Friday Night at 8: The Power of One

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Give Bush and Cheney a fair trial — something they have not bothered with since they stole office.

It’s funny how the powers that be in the media and government are running around with their big fat excuses as to why we can’t hold these criminals accountable for their crimes.  It all boils down to “It’s too hard!!!”

It’s too hard.  It would affect too many people.  It would interfere with the crucial work of restoring our economy.  Blah blah blah.  Not one of these folks say, however, that no crime has been committed, no law has been broken.  No one says that.

I find that stunning.  We all know, at least those of us who have been paying attention, that Bush and his crew of crooks have broken the law over and over again.

And Cheney says “What you gonna do about it?”  And Cheney says “oh, the Dems knew about this and approved it, hell they wanted us to be even tougher than we were!”

And we should believe Cheney … why?

I don’t want speculation any more.  I want the truth, the facts, what really happened.  Only a special prosecutor can get that information, someone who is inured to the politics of Washington D.C. by being given the independent power to investigate.

What I like about this petition is that it shows the power of the individual citizen.  This is not a grassroots effort decided by committee.  A couple of folks got together and came up with the text and others jumped in to work further on it and spread it around.

The power of the individual citizen.

I am extremely annoyed at the argument that we citizens are somehow childlike creatures who don’t know all the real problems of our country and so we shouldn’t cry and whine about our “pet issues” when the government knows so much more about what is important and should be made a priority.

Bleh.

We ARE the government.  The only people who will take back power as citizens, are citizens!  That’s us.

To me, Obama’s election is a signal that we can now start taking back that individual power, our individual rights.  It’s not for Obama or any elected representative to tell me what I should make a priority.  I get to decide that for myself.  They’ll do their jobs, and I’ll do mine.

The measure of our success with this petititon will be the resistance from the powers that be, the Dems, the Repubs, Obama, the media.  The more we read about how this is not a good idea, getting a special prosecutor, the more we’ll know we have them on the run.

Many of us have sent this petition to friends and family, whether they be politically agreeable to us or not.  One by one people will sign.  This isn’t “organized” grassroots and it’s netroots only insofar as the structure.

To me, this is about the power of each indviidual citizen, not resting happy with the decisions of our elected representatives but standing up for what we feel is right and making our voices heard.

We need to know the truth about the crimes committed in our names.  We need to have every American citizen aware of what has been done so there can be no denials or excuses.

At this time, the only line between tyranny and freedom is an informed citizenry.  By signing this petition and working to make it known we will not accept anything less than full accountability for torture being done in our name, we are exercising our power, not the power one step removed of the three branches of government.

We have power collectively and we also have power individually.  I think the citizenry of this country are going to be tested enormously as we have to let our representatives know we are not asking for favors on our “pet causes” but taking our government back, of, by and for the people.

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  1. For those who are interested, tomorrow is the New Moon.

  2. Are you going to put it up at orange?

    Oh, and I gave you a rec button because I wanted to rec it and because I can. Ahhhhh, see how strong I’m feeling!!!

  3. …the most important thing, IMHO, is making absolutely certain that the torture stops and cannot continue.  Making sure, absolutely sure, that there are not future crimes is more important than any justice or even truth about past crimes.

    The truth will out, I believe, because that is the way of things.  We know today that Jefferson fucked his slaves; we will know what truly happened at the White House.  But preventing atrocities is so much more urgent than it is that we seek the truth or justice of those in the past, even the recent past.

  4. So, CNN posted this story about how Rove and Bush have a reading contest every year, and Rove keeps beating him.

    Oh what mad stylin’ elitist intellectual leaders we have runnin’ the country today.

    So here’s the comment I left on the discussion board attached to the story. I seriously doubt CNN will have the guts to post the comment, but at least people here will appreciate it. 🙂

    READ IN JAIL, CREEPS! HERE IS YOUR READING LIST!

    1) The Bible. Actually read the frigging thing, eh?

    2) The Constitution of the United States: try this one too, it’s a classic!

    3) Voices of Conscience: Col (ret) Ann Wright, who resigned a 29 year career in military and government service to protest the invasion of Iraq

    4) The Assault on Reason: Al Gore

    5) Screwed: The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class and What We Can Do About It: Thom Hartmann

    6) Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People who Fight Back: Amy Goodman

    7) Truth and Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration’s War on American Values: Keith Olbermann

    8) Fair Game: Valerie Plame (you’ll just LOVE this one, Doughboy!)

    9) Stop The Next War Now: Medea Benjamin/Jodie Evans

    and one last try to penetrate the concrete between your collective ears:

    10) The Tao Te Ching: Lao Tzu, another interesting classic that echos the same words Jesus Christ said two thousand years later:

    DO UNTO OTHERS THAT WHICH YOU WOULD HAVE DONE UNTO YOU!

  5. (with ripples!!!)

    • RUKind on December 27, 2008 at 03:38

    Same drum a lot of us are beating – Truth! Let’s get it out there. Let justice find the punishment. Truth comes first. It is the prerequisite for anything that may follow.

    Our “leaders” are full of fear. They fear the Truth being known to the great, unwashed masses. They see themselves as the “adults” and us as the children. I see them as the sausage-makers and us as the ingredients. And they have the gall to tell us to trust that they know what’s best for us. Well, I know what’s best for me and that for the full Truth to be known so my descendants don’t have to see the next Bush in office.

    I like this thought you had:

    To me, Obama’s election is a signal that we can now start taking back that individual power, our individual rights.  It’s not for Obama or any elected representative to tell me what I should make a priority.  I get to decide that for myself.  They’ll do their jobs, and I’ll do mine.

    Obama is a symbol of what the people can do when we decide on what we want. He’s the one We chose. The means by which he came to office is at your fingertips. He was swept in on a major net tide. I doubt that the full force of that tidal change has been recognized just yet.

    We need to push relentlessly, constantly and forcefully to get the elected reps to do the will of the people. Those reps used to get their marching orders from the press, pundits and party bosses. Time for the people to have their say.

    More petitions, more e-mail avalanches, more LTEs, more protests. Here’s a thought:

    Patrick Fitzgerald for Special Prosecutor

    Never stop. Never give up. This one is too important.

    Satya.

    • Edger on December 27, 2008 at 03:43

    • kj on December 27, 2008 at 04:17

    to family and friends, but added to the petition:


    “I am grateful for the good sense the American people showed themselves and the world on November 4 – the good sense to turn away from the politics of preemptive war, torture, extraordinary renditions, domestic spying and the obscene neglect of their own country people, as witnessed in the aftermath of Katrina.

    May the world breath a sigh of relive that reason has returned to America.

    May we never forget the refugees caused by Bush’s Folly in Iraq.

    May we never forget the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual damage caused to American troops, and their families, for their honorable service in a war created for the enrichment of a few dishonorable men.

    May our Constitution endure.

    And may we always, always, always remember, revenge is never the answer; justice is.”

    i am extremely psyched at all of you; all the energy and work.   🙂

  6. I’ve just crossposted over at ePluribus Media.

    If you sign up for an account over there (free registration — you know the drill), then the next time something like this comes up (er…hope not, of course), I can crosspost it and assign your name to it for you if you like.

    As it stands, I think it came out fine.  ðŸ˜‰

    Peace.

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