Mr. Hannity: The new appeasers claim that UN (United Nations) authorization is needed for war. (pp. 139-140)

and help Americans, Ralph Nader is running for president again.  He deserves the support of all Americans that see themselves as progressives, dissidents, independents, and patriots who want to remove the stranglehold of the two-party plutocracy on our political system.

Because he wants to salvage American democracy When it comes to being an honest, proven and trustworthy change agent, Nader is the gold standard.  So why are so many Democrats going ballistic and spewing hate towards Nader?

They are in denial about both Obama and Clinton.  Both owe much to the corporate and business world that Nader has waged war against for decades.  Like Clinton, Obama has taken huge amounts of money from several business sectors.  Both refuse to advocate a single payer universal health care system that Nader champions; this protects the enormously profitable health insurance industry.

Never have so many hoped for so much because of rollicking rhetoric and pulsating platitudes.  A tsunami of hope has plunged America into electoral euphoria.  In its path is the wreckage of critical thinking about what ails the US and what bold, revolutionary actions are needed.  Barry Obama has accomplished semantic alchemy, turning justified but grim distrust and outrage with government and politics into hallelujah hope.  But most hope never materializes and is a terrible predictor of reality.

Perhaps a global political apocalypse has already arrived.

Activists and dissidents should understand that evil forces and tyrannical governments have evolved.  Just as human knowledge and science expand, so do the strategies and instruments used by rulers, elites and plutocrats.  By learning from history and using new technology they have smarter tools of tyranny.  The best ones prevent uprisings, revolutions and political reforms.  Rather than violently destroy rebellious movements, they let them survive as marginalized and ineffective efforts that divert and sap the energy of nonconformist and rebellious thinkers.  Real revolution remains an energy-draining dream, as evil forces thrive.

After many years of political disappointment, more progressives, liberals and conservatives - and certainly moderates and independents - know in their hearts that voting for Democrats or Republicans is a waste.  Just imagine if voter turnout was cut to 25 percent or less!  Let the whole world see Americans boycotting a broken and corrupt political system and rejecting what has become a delusional democracy.  To keep voting in an unjust political system makes us willing political slaves that the rich and powerful elites exploit.

In my previous diary, I intimated that we Americans should channel our dissatisfaction with our corrupt politicians into grassroots organizations and movements, and suggested the possibility that if we can "Save Darfur", we should be able to save our own country. Now in order to prevent disappointment, we should avoid getting our hopes up too high for the immediate recovery of democracy in the US. Washington, DC has been the prime target of corporate fire for many years, so we should not expect to rebuild it in a day--or in a couple of years. What we need to do is start with small, simple choices and build up momentum gradually.

Thomas Jefferson and Al Gore. Both spokesmen for truth, both statesmen of exemplary principle. But are we truly heeding their words?

My hope that we have not labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men can be governed by reason." --Thomas Jefferson to George Mason, 1791. ME 8:124

"I have so much confidence in the good sense of man, and his qualifications for self-government, that I am never afraid of the issue where reason is left free to exert her force." --Thomas Jefferson to Comte Diodati, 1789. Papers 15:326

I originally wrote this two weeks before I read Al Gore's The Assault On Reason. I am posting it again after reading his book because these words mean even more to me, even though he has stated that impeachment is not an option now. I really don't know if he truly believes that in his heart, but I do know that since reading his book I am even more convinced that impeachment is indeed the only way to regain what we have allowed to be taken from us, and that it too is not a political but a moral issue.

For a number of years now, respected pundits have lauded the American two-party political system as an excellent balance between the dictatorship of a one-party system and the instability of a multiparty system. Yet the two-party system has caused our country great harm. The Republican and Democratic parties have divided the American people over fundamental moral values, they have failed to rectify longstanding national problems, and their existence chiefly benefits special interest groups, politicians, and mega-corporate executives. Most unfortunately of all, however, the two-party setup does not represent the people of the United States.

Patriots for Al Gore, a PAC dedicated to supporting the endeavors of the Honorable Al Gore, writes this press release to announce our pleasure at the release of Mr. Gore's new book, The Assault on Reason.

If people are that complacent and apathetic to allow the Constitutional abuses this regime committed, and if the people are that content or afraid to truly take on the challenges that lie before us, why should a good man like Al Gore have to take it upon his shoulders? Why is it always HIS duty and not ours?

The Assault on Reason, by the Honorable Al Gore is to be released by Penguin Press on May 22 which is in about three weeks. It is reported to be about the difficulty politics has with making decisions based on facts and reason, and using this current regime as the prime example of corruption, fear mongering, and the assault on reason that seeks to bind the soul in perpetual servitude to those interests that represent the antithesis of all our Constitution stands for.

I took it upon myself to write this because I respect Al Gore immensely, and because I also respect President Franklin Roosevelt who has always been one of my true political and personal heroes. I wished to note some similarities between them in discussing Mr. Gore's life, and for me this was truly a labor of love that I thoroughly enjoyed writing from my heart. So in celebration of Mr. Gore's birthday which is today I wished to post it again.

Joel S. Hirschhorn

What is this thing called democracy?  So easy to talk about, so difficult to make real.  Pure democracy is not what our Founders gave us.  Who would want a simple majority to control the minority?  Instead, America was given a representative democracy within a constitutional republic where laws that protect all people trump majority rule.  Standing between majority-won elections and government power are elected representatives: writing, overseeing and implementing laws.  But when you can no longer trust the elected representatives what happens to American democracy?  It becomes an oxymoron.

"Revolution is the Solution"

Joel Hirschhorn interviewed by Jason Miller

For several days I had been bedeviled by the recurring memory of a jingle from an out-dated television commercial. My recollection of the product they were promoting lay tantalizingly close to the edge of my consciousness, but remained stubbornly out of my reach.

So my "mind's ear" was left listening to, "It's time for a new beginning..." ad nauseam with no tangible context. (If I had had that, I would at least have known which company to despise for etching such an inane little tune into my brain).