The Political Revolution Will Be Not Only Be Televised

It Will Be On YouTube, Your iPhone and Even In Your Face

The conventional wisdom says that we are in the middle of a political revolution. Politicians are hitting every stop on the information superhighway, and the public can't get enough of this new-found intimacy with politicians -- or at least the parodies of them.

OK, I realize it's not the type of revolution you were hoping for. No regimes are toppling. No war is ending. And, until an election proves otherwise, young people still don't like going to the polls.

Ah, the more things change, the more the political process finds a new way to bore us out of our minds -- and our desire to make a genuine difference.

For many, debates are one of the last bastions to hear a genuine political conversation. Forced to think on their feet, politicians -- not matter how well-rehearsed -- inevitably offer us moments of humanity.

Depending on your perspective, though, we are either witnessing the end of debates as we know them or we are finally marshaling debates into the 21st Century.

The next Democratic debate on Monday will get its questions from YouTube, from a selection of over 1300 video submissions. It's a either a "cultural milestone" or a "superficial" gee-whiz exercise.

Talking about gee-whiz, I reckon the revolution won't be televised. It'll probably be piped direct to your iPhone and sponsored by Exxonmobil.

The iPhone is a dangerous gadget. It somehow manages to capture the essence of authoritarianism in its shiny little box.

Totally locked down, it runs only pre-approved software on a pre-chosen phone network that is subject to government surveillance.

Long live the iPhone! Long live democracy!"

“We know things are bad. Worse than bad. They’re crazy”

Americans don’t believe in revolution anymore. It has become a meaningless event in the distant past.

But we need a revolution and we need it now. We need to remove the present administration and restore the people’s confidence in government.

The Bush administration is not a government at all. We all know that. It is a crime family—an oligarchy of racketeers. They have no moral authority, no legitimacy, no right to govern. They’re criminals.

Who doesn’t know this?

And, yet, our congressmen and senators refuse to do their jobs. They’ve "taken impeachment off the table". They have agreed that Bush is above the law.

Fine. Then we’ll have to persuade them that they’re wrong or find another way. But Bush has to go. How else can we re-establish democracy in America? How else can we reinstate the legitimate power of congress?

Every day we read about some new attack on our freedom. Every day our constitution is further trashed.

This week Bush banned public demonstrations against the war. Last month he issued an executive order that makes himself dictator if another terrorist attack takes place inside the US.

The month before that the Congress passed a law that makes it easier for Bush to declare martial law and militarize the country.

We’re not asleep. We know what’s going on. We know they won’t stop until someone stops them. Why would they? They love power.

Look at Iraq. The millions of protestors in the streets had absolutely no effect. The congress had no effect. World opinion had no effect. The United Nations had no effect.

So what happened?

They were stopped in Iraq by men with guns. End of story.

Will it be different at home? I hope so, but who knows?

Leftists, liberals and Libertarians are great at pointing out the details of Bush’s attack on the Bill of Rights---but to what end? For more recriminations and hand-wringing?

We don't need that. We know the problem and we know the solution---Bush must go.

I could be wrong, but I think that revolution is coming...and it’s coming sooner than you think.

The American people have been hoodwinked and intimidated for a long time, but we’re reaching a tipping point where public outrage will overpower fear.

And that’s what revolution is - organized rage directed at the government.

That’s why they want to keep us apart, and spy on us, and follow our every movement. They want absolute power. It’s their dream.

It is the dream of evil men everywhere. But it will fail---because everything they’ve tried so far has failed. And because the culture of freedom is stronger than the cynical schemes of demagogues.

We need to see we’re not alone. We need to understand that 70% of the American people feel just like us. They’re mad.

Mad at the war, mad at congress, mad at Bush. And we need to stay mad---mad as hell until things change. And they’ll only change if we work together.

But first we have to get mad.

Mike Whitney @ Uruk