Looks a lot like what King George II is doing right here at home. The First Amendment has been scrapped, it seems. And the entire Bill of Rights is next in line to be thrown overboard without even the customary solemn ritual attending burials at sea. Read this to see how scarey this is really getting.

Win some, lose some.

In a day, one demockracy is born and one goes down the toilet.

Hey, Peg C!!

Thanks for the good word. They usually tell me to shut up, so your words are nectar from the gods.

That article by Fred Barnes just means that they are nervous. They should be. They've shot themselves in the foot and if the DNC can become a lean, mean, Republican killing machine, like Gingrich and the RNC did with their very effective Liberal/democrat killing machine, literally trying to eliminate the democratic party as the only true threat to Republican power, they will be the ones on the ropes. This is war, people. You may not like the analogy, but it's them or us. And they do mean to eliminate the threat to their power that the democrats represent, for most of this century if they succeed. We cannoot allow that to happen, and we must fight like badgers, or even cornered rats, as the freep monkeys like to call us. Fight hard, and fight dirty. We fight this war with money, PR, politics and ballots, hopefully in free and fair elections so we don't have to fight them in the streets with clubs and stones, or worse. That's the reality, folks.

BTW, nobody listens to that bloated pinhead Barnes, anyway. The only people who tune into that moron are people who watch Fox News. They may be morons now, but we have two years to wise them up and turn them into smart voting Americans. But he is right about one thing, Dems are out for more than payback. They realize that their very existence as a major poliitical party is at stake and on the line. That "drastic urgency" nonsense is a good sign that all is not well in Bushworld. There are other good signs mixed in with the bad news as well. Times are very scary, but they are scary for Republicans as well. They have created a thing they can no longer control, like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The only thing they can control is the media that tries to form our perceptions of this situation. They try to create the appearance of being in control, but if you look closely, that illusion fades pretty quickly, like a mirage. Remember Baghdad Bob? That's Baghdad Barnes talking tough and trying to convince Dems to go hug a tree. That's good news for us. Rather than hug a tree, go destroy the Republican party. That will save alot more trees than a hug will. The tree will thank you for it.

Some of you may have heard about young Prince Harry's nazi outfit outing, but we have our own Hitler Youth right here in Amerika.

The Boys From Virginia

For those of you who are going to miss Bush's SOTU speech tonite, like I am, I managed to get a copy of a dress rehearsal for you.

Hi all!

I just read a most disturbing rant that has left my blood pressure at a near-critical level. It's nothing new, really, but when it's all put together... If your constitution is strong, go to
http://truthout.org/docs_2005/020105I.shtml
May the omniscient, omnipotent hypothesis have mercy on us all...

Political arrests follow ouster of Nepalese government

KATHMANDU, NEPAL - Dozens of Nepalese politicians are being arrested and others forced underground following the sacking of the country's government by King Gyanendra, an opposition party official claims.

"We don't even know how many of our people have been arrested," Shovakar Parajuly, an official with the Nepali Congress party, the country's leading opposition political party, told the Associated Press Wednesday. He estimated that at least 50 of the group's top leaders had been put under arrest.

click here to read more

czaragorn said on 2/2/2005 @ 8:48am PT...

"I just read a most disturbing rant that has left my blood pressure at a near-critical level."

That's a powerful piece. I wouldn't call it a rant, however. Eliot Weinberger is a well known, (to some of us) American poet who happens to live in England now. I wonder why? Poets, artists and writers are usually the first to leave a sinking. fascist ship. They are the avant garde, after all. It's long, but once you start it, you will want to finish it. I'd post an excerpt, but you need to read the whole piece. This is no limerick, no haiku. It's just prose, and just a retelling of who said what about Iraq in chronological order. It's the best, most honest and expositive thing I've read on the issue since it became an issue. Poetic license or political lies? I've heard enough political lies and propaganda to last a thousand lifetimes. Let's hear what a poet has to say. That's why we have them around. It was originally published in the London Review of Books.

Teresa,

Keep talking, lady! You're the salt of the earth, and there isn't much of that condiment left.

Teresa,

Keep talking, lady! You're the salt of the earth, and there isn't much of that condiment left.

Thanks, LGM - it's comforting not to feel alone... This is the great strength of this blog. Thanks, Brad et al., a million-fold... And yes, LGM, you're right and I was wrong - it's far more than a rant - it's the truth!

czaragorn,

That piece had the same effect on me BTW, but what I do to brighten my mood may not work for you. I watch movies like Stanley Kubrick's, Dr. Strangelove and Mel Brooks' The Producers. Who can keep from laughing when seeing comedic geniuses like Mel Brooks or Peter Sellers parody and satirize these complete morons by exposing the very archetypical maniacs they actually are. And doing it in a way that makes everyone laugh. It's devastating to them. When I don't have enough time to see the whole film, I just watch the famous musical number from The Producers, Springtime For Hitler. Talk about bad taste, but you should laugh your ass off. Someday, when we look back on all this, and artists and filmakers and writers have decided it's safe to satirize and parody this dark time, we will all have a good laugh. Laughing at them is the most constructive thing we can do and it is incredibly destructive to them. Laughing will bring your blood pressure down, and cause theirs to rise. What could be more karmic? When you laugh at them, they become the helpless ones. That's why men like Voltaire, and others, often found themselves at home in a prison cell, or on the run from one. It may not seem like a time to laugh, but it is. Maybe you are too young to remember the Chicago Seven. We've been through this before.

There is no simple "yes" or "no" answer to the question of whether the Chicago defendants intended to incite a riot in Chicago in 1968. Abbie Hoffman said, "I don't know whether I'm innocent or I'm guilty." The reason for the confusion--as Norman Mailer pointed out--was that the alleged conspirators "understood that you didn't have to attack the fortress anymore." All they had to do was "surround it, make faces at the people inside and let them have nervous breakdowns and destroy themselves.".

Anyway, that's how I deal with it, but I am already quite mad. But no more so than these idiots.

Speaking of madness, I have always been accused of living in a fantasy world. They say I must face reality. I tell them ."You call that reality? That world out there you sing the praises of? I call that the psycho ward."

So who is really the madman?

Winter P #10...

Makes me think the Demockracy was just another sham. How long was it in place? Hasn't Nepal been mostly a monarchy? I need to take a little time and check out the details. Some sort of personal intrigue I thought was behind it.

"So who is really the madman? "

Good Lord! Do you mean to tell me the madman is actually a madwoman? I think it was Oscar Levant who said, "There is a fine line between genius and insanity, and I have erased that line."

I think sanity is best defined as the ability (or willingness) to cope with (put up with) the madness. It's a matter of degree of tolerance.

BBC has more about the situation in Nepal:

The authorities in Nepal are reported to be clamping down severely on dissent, following King Gyanendra's move on Tuesday to take direct power.

There are accounts of students being fired on in one town, and of numerous arrests of potential demonstrators around the country.

The media is under to total censorship with armed troops stationed in television news rooms.

more here

Hi WP! It's so hard to know what's actually going on over there (I mean, what are the real issues?), but whenever the cops go face to face with the students, I have to go with the students. One thing's for sure - it's not Janis Joplin's Katmandu any more. Pity...

Bush must be dying of envy. To be faced with his comparative impotence after another one of his great speeches.

It is so tragic. Nepal is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I was there in '67. There was a place up in the mountains where I saw the whole Himilayan mountain range extending to the horizon, and I will never forget it. A sea of mountains. Spectacular.
The human animal is unbelievable. How he ruins life. How he can behave so grotesquely in such a sublime setting. How can he defy the influence?

It sounds to me like Nepal is a microcosm ... and we all know where the macrocosm is ...

Actually, Dredd, I'm glad you brought that up. For me, the reminder if the macro, micro is a comfort. When I look at the big macrocosm and see the beauty and orchestration, I think maybe, hopefully, I'm praying, anyway, that things will work out to our benefit, and that I will be around to enjoy it.
There must be a sound reason for the evolved, aware humans to be here too.

Still more disturbing news from the top of the world

"at least five ex-prime ministers and many other politicians are under house arrest"

"Detention orders have been handed over for dozens of senior politicians"

and so on

"Human rights groups in Nepal have appealed to the international community to press the authorities to reverse harsh emergency measures."

"They say the government headed by King Gyanendra who has taken direct power is spreading terror and panic."

"The 25 human rights groups have sent a message to some of the world's top leaders, including the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, President George W Bush and many other heads of state and government."

I'm sure George is going to be a big help. ;-(

read more here

Yeah, George. Here's your chance. Liberty will save these hapless oppressed people from TERROR. Go to it. You wouldn't want to be revealed as a hypocrite, would you? You lily-livered, lying two-faced, asshole, son of a bitch. And I mean bitch, literally.