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How do we save ourselves from these people and their enablers?...Will nuking Iran destroy this regime? Will we simply implode from debt and stupidity and become a second-world (could be third-world, if our debtors are so inclined) country? The rest of the world is making plans for themselves and leaving the US out, and I can't blame them. We're going to reap what we've sown, and the "mythical little guy" will pay even more dearly, as usual. I don't have answers...only questions, and a keen sense of foreboding. -- Joyce Morrison, Shallotte, NC

Our system is very broken im no doctor i have no phd but i do alot of reaserch there are alot of alarm bells ringing but our goverment is trying to turn them off or make it illegal to hear them i tell as many people as i can that we're well headed down the wrong path most don't listen but some do that's how we beat this current crisis not at the goverment level but at the civialin level i believe it's time we as ordinary people flex our muscles and take back our country from special interesst and and the evil political game i dont want to live in a neocon state i will do what i can to spread the word 'cause knowledge is power....Edward

It doesn't matter what party, this Congress sold out the United States and we have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing the lies and deceptions to continue while they are destroying what this country stood for and destroying the United States Constitution which made this country not the men  This Congress is nothing but cowards who were too afraid to speak up for what is right and defend the United States Constitution, no matter what party.  We will have no excuses in saying how did we ever let this happen, even the media has failed to report the truth about this administration and its goals because of greed and profits.  That is all that matters to them also, not reporting the truth, that doesn't matter anymore, just like the media in Nazi Germany, only reporting the news that favors the master or should I say the new Furher Bush.

    This Congress became the Sluts and Pimps of this country who are selling everything to the big corporations for power, money, profits and greed.  They all are morally corrupt who no more care what is right for the people or this country than the greedy corporations.  I have written, signed petitions, made phone calls protesting their movements, but it doesn't matter, this Congress stopped listening to the people in 2000 when Bush and his cronies stoled the elections and no one was outraged.  This country has become complacent and complaceny will be more of the downfall of this country, as more and more of our rights are taken away.

    Welcome to the 4th Reich for it is now upon us, if anyone has any doubts, they should read the Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich to see all the similarities.  See the similarities of Hitler, Goerring and Goebbel and Bush/Cheney, Rove and Rumsfield as they abuse their power to build a Fascist nation.  No difference anymore.  What a sad time, our forefather's and creators of a great nation would be in great shock if they could see what we have done to this nation all for Bush/Cheney and the PNAC and no one really seems to care anymore.  We have grown to be a self-centered and selfish lot of people who don't give a damn about anyone, the environment, the wildlife or the world, just me, me, me and what is in it for me. --Katherine Bailey

Boy you guys have sure helped things out here. A month before the election you want to "eradicate" the Democrats! Let's make sure that all your "followers" don't vote, or vote 3rd party in the coming election so we can show those wimpy Democrats who's boss!!. You've got a lot to answer for already, since third parties (Ralph Nader) helped put Bush in the White house. I spent the 60s and 70s working for civil rights (and against the Vietnam war). You remind me of the Socialist Workers Party during the civil rights days--spent their time attacking liberals, claiming that there was no difference between the parties and that  the Democrats wouldn't help blacks-- because they (SWP) didn't really want anything to change for black people. It gave them something to talk about. (Notice that they were wrong?)

  This is still a democratic government in the sense that you have to have the votes to get anything done. Let's go after the Democrats if they ever get back in power and could actually change anything, OK?  I've been reading your website ever since it started, but this idiocy marks the end of my bothering to read Bush Watch stuff.

[A later e-mail...]

Hey, I've already given my opinion on this subject, but then I got to wondering....Have you noticed the coincidence:   just when all sorts of breaking news, even a sex scandal (!), is making Bush and the Republicans the look bad, Bush Watch Jerry Politex comes up with the idea of eradicating the Democrats? Just a month before an election that could eradicate a lot of Republicans? Kind of like one of Bush's terror alerts? So is anyone else wondering who "Jerry Politex" is working for?  --Beverly Plank

I think the message we need to give Democrats cannot be reactionary generalizations. We need to protest specific Democrats such as the two Nelsons who voted for this torture bill, but also PRAISE Democrats who stand up against it. Remember, no matter how reprehensible and disgusting these particular Democrats may be (they’re Republicans really), we cannot allow their actions to taint the majority of those who voted AGAINST it.We need to focus more efforts in the Primary Elections in States where DINOS are running, and eradicate them specifically. Not only will it not unjustly punish those who already vote correctly, but it will send a healthy message that we will not stand by while DINOS spread through our party like a plague. -- Evan, Cranston, RI

Thank you! Finally someone is saying what I have been saying for two years. These [Democratic Party] cowards don't care about the average citizen or really any citizen. The only thing that motivates these people is the election, and they will do and say whatever it takes. --Gary Gobbato

If GOD was the Democratic nominee running for the Presidency ........He would lose. That's how powerful I believe the R Part has become. I cast my first vote at age 18 as a Democrat over 30 years ago.I am at a point now were I just don't give a damn anymore ..... I was led out of a local Wall Mart  by security a few weeks back for wearing a T shirt that read ........well you’ve seen "Meet the Fockers" ....... mine reads differently and has a picture of  BUSH and CHENEY ....Oh Well that was my last hurrah ......I'm too old for a prison camp. Regards, Abby Hoffman Fan

Senator Specter is wrong to say that [the Military Commissions Act of 2006] takes us back 900 years. In the first place, the English monarchy in 1215 was not even in the same ballpark, so far as mendacity, imcompetence, and cruelty as what we have in place now. The magna Carta turned a rather benign monarchy  into a fairer one ( for the aristocracy only ). In the second place, we only have to go back 70 or so years, to the Reichstag fire to find a more comparable situation to what we have now: Germany was a democracy when it was turned into a totalitarian state. You, who are denouncing the timidity of democrats for voting for this abomination, are displaying the same timidity in describing it. Why don't you call it what it is...The Hitler Act? --Dr James L Jenkins

I could not agree with you more.

I am deeply disturbed by the systematic dismantling of our democracy. As far as I am concerned, we live in a fascist state run by an administration that continues to amass dictatorial powers while Congress refuses to exercise its oversight responsibilities and the Supreme Court only bothers itself to rule on cases to preserve its own authority.

Stupid is as Stupid does and Republicans are Republicans. They cannot help themselves and you cannot get angry at charlatans for behaving like charlatans. I blame Democrats more than anyone else for the mess we are in right now. They are the only group that could have stopped or at least slowed things down a bit. Their complete lack of leadership and refusal to mount any serious opposition to anything in the last six years has brought us where we are today. I could fill a thousand pages with details of my disappointments with the Democrats. Here are a few of the major ones:

I blame Al Gore for not mounting a more vigorous defense in 2000. I like Al Gore, but he doesn't know how to fight. He lost the argument in front of the Supreme Court that every vote should be counted in a democracy... pathetic. I blame Tom Daschle and his asinine aversion to criticizing the president with regards to the "War on Terror." In war and politics, when you take a strategy or an issue off the table, your enemy will use it to defeat you. His misguided decision to cave in on the authorization to use force is the primary reason we are in Iraq today. He supported it so Democrats could say they were tough on terror and go back to talking about the economy in the run-up to the 2002 election. His strategy: Don't make waves. Don't say anything controversial. Stay under the radar and maybe we'll pick up a few more seats in the House and the Senate, failed miserably.

I blame the DLC and the DNC in 2004 for destroying a candidate with real grass roots support and a proven ability to energize the party's base. They took us for granted and anointed someone even more uninspiring than Al Gore. I am sick and tired of voting for wishy-washy, mush-mouthed, uninspiring candidates simply because they have a "D" after their name and I cannot imagine they would be worse than the Republican incumbent. On that note: I can't tell you how annoyed I am to listen to DLC Democrats (who in all honesty are virtually indistinguishable from Republicans) trying to remind us that Clinton was a DLC candidate. News Flash: The DLC did NOT get Clinton elected. Ross Perot got Clinton elected. He split the conservative vote enough to let Clinton squeak by. If Ross Perot had not been in the race, George H.W. Bush would have won his second term. End of discussion. So the DLC strategy didn't work in 1992. It didn't work in 2000. It failed again in 2002. Another miserable flop in 2004, and I am going to be very surprised if Republicans lose control of either house in November. It's time for a new strategy.

I also blame Kerry for waffling. I am still stupefied by his statement that knowing what he knew in 2004, he wouldn't have done anything differently in 2002. Whatever happened to that courageous young man who asked Congress "How do you ask someone to be the last person to die for a mistake?" I guess his DLC pollster told him he should distance himself from that comment. I blame Senate Democrats for fighting to preserve their right to filibuster judicial nominations and then refusing to execute that right. What was the point? I loathe the lack of discipline in the Democratic Party.

When you have an openly gay, pro-abortion member from the Northeast and an anti-gay, anti-abortion member from the Midwest, their votes cancel each other out when they get to Washington. Republicans set the agenda whether they are in the majority or not. With that in mind, Democrats don't need just six more seats in the Senate and 15 more seats in the House. They need a super-majority to change anything, and that will never happen. Not this year. Not with their "Don't make waves. Don't say anything."

Even if they do make some gains, if Democrats think they have to KEEP QUIET about something to GET elected, they are inevitably going to have to STAY QUIET about those issues to STAY elected. Bottom line: Zero sum gain. Nothing changes. We can expect them to deliver what they are promising us in the current campaign: NOTHING. Democrats have whined and wheedled about the president's budget proposals for six years and never once offered a proposal of their own. They have been critical of the president's policies, but rarely offer any substantive alternatives. It's embarrassing to hear conservative pundits say Democrats don't have a plan because:

(1) I hate conservative pundits.
(2) It is true. Democrats don't have a plan.

This torture bill is the greatest outrage of all.Democrats, true to their pathetic do-nothing form, were happy to sit on the sidelines yet again and watch a few "courageous" Republican Senators spar with the president (and eventually cave in anyway). In another surreal, stupefying moment, Nancy Pelosi seemed more outraged when Hugo Chavez referred to Bush as the Devil than she was about the fact that Bush was seeking to legalize torture.

Americans can no longer point an accusatory finger at the German civilians in the run-up to WWII and ask them "How could you let this happen?" We are all letting it happen in America today. What's the point of remembering the Holocaust and saying it should never happen again if we stand by and do nothing while Congress vests the president with the authority to "disappear" people he deems to be enemies of the state? What's the point of supporting an opposition party that does little more that squawk once in a while, but mostly rolls over and plays dead? So it can talk about more important things like the economy?

Over a hundred people a day are dying in Iraq. Over 100 people that we know of have died in U.S. custody. They weren't embarrassed or humiliated to death. They were tortured to death-by U.S. citizens. Bush has admitted to violating the War Crimes Act. He has admitted to violating the FISA provisions and all Nancy Pelosi can do is rail on Hugo Chavez for insulting the president. I am insulted. There is no need to eradicate the Democratic Party. There is nothing left to eradicate. It's not much of a party and it's not very democratic. --Richard Roman, Dallas, TX

I agree with you that congress [sic] completely sucks, having eviscerated the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights in one shot.  I also agree that the Democrats are, at the moment, worse than useless, but unfortunately the Republicans are worse even than that.  We can’t forget, however, that it was the Green Party, more than anything else that put Bush into the White House in the first place.  There was a reason that the Republicans so eagerly supported them.

  American history is littered with the bodies of political parties that either did not serve their constituents or generally botched things.  Lincoln’s Whig party nearly bankrupted Illinois before their collapse.  Unfortunately, modern Americans are historical illiterates, and simply believe the Democrats and Republicans to be the 4th and 5th branches of government.  They can’t conceive of discarding either, and the parties themselves are interested only in their own continuance.

    Our current situation demonstrates the fundamental flaw in our system of government:  a sitting president will never be impeached by his own party.  Impeachment is a political tool rather than a check or balance between equal branches of government.  A president is impeached after a several year witch hunt for a personal relationship which is itself not illegal, while another is not impeached after brazenly breaking the law and admitting to it.  The only difference is the latter’s party is in control of congress.  It makes me think now that if Republicans were in control of congress in the early seventies, Nixon would have completed his term.

  I believe the problem is not actually congress, but other influences.  It now takes millions to run for congress, and hundreds of millions to become president.  This makes all candidates into whores.  The only ones that do not have to prostitute themselves are the ones that are already so rich that should they become elected they need only answer to themselves and not their constituents.  They have no choice but to sell themselves to the special interests; there is no other way to get elected.  What makes matters worse is the media is now a controlling special interest as well.  This was perhaps always true, but never in a way so damaging as today.  They don’t contribute money to candidates, but they contribute exposure which carries a higher value than all but the largest donations.  Unfortunately, they either play a game of he said, she said, without calling foul on the blatant lies and manipulations of the candidates, or they blatantly distort the message as Fox News does.  In any case, congress and the media are no longer our friends nor do they care for our interests.

  What we need now is a way for the populace to be represented.  We need votes to count, we need our representatives to be subject to our laws, and we need elections to be competitive.  There are some things we might achieve that could help.  If nothing else the Republican party, by exploiting every loophole and breaking every law, has given us a roadmap of ways to fix our broken Republic.

  • Pass a constitutional amendment to prohibit gerrymandering.
  • Create severe penalties for election tampering.
• Create runoff elections.
• Create national standards for elections.
• Require public financing of elections.
• We need someone, perhaps the FEC, to verify the veracity of candidates claims, and there should be an easily accessible list of significant distortions.
• And just to make a point, tie all congressional wage increases to increases in the minimum wage.
• Congress and the executive branch should not be the only ones policing themselves.  There should be a nonpartisan (or bipartisan) body who has the authority to look into our elected representatives’ misdeeds, including things that are classified.  Let them be the arbiter of what should be kept secret and what should be made public, and let them bring to trial those that deserve it when there is evidence to support it.  You can say that this violates the 5th amendment, however our elected officials are in a position to do such damage to the populace that one could argue that they should be held to a different standard.  And as they abridge our rights, we should likewise abridge theirs.

  Whatever we do, we must unseat the Republicans first.  So long as they are in power, we can make no forward progress.  And unfortunately, that means voting for Democrats.  Then once we put them in, we force the to fix things, through every legal maneuver that can be found.  They need to know we’re watching. --Stan Adermann

The cowardice of democrats and republicans against the revolutionary, regressive Bush/Cheney regime has no equel in American history. The democrats have thrown themselves under the bus in an attempt to save their own political skins. And now we see the last of the "moderate" republicans doing the same. The fascist beast will never be satisfied until it has compleate control of our society. There is no appesing the ideology of Bush, Rove and Cheney. All disenters are to be crushed, disappered and elimanated from the collective memory. I see no reason to support a political party that has made it's self irrelevent to the Democratic process. The democrats are complicit in the crime of turning the people's government over to a gang of criminals. The American people are also to blame for their ethnocentric, parochial worldview that blinded them to the coming reality. W. has his dictatoship. Just like he said he wanted. God help us! --Randall Roberson, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Between the Dieboldt electronic machines and the repubs guarding the hen house and stealing another election , I have no doubt that the Dems will lose anotherelection...Bush stated when he first ran, " This would be better if this country was a dictatorship ship run as long as I am the Dictator." Well he is very close to doing that...But the American people deserve what they get...just like the Naziis in the 30's with Hitler... I was in world war II and we had a legal war to fight for our country... But now after 2700 guys losing their lives for nothing , the American people will have lost their sons and daughters for Bush and his gains and fortunes for his rich friends. But I wont be around for that...Most of us WW II vets are dying very fast, but I do feel sorry for the rest of you people that have to live under these conditions...cr

I agree with your assessment of the sorry state of our two party system, and the treacherous road that is being traveled in our name now by fearful men and women. As much is I am aghast by the lack of integrity in the Democrats, and their seeming lack of comprehension about their intended role as an “opposition” party, I am equally aghast at Republicans who would put forth such a bill in their own name.

  The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written to protect all Americans, regardless of political affiliation. That one party should even contemplate a bill that would emasculate two of the three branches of government is abhorrent. That the other party would allow it or support it is equally abhorrent. Republicans and Democrats should take their upcoming break to climb up to a quiet place for some serious contemplation on what both parties have done in the name of liberty and justice for us all. --Richard Mann, Seattle

Yes indeed! The Democratic Party has no reason to exist. The destruction of the party is key to destroying the Republican Party. The Dems stand for NOTHING. They only exist to define the Republicans and are defined by the Republicans. Vote third party! Now that we can stop pretending that this is a democracy it's time to take to the streets. It's time for a general strike here in Amerika. As we slip, or should I say, fall headlong into dictatorship all I see are [chicken$%^&] Amerikins who are too ignorant and afraid to see what's realy going on. I can't believe the people I've met who think fascism is a good idea. The anti-terrorist bill pasted by both chambers is a testament to the [chicken$%^&] Congress. We don't have to worry about terrorists. We are being destroyed from within.

            Therefore let me say that I support a draft. No deferments. The kids are so ignorant today they need a painfull wakeup call. A draft is just the thing. I expect US citizens to be dissapearing soon. Amerikins don't deserve freedom or privacy or jobs or health care in this Yo Yo (your on your own) new world. The people of the United States are just a bunch of [$%^&*$#] slaves. And they are too dumb to know it....Bruce Peroini (DET)

Sir,  The consequences of your suggestion will do to our democracy exactly what Nader's extreme views did to the environment.  Unfortunately his stand against the  democratic party has resulted in unrecoverable damage to our environment and my grandchildren will suffer greatly for his sell out.  Keep on this course, Jerry, and you, also, will become irrelevant.  Robert

Its great you woke up but what I can't believe is that you and many others like you didn't wake up in the opening act and now you act pissed off? Well welcome to the new century!...Thomas

Yes it is time to eradicate the Dem. Party.  And very soon it will be time to do more than that if we do what the Declaration of Independence prescribed....Jerry Lobdill

In response to the article where Jerry Politex questions the survival of the Democratic Party. Wouldn't we then be called a Dictatorship?...Paul

The Democrat Party is no real opposition and third parties are locked out of the political system. How can any of this be changed? Seems to me like things are only going to get worse. Too much of America is too comfortable to do anything at this point. I think we'll have to see a lot more pain and anger before anything changes. Until revolution looks better than the daily grind, this is America for the long haul. Sorry. Bob

I think Bush, Cheney and company are a front for the most evil this world has ever seen.   I don't believe we can stop them.   They are so well funded and supported by this evil that no one can stop them now.   The American people are too spoiled and busy shopping (the rich) or too busy trying to stay alive (the poor) that this evil can grow without restraint.   The Democrats just want to be where the Republicans are.   They have no concern about out rights, the environment, health care,foreign relations, etc.   They  just want to be in power to promote their evil.    There is no consideration for right and wrong only how to get more power.   I believe it is too late for us.   This two party system is the death of America as we use to know it. The billionaires and CEOs (and selected politicians) will live on in their mansions around the world. Diane

Of course it’s time to act.  The scary thing is so many just sit by and watch these things happen, or worse yet support it.  I think our government has lost its way.  It’s no longer about ‘the people’ it’s all about power now.  The president and the republicans want more, and they’ve shown the lengths and tactics they’ll employ to get it....Shaman

The fact is that Democrats have been co-dependent for a long, long time.  The fact is that Wm. Jefferson Clinton was a terrible President who did more to undercut Liberal and Progressive principles than any Democrat ever!  The twelve senators who voted for the destruction of democracy will not be pushed out of the party.  They represent a very real fear among Americans that the nation is doomed to be the target of every madman in the world.  Americans want their Currier & Ives lives "back."  They will give up everything to have their home on a Hallmark Thanksgiving card.  They don't give a shit about France, Britain, Turkey, India, ... and they are afraid of China, Russia, and Iran ... because they have been taught since kindergarten to be afraid of people they do not understand....Jim

YOU NAILED IT. LET THE LARGE PROTESTS BEGIN. David

The Death of Freedom: Is It Time To Eradicate The Democratic Party? , Jerry Politex