Illegal immigration will be a huge divisive tool used by the fascists who have helped create this condition. Fear and loathing is all they have because they sure as hell can't run on their record!

Most of white America cannot tell a Mexican from an Arab without the benefit of ethnic garb. Put a big beard, broad mustache and a turban on an American Indian and they will pass as a Sikh behind a 7-11 counter.

It's all about fear and loathing. Appealing to the baser instincts of human nature is how a minority party competes with a more egalitarian and inclusive one.

It is fallacious for any American to buy the "Terrorist" idea simply because GB43 says they are dangerous, without digging deeper to learn WHY he thinks they are so. Most Americans have heard of the labels "Freedom Fighter" "Loyalist" "Patriots" Leftists" "Communists", etc. Most Americans would have trouble distinguishing between them, and rightfully so. All those groups appear as some kind of grey otherworld that exists "out there" usually in the Third World.

All caring Americans would do well to get a copy of "Thy Will Be Done" by Gerard Colby and Charlotte Dennett. It was published in the mid-Nineties, but didn"t get much of a following, mainly because of its content. It was not flattering to the United States of America.

It was a cold look at what America"s Foreign Policy was actually doing in the Third World, and covered the period beginning at the close of WWII and ending in the early nineties. It really didn"t end, of course, because much of the same process continues today. I didn"t enjoy reading the book myself; it was disturbing.

Brick Sykes
(more after the fold)

Oh, please--you know and I know there will be a sudden uptick in terror threats and 'crises' throughout the world, right as we approach the election. Bush & Cheney are in a position to design and choreograph these and they will do so to get another Republican in to keep the cashing flowing to their buddies. Didn't we see this during the last couple elections? The question is, will the public be fooled again.

Onward christian soldiers!

-VivaZapata, you've been charged with the crime of not capitalizing the "c" in christian. How do you plead?

-guilty, your worship.

-the sentence is death by lethal injection, but the court feels that given your ignorance as to the our lord, jesus christ's teachings from the holy bible, we should show leniency and therefore, you will be sentenced to like imprisonment where you will be waterboarded once a day and compelled to listen to "what a friend we have in jesus" whenever you are in your cell. may god have mercy on your soul.

-In 1950, Puerto Rican terrorist Andrés Figueroa Cordero attempted to murder President Harry Truman. In 1954, a suicide commando group of four Puerto Rican terrorists shot up the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen. (http://www.larouchepub.com/other/1995/2245_puerto_rico.html)
-Croatian terrorists carried out attacks during the 1960's and 1970's inside the US. aimed at Yugoslav immigrants; so too did Armenians against Turks residing in America. A 1988 bombing plot by a member of the Japanese Red Army was interrupted only when the man was found to be carrying the explosives along the New Jersey Turnpike. (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1954+puerto+rico+terrorist+group+house)
- For years, Britain protested the United States' willingness to tolerate Boston barroom collections for the "charitable causes" of the Irish Republican Army. I guess there are terrorists and there are terrorists, right? Those who conform to a heroic "freedom-fighter" image are our friends?
- I have a friend who did medical work in Nicaragua and he would clearly have labeled the famed "Contras" as Terrorists. Some of their tactics (many out of a US training book) were horrific.
- Munich - the Olympics?
- How many airliners were hijacked in the 1960's and 1970's?
- The same Taliban/Al-Quaeda we despise today were once labeled the heroic "mujahadeen" by the American Government and given millions of dollars by the Reagan Administration.
-Oklahoma City Bombing, The First WTC bombing, etc..., etc.....
Pan-Am over Lockerbie Scotland?
- Tanzania and Kenya in the 1990's, not to mention the USS Cole.
The notion that "9/11 changed everything" is completely ridiculous. I have only scratched the surface of what could be labeled as "terrorism throughout history." In point of fact, from the British Army's point of view, early American Revolutionaries were also terrorists.

the idea that republicans can keep us safer than democrats can is absurd, just a figment of the imagination that was sold to us like the idea of gay marriage destroying the country. it's a ploy. we all know the state of our border and airport security -- if we get attacked again, it's not because of the party in power. but i do know that if that happens, i'd much rather prefer a democrat in office who can responsibly handle the aftermath: the retaliation, the cleanup, and the diplomacy.

Here's the story for Dems:
Yes, we lived in a safer world before 9/11. In that world we worked WITH our allies and ENGAGED our adversaries with diplomacy and measured responses, not all-out war against entire countries which had nothing to do with wrongs done to us. In that world, our presidents didn't look for opportunities to invade countries that did nothing to us - even before being elected. And they didn't ignore the warnings of terror when they came, nor the perpetrators who did harm us. We tried to make the world a better place for EVERYONE, not just the oil companies. And we didn't keep crying wolf to make and keep Americans afraid.

Yep. There should be hours of footage to use in ads this fall with Reid, Pelosi and Murtha crying "The war is Lost" "We have to cut and run" "WE SURRENDER" ......then fade to "America do you really want these cowards running the country?"

If they had been in power when 9/11 happens they would have done nothing like Slick Willie did nothing after attach after atack...

Heck there would have many more 9/11s by now if those cowards would have been in control. And as some mentioned below if the Dem win Al Quida will be have the biggest party on the planet celebrating that America will now have an "Open door policy for attacks"....."Suit up Abdul, we are going to America"

How idiotic, people have to go back to Kerry, yet Kerry served while Bush hid, how asinine is that. Bush creates more terrorists due to his
policies, and that was confirmed by the Pentagon. And when one disagrees with the Bush Policies we enable the terrorists and probably be labeled such. If Bush would not try to start a war with every nation that has oil we would not have so many people hating us. These days one has to be ashamed to be from the US.

We all act like terrorism is a recent phenomenon. The way to defuse 9/11 as a campaign tactic is to talk to the history of the use of terror as a tactic and what has been done in the past to combat it.
Did the IRA stop using Terror because of the British Army Presence or because of great intelligence? Did Britons give up their fundamental rights in that fight?
Muslim extremist groups are not the only ones to use terror as a tactic. It's also true that they did not just start using this tactic in September of 2001. Making the American electorate better informed would go a long way towards putting this into perspective.
I would argue that terror stops working because the tide of sentiment in the population it purports to fight on behalf of turns against it. We had a wonderful chance after 9/11 to garner some public sympathy but we wasted it on archaic and clearly ineffective tactics (i.e. - war, torture, take away rights). Now we are just fueling the pro-terrorist sentiments in the radical muslim population with much of what we do.
We have to get away from this "coddling terrorists" rhetoric and talk about WHAT WORKS.

If you want protection from terrorists, hire good administrators. Don't hire political hacks like Brown ("good job, Brownie")! The president isn't going to be at the airport inspecting luggage, and he isn't going to be in Minnesota inspecting bridges.

Who is strong on Terror? Not Bush. Not Rudy. Not INS. Not customs. Not Republicans.

Our borders are as porous as a sieve. Nothing coming in by shipping ports is inspected. The Bushies were ready to give our ports to the Arabs. They have no problem with our Mexican border because of the cheap labor it brings. however, they guard the Canadian border because we know how dangerous Canadians are. They started a war with a person who did not attack us. They lost interest in the war with the person who did. They give 10B a year to the man who harbors the terrorists.

We have seen Bin Laden go from "Dead or alive" to insignificant. We bully countries without nukes and kowtow to the countries that do.

We have sold our national debt to a Communist country (remember how 30 or 40 years ago, the Communists were the enemy?).

We have spent ourselves into submission, and have given away the rest to the Fascists.

Yeah, I feel real secure with the Republicans telling us how dangerous the world is. They should know. They have contributed greatly.

THE LIBERALS WIN IN '08 AND AL QUEDA THROWS A HUGE PARTY. WE ALL KNOW IT!!!!

Blindsided?

OF COURSE the republicans are going to play the fear card. It is about the only card left in their deck and they have played it at every possible opportunity in the last six years. It is really just an estension of how they played the 'red menace' card during the Cold War years.

So when the RNC and the 527 groups start rolling out the sinister implications that electing a democrat will cause you and your children to be murdered by terrorists anybody who is surprised by it is so stupid they deserve to be blindsided.

If the Democrats aren't careful they will "swiftboat" themselves by default in permitting the republicans to lie about their war on terror. We should have learned our lesson with Kerry who didn't have the guts to defend his record and go on the offensive as a combat veteran regardless of the lies and chicanery that the swiftboaters used to bring him down and place the Vietnam War avoiders--Bush and Cheney in office. This was truly baffling.

I don't believe the Dems have to play into the hands of the Republicans. I have to laugh when I hear the Neocons and their ilk talking about the continuing threat from-"they, them, the other guys". The Dems were not the ones to try and get Dubai to protect our ports-no one talks about that fiasco by Bushco, the Dems should.
We need more talk by democratic candidates to illustrate for the American people how inept, self serving and criminal the Bush administration, and for that matter, the entire Neocon philosphy really is. 2008 is going to be a monster year for my country. Long live democracy!!!

The average American is more likely to be mugged on a big city street by a fellow American than to be bombed by an Arab. The War on Terror has been a major and expensive distraction. Anyone living in Oakland, CA or Baltimore or Detroit or DC or ... could tell you that. Just look at the police blotter of any big American city.

Mike53--maybe no attacks because bin Laden has achieved his goals with the attack on 9/11. This country has removed Saddam an enemy of our enemy(bin Laden) and laid waste to his people and country. Our nation has squandered billions for warmongering and profiteering in Iraq and still squandering with no end in sight, The US economy is in free fall, the nation is divided into bickering adverserial camps with the quarreling growing and America hated around the world. Why would he need to do more--he has already brought us to our knees.

While they fight, a real Reublican from Micigan was getting the job done. What's the name of that ex-Congressman?

Are we ingrates?

We FORGOT to thank BushCo and the Republicans for
doing such a great job securing our country?

WELL, WE WILL THANK THEM WHEN WE GO TO THE POLLS!

THANK THEM FOR NOT SECURING OUR PORTS AND BORDERS.

NO BUSH LOYALISTS WILL BE ELECTED IN 2008!

Is that enough "Thanks?"

What have Republican's actually done to stop another terrorist attack?????? If people would use their brains instead of listening to the venom Rush Limbaugh spews daily they would know. The Republican's have done literally nothing to stop another attack. All they have done is to start 2 wars in a effort to supposedly confront terrorism. Wars that have done nothing but to bring an increase in terrorism. What good does it do to invade a whole country when you are in reality looking for and fighting a clandestine organization who has tentacles in all middle-eastern countries. So to start wars over terrorism is an exercise in stupidity. All American's have to do is look at our wide open borders, wide open ports to know this President has done nothing. In fact, he has slashed funds to protect this country at every turn. That phrase he uses 'fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here' is more complete absurdity. Terrorism is a ideological idea that is indulged in by extremist's who are essentially powerless to fight in any other manner. They aren't a country they are a clandestine group of people. The whole notion is so absurd it defies logic. So how could he possibly be protecting us that way? Like I have stated before, if people would just use their brains to reason. It's obvious we have a lot of dumb downed people in this country incapable of using their reasoning abilities.

And what do the republicans run on... they screwed up our security by going to war, they screwed up our economy by their ill advised tax cuts, they've screwed up our progress in human rights, they've screwed up our ecology efforts to save the planet... And we're going to worry about that old sawbuck: "But who can keep you safer?" It's evident it's not the Repugnicants... at least the crop they have running. We don't need four more years... We need four new years... D.

When 9/11 happened I dropped to my knees and thanked God that Al Gore was not the president.

Subj2Chng

Consider this, if Al Gore had been president maybe he would be have been sweating the real details of terrorism and just maybe he would not have delegated it to a VP, who had another agenda, instead of going on vacation, cutting brush, trying to be a regular guy. Remember "I don"t want to swat flies", these are big picture corporate guys, not terrorism guys. Lets go to war on a cost analyst bases as apposed winning, now a whole lot of people are dead as a result. Maybe, Bush could have paid more attention to the security brief, "Bin Laden determined to attack in the US". Under Clinton the FBI captured the 93 bombers whom are in prison to this day, Clinton had only been in office less than 6 months and he did not blame Bush 41.

Would have Gore sat in a classroom for 7 mins reading (My Pet Goat) after his chief of staff whispered in his ear "the country is under attack" with no information beyond that, nuclear missiles could have arrived in less than hour, yet Bush sat their. How about Tora Bora when a small force of CIA field agents begged the Pentagon for a blocking force of 1,500 Army Rangers to cut off Bin Ladens escape. No, Rumsfeld is a big picture guy, lets do B-52 strikes on a bunch of empty caves.

Aside from the flying back to Washington in the middle of night to sign legislation for Terry Schiavo, keeping the values base happy, George Bush has been late to the party on just about every major challenge confronting his administration and more than 70% of the country now gets it.

You sound like Rudy when he proclaimed as the planes were flying into the towers, "Thank God Preident Bush is our President". I was there that day and George Bush was the last thing on my mind, I was to busy giving blood I guess.

coke or pepsi? one is just sweeter than the other.

ron paul 2008!

Blindside? I expect it to be their main and overwhelming point of attack. It has worked for them before in 2002, 2004 and to a much lesser degree in 2006. The Democrats need to fight back and do their own 'swift boating' just as agressively as to the Republicans hitting them hard on their misguided war, national security and economic policies.