Caution. This diary contains profanity and much emotion, and is not suitable for children of any age.
As of right now 63% of the dkos voters responding to tlh lib's question "Is this country going to remain safe to live in as a democratic state" have responded "No". Well f you. If I may quote my favorite ex-crackhead, "Well allow me to retort".
IF YOU DON'T THINK THIS COUNTRY WILL REMAIN DEMOCRATIC, IT WON'T. You think your going to lose. You know who thinks they're going to lose? A loser. I should put a poll right here.
Are you a loser? Yes or No.
Quickly, where in God's name do you think you're going to go? Europe? As Jermome has pointed out the UK is going to run out of natural gas in a few years and the end of the atlantic conveyor might make that place a mite bit cold. Mexico? Yea, there's a functioning democracy, with no crime, no corruption and tons of prosperity. Just ask all of the Mexican's coming the other way on your way out. Canada? My friend, if you think you are going to escape US troubles by going to Canada you've got another thing coming. Pardon me if I write off the entire continents of Asia, Africa, and South America just like that. Lovely places to visit, wouldn't want to live there. I have this thing for drinking tap water and being able to speak the language of those around me. It helps for survival.
I should say I totally agree with tlh lib. Plenty of reason to be scared. The big boys have decided that they don't believe the current system of "rule of law" with "checks and balances" is doing them any favors. The system is broken, and that's just fantastic, do you know why? Because we get to fix it.
You have been given the gift of foresight. You and you alone know that your country is in great danger. Nay, humanity itself is at stake. So the question is What the fuck are you going to do?
I was once afraid. I read all sorts of crazy web sites talking about how because of peak oil we are all going to die, and how the top 150 CEO's of the country are moving with the CIA to Colorado, where they will live in bunkers while the rest of us die radiation deaths. Oh there's all sorts of great optimistic stuff out there. And I read and read and got depressed, wanted to get a little house, put solar panels on the roof, grow my own food and capture rainwater. I too, thought about leaving the country.
Then my testicles re-descended.
And I started to use my head again. See this is MY god dam county and while they may have it now, I WILL take it back from the garbage. I cordially invite you to join me.
If you're scared you lost already. Every athlete in the world knows it, and you do to. Put fear into the heart of your opponent and you will win. They want you to be scared. Well I'm not scared. Fuck it. I'm 25, no wife, no kids, and this country will be returned (bb voting here) to a democracy if it kills me. What the fuck do I have to be afraid off?
Was Martin Luther King scared when they were firebombing his house? Was RFK scared when he was running for president? Now I'm no MLK or RFK, after all, my last name begins with an "S". But I can do something to take this country back, and you can too. It begins with communication and voting.
Rove just fucked up, he gave us an opening the other day when he said something like "democrats are stealing the vote and we need to do something". Dam right. Tell your idiot republican friends that without paper ballots we're going to steal the vote. Tell your enlightened democrat friends that without paper ballots they're going to steal the vote. News flash, if you even think that there is a possibility of election fraud what does it matter if you knocked on four million doors and raised a billion dollars. If there is voter fraud what's the point of these congressional updates. In fact, until there is verified voting I see little point in any of this. Verified voting is the issue. Screw a paper trail, if there is a microchip in that machine the election's stolen, simple as that. Paper ballots all the way. I can wait a few days to learn the result for democracy.
Which brings us to another little problem. As mentioned by Jerome and many others we have a little problem in that we (read liberals) control no national TV stations. But the radio is available, and so is the web. The radio you say. Rove just gave you your opening. Where is that Mike fellow that loves to piss off Rush. We should be pretending to be repugs and calling right wing radio every day claiming the democrats are going to steal the election if we don't have a paper ballot. "Rush, you know those liberals will steal the election if we don't have some paper ballots. We have the numbers, we just need some open honest counting. Call you legislator".
Did you know that you can buy your own radio time for pretty cheap? Like 100-1000 bucks and you can rant for an hour on a radio station in your area. I'm not guaranteeing the drive home time slot, but you can get yourself on the radio. Don't want a whole show. Why haven't you bought a 30 second spot yet? It is literally like 25 to 50 dollars for a spot. I don't know, how much do you think freedom's worth?
Don't feel like that this dude has it going on. I think this lady has the right idea as well.
This country was born of great ideals. Ideals that optimize humanity at its best. Ideals that must be constantly fought for because humans, being less than perfect, have a tendency to settle for less. We're lazy. Maybe you're not but I am. But there is no time for that. You have time for 4 things, eat, sleep, go to your kids event, and fight for democracy. In fact, you better cross out sleep, because when you wake up Bush might have nuked somebody already.
Ladies and Gentlemen, humanity is about to go through two crises it has never seen before, at least not in recorded history. And guess what? You are in luck. You get to be here to shape the future. America, no, the world needs leaders. And you know whose going to step up to the plate and become those leaders? You are, I am.
Here's what I'm going to do between the hours of 7 and 9 tomorrow. I'm going to make a radio ad calling for paper ballot voting. I'm going to do a test run in NYC where I live. Then I'm going to come back to dkos to raise money for spots elsewhere. I should have done it a year ago, but that's ok because I can do it now.