Traitorous bitches... here...

C'mon, Doug, stop shilly-shallying around and tell us how you really feel!

Wonder how much money it'd take to start a centrist party and leave the lefty loonies and the righty tighties out in the cold.

Enough of the so-called Liberal Democraps. Russ Feingold is the only one left worth suporting. Screw Hillary and John K and Ted and Barack and Diane and Barbara... assholes all of them. Ben Franklin is spinning in his grave today. And every single Senator who voted for this travesty can just go to hell. They can go to hell and die. Right now...

Doug,

You're sounding more and more like a Libertarian every day.

Ted Remington writes:

C'mon, Doug, stop shilly-shallying around and tell us how you really feel!

You know me. I'm just a weenie who can't make up his mind. :)

Doug

My thoughts, exactly.
Isn't treason punishable by hanging?

Keith writes:

You're sounding more and more like a Libertarian every day.

Doug

Ah, Democrats and Republicans. Like two eggs, one over easy and the other well done. One is runny and the other is hard but after being digested they both produce the same result. Until concerned Americans can unite with a viable third party of, by, and for, the people, I fear we are doomed to slide down this slippery slope of elitist sponsored fascism. It is past time to take matters into our own capable hands and imprison the criminal bastards who taint the halls of OUR government.

Dont forget the deputy from down under John howard. we ozzies remember the days of the long weekend.Had to laugh when I clicked with the chimp comparison.

i like the analogy doug an eliminator, as for the second comment, there is a site that impresses me, its called benfrank.net on his site he is looking for 435 men or women 4 the constitution air force colonel robert bowman who has been telling it like it is has linked up with benfrank.net, i have no personal affiliatio with this site and i am not saying this is the right way to go, but i have read alot of his articles and he like doug here , i can agree with 95% of the time, and in politics , id settle for 50% of common beliefs now. lets get some organization at the grassroots campaign soon,and get local petititons with like minded neighbours that pledge not to vote for any incumbents , the 10 good ones can run again later but not now, the main thing is get these fascist men and women out of dc and into leavensworth for the rest of their unnatural vampiristic lives.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present Dictator of America [George W] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world...

Read the original Declaration and substitue with current events.

Let's remember that we are Americans first. Beware party loyalty, a dangerous thing that George Washington himself warned us of in his final address, you should hear all the facts in every instance before deciding how you will vote.

I am convinced that we here in America are Clinically INSANE. We vote the same ways over and over again for either of the two party candidates hoping for a different result each time and we are disappointed when things stay the same or get worse. WAKE UP!

Dems or Republicans, opposite sides of the same counterfeit coin.

I have concerns that we ain't seen nothing yet...

"The administration has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth Column movements," Graham, R-S.C., told Gonzales during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Feb. 6.

"I stand by this president's ability, inherent to being commander in chief, to find out about Fifth Column movements, and I don't think you need a warrant to do that," Graham added, volunteering to work with the administration to draft guidelines for how best to neutralize this alleged threat.

"Senator," a smiling Gonzales responded, "the president already said we'd be happy to listen to your ideas."

They will spy on you if you pay your credit off too.
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RAISEALARM-02-28-06

Read this

A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermines from within a larger group to which it is expected to be loyal, such as a nation. The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist general during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. As four of his army columns moved on Madrid, the general referred to his militant supporters within the capital as his "fifth column," intent on undermining the Republican government from within.

The term is also used in reference to a population who are assumed to have loyalties to countries other than in which they reside or supported their nation in war efforts against country they lived in. During World War II, German minority organisations in Poland and Czechoslovakia formed Selbstschutz which actively helped Third Reich in aggression against those countries and engaged in widescale atrocities.

The Japanese American internment in the United States was justified on the basis that those of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast would act as a fifth column. Irish Catholics resident in the UK have been sometimes viewed in this way due to "The Troubles" of the late 20th century (see also Guildford Four, Birmingham Six).

Today some people in a number of Western countries see radical Islamists - or even Muslims in general - as being a fifth column of a global Islamist movement, with its notion of a transnational Ummah. This can be seen in much the same way as racist governments in Western Europe denying the loyalty of Jewish communities in the pre-holocaust era. A good example of this is the Dreyfus Affair.

"Today some people in a number of Western countries see radical Islamists - or even Muslims in general - as being a fifth column of a global Islamist movement, with its notion of a transnational Ummah. This can be seen in much the same way as racist governments in Western Europe denying the loyalty of Jewish communities in the pre-holocaust era. A good example of this is the Dreyfus Affair."

The above comment appears to be an opinion of the author rather than fact. If not, please provide references.

Sources
"The German Fifth Column in Poland" London: Polish Ministry of Info, 1941
"Fifth Column at Work" by Bilek Bohumil, description of Geramn minority in Czechoslovakia, London, Trinity, 1945.
"The German Fifth Column in the Second World War" Jong, Louis de New York Fertig, 1973
"The Fifth Column, and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War" New York Scribner, 1969

The above comment appears to be an opinion of the author rather than fact. If not, please provide references....

No, it is not my opinion at all. I provided the information for those who may not be aware of what Fifth column means. The information comes from http://www.answers.com/topic/fifth-column

I'm with you on this one, Doug. You get the tar and I'll get the feathers. Those other boys will get the rail. The Dems in Congress have let us down once again. They are no better than the GOP riff raff that run the place. Corporate whores and enemies of democracy. Thanks for expressing in your column how we all feel.

Democrats??????????
Bunch of Libermans,
they all will pay dearly

I fully agree that ALL who voted for this thinly disguised assault on civil liberties should be hung upside down behind a gas station, just like the fate of another facist, Benito Mussolini.

Rock On! I don't understand why, with all of the anger that so many of us have (which you express so eloquently, Doug), SOMETHING isn't being done about these people. I hear lots and lots of words about how wrong everything is but I don't see a lot of action. What has happened to our country? Where are the great social organizers of years gone by?

Amen Doug!!!!!!! Amen.

Russ Feingold for President! The only democrat who still has a spine.

Is anybody here actually surprised that the senate reauthorized this. Hell, I'm surprised there were even 10 votes against. Even so, just window dressing. A token show of the 'old' patriotism to give the false hope of some kind of reform from within the system. To keep as many people as possible from waking up to the fact that it's the system itself that's the problem.

Yeah, they blinked. When King George announced his invasion of Iraq, I ranted to anyone who would listen...this was a very bad idea..worse than Vietnam. I ranted for weeks and then these Democratic Congress cowards rolled over like two bit whores in a third world country. I am ashamed of my fellow country men and how little courage they show under fire. I still think most of the Democrates would show a good heart if not being hammered incessantly by a macho cowboy.
But it is hard to keep you head when violence is going on around you. Having spent 20 years in the military, one of the more interesting things I learned was that all of the peace time brass had to be removed and replaced when the shooting started in WWII. Seems peace makes all of us grow a soft head and under belly. Even the Democrates. But Doug I think you pushing that thing down my throat might not work out to well for you.

Everyone....should read an article at PRISONPLANET.COM entitled, "Gulags For American Citizens In Final Planning Stages"...very scary stuff.

Read recently an old book on the Brave New World Order...the issue with this President is giving him continually more powers. Reagan tried it with his National Security Secret Directives. The one that was leaked to the Cristic Institute spoke of setting up 10 detention camps in the US for housing up to 400,000 political prisoners in the event of the need to suspend the constitution in a time of war. We now have list of 380,000 according to the White HOuse and now approval for KBR to build "immigration" detention centers and for "other Projects" Please will someone call for pulling the war powers from this dangerous man right now before it really gets out of control.
Thanks to Senator Jeff B.from New Mexico for truely listening.

The reason nobody is standing up and doing anything is that we're all terrified, and not by the 'terrorists'. Recent history has made it abundantly clear that any popular leader, with the potential to start making a real difference, isn't gonna be long for this world. Of course, nowadays you're more likely to be Accidented than shot down by a 'crazed lone gunman', but the end result is the same. And granted, the average, rank-and-file resister is more likely to just be Gitmo'd, but it's hard to get people enthusiastic about adjusting to a lifestyle heavily dependent on shackles, hoods and saftey-orange jumpsuits.

Doug it just goes to show how legal prostitution is. Bush is the ultimate pimp and the supreme court and congress just love getting it shoved up their asses.....while we sit back hoping that they practice safe sex for democratic and capitalistic record that will be sealed away as top secret and highly sensative...funny thing, they sure published Clinton's sex life for everyone to see.

Now we have no one to blame but ourselves. We voted these morons into office, it's time we voted them out, all of them. They are as bad as Bush, if not worse.
They come like strangers in the night, and tell us they love us the day after. I for one am starting to believe the websites like Prisonplanet.com. This guy may just be the only one left with testicles that can wake up our fat, lazy, sleeping American asses before we are all marked, and on our way to the concentration camps.
George W. Bush just may be the Anti-Christ. I used to laugh at people that made that statement, I'm not laughing anymore.

We have no representative government; we have no government comprised of checks and balance institution, we have a government led by inept, self-serving, dishonest and unethical ego-maniacle power mongering jerks and twits. The nation is getting the leadership it sought and has supported. The 49.9 percent who did not support Bush in his bid for President, who allowed the Democratic Party leadership to capitulate and pull Kerry away from a probable win; the same damned leadership who cowered when Howard Dean yelled into a microphone - that 49.9 per cent who abdicated from politically responsible actions gave us what we deserve - incompetent, deceptive and illegal behavior by our national leaders and our Congress.

For the folks who write about wanting a third party effort, I have one comment: That is not going to happen so long as those of us wanting to change the politics of our government sit and write eloquently on our key boards, write letters to editors from our computers, and instant message and blog. It can only happen when people join with other people and get off our butts and onto our feet and begin pushing socially and politically for change ... and that means serious planning, organizing and implementing.

The first thing I recall learning about social change is that it takes people together describing and understanding the problems they have in common and deciding as a group to do something concerted about those problems. Institutional change cannot happen without a social problem being identified, synthesized to a common enough understanding and movement by the growing group demanding institutional change. Sitting here at my computer is only a small, first step in this process.

How many reading this have spoken to your respective state legislators and asked why she or he is not willing to call for the impeachment of the President. That call can come from a state's legislature and, if sent on, must by law be dealt with by the U.S. House and Senate.

SamC

Us progressives here in Richmond VA largely agree with Doug. The Dems are craven cowards.

That's not to say that the Dems in power wouldn't do better than the Republicans in power. It's to say that Dems ARE cowards.

However, better that they be cowards than that they be active dicatators. Not MUCH better of course. Not good enough. But not as bad as the GOP.

Move-on has started raising money to fund true progressives running in primaries against Republican-lite Democrats. I'm supporting them. It's the only strategy that I think can work.

The public will probably never come to recognize that the hegemonic party will keep the minority party around for window dressing, and the minority party will pretend to opposition in order to keep their perks and uphold their self-delusion of influence. We have to defeat these guys one at a time, from within, and keep speaking truth to power, without any way to access the TV and print media....primary contests are one way to get media access for our ideas and values. It's the only thing I can see that we have left to do.

I don't think any third party started from outside the two major parties can make it. (Though one started INSIDE, which later breaks off, has a better chance.)

I agree that the Dem leadership is reprehensible....but there's no way that they are as bad as the GOP when it comes to defying the will of the people and working against their interests, whether economic or civil rights.

You say it like it is, Doug! In fact, I'm grateful. My friends say I can rant, but you make me look like Emily Post!! (I want you to take that as a compliment.) With our senators and representatives, it's all about impressions. I live in Maine where Susan Collins is selling herself as a true moderate concerned about ethics and port security, when, in fact, she voted lock-stock-and-barrel with George Bush. She even insisted that FEMA be under Homeland Security, and, according to "Brownie", that's why FEMA is an utter disgrace! I even have a photo of her giving Bush an adoring glance after a particular corporate-welfare vote. Hey, if we really want to make a difference, we should all write about this woman's voting record and send it to the Portland Press Herald. I've had numerous letters to editor published in the paper, but they will NOT publish anything negative about this woman. This is the paper that found three DUIs on Bush days before his first election. They decided not to print anything about them because it would have looked "too political."

Man, if we've ever needed reform, it's now!!
Rhonda

I'm telling ya, anyone who doesn't believe that bush has got the nsa getting the goods on people and then compelling them to cooperate or else, isn't thinking straight. Why else would he go around the court and not release the list of whom they have spied on?
Look forward to meeting you all at the gulag.

My 14 yr old son rolls his eyes when I go on a rant - he just does not comprehend the importance of the political events taking place today that will affect and change his entire life in so many ways. I think a lot of "grown-ups" are exactly the same as 14 yr olds. They refuse to absorb the truth. These so called democrats are obscene perversions of humanity. We are on the verge of something even more horrible in this country than what has been going on the last six years. I am very sad. I am very angry.

When I watched the inability of the Democrats to stand up against the Alito confirmation--voting against the filibuster, I wrote to the DNC that day and told them it was the last contribution they would receive from me. I will only support individual candidates from this time forward. The Democrats in the Senate have done nothing but enable the Republicans and are therefore just as guilty for giving away democracy. I'm sick of it. I couldn't agree more with your rant. Harry Reid and the rest of them can go to hell.

Does anybody honestly believe there's a peaceful resolution to the mess the country is in now? Please..."vote" the bastards out?? You're not the one counting the votes bub, they are. As long as the mainstream media and voting systems are controled by those in power, they will remain in power. Peaceful solutions...yeah, that time is long gone folks.

Right on, Doug! I wonder if we can get a group together and go up to The white house with signs,chatting,or walking into the white house and saying "ok,Get out eveyone..we are firing you." lol
They are supposed to work for us..If I did what our Government is doing,I'd be fired..Why can't we do that?

"Peaceful solutions...yeah, that time is long gone folks."

You said it brother - watch your back (and use http://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/ when you use the internet - U-Surf will hide your IP address )

You know,their are little things you, I,everyone can do to fight against this..our civil liberties being taken away..Like don't make it easier for "powers that be" inform yourselves..don't give out your info to willingly..I wont go into it anymore..Just think for yourselves..don't go along with it because "he" "She","they" say it's ok...You know.

This certainly proves the need for a strong third party to represent the 80 per cent in the middle & forget about the 10 per cent on the right & left loony fringe. Last election we had two guys from the same Yale secret society run & pretend there was a difference. That should be all the proof we need!

Doug, I may not agree with all of your opinions, but I definitely agree with your general worldview, and I share your passionate desire to mold this nation into a place that would make the framers proud. Your column is a ray of light in the dark world of the generally capitulatory media.

Rock on, brother.

I like eliminarian. Now I know what to call my self, no longer an independant, but now an eliminarian.... Thanks Doug!

As has been stated in many more eloquent ways than I could...it IS time for a clean sweep...and a little revolution now and again IS a good thing.

When the thugs that work for the various alphabet soup agencies of the federal government do come around; don't go down easily.

Interpret that as you feel you must, but don't just give in. Don't let it be "We the Sheeple", being carted quietly off into the night. Make a stand for the greatness that is this country.

They work for us, not the other way around. Show them this by NOT voting for an incumbant, no matter what party they are from...encourage (and vote for) the independant candidate.

M.

I think I'm in love with you Doug (don't tell my husband).

When I heard that only 10 of those stupid bastards voted against this, I literally broke out into tears knowing full well that once again, my abusive and disfunctional relationship with the Democrats continues. I was naive to believe that "this time" they wont hit me, this time they'll change, this time they will do right, but alas, I'm left with a bloody nose and broken ribs - again.

Solution-everybody quick - get thee to your election commission and change your party affiliation to "unaffiliated" - did you know it's the second largest affiliation? It could be the first - then we can ORGANIZE and say, "We'll play your game, but we're not picking sides."

Peace p-l-e-a-s-e....

Libby

The only reason I can see for voting at all, is to throw out incumbents, which, from my point of view, includes about 90% of the Congress. Unfortunately, too many people think it is someone else's Congressman that should go. The passing of the Patriot Act provides a list of rubberstampers and cowards. Is your Congressman one of them?

Damn them!

Tar and Feather The War Party!

Republicans AND Democrats!

And don't forget the Corporate News?Whore$!

We need a true "Progressive" movement in this country. Not republican or democrat, just progressive. Most Americans are not so different if you step back from our political labels, and if the idiots in D.C. would stop fanning the flames of partisanship.

Doug, thanks for saying it like it is. I really appreciate your candor. We need more of this in our country, and need to get the word out to more of our fellow citizens.

This is the same Democratic party that allowed Bush and his thugs to run rampant for the past five years. They have been complicit in handing this man unprecedented powers to steamroll the Constitution and take away our "inalienable" rights.

Holy excrement! If we could only concentrate all this anger towards a viable solution.

It's getting to look more and more like we should have seriously considered Ralph Nader for President.

Maybe, just maybe, when the next incorruptible person runs for office, we won't spend so much time ridiculing him out of existence.

Hold on, hold on. Hillary Clinton is the "frontrunner" for the nomination in 2008? Are you kidding me? I thought we were trying to win VOTES in the red states! Why don't we just crown Jeb Bush right now and be done with it? Let's be honest...no red-stater is EVER going to vote for a woman. ESPECIALLY a woman like Sen. Clinton, period.

Good commentary, Doug.

The only thing I would add is that the Dems, as weak and pitiful as they are, are our only hope in the short term for getting Bush impeached and removed from office.

Progressive, Liberal, Conservative, Neo-Con, Libertarian - all labels. Can't we just be American Citizens anymore? Why all the pidgeon-holeing?

Time to get pissed and find some balls and get out there and take this country back.

Besides: if we don't fix the voting problems nothing will matter....

Doug,
You sound like I did when the highest priority in this country was to impeach Clinton for lieing about a blow-job...The FBI chasing an intern, Congress spinning and strutting to the masses, courts used for political machine hack jobs...

Bin Laden was laughing ass off...looks as if he won again...

There is not much time left. Opposition? Blackmail and "accidents" wait for the very few who would actually oppose the treason.

Do you really think we can "fix" the voting problems peacefully?? Please, lets take a vote, how many people believe these bastards will simply leave if we tell them to through "voting"?

I sure wish someone would put something in the Democrats water to grow them some BALLS! I mean, Feingold has been out on a limb from the beginning on this issue. He's the ONLY one who actually read the entire Patriot Act before initially voting on it! Geez, if we can't even count on our politicians to read/understand what they are voting on--what good are they???

What exactly do the Democrats have to gain by bending over on this issue? As a First Lady I thought Hillary had herself a nice big pair of cahones, but they seem to have shriveled to the size of a dried pea. Per shame....

Holy cr*p, Doug, I could not have said it better if I'd tried, and most likely not as well. I stopped voting a LONG time ago, and even if I could vote, esp. Democrap or Repugnican, I refuse to. I'm glad I can't work anywhere, and even if I could I refuse. I won't pay taxes of any kind into this miserable mess or support those greedy, pocket lining thugs in the House, the Senate, or the Whore House. I refuse to take those illegal piss tests, submit to fingerprint checks, or any of the other illegal crap required now in order yo even GET a job, let alone keep it, since there is no "job security" anyway, and why on earth would I want to work for below minimum wage anyway? My kids draw SS benefits off their dad's Disability check, and I manage those.
This government cut me off Medicaid benefits just when I was getting the diagnosis for my health problems that would have either helped me get the correct treatments to improve my health so I could have returned to work if I had wanted to, or qualified me for Social Security benefits. Damn the rotten lot of them!!!

Time to leave both these parties in the dust. If we all switch our voter registration to ANY party but Republican or Democrat, and put our money into candidates who aren't corporate shills, they might feel like listening to us.
The other thing we have to demand is a return to 100% paper ballots, bi-partisan vote counting with no special privilages for the majority party.
Until they can't steal/buy our elections, we have to fight them on grounds they'll understand.

I like the part about Hillary, except from what some people have written about her in a few books, she would prefer a dorm to slut it out with other women, like Cheney's wife and butch daughter. If special agent, Michael Levine , who went to congress to prove the CIA was neck deep with 4 other countries regarding the Iran-Contra affair and drugs being distributed on American streets, thanks to the American military and when Levine came out of congress telling the world at large that, "congress wasn't interested," is proof that they haven't changed. Now drugs are flowing from Afghanistan in record numbers since the gang bangers showed up.Criminals from the top down and they should be put out onto the streets and stoned to death, like the good 'ol days.

You've been in Washington how long and you're only now discovering that the Democrats and Republicans are interchangeable parts?

I think it's pretty obvious that the Repuiblican and Democratic parties are colluding and therefore consitute an illegal monopoly on political power in the US. We need to prosecute the two parties under the Racketeering, Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and declare them to be criminal organizations. We can then confiscate all property of anyone who profitted from either or both parties and use the money to pay off the debt that they incurred on this nation through their corruption and influence peddling.

Imagine a country where everyone who considered themselves a Republican or Democrat was in chains working to clean up the mess they created. We'd be out of debt in a matter of years and would have enough left over to help the world out with things like clean drinking water for everyone to make up for all the harm caused by Republicans and Democrats.

Dear Boug, Rather than "treasonious traiders" I would prefer "craven cowards". "Whores" doesn't work because that's insulting to sex workers who offer a straigh up deal.

Keep up the good work.

Yep both parties are making kiss kiss secret agenda's for greed. Senator Kohl of Wisconsin telling me in letters that he agrees with Bush Administration and he disagrees with someone that voted democrat for Senator Kohl. Yes and of course both Wisconsin Senators; Kohl and Feingold voting for oil company mergers that have cost consumer big time. All parties now dable in black politics for greed, wealth, control and power.

I think it's looking like Feingold for President in 2008. Who else is there?

John Edwards, who I once thought highly of, lost my confidence and all subsequent votes when he agreed with the invasion of Iraq. So did Kerry. So did many others.

Feingold is even interested in uncovering the truth about September 11th. That's what we need.

But no more of this republican-lite/democrat shit. The democrats of today, with few (ten?) exceptions, are the warmongering conservatives I grew up hating for their lack of patriotism.