(hope I got those names right) for the Christmas music posts. I’m not in a Christmas mood this year; so far no Christmas happening here. In any case, love your tunes and added to my music library. Thanks for the inspiration.

There is noise, so much noise, static and a constant bombardment of repeated information, more bad news, natural disasters, imminent threats, accidents, violent shootings and anniversaries of shootings...so much noise, so loud yet there is an eerie silence.

Nothing from leaders I want and need to hear from. No leaders I respect and admire and believe in. No leaders who can speak truth, be reasonable and sane. No leaders who can unite us rather than divide us. No leaders who aren’t blatantly corrupt. Of course there are good Democrats in Congress -AND THE TWO PARTIES ARE NOT THE SAME! I’m grateful for many members of Congress who are there and speaking out. Still, there is a vacancy of leadership desperately needed at this dark time.

I recall in the movie Braveheart, William Wallace returned to his village and wanted to start a life. He wanted to settle down, build a home, find a wife and have a family. Basically he wanted to pursue “life, liberty and happiness” in his own way and in his time. Lately, I think about this and many other people who surely must have wanted to create a life but were unaware to do so given the burdens imposed on them in their historical time periods. This is how it feels now to me in the USA.

In fact, I have felt this before although I thought the darkness had passed; having survived the horrible 8 years of W & Cheney when time and attention was siphoned away from my personal life due to the constant affront and threat from the government with their looting and war crimes and gov by PR stunts. Then, thankfully, having 8 years of peace under President Obama and Vice Pres Biden to return my focus to my personal life which has given way to the current hell of living in the USA now which is worse than W - something I never, ever could have imagined previously.

All of this makes me think of people throughout history who no doubt wanted a peaceful life; a life where they could pursue their own concept of liberty and happiness. People who, instead of life, because of circumstances thrust upon them, circumstances too large to escape or ignore lost their life, either figuratively or literally. Better people than me who endured the worst, the most heinous crimes against humanity, abuse, war, destruction, pillaging and more.

I wonder how people lived during these horrible times? How they endured? How some of them even lived to overcome?

Currently it seems those of us who, like William Wallace so long ago, who just want to create and live a life have been set on a collision course with circumstances set against us.

For approximately 25 years, the bulk of my adult life here in the USA, I have had this idea that somehow, someday there would be a clash between the haves and the have-nots. The tensions have been brewing for decades. I am not an economist yet the circumstances are plain as the noses on our faces. If I were gifted in economic language and theory I could give details about precipitating factors. A few things that come to mind from a lay person’s perspective are: deregulation by Reagan, Union busting, lack of living wage, wages that haven’t kept up with cost of living, the intentional destruction of our economy by GOP during W’s terms and now Trump, an economic atmosphere that is stacked against working class...to name a few things. This Tax Heist is an abomination and an afront. I wonder if this will be the impetus for the fight I have anticipated for decades, one that would eventually, inevitably happen?

my mind. On “election” day in Nov 2016 this site was hacked. I have been a long time member here dating way back to W after Selection 2000. The image forced upon me, and upon every user here, is vivid and piercing. After last night’s Tax heist by KGOP this is the image I woke up with. If you experienced it, then you know; you can see it now I would venture a guess. If not, this post won’t mean anything to you...my apologies.

There are many disturbing and atrocious aspects of this tax heist but the most heinous is the blatant disregard for the majority of the American people by the KGOP. The process failed. The institution failed. The rule of law failed (again). The people who are supposed to represent their constituents clearly did not and have not. It’s like a double dog dare to the majority of Americans in a modern day “taxation without representation” to take action. The fact that our government has been involved in a hostile takeover is horrifying. The KGOP forced this Tax heist down our throats. They know the majority of Americans are against it. They don’t care. Their lack of care is terrifying on many levels.
Their actions against their constituents are a dereliction of duty but they act without concern for the future...as if they are immune. Why? That is an important question. Historically “vote em out” was a remedy one they are obviously not worried about.

it feels like we are living in Gotham City with the Republican level of corruption and hypocrisy. So we could use The Bat Signal to reach Batman.

Cross-Posting per suggestion from original thread in DU Lounge

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018898106#post6

Back in the day I knew Bleever and worked in the election review forum in 2004-2005 plus. I remember Bleever with great fondness and deep gratitude. Thinking of you Bleever, wherever you are.

interference in US election and related leaks

They are seeking info about FBI investigations into Clinton and Foundation and who gave info to Giuliani and Flynn. The article also mentions the connection between Trump Tower and the Russian bank, the secret server connection.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/12/lawsuit-foia-foreign-interference-election-233068

Back in 2004 I was here under a different name. I remained here until approximately 2008. I got busy with difficulties and challenges in life besides I didn't worry with PBO & VP Biden in the WH, after 8 long years of worrying when GWB/Cheney & their insane criminal cabal was there.

I came back this year. I lost my old password and email so I started fresh here. During my previous membership here I was a Gold Star member making a contribution whenever I was able to. I donated this year just before 11/9 when it was announced star members would have priority login here during the "election" and as I always have, I'll contribute as funds allow.

I miss the DU of the past. I see many repeat threads now as people post same info without checking first. I've noticed there isn't as much dialogue in threads as I recall meaning lots of people posting threads without conversations within threads. I see more info about what tRump says or does and what Russia/Putin says or does than I care to here. I see way too much of we have to "accept tRump" because he was "duly elected" although that hasn't been proven or disproven to date. I find this to be especially sad since when I joined DU there was rigorous review and discussion of electronic voting and verified voting and the results of 2004. Also, I see many people here saying "only we the people can stop tRump" but I doubt that is possible. How exactly can we stop him? Only people in power have the ability and authority to do that. We can resist, and we must, we can avoid normalizing him and his regime, we can organize, etc. but ultimately we cannot stop him; perhaps someone can convince me this is possible, however, short of an actual revolution or civil war, I don't see it working...I'm not advocating either by the way.

I love DU and DUers yet these are things I observe. So, are you paranoid? Am I?

is over. We have no verification of votes. State government officials shut down recount efforts and in some cases tampered with said recount efforts in order to skew results even though Americans paid highway robbery prices to get a verified vote count. We still have electronic voting machines that have no paper trails and cannot be audited. We still have electronic voting systems with "proprietary software and hardware" that we have no access to because the corporations that make the machines won't allow it. The electronic voting systems are not secure and can be hacked. In spite of court rulings against GOP Gerrymandered districts the districts remain. There were over a million legitimate American voters purged from voting lists and GOP Vote Suppression is a very successful tactic for their Party. There are a myriad of problems with our election/voting system and under GOP control with tRump it will not be fixed it will get worse.

If you are thinking about focusing on 2018, or 2020 your missing the big picture. As Josef Stalin said, "it's not who votes but who counts the votes that matters."