I’m just a little angry this morning, so it’s time for me to get on the soap box. If you have recently done some of the things I’m going to suggest in this post, please understand I’m not angry with you.

What the christ is wrong with you people? The Kennedy article makes it beyond clear, democracy no longer functions in the republic. Do you think the Democrats are going to save you? The SCLM? Surveillance and probably more than that has emasculated both of those traditional bulwarks against tyranny, to say nothing of their own complicity. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

I’ve been all over the blogosphere, today and yesterday, catching up and watching the Kennedy piece get posted everywhere. Which is great. What I’m not seeing: calls for action. Why the hell not? How much more proof do we need? Has everyone just put the knowledge that we’re having elections in a couple of months in a little box and stashed it in some mental closet? Logic demands we act on this knowledge, today.

I don’t want to hear any whining. “I’m just one person.” “No one in power will listen to me.” “It’s too late to change out the machines.” “Rolling Stone isn’t respectable enough.” “My neighbors don’t care.” “I work two jobs and don’t have time.” To that I say: Tough Shit. I don’t like the fact that I’m broke, or that I can’t be with the woman I love…that doesn’t mean I sit around all day crying into my beer about it. Neither should you.

If you have the time for TV, you’ve got the time for vote fraud activism. If you’ve got the money for an internet connection, you’ve got the money to support a movement or organization taking action. If you’ve got a mouth and two fingers, you can make a phone call, write a letter, send an email. You can go to the local Democratic party meeting and speak out. You can go to your local election officials and demand they improve security and accountability. Whenever the hell you’re not required to work, sleep and eat- you can DO SOMETHING ABOUT VOTING FRAUD.

Nothing else is more important. Nothing. What the hell is the point of working for change on the environment, or speaking out against the war, or any other issue that is your pet cause? Because if you aren’t allowed to vote for the candidate of your choice and have it counted , you are living in a TOTALITARIAN ONE PARTY STATE. Which, as Kennedy proves, you are. Was that the first thing on your mind when you woke up this morning? No? It should be, today and every morning until this is fixed.

We have a proud heritage of activism in this country. From the Founding Fathers and Mothers to the Civil Rights giants, there are plenty of examples of what we can and must do. The Constitution spells it out clearly- the People are the ultimate source of authority, and it’s time we lived up to that responsibility.

I’m going to do something I rarely do in public. I’m going to tell you now: I am almost always right in my political predictions. I knew Kerry would lose when “smarter” people knew he would win, and I knew it months before most lefty people. I knew Bush was spying on Americans and using that information to silence people years before it hit the mainstream blogosphere. I knew there were no WMDs in Iraq, and that most of Bush’s economic statistics were made up bullshit. I’ve been ahead of the curve more times than I can count at this point, and I’m going to make another prediction now.

Soon, perhaps even during the Bush administration, there will be mass arrests and detentions of American citizens. Political dissenters, unbelievers, gays, religious minorities- all will be shipped off to camps and tortured, permanently imprisoned and silenced. It’s already happening to communities of color under the rubric of the “drug war,” but those are just niggers so I understand why no one (white people with money and jobs) cares. It’s happening to immigrants and American Muslims and gays. Now it’s going to happen to you, soft and lazy middle class person. The Republicans are the Nazis come again, as I said years ago to Bartcop. They are also smarter about fascism, and have the support of greater powers than Hitler ever did. Do you want to end your life, or see your children, in a concentration camp?

The time for talk has passed. I’m not going to do your homework for you; there are dozens of organizations with whom you can become involved on this issue. I know some of you ’big’ bloggers occasionally read this blog, and I know many readers have their own blogs as well. Beyond all the talk about Fitz and Judy and Al lies a harrowing future, one that is barreling down on us like a frieght train with a murderous engineer. Make this an issue, today, tomorrow, and until we have acheived recourse. There’s no excuse anymore. Otherwise, you’ll be staring out from behind bars in your old age, wondering why you thought that sweater story seemed so important back when you could’ve help prevent the demise of the Republic.