I have observed the Democrats in congress to be profoundly lacking in anticipation, whereas the the republicans have made an art of it. This diary will attempt to pave a path to knowing what could be the administration's next step regarding the warrant-less, pervasive, invasive electronic wiretapping of innocent Americans.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it"

Peter F. Drucker

Aka Fox Noise, Faux News, The Ministry of Truth                      

Bill O'Reilly's recent jihad on Kos reminded me of a realization I'd come to sometime back when Islamo-fascism  was all the rage. Like "The war on terror" and "They hate us for our freedom", the statements never made sense to me. I thought, "you mean those guys that ride around in Toyotas with turrets who subjugate their women?" That is what fascist means? No, it turns out this is nothing more than a vile form of propaganda and, in my view, should be vigorously labeled as such and not laughed off, as we so often do with Bill's delusions. It is a concerted effort to 1) clearly delineate 'the enemy' 2) More deviously, redirect the viewer from the true practicers of fascism.

So I thought I'd take a moment to educate myself on fascist propaganda so I could be aware of it - and, hopefully, not be confused and/or fooled. Fool me once, shame on ... uhm, well, you know.

More ...  

Most of us on Kos get our news from the web - the MSM no longer suffices. We have our list of sites and we, in effect, make our own news channel. Through mechanisms like diaries, we are able to make and respond to news. By doing so, we are able to pass along our own views, adding a personal bi-directional mechanism which, again, adds to the revolutionary qualities of the internet and makes Kos a force that is even recognized by the MSM (often unkindly, curiously).

When I discovered DailyKos, I thought, "the internet might be democracy's saviour."  Open networks for ordinary citizens to share and disseminate information around the globe was, and still is, revolutionary. With a competent search engine, we are able to harness the collective knowledge in new and exciting ways. Disruptively, real time communications over the internet is quickly taking over turf formally held by telephone companies.

But, I had a startling realization -  we are already in a  passive police state. The internet may actually, eventually, play a role in ending democracy as we know it. Our diaries, our collection of personal views and thoughts could be used against us - without a court of law.

Writing diaries on Kos and interacting with Kossacks has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Seeing the power of the people harnessed by Kos gives me great hope the internet will play a significant role in people powered democracy.

But I'm concerned. There are issues, real issues that are at the core of the problem and should not be swept under the rug. Here are a few of the things that disturb me that don't get the attention outrage they deserve or are brushed aside.

http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/...

Howard Zinn thinks that we, Americans, need to take impeachment into our own hands.

And he is right.

So there I was last night having dinner with my godfather (more father than god in our relationship, since I was 10) at a favorite restaurant where we often meet. I was ready, with my recent education on progressive movements, repugnant Republicans and the state of America (1).  I got slaughtered.

One of the most interesting, and important points here on Kos is 'framing the debate', having a contrasting view. The 'marketing of the party' if you will. I've come to think it is less about marketing and more about boldy speaking the pure and simple truth.

But how can that be? We know the republican marketing machine is successful. Why? Necessity. How do you get a poor spanish family in West Texas to vote republican, against their best interests? By telling them you are going to cut taxes. (I've seen that particular slight of hand myself). Everyone wants less taxes but most would be surprised to know that those tax cuts are not for YOU. That is just one example, but it is all the same. The perception of the truth. Red Propaganda works.

http://youtube.com/...

http://youtube.com/...

http://en.wikipedia.org/...

Mr. Zappa became another hero of mine when I watched the first video above. In it, he presciently predicted part of what I, and many others here, believe is ailing America today, the rise of the fascist theocracy. In my mind, this is a two pronged assault on the evolution of man. It keeps the good guys primitive and ignorant and makes the bad guys fat and happy.

(For those of you who do not know, Rupert Murdoch owns Fox News. You know, home of unbiased news. They report - we decide.)

Buying the largest online community, MySpace, old Rupert is doing an end around on Democrats and democracy. Now, they are taking their fascist show to the internet, democracy's last bastion. This is bigger news than the obscene $ it took to buy it. It tells me Rupert and his pocket pugs are getting wise to the internet. And we should be damned worried about it because this is big, bad news for democracy.

http://wired.com/...

Is'nt there something intrinsically diabolical about the largest  democratized community on the web being OWNED by the biggest corporate media fascist ever?

The People need to think outside of the (established) Democrat cat litter box because they are politicians and, so,  part of the problem.

Presidential qualifications:

* Must NOT want the job
That is right, if you want this job, you are not qualified. We'll call you.

* Erudite, successful, worldly
You have written a respected paper on the meaning of life(or something better).

* Humble
You know you don't know so you surround yourself with those that do.

* Tough
But you don't have to show your BLEEP to prove you have balls.

* Transcendent
You are a self-actualizing  human being and able to transcend selfish motivations.

* Presidential
When you talk, people listen. Even republicans.

The term, 'The Church of Limited Liability' occurred to me as I was driving down the Texas coast, on Mustang Island, just south of Corpus Christi, when I came across this,  probably a remnant of an offshore rig, a tank with a mysterious cross-like pipe coming out of the top.

If you've not been to Mustang Island, it is a stretch of beach you can drive down about 60 miles south, toward Brownsville and Mexico. It is quite beautiful. I'm sure it was once spectacular. Yet, the garbage and oil rigs stand out against the beauty more so on this visit. Perhaps because of my recent interest in politics, I don't know, but it is unsettling and, perhaps, indicative of a larger problem.

Increasingly, lack of accountability is a defining characteristic for our most important institutions today, churches, corporations, media and government. Taken together, this lack of responsibility constitutes a grave risk to democracy and freedom and hope for future Americans and to the world.

http://del.icio.us/
http://digg.com/
http://flickr.com/

'Folksomy' (essentially democratic) sites  have become popular because of the collective nature of the data - whether it be images or bookmarks or news. All items are collected, collated and tagged. As data increases, interesting things happen which automatically values items. For example, a link or news items value/popularity can be gauged by how many people collect it.

To some degree of course the same thing happens here on Kos, via the rating system and diary but I think more could be done. The Internet is a (somewhat unrealized) democratic wet dream, IMO.

Here is what the BBC is doing ...

The BBC today unveiled radical plans to rebuild its website around user-generated content, including blogs and home videos, with the aim of creating a public service version of MySpace.com.

In my view, democrats can be doing the same thing !!!

You read that right.  George Walker Bush may be the most important president for the democrats since FDR.

Unsuspectingly, republicans have delivered a great gift to the Democrats - a uncontroversially stupid president. No, I admit, it sounds stupid, but if republicans could move back in time they would because they've made an immense tactical error (:subliminal:and you plan to remind them in November:) that will surely wreak havoc on their strategic vision of world domination via a fascist theocracy.  Bush is the unwitting poster boy for everything the Democratic Party stands against and Democrats must spend all that hard earned and expensive 'stupid capital' before the Republicans do.

At our own peril we sit and watch the  Bush Doctrine Missile heading toward Iran. The decision has been made already - just as with Iraq but with much more at stake. Bush is a cornered rat and only the dire consequences of war will realease him from his cage.

I'm a naive ideologist but it is my belief that we must preempt imminent tragedy ourselves and I do not mean a coup or anything violent or stupid.

Are there more american hating terrorists in the world today than yesterday? If you ask a Bush Republican ( I have ) they will tell you." No, we've killed a lot of them already." But if you ask anyone else they will say "I'm concerned. Very concerned."

Democrats haved failed to effectively wield this concern against the cons and the republican media machine. Having a way to quantify 'threat level' objectively would take the legs out of the 'we are safer today' fantasy and also supply a simple heuristic for candidates come November - one that features diplomacy and hard, indisputable (even for cons) facts.

Furthermore, it makes a mockery of the imaginary, politically driven threat level used by cons as a 'fear stick' - which, as you know, will likely show up hear again come elections.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...