Dancing With Tyrants or Why Civil Disobedidience Is Now The Only Way Forward

Recall, if you will, the sudden rise of Barack Hussein Obama and his quick ascent to the throne.

An unknown , unelected, constitutional law professor seemingly made to fit history, right down to his middle name, at the time of the worst constitutional crisis in our nations history .

Introduced to the nation at the democratic national convention by the party establishment, Obama served less than half his term as Senator while campaigning for and clinching both the democratic nomination and presidency all at the same time. Pretty slick huh .

Remember FISA ?

Along side the other contenders for the democratic nomination for president Obama pledged not to allow retroactive immunity for the telecoms. The FISA laws had teeth, carrying a penalty of up to $10,000 and five years in jail for each citizen whose rights had been violated. FISA would have locked up Bush officials and anyone caught spying on American citizens for something like a million years and this was seen by progressives as the best chance of restoring what had been destroyed under Bush and bringing those responsible for dismantling our rights to justice . Then, just shortly after receiving the nomination, surprise, a complete about face on our best chance at restoring democracy in America.

But he would still stand firm for the constitution in the courts and roll back the abuses of the Bush era once coronated we were told .

Well we now know that Obama has defended all the powers he inherited from Bush and even expanded his evil footprint claiming even the right to assassinate Americans abroad and essentially eliminating Miranda. Spying without oversight had reached a level that could be admired by Stalin, who lacked today's technology . Innocent individuals tortured and later released were prevented from ever seeking retribution in the courts . Bush administration officials, implicated in shameful crimes never before imagined possible in the US, were shielded through the use of the states secret privilege in American courts and defended against all comers abroad .

The democratic super majority

Progressives and independents aware of our nations descent into tyranny worked feverishly to place "progressive democrats in power in Washington over two election cycles. These democrats then voted in the largest military budget since the second world war with the majority we handed them , a majority larger than any enjoyed by republicans for over seventy years . At a time of record poverty and at a time when the disparity of wealth was greater than at any time since 1928 our nation was spending as much as the entire planet combined on it's military and invading oil and gas rich nations for their resources.

Torture, secret prisons,use of the states secret privilege, warrant less wiretapping,extrajudicial rendition,the loss of habeas corpus,military commissions,and indefinite detention of suspected enemy combatants all continued unabated . Practices such as signing statements and the supposed reinstatement of posse comitatus which Bush attached a signing statement to have never been adequately addressed and the new administration worked to eliminate Miranda protections while proclaiming the right to assassinate American citizens abroad without judicial interference.

This has been, from the onset , a very involved con job by people responsible for the deaths of 100s of 1000's at least, who have demonstrated a complete lack of compassion for the average man here or abroad and who run big business, the government and both parties.

We are living in a surveillance state without meaningful constitutional protections for it's citizens, global warming threatens our existence as a species on this planet in a very real way and the corporate entities which control our government are obligated to produce as much profit for their stockholders as possible making ethical behavior essentially impossible and outside their abilities .

It may make you feel good to believe that signing petitions and running progressive candidates in the primaries will change this ,or that voting once every two years in federal elections will help save America but may I suggest that that is rather naive. I believe that without a popular uprising involving the majority of the American population and direct non violent non cooperation en masse with the powers that be, we will never see any change meaningful enough to address the dire situation our nation and planet find themselves in .