Americans are ignorant and cowardly.
Sad but true.

That being said, the public’s opinion is spot on, so not everyone is ignorant or cowardly.

Just goes to show us … not everyone has drank the cool aid……thank God.

I don’t know about non-violence being completely effective. Look at the recent “Arab Spring”. While much was non-violent, there are always a few nuts with guns who do have to be violently overthrown, because that’s the only language they understand.

It is my opinion that the government of Israel only understands violence.

As an irrelevant aside, some of FDR’s policies may have been marginally unconstitutional. Even the Supreme Court, the ultimate arbiter of what is and what is not Constitutional, has reversed itself a few times (see “Dred Scott”).

But I suspect that attempting to provide work and food and health care for everyone pales into a peccadillo beside blatant violations like starting a war just on Presidential authority (Iraq twice, Afghanistan, Vietnam, etc), imprisoning people without charge (Guantanamo Bay), demanding proof of innocence against an assumption of guilt (drunk driver checkpoints), and the list goes on.

FDR was a piker for messing with the Constitution. What has happened since is much much worse.

Congress last declared war in 1941 – Oddly enough, during the FDR administration.

So you and Bush were right. It is just a ‘goddamn piece of paper’ now. When those charged with enforcing the law of the land are deliberately violating it, there isn’t much alternative.

Finally, No. I don’t think we can find a new way. There are plenty of old ways that were tried and abandoned; as they were steadily corrupted from the inside.

It’s humanity.

And of course, there are some who do neither and simply use it for entertainment or practical purposes.

We are NOT cowards. Okay, some of us are cowards. And it’s true we’ll need a lot more activity and bravery before the end of this age.

When people see other people being brutalized for simply taking a stand, it leaves no question who the moral party is, and who is being unfairly treated. It worked for MLK, it worked for Ghandi. The disparity between the national armed forces (military and police) and the citizens has never been greater. Violent actions by citizens and citizen groups will only allow the pro-establishment media to label them as domestic terrorists and dismiss them and their views.

The degeneration of our republic can be tied to the denigration of our Constitution. Many of FDR’s policies and agencies were inherently unconstitutional, but no one spoke out loudly at the time. If we don’t hold our government to the highest law in the land, then Bush was right when he said “It’s just a goddamn piece of paper.”

And we don’t have a two-party system. We have a one-party system(the Authoritarian party) with two faces.

I agree with you 100% when you say “It won’t change without revolution.” But violence begets more violence. We seek a new way, but not a civil war. Our advanced communications networks allow methods never before conceived. Join the 99% – can we invent a totally new way of self-organizing, politically and economically? We must try.

I’d add to that, “And now Paul has more money, so guess whose campaign will be more effective?”.

J.

I also have to add more glum news – It won’t change without violent revolution. When the system itself is corrupted, and inherently self-corrupting (look at all those freshman Representatives who lost no time whatsoever adding porky earmarks to every spending bill despite campaign promises against such) it can only end badly.

This is how empires fall.

J.

http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution

Someone with your vast knowledge in these matters would be a boon to movement. The livestream chat can get a little rowdy, and the issues that are being pushed are diverse as the ways in which we’re getting screwed, but the energy of the movement is peaceful and revolutionary. Check it out.