By Timothy V. Gatto

I want to preface this article with this; I am really not in the mood to write this. Usually something hits me and I run to the keyboard and offer up what’s on my mind, and it gives me a kind of relief that I got it off my chest and whatever I was angry about isn’t eating my guts alive. This is different. For days now I have been in a funk that is just unbelievable. I feel hopeless and betrayed not only by my own government, but also by the people that I encounter in my daily life.

What I want to say here, no, what I have to say here, is that this country, our very way of life and everything we ever stood for, is under attack. It isn’t “Radical Islam” that is attacking the very fabric of our society, it’s the people running our government, our media, and the people in the shadows that run the corporations and the banks, along with the so-called “think tanks” that make policy. We in the United States are under attack from so many different sectors that it is almost impossible to point your finger at anyone that is taking this nation down the sewer of fascism. You have the right wing of the Republican Party, the right wing of the Democratic Party. Then you have Fox and CNN and ABC, MSNBC and a host of other media that won’t step on the toes of their corporate sponsors. Then you have the Federal Reserve that is run by a private corporation that lends the government their own money at interest and a few families that own America grow exponentially richer by the day.

Then you have these groups like this new group “Freedom’s Watch” that is one of the greatest oxymoron’s in history. These are right wing radicals that believe nothing for individual freedom that started their organization with a paltry 200 Million dollars from sources they don’t dare to identify. The people that run this organization are former White House staffers. Freedoms Watch is described in Wikipedia:

Freedom’s Watch is an advocacy group in part run and supported by former officials of the Bush administration. [1] The organization states that its goal is “educating individuals about and advancing public policies that protect America’s interests at home and abroad, foster economic prosperity, and strengthen families.” [2] The Freedom’s Watch website states, “Those who want to quit while victory is possible have dominated the public debate about terror and Iraq since the 2004 election. Freedom’s Watch is going to change that.”

In case you want to know who is behind them here is a list of executives and donors, The Washington Post lists the following members and donors for Freedom’s Watch:

* Bradley A. Blakeman (president, a former deputy assistant to George W. Bush).
* Ari Fleischer (board member, former Bush press secretary).
* Matthew Brooks (board member, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition).
* Mel Sembler (donor, former ambassador to Italy who helped finance the 2000 Florida recount battle).
* John Templeton Jr. (donor, board member of the Templeton Growth Fund and financier of Let Freedom Ring).
* Sheldon Adelson (donor, CEO Las Vegas Sands Corporation and the third-richest American in Forbes magazine’s rankings last year).
* Kevin E. Moley (donor, former U.S. ambassador to international organizations in Geneva, and a senior adviser to Dick Cheney during the 2000 campaign).
* Howard Leach (donor, CEO Leach Capital and former ambassador to France who also helped fund the Florida Recount).
* Anthony Gioia (donor, head of Gioia Management and former ambassador to Malta).
* Richard Fox (donor, co-founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition).
* Gary Erlbaum (donor, owner of Greentree Properties).

Quite a list of Who’s Who in American Fascism. This is just one of the groups that want to make sure that the Progressive/Liberals are shut out of mainstream society. Their website looks like the “Mission Accomplished” banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln when Bush made that ridiculous speech that “Combat operations are over in Iraq”. See it here and tell me if the symbols and colors aren’t right in line with a fascist ideology.

Even as we speak the right is spinning tales about Iran in preparation for an attack. One must wonder whom exactly will that attack benefit? Will it benefit the American people when the straits of Hormuz are shut down and gas rises to four bucks a gallon? When are forces are spread so thin and our men are exhausted from fighting one tour after another in a combat zone what exactly do they hope to gain? Meanwhile Bill Kristof and the demonizers on FOX TV spread misinformation at the speed of light while the other networks soft-shoe it so they won’t antagonize their corporate sponsors, the average American that doesn’t read liberal/progressive websites believes that Iran is where Satan reigns supreme.

I recently attended a Move-On meeting right here in the belly of the beast, South Carolina. I met people that are genuinely concerned about the same things that I am concerned about. The only difference between them and I is that I was born and raised in New York and I really don’t give a damn what people think about me. These people at the meeting were afraid to speak to their neighbors and friends about the policies of our government for fear of being ostracized. The Baptists here give sermons about the evils of Islam and our “duty” to combat our enemies. This isn’t endemic to South Carolina, not at all… it’s rampant across the Midwest and the rest of the South to include Texas. This nation is under attack from the extreme right and they are winning.

The most noteworthy thing that I took from the Move-On meeting was that we should not “confront” those against the war, but to speak gently. How do you speak gently to a population that believes we are “helping” the Iraqi people when in fact we are committing genocide there? This is why I didn’t want to write this article. I have been so angry for so long that the anger is starting to turn inward. Unless people get their head out of their ass and start to make some noise, not on Progressive websites, but in the Newspapers, in noisy demonstrations, by boycotts and by telling the truth to their family and neighbors we are going to lose this fight, and believe me when I tell you this is the fight of our lives.

Trying to be civil isn’t the way we are going to shape this nation’s destiny. We are outgunned, and outnumbered, not to mention the fact that we are out-resourced. Just about the only way we are going to turn the tide in this country is by screaming the truth in the ears of anyone that will listen. The time for politeness is over. It’s time that we make our presence visible and meaningful, even if it takes getting arrested over and over again. This is a fight that we cannot lose, for if we lose this fight we lose our freedom and we lose everything that is good about America. Once I was a career soldier in our nation’s Army, now I am a career activist against all that is wrong with our nation. Ten years ago I was left of center. Today I am part of “The Radical Fringe Left”. My views haven’t changed, the nation’s views have changed, I’m the same man, and with the same beliefs I always had. I will work with Move-On, or any other Progressive Americans to change people’s views, one mind at a time. To do anything else is to turn my back on my country, for if ever my country needed me it is now. America needs you too.

That’s the way I see it.
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Authors Website: http://liberalpro.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: Former Chairman of the Liberal Party of America, Tim is a retired Army Sergeant. He currently lives in South Carolina. A regular contributor to OpEdNews, he is the author of Kimchee Kronicles and is currently at work on a new novel.