yes, They Are as Cracked and Scrambled as Eggs but..

We don't have to join 'em..The country has been divided before (even before 2000) and there have always been divisive issues here..There is a saying that those who would reap the blessings of freedom must go through the fatigues of defending it..That saying doesn't say that this freedom fits the definition of a right-wing agenda or that freedom's defenders are only to be found oversees and in uniform..If we can get ourselves together, not tear each other to pieces, or throw in the towel when the chips are down ..eventually we will win..but only together..

[ChiciB1]

19. KICK...

I'll hang in here, and I will stand my ground, but Why oh Why does it have to be so difficult and frustrating??

You do bring optimism and I guess I know deep down that "nothing" goes on forever, I'm just SICK of watching things come apart at the seams. It's going to be a loooong recovery!!!

[blogbear]

22. Yes, Indeed! I Hear You and Feel the Same..My Stakes Are In and..

My stakes will remain this way..and 'Come hell or high water'

[TwilightZone]

10. The division in America isn't going anywhere.

This country has been divided - with a couple of notable exceptions - since day one, and it will continue to be divided in the future.

Why? Because people have differing beliefs. Issues like abortion, the death penalty, military spending, social programs, drugs, and sex ensure that there will always be hot-button issues that guarantee a divided nation.

Nothing - and I mean NOTHING - will unite hardcore Democrats and hardcore Republicans outside of a monumental catastrophe.

That being the case, our best hope is to convince more people to support our views than those of our opponents and to point out why the ideals of our opponents are self-serving.

[RandomKoolzip]

12. The RW is explicit in their goals.

What they want is endless division, leading to constant hovering weariness on our side due to their superior firepower. RW "thinkers" like Norquist and Kristol see the political process in this country as a "war of ideas" (their words, not mine), and they are determined to have the biggest cache (pun intended).

However, having the biggest gun does not equal having a just cause.

But they're winning, because this strategy of division works. All the neocons and rad-fringe RWers got their ideas from the Bolsheviks, from guys like Gramsci and Lenin. Norquist, for instance, came to power within the College Republicans by holding secret meetings with like-minded rad conservatives wherein they pledged to change the group's constitution so that it would be open to grass-roots chapters on the national level. The rad elements in those chapters then took control of the group, gradually, and purged the moderates. This is straight out of the Communist playbook. One-party state, anyone?

What they hope for is country so divided that one side will just give up. And these guys are such sociopaths that they never get tired. They're obsessed with their damaged, damaging ideas. They are addicted to wealth and power, and the idea that "victory" is the most important thing.

Really, having these radical conservatives in power is akin to the jocks REALLY taking over the high school, I mean not just beating up the nerds, but kicking out the principals, the teachers, the janitors, and the superintendants.

Yet, they will continually be able to purchase sympathy from the AMerican public because they so skillfully can use the media to their own ends; the Schaivo case is a shining example of this. Conservatives are painting themselves as guardians of sacred ideas like "life" and "family" and painting the "liberal courts" and liberalism in general as a force that promotes murder on the local level (euthanasia) and genmocide on the national (abortion). Never mind that they themselves are quite open to the idea of sending innocent men and women to die in wars, electric chairs, unregulated dangerous cars, and in their own homes, poisoned by unregulated pharmaceuticals; their ploy WORKS because it, believe it or not, plays upon the American wont to sympathy.

They will use these techniques until we simply drop our fists to our sides, from sheer fatigue, from exasperation from having far to many hits to the body. Division is only the first step towards a one-party system.

[ChiciB1]

13. I Just Got Of The Phone With A Friend Of Mine

and this is EXACTLY what most of our conversation was about. Constantly using that euphemism of a train wreck coming and too many people on the tracks. Or like you're simply crying wolf and everyone is ignoring you.

I'm a "boomer" and have seen a lot of political shenanigans, perhaps not as much as some, but enough to get a feel for things. I've been consoling myself by saying politics has always been "cyclical" but as time goes by I'm not sure I'm feeling much consolation anymore. And what's worse, I don't see what can be done to get some reality back into the equation.

I never thought I would be one to say anything like this, but this does remind me of HOW Hitler came to power. Slow and insidious and overwhelming religious overtones. Some people are good enough to keep around and the rest be damned. I'm at a loss for where to turn, so I keep coming here for respite.

But we can't give up, even though we are experiencing a total sham of Democracy. The party who says "keep government out of your life" has turned into some sort of monarchy of which I don't belong. And one that I can't abide. The Democrats in Congress run around with their tails between their legs and we keep begging for their help. Oh, there are a few who see it, but for the most part we ARE BEING IGNORED.

FEAR is something that has become part of my life now. FEAR of what ELSE may be coming. One of my biggest worries right now is whether I should close my money market account and put the money under my mattress!! I check my IRA every day and almost everyday I'm losing money. Not to mention the fact that having taken a lump sum out when my husband retired we invested with Morgan Stanley and made some money. However, since we were "novices" we thought we made the right decision, but after 9/11 lost over $140,000.00 before we realized we were leaking so badly! Only after calling the broker were we told that we could convert to a Money Market account and stop the loss. To this date we have never recovered at least $100,000.00 of that money! We meticulously saved for so many years and now it all seems so BLEAK!! We have never been anything more than middle-class people, my husband worked for a local utility and I always worked to supplement our income. So the loss is substantial to us.

I don't want to be one to say "I told you so", but I hope there will come a day that those words will be spoken. Not until people can't put food on the table will some of them see. In the meantime, I remain committed in my defiance of this Boy King EEEIIIdiot and his cohorts and hope and pray this country wakes up and starts drinking coffee instead of KOOL-AID! That's all I can do... keep up the resistance!!!

[kentuck]

14. We need to undertstand the origin...

It comes from the top. We have a schizoprenic leader who has grandiose ideas about changing the world and he invades countries and cuts taxes and generally screws up everything he touches because he never finishes what he begins. Everything is "mission accomplished" - but it isn't really. And the partisan followers excuse and rationalize his decisions as those of a leader, when everyday he leaves a bigger mess.

[ChiciB1]

17. MESS???

You call this a mess??? This is TREACHERY! This is vile nepotism and absolute corruption!!

What it IS NOT is DEMOCRACY!! Guess we need to go to Iraq to experience that!!!

My only savior is D.U. and other sites like it, otherwise I would become a headline on CNN!! And then, I would get the attention that so badly needed. Somethings gotta give, it just has too!

I'm really furious!!

[ClassWarrior]

18. Please channel that fury into something productive.

Fury isn't a Progressive value, and we could really use your energy elsewhere...

:thumbsup:

NGU.

[ChiciB1]

20. I'm Working Very Hard At It...

Got bumper stickers all over my car, on my mail box. I've joined many web-sites of similar nature and the DFA. But the DFA here is pretty lame. I also contributed to the DNC AGAIN, but only because of Dean. He has given me some HOPE!

I'm one of the faithful and don't intent to quit, I'm just feeling USELESS these days.

C-Span NOT covering the Protests hit really hard. I don't recall a time when they haven't done it. That's pretty hard to take!

And Now, right now... it's Terry Schiavo!!

[ClassWarrior]

21. Our DFA is very active. Have you joined your county Dem Party yet?

That's key.

NGU.

[ChiciB1]

23. That's The ONE I'm Talking About!!

Uh, I live in Florida!! And I live in the land of K. Harris!!

I think I'm too radical for them! Each time they send me a notice to come to a meeting I check out the attendance and it's really LAME!!

[FreedomAngel82]

25. I know how you feel

I'm that way too. Somedays I just want to say "screw it" and forget about it and let them eat their cake and mess things up even more. Then someday I'll say "I told you so but you thought I was a consperiacy theorist." Other days I'm so frustrated (like today) I just want to pop. I keep waiting for something to pop but the thing to remember is the people who are behind the GOP leaders are very devilish and they know how to keep a problem from leaking out. Sure every once in a while a thing or two here and there will leak out and it will seem like they're falling apart but then they'll find something to bring people back to rally against them. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get to say those few words.

[Deja Q]

16. Divide and then draft. Cool. Sounsd compassionate to me...

if we are in Bizarroworld.

[FreedomAngel82]

24. I agree

But I think we'll have much more. Remember when Bush did his first press conference after the "election" he said he had political capital and he's going to spend it. So be prepared for more division and distruction. They don't care about us. Just their little "base" and what they want they get.

[ElectricIron Sweeney]

26. divisionism

Well, I guess most people like division about as much as multiplying. We like the idea that we ain't like them and always have. Our laws tend to the breakdown of the community and still we seek safety in numbers. Our culture glorifies the individual and yet we rejoice in anonymity. Our group, family, and community identity is bought at the price of distance and difference from others and while this is natural we should still be aware of those who feed upon our division. Our leaders could seek consensus if they saw a benefit. Our government could be forced to reflect our dearest desires and needs in good results for all if we could first join hands with our enemies. It used to be that all peoples outside of ones group were considered animals, and that the worst offenses warranted exclusion from the world of humans to the world of animals. Let us exclude those who feed upon our differences to the world of animals.

[omega minimo]

27. Important tool to withstand division, stay focused and counter the lies

is recognizing BULLSHIT when it is being heaped around your ears.

The responses here mention the various divisive issues used to run non-repugs ragged. To keep our heads and reach out to others, we can simply RECOGNIZE the manipulation. Not easy sometimes, and it can be exhausting...

The willingness to look it in the lying face and call it what it is-- and not fall for it-- is a great defense against the "divide and conquer" propaganda.

We all know about the distractive power of waggin the dog. Every time a story gets too much attention or scrutiny, here comes: Steroids in Baseball in Congress! Terry Schiavo!

Call it what it is. Forget "framing." The truth hurts.

[proud patriot]

30. none n/t