At one time the republican party was the main advocate for civil rights for blacks in the south (Over a hundred years ago). And they were persecuted for it.

As a liberal "them," I would love to see each "Republican" involved in the vote fraud step forward, introduce themselves, admit their guilt, describe their part in it, involve themselves in uncovering the malfeasance, and stand up publicly for what is right. Only then will I not have to look at "them" as a group of "Bullyish Republicans," but instead a few bullyish individuals who have lost their way. This of course includes Mr. Bush, "their" leader. Until such time, I must say "they" are like this...and "they" are like that. Yet I can assure you I have not become THAT "them" just because I am currently forced to lump "them" together into an ugly category. I simply do not know who, of the Republicans, is standing up and who is sitting down on the vote fraud issue at the moment. To my knowledge, none of them is clearly standing tall on election reform.

Eldritch is living in a fantasy land where everything is like it was in his youth. What difference does it make what the Republican Party once was? His problem is not "other Republicans"; his problem is himself. Quit the party, Eldritch, what in heaven's name is stopping you! He has "Republican Party 2005," which is merely a pseudonym for the neo-Confederate Bushist Arbeiterspartei, confused with several Republican Parties of the past, such as the one that ended slavery and the one that put the Equal Rights Amendment in its platform. Eldritch, are you going to stay in the Republican Party 2005 because some members of the Republican Party 1923 first wrote an ERA amendment bill? By god, wake up, it's not 1923, it's 2005.

It is insane to be a member of an increasingly neo-fascist party 2005 because Abe Lincoln issued an Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 as a member of a party with the same name. It is a form of space-time disturbance, a confusion of different times and places with each other, and a plain bad habit.

Unfortunately, the Grand Old Party was always a Grand Old Deception, even though they may have had and still have patriotic and idealistic rank and file members.

The Republican Party was formed by Northern industrialists and bankers, not Abe Lincoln, and their hidden agenda was to always protect the wealthy power brokers that have manipulated our social, political, and economic orders since their inception. Republican carpetbaggers raped the South after the Civil War, designed not to free the slaves, but to crush the power of southern agrarian interests in free labor competition with the North.

It is very ironic that the ancestors of the South and other agrarian states are now the people who help keep the Northern blue bloods in power. A part of the Republican deception strategy of who really rules, using the Yale George DUMBYA as their Southern Texas conman. Bill Clinton, George HW Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter were all their "men".

Of course, I have just as harsh condemnations of Democratic politics and the two-party oligarchy as a whole. My main concern though is not Republican history, but what the monster has evolved into in the continuous American drive toward more material wealth, more economic growth, more human and natural resource exploitation. As we devour our world in war, death, waste, pollution, and destruction.

I will give credit where it is due, though, from a military man who knew, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who warned America of the dangers of the growing Military Industrial Complex. An industrialized profit making killing machine that supplies most of the world its weapons of death, makes our soldiers and enemy both sick and polluted from depleted uranium weapons, and has plans to develop weapons even more lethal than nuclear bombs. Without war and conflict, there is no "business" and no profit! True peace is the death of their industry, their wealth, and their power!

And so what was this Military Industrial Complex's role in the assasination of JFK? What was their role in Vietnam or any war since? What was their role in 9/11?

This is the muscle of the beast that somehow became its heart and soul. While George DUMBYA likes to heap praise on Ronald RAYGUN, barely a peep about Old Ike? A real soldier is not George DUMBYA's hero! No! It's Ronald RAYGUN shining star of America's Military Industrial Complex who helped end the Cold War while laying the ground work by supporting the new future enemy, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein!

Would a John Kerry Presidency be different. Of course, but only in tone and degree as he made it abundantly clear he would tow the Military Industrial Complex line, increase military strength, and wage an even bigger war in Iraq. How much of that was political posturing to get elected, we may never know. Although his quick capitulation and failure to really back the election protest is telling.
Sure don't want our Skull & Bones Yale blue blood brothers making a brawl out of this!

When a Republican Pentagon General appears before a gathering of Christian Dominionists to declare George DUMBYA was selected by GOD (Gee I thought it was their shady electronic voting machines), then you know we're in trouble. GOD, GUNS, & GEORGE and to hell with all that Jesus Christ peace garbage! That's why I found last nights headline so disturbing and yet enlightening:

"AXIS OF EVIL" TO TOP BUSH SECOND TERM AGENDA!

Now you know who runs this country! CRAMPS!
CRAMPS!
CRAMPS!
CRAMPS!

As a resident of a liberal state with two Republican senators, this theme is very germane to my dilemma and gives me some hope that the decision I made and carried out three days ago - to write to those senators with much the same message as Eldritch's - was a reasonable one. Anyway, one can only writhe silently in anguish for so long before a scream bursts out, and I screamed pretty loudly.

I hope other GOP-ers will follow Eldritch's lead - but I fear that most of those who would have already defected.

Just read an interesting article "No Holiday For Vote Thieves" http://blackcommentator.com Rep. Conyers interviewed, hinted that some Republicans were on board, did not want to mention names yet. Also sounded so confident "several" Senators will support him Jan. 6th I will sleep better tonight having read it. Good article, had to tell them so.

Great article, Nana, thanks!

Chemoelectric - Devils advocate here, but couldn't one say the same about you. America is not what it once was, so why don't you leave it?

The answer, of course, is that your country is worth fighting for.

In that same way, do we not commend Eldritch for staying in the party and fighting for it? And having the courage to take that fight "to the streets" by speaking out about it, rather than keeping his objections behind closed doors?

Just askin'.

Freebird! Regarding John Kerry's war on terror I wanted to add few lines. Kerry had the fundamentals right. In one of his debate speech he once said that he "will strengthen the special forces". He indicated that he will fight the war on terror that is smart. This war on terror cannot be won by occupying countries.

The war on terror can only be won with smart tactical and surgical strikes where they dwell and not by Military might.

Saudi royal family is still funding the terrorists, as I write now and George Bush continues to play golf with Prince Bandar (Saudi ambassador).

George W. Bush's current war on terror is like a puppy trying to catch its tail.

The war on terror can not be truly won any more than 6 billion people's minds can be sanitized to believe what their governments tell them to.

Real representation is untenable with our current system of government.

~A!

You are correct ~A! Also Bando Bling, it is still open to debate and investigation who are the terrorists and who supports them. Also, whether the US had a hand in 9/11 and what other motives are involved. Are they terrorists? Or are they a smokescreen for something more sinister?

Also, when the US illegally invades and occupies a country, violating international law and human rights by killing and exploiting tens of thousands, we can share the terrorist title too! Being decapitated by a knife or 500 pound bomb still has the same effect. It's still murder, especially in an unjustified war which is the legal equivalent of an unjustified homicide.

Back home in Texas, George DUMBYA helped sign the death warrant on people who may have murdered one or two people. He is now responsible for killing thousands of men, women, and children. Yet instead of Death Row, he gets state dinners and photo ops at the White House!

If you haven't seen it yet, please read War As Crime by Nicolas JS Davies, currently titled at www.onlinejournal.com

Nite all!

Hi 'yall
The Eldritch letter and Comments are mode lifting and dumping all at the same time. The war in Iraq is being won, right now day by day. Just depends on how you define 'won'. The classic way is with a trophy and bragging rights. The bushmob way is just a simple counting--not of dead, wounded, ours and theirs but counting the loot derviced, the privatization enforced, the thank you(s)of a greatful
band of munitions makers and corporate riches beyond their ceo's wildest dreams.
The dilemma Eldritch struggles with is a loyalty to a Repub party which seems to be winning or a loyalty to his country which is loosing.
Yes, the country is worth staying and fighting for. His party is fiction-secret handshakes and old memories aside-it no longer exists. It has been taken over by narcissistic exploiters of rage and fear using 'religion' to do God's work of death and torture to advance the cause of power. God's work?
The God, Mars-the Roman God of war, of course.
So Eldrith sign the loyalty oath and go along, enjoy the party while theworld burns or 'get the hell out' while you still have your sanity.
Best for a HNY '05

Eldritch has the only sensible take on this, and thanks, Brad, for supporting it. It may sound like fantasy; but don't lose sight of the true reality of this moment. Repubs control every facet of government right now, including the communication media. Big Biz is entirely in the saddle. That's the REALITY, there are no more checks-and-balances.

Hence, the only real hope at this moment is to strike at the conscience and consciousness of the deep-down Republicans --- those who, like Eldritch, consider themselves the REAL Republicans.

IF there is to be any way out by confronting Ohio, and/or drumbeating against what happened four years ago, that hope has got to be vested in the Republicans who can begin to rebel against where their party has taken them...and us. The ones who can see where this administration is heading.

Is it possible to pull off? I very much doubt it; but with the cards as they are presently stacked, it is the only present hope. Otherwise, we wait out the four years, or until fear-stricken and dozing America wakes up.

This "war on terror" hoax is unbearable! It's a sales slogan for those neocon hucksters, and I can't believe how many people have fallen for it.
These groups in the Middle East are made up of Islamic militants... all shapes and forms with different styles and beliefs. Terrorist tactics are used by some, just as they always have been throughout history. Look at the union wars in this country in the last century, if you want to see some terrorism. By grouping all of them as terrorists, one is grossly mishandling the issue. It is a bad idea to have incompetent morons trying to solve international problems.
Its fine to crybaby about the defiling of the parties--both of them--but it solves nothing.I agree, Freebird, about Clinton and Carter... Carter was an investor in BCCI. The problem is the corporate-run two party system, where the voice of diversity in the society is not being represented. We need an end to the system. Eventually the brave will have to defect and stand for principles. All these stupid political groupies, like pop stars, are getting us nowhere. They cling together like terrified children. No one has the courage to speak up, and they look ridiculous. Well, maybe not every last one of them, but we do need new political parties with power.
I always thought that the Republicans did more damage to the economy and bungled more wars than the Democrats throughout our history. Don't the Democrats usually bail them out?
The whole Republican idea of restricting social expenditure makes no sense to me. Whatever goes into helping members of the society get ahead comes back into the system. It's a helluva cheaper way to go than keeping them in jail. Or missing the tax base in black market commerce. Or even picking up the tab for burial when they die on the streets... on and on and on. Most of these imbecilic Republicans don't even know what the party stands for. All they know is, they think their taxes will be lowered. And the ones with any brains are clinging to an illusion af some high-principled party of the past. Their last convention was worse than a Hee Haw episode. It had extreme hate added to all the clowning. It's disgusting. I don't know how any Republican with even the slightest amount of self respect can tolerate it.
I wish people would learn to govern themselves.

I will add, though, that it is a good idea to have incompetent morons trying to build some phony empire. Let'em get it over with and we can all move on.

Sounds good Teresa!

It is not only the two-party system failing us, it is also the constitutional structure that has failed us. Remember, Benjamin Franklin called our endeavor a great experiment and Henry David Thoreau advised that Democracy itself did not have to be the end but a means in the search for an even greater form of governance.

We can do better! We should never allow constitutional or historical sentimentalism prevent us from exploring and discovering that "better" form of governance. Otherwise, the powers that be will have us right where they want us, stuck in a system they have learned to rule and exploit to their advantage, not ours. They have the money, power, and control, and as I had mentioned previously, in the great oil and gas con game, as we face dwindling supplies of natural resources, to what lengths will they go to protect their own "al Qaeda"...their "base"?

We are headed toward fascism in the very same way Nazi Germany "democratically" headed toward fascism. Use of fear, support of rural right-wing Christian conservatives, backing by the financial and corporate oligarchs, build up of a large military industrial complex, and, most telling, the call for absolute patriotism and nationalist loyalty in the face of government and controlled media calls against perceived outside threats.

As they give us the "PATRIOT" Act, "HOMELAND" Security, and a new White House "INTELLIGENCE" Director, what are they preparing for? I just don't see Osama bin Laden invading America with an Islamic Army. But I do see preparations to quash dissent in America, by force if necessary, as the "CRAMPS" scours the Earth to control oil and gas, and other resources, everywhere.

And we are to be the satiated pliant America! The attorney Jim's who support the great "democracy" we have, as the "CRAMPS" plunder the Earth with wars, human and natural resource exploitation, for global domination under a "GOD BLESSED" Christian Dominion. Did you see how "shocked" George DUMBYA was in his first debate with Kerry? He's not accustomed to opposition! He's GOD ordained and there shall be no opposition! At least the one's that pose a threat to their rule.

How many people will be killed with our tax dollars to protect the Empire? Who will be left to challenge them as they bribe China or Russia, militarily crush nations into submission, or force into sham democracies the smaller players of the world? It is interesting that the US went around the United Nations to have their own "COALITION" (AXIS) to deliver aid to the Tsunami victims.

The "CRAMPS" views the UN as an impediment to their global plans, as they do nuclear proliferation treaties, Geneva Conventions, Kyoto agreements, rules against torture or preemptive wars, or an international criminal court. They don't want a "UNITED NATIONS" that "democratically" blocks their best laid plans, they only want "COALITIONS" that are "willing" subservient lap dogs of their plans and policies.

(PLEASE DON'T FORGET, AFTER George DUMBYA and TRICKY DICK Cheney ARE ARRESTED FOR WAR CRIMES, WHEN TONY "THE POODLE" BLAIR COMES CALLING, HE'S GOING TO SHARE THEIR CELL! THIS WAY THEY'LL HAVE SOMEONE TO PET!)

It is "WE THE PEOPLE" who must challenge them and defeat them. In what form that challenge will manifest itself is not yet known. Political action...civil disobedience...revolutionary war? I can assure you...they are preparing for all three!

There are still Conservatives of the Goldwater, Buckley and Friedman variety... I don't agree with them about a lot, but they're honest folks... we call them Libertarians and Constitutionists now... oh, maybe an odd Pat Buchanan here and there... (odd, being the active word)

Unfortunately, the DNC seems to think splitting the Party by becoming more like Neocons than the Neocons are... by out "jesusing" Falwell... is the BEST way to secure their future.... I give you Nancy Pelosi quoting the Bible November 3th..."We've got to protect our phony baloney jobs Gentlemen..." thank you Mel Brookes...

Yeah... it's kind of hard to swallow that my Democratic "Representatives" aren't working for the other guys...

Well, enough goofiness...

Thinking Conservatives oppose the War in Iraq, the PATRIOT Act, NAFTA and the subjugation of our soveriegnty to the WTO... Thinking Conservatives abhor the fake"War on Drugs" and fake "War on Terror"... their collateral damage to the Bill of Rights and our economy... Real Conservatives oppose this juggernaut of bureaucracy and war sucking the life blood out of working people... out of our economy...They even oppose the deregulation and consolidation of media ownership and it's horrendous effect on the First Ammendment and the natural processes of a free society.... REAL Conservatives now support PUBLIC CAMPAIGN Financing because they understand... that Transnational Corporations with NO loyalty to the United Sates.... are running DC... they are the driving force behind the Bureaucratic-Industrial Complex... these lobbies are no less than potentially hostile foreign powers... Thinking Conservatives KNOW this... and they want their country back, just like I do.

My conservative friends in Washington didn't vote for Bush this time... they may not vote Democrat (who can blame them?) BUT they have VOWED never to vote Republican again.

It looks to me as if the DNC isn't alone in compromising it's base for continued corporate support... The RNC is RIGHT behind them.

Coalition anyone?

wow, you guys really got me going with this one... I'm going back to bed now.

Hi 'Yall
A better form of governance? Would be nice. The form of governace set down in 1776 failed at the starting gate, but it was at least a document of great potential. It failed because the brave "We the People" words actually meant a 'selective' we.

But the 76ers did the best they could at that time. They left it for the future generations to even out the rough spots. Perhaps they felt the 'wisdom' of their intent would, in calmer times, prevail.

Instead what seems to be winning out is a variation of the 'Greater Fool Theory'. Fool them once and you prove that they can be fooled again and again and again.

It works in these days because no one of our brilliant media or our brilliant candidates or our brilliant selves can accept that they are being fooled by this clumsy dopey failure at the top.

People like Eldritch, one of the more enlightened Repubs, won't accept it or they would have revolted within the party long ago. The Demos won't accept it, or they would not have nominated a candidate who claims he can do war as good as george; and certainly would not allow the leadership (e.g. DNC) to say "Us too--let's move to the right".

Throw the 'leadership' out, throw the 'I'll fight for you' representatives who actually bow and grovel to the power structure out. Get 'lean and mean' and stand up and oppose this insipient Faschism before the cattle cars start to roll.
Best
HNY '05'

I take a moment of silence ... to honor a great, great REPUBLICAN.

a good american

Mr. Curtis has the spirit of this great american.

If only congress could follow the example of these true patriots.