| I've been watching with interest the latest tactical lunacy emanating from the right. These guys may be crazy (well there's not much 'may be' to it) but they are clever...in a sneaky underhanded mad scientist sort of way. One of the ways they try to destroy something they fear is to turn it into an object of ridicule, as they did with impeachment. Having crapped all over the process, they rendered it useless...apparently.
I believe they are attempting the same tactic with the subject of revolution. Fearing that one is coming, they are making a deliberate effort to render the subject radioactive by inflaming their pet nutcases via Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, et al.
At the risk of getting a lot of innocent people killed (and yes, there have been actual deaths), they have created quite a stir in the lunatic fringe. In the process they have managed to spotlight the idiocy of armed insurrection against a powerful police state armed to the teeth with the most modern and horrific weapons imaginable. In that sense their tactic has succeeded. Even the would be revolutionaries on the left (like me) can see how silly it all is. The howling nutters on the right have shown just how crazy it would be to rise up against the might and power of the United States government with shotguns and peashooters. The brains (so to speak) behind the rightwing sleaze machine have de-fanged revolution.
But armed insurrection is not what they should fear because no one with more than one brain cell to rub together is going to advocate any such thing. That is not to say that there is no way to fight back, because there is. There always will be. When 'more and better democrats' turns out to be not enough, there are always protest and civil disobedience.
Some very smart people are organizing on the left to resist the oppression of the oligarchs. In fact, a mass nationwide demonstration is scheduled for this Saturday, April 11, 2009.
The following is a partial list of those backing this new way forward:
Honorary Co-Chairs
Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake
Mike Lux, Obama Transition Team and President of Progressive Strategies
Sponsors and Elder Counselors
David Sirota, Syndicated Columnist, Author
Joe Trippi, Change Congress, co-founder
Zephyr Teachout, Visiting Assistant Professor of Duke University, Dean Campaign
Joe Costello, Energy, Communications, and Political Economy
William Greider, "Come Home, America", National Correspondent, The Nation
Yves Smith, Economist, Naked Capitalism
Support
Jerome Armstrong, MyDD, founder: "The corporate bailouts have become a complete political disaster."
Alternet
AFSCME - Pittsburgh
Rural Votes
American Family Voices
New Paltz Women in Black
Economic Justice Committee of New Paltz and Vicinity for Obama
Portland Jobs with Justice
David Dayen, D-Day, founder and Hullabaloo*, blogger
David Swanson, After Downing Street
Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee
Cleveland Committee on Corporations, Law & Democracy
Progressive Democrats of America
Democrats.com
Grassroots Change
Public Accountability Initiative
Liberty Tree
The Voters
Wake County Young Democrats
New Haven Peace Council
Consumers for Peace
Billionaires for Bush
BuzzFlash
CODEPINK
San Francisco Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
FedUpUSA.org
Common Security Club
Portland Jobs with Justice
David Donnelly, Public Campaign Action Fund*: "New Way Forward is visionary, simple, and important."
Protests are scheduled across the nation. Click here to see what's happening in your neck of the woods and to learn more about a new way forward.
Our plan: Real structural change of Wall Street
DECENTRALIZE: Any bank that's "too big to fail" means that it's too big for a free market to function. The financial corporations that caused this mess must be broken up and sold back to the private market with strong, new regulatory and antitrust rules in place -- new banks, managed by new people. An independent regulatory body must protect consumers from predatory practices.
As Wall St. corporations grew bigger and bigger until they were "too big to fail," they also became so politically powerful that they led to distorted and unfair policies that served companies, not citizens.
Its not enough to try to patch up the current system. We demand serious reform that fixes the root problems in our political and economic system: excessive influence of banks, dangerous compensation systems, and massive consolidation. And we demand that the reform happen in an open and transparent manner.
A New Way Forward
Get out there and do something real people. Let's show the rightwing how intelligent people resist tyranny - with peace, non-violence, sanity and dignity.
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