Is a little part of you afraid?

in the end -they have more to fear than we do!

fear is a manifestation of the conscious mind - keep your actions in tune with a higher purpose and the option of staying silent will become obsolete. You know who you are and what I mean when I say "we" will overcome.

there is always that little voice of fear in the back of ones head if one is a thinking person. but their is a price for freedom and democracy. our ancestors paid it. we pay it. that price is vigilance. when we stop paying that price we lose. our children lose. the world loses. also their is a debt owed to our forefathers and to our children. we have betrayed our constitution in favor of fascist rule. and only through the power of the people acting united and of one will to stop the madness can these wrongs be addressed. to let fear of self stop you from serving your nation is base cowardice and undeserving of the sacrifice so many have made in the name of representative democracy. we must redeem our good name. our nation really is great. and has been great and deserving of much respect since its founding. occasionally bad apples steer us wrong. as adults and as responsible Americans we must stand up and say no more. enough. the madness must stop. remember that its really not about you or i. its about us. all of us. and if you or i must stand up and defend the weak with our words. and risk censure or worse then at least we did it in service to humanity and to the spirit that moved our forefathers to risk the rath of mighty england in defense of certain inalienable rights.
please support impeachment folks.

And Obama,...the "Great Hope" is against Impeaching Bush....

So much for the great hope I'm afraid:(

I am afraid that many people in this country will vote for a man who will turn out not to be as good as they thought.

No not afraid...sad and disappointed.

Both major political parties offer the country a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. That's not change! For those of you still in the dark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Foreign_Relations

My vote on matters of my state are superseded by federal laws. My vote for who is in charge of making federal laws has been nullified by rigged elections. The US Supreme Court's decisions are viewed as mere annoyances by the current administration. The few, correction, the one Representatives of Congress, that is brave enough to bring Articles of Impeachment against the President is promptly ignored by a wave of the Speaker of the House's broom...I mean gavel.
Meanwhile our prisons, roads, bridges, railroads and land in general are sold off to the highest bidders, domestic or foreign, piece by piece. Thanks to the Patriot Act I now have to weigh my words or face the possibility of being classified as a criminal and receive an extended stay in solitary confinement until this "War on Terror" is over.

This is a class war that has been waged in this country from the time Europeans set foot on this soil. If you don't believe me, go visit your nearest American Indian reservation. I'm sure they can catch you up to speed. As each wave of immigrants, voluntary and involuntary, legal and illegal made their way to this "land of the free", they provided the elite with cheap and motivated labor. Closing our borders has not, nor will it be, an option for the elite. It's simple economics of supply and demand.

What will it take for the non-elite in this country to wake up? What constitutional right must our government take away before we realize this is a class war. I have no doubt we will find out, but will it be in time.

I urge you to study your history before it is rewritten.

"What is history but a fable agreed upon?"
Napolean Bonaparte

Chiming in ~

I have [internet] friends who live abroad. One who was attending Uni in Istanbul; one who's a professor in Cairo; one's a pharmacist in Aleppo; and another who's a student in Damascus.

I used to communicate with them regularly via Skype ... all but the Egyptian gentleman were terrified to talk of certain subjects ... particularly American politics. I was not allowed to say particular words like 'Kurd' or any derivative thereof. I couldn't speak of the Golan Heights. There were many, many more. I mean ~ when I use the word terrified I'm not kidding.

That was last summer, come this last winter, essentially all communications were lost with all but the Egyptian fellow. I was still getting intermittent emails from the other three, but infrequently, and their tone had somehow ~ changed.

Call me paranoid (and there are those who will I have little doubt), but I'm just this side of positive my communications with these men have been monitored. Two of them I've not heard from for months. The young man in Aleppo wrote on 6/9 ... I'll admit it was relief to hear from him. In Syria there's a mandatory order for two years of military service, he's to report next month.

Am I scared? Hmmm. That whole Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement kinda makes me shudder.

Anger has it's benefits in trumping fear.

I was not really afraid, just avoidance as to not upset people and get into arguments. Now I don't care and feel more personally responsible because I never spoke out. I know I should be afraid after this fascist regime in the White House and after reading Naomi Wolf's book, but I really am just getting angry the more I learn about conservatives. Also, it helps seeing peoples opinions on here and seeing people like Keith Olbermann and Jeremy Scahill and Matt Taibi speak there minds without facing retrobution. Conservatives(far right) are selfish, greedy, morally bankrupt, and oblivious to other people's feelings.

Not even an ounce...

I care about what's right and just. Nothing (hardly) that this admin. does or has done is either of those, so they are cowardly, greedy warmongers.

That's not something to be afraid of at all.
That's something to laugh at and flick out of the way for a better tomorrow.

The way I see it, these criminals are addicted to what they call power, and I don't respect that, so I don't feed into their imaginary creation (I don't believe in power over others).

Peace, resistance, and TRUE freedom.

NO FLAGS, NO BORDERS, NO GREED, NO WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope. Not a bit.

I'm in the same boat as Huntre. If govt is watching the blogosphere, then they know I've said on multiple occaisions that Bush should have this balls shoved down his throat, hung by his fingernails, and exiled to Mars.

I'm comforted by the fact that there are plenty of other people who agree vocally.

I'm afraid. Not so afraid as to shut up though. Not, so afraid to not fight. Not so afraid as to give up. Yes you bet your ass I'm afraid. I know what they are doing, and what they plan to do to us, and our country. Without the fear there would be complacency, I fear that most of all.

To respond to the original question, I am not afraid.
I guess it's because I've said more than enough things to piss off the people who would react by keeping tabs on my activities online, on the phone and in face to face hook-ups.
I have no reason to think I'm not being monitored already.
I claim my right as a US citizen to say whatever I want, whenever I feel like saying it. That's my personal liberty and no one...no one...will take that away from me. I'll say things that upset and annoy. I'll say things that, hopefully, amuse. I'll say things that others will judge me by. I'll even, occasionally, say something that makes some sense.
I refuse to worry about who's tuning in and will continue to be openly critical of GWB's administration and all they have infected.
Impeach and imprison!
Face fears and be liberated!

Yes, I'm afraid, especially knowing now that our government is watching the blogosphere, and that ISPs are working with the government. Democracy is supposed to be a government of the people, for the people and by the people, yet here we are, the entire world being controlled by the richest 0.1%, and the rest living in fear and silence. Land of the free, my ass.

To any overly enthusiastic, optimistic Obamacans

It ain't over it's over.

on any normal election year, with any other president, i'd be "mr. sunny let the O rise sunshine" guy. but we're talking about some very specifically twisted individuals here, who still have some pretty extraordinary legal maneuvers left. and we're just supposed to expect them to back off?

i've got my own 1% doctrine for how much I trust these guys. I'm as sure they'll try something at the first opportunity as Cheney was there were WMDs. Only the threat I'm worried about is real.
Do you hesitate from bringing it up when given an opportunity?

While we're all sharing and caring...

I won't feel safe until I know that Bush is totally out of power. Not when most of our National Guard is in Iraq and Blackwater's being deployed in more and more domestic crises.

If you live in NYC, keep a close eye on just how many cops are around. God forbid if you stumble upon a "Full Enforcement Zone", where I got a ticket for riding my bike up over the sidewalk because the cops were blocking my side of the street with their van. So I ride up on an empty sidewalk for literally 3 seconds, and about a minute later the same van full of 12 cops rolls up and stops me ON MY BIKE and gives me a ticket. Did I mention this was right outside a project?

As a white person who understands the insanity of racist whites due to the ones who don't have the decency to keep their idiotic thoughts to themselves. It now seems like just the place to practice fuckiing with ordinary citizens. Who's gonna care about a bunch of black people angry at the police? That' all the time?

Yeah, so now having seen that, I'm scared knowing that Bush at this moment has the ability to federalize every level of law enforcement police who, no offense, do tend to follow orders. That plus I know that he's either insane or totally evil (or maybe dumb, but that counts as insane when you've had every excuse to straighten out and wise up).

I'm not the only one noticing it. But people are afraid to say it. I know all the sophisticated ways I can be tracked. I worked along side the online marketing people for 10 years. I read Glenn Greenwald. There's a who chorus of crazy, yet educated fucks saying that the president should have "dictatorial powers". These men do not understand democracy's purpose. We must remind them.

yes, they definitely scare the heck out of me. But, the direction of our country scares me more. I'm hopeful something will wake ordinary Americans from their slumber.

I hold mainstream media accountable for what is happening. All one needs to do is turn on the television and watch them spin. Even when facts contradict what is being said in front of them, they do not address the contradiction. They cover spin and fact as equal.

I hold religious leaders accountable also. We see religious leaders regularly speaking as though they are politicians. Prior to the start of 'Shock and Awe' in Iraq, I spent time questioning where our spiritual leaders were? Why were they silent? Innocent people were going to be hurt by George W.'s actions. Everyone in Iraq was not guilty, yet they have been collectively hurt.

I didn't want to be a refugee. I worried other countries would think we we’re more of a threat to the rest of the world than Iraq and attack us. As I watch 'Shock and Awe' live on American television., I worried what would our actions do to the children in Iraq? Two planes taking down three buildings in America rocked my world and I'm 53 years old. I feared another attack in America and being separated from my family. I felt guilty by association. I felt I had to write, or I am guilty also. This war is being done in my name, American. People tell me if I don’t like what is going on, I should leave. I think I have a duty to speak up. Leaving isn’t an option. I’m only ‘One Lonely Voice’ trying to make a difference, but if there were more voices, I wouldn’t feel so lonely. It’s going to take many voices to make a difference

I'm scared today! I'm afraid George W. will decide to take military action against Iran. Once again, I'm reading facts, which are not reported by mainstream media. They are spinning the facts they do tell and ignoring the rest. Congress has not held anyone accountable for the fiasco in Iraq. What is the deterrent to stop them from doing it again. None!

John Conyers said, if George W. attacks Iran, he will attempt to Impeach him? I don't think so! I think if we attack Iran, it will be the start of World War III and Impeachment will be the least of our concerns. Iran, China and Russia have done several joint war games. Russia stated that an attack on Iran is an attack on them. We had live nukes flown over America, (by accident?). Someone exposed it, but what if no one had? Were there plans for those bombs? When I can't trust what I’m being told, my fear level is definitely heightened.

Yep, they scare me!

and i do want to be on record as being very passionate about our need to address every one of the items listed in the tags. Some are authors, some are psychological conditions, all will be pertinent in the history books of our age. So why not bone up on them now?

I should clarify that fear is the reason i am saying out loud that I am afraid of my government.

And that is NOT what the United States is about. It's the people being in charge of their own damn leaders. They're the ones who are supposed to fear us. Via democracy.

There's one thing the founders hoped for, even if they were imperfect in achieving it from the start, was that we the people would be able to right the ship when it goes astray.

When you think about the powerful men you see nowadays, can you imagine any of them being humble enough to admit that they're wrong? Yeah, these guys have been around for a long time. In the founders days they were called kings. Like most things that we still have from back then, they go by different names. Bards are now Executive Producers for HBO or Miramax. The Town Criers' are now anchors at FOX, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and all the Washington Papers, all make their money in the capital, not in my home town. Not in my parents' hometown. They're singing the king's song, that's what they do! It's what they've always done.

Now we have the tools to circumvent them.

I don't have a pedigree in politics or punditry. I just like being able to call bullshit on someone when they completely fuck up my country. It's my right as a citizen dammit.

At least gimme a HEARING! He can have a fair trial, unlike the prisoners of Guantannamo Bay and other black sites. Unlike George W. and his enablers, I've got every faith that the evidence against him will be more than enough to convict him, even on a jury of his nearest and dearest piers. If the whole bloody mess were laid out before the world, so we can all have one collective gasp! and step away from the abyss.

Impeachment sure would wake them up.

I never am. Never.

Hell no I'm not afraid, beedee, and if you are, you're falling for their trap and acting exactly as they want you to. Whether they like itor not, we do live in a democracy of sorts, and now that the winds have changed, the Bush Junta can no longer use patriotism as intimidation in order to silence dissention. It will take decades to udo the damage he and Gonzales and Cheney have done to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, but they are on their way out the back door, and I hope they fall in a big puddle of piss when they are thrown out.
Nixon, Agnew, Kissiinger, and J. Edgar Hoover-our own Gang of Four-tried to use this sort of intimidation in the 60's and 70's and the bastards were thrown out. Now the Bushies-again, Republicans-are trying the same thing, and while they were all too successful early on, we still took to the streets to protest this illegal war, and now the press is crawling out from under their desks to take up the cry. Hear that sound beedee? It's the wound of winds of change, and they are a-coming.

i'm working on writing something that will take the metaphors out of politics. remind everyone that this is about specific results committed by specific people, who need to be specifically held accountable. It's not about ideology. It's not about your fucking team. It's not even about some lofty notions about how it might effect the election.

It just needs to get done.

It's about a bunch of guys who are either:

a.) Grossly Incompetent
b.) Massively unlucky
c.) Willful, priggish bosses who only hired guys who kissed their ass and honestly don't have a clue how badly they have fucked things up.

It's up to us to show them. That's the game, guys. Holding our leaders accountable. It's all we've got. They're not gonna do it. Nevermind all the patriotic platitudes. You don't need flag pin or a Harvard education to know that our constitution was all about saying NO KINGS. You fuck up, you face the music. HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS is a crime that ONLY exists for leaders, because it involves crimes so massive that they are impossible to codify, we can only catalog them.

That's impeachment, and it its necessary.

Oops. I guess this kinda wrote itself.