Look, you haven't been detained for speaking up, you won't be detained for speaking up

This is true, but has absolutely nothing to do with what I was talking about.  Just because a bad thing hasn't happened to me doesn't mean it hasn't happened to anyone.  Additionally, if you look to German history as a model, it isn't always just an overnight thing where someone declares themselves a dictator, if they ever do.  In Germany, Hitler was elected.  That didn't stop him from being evil or doing things that the German public may not have wanted.

...in one year, there'll be a brand new president. Two years after that, there'll be a whole new crop of Senators and Congressmen. Two years after that, whatever party of the two parties offered will be whining about how corrupt and evil the other party is, and then they'll switch places and the cycle will begin anew. All of our lives remain relatively unchanged, and that is intentional; one does not maintain a hold on power by pushing the populace too far.

The specific people filling the seats don't really matter when they all share the same agenda.  Bush doesn't need to declare himself dictator, because every single Republican candidate mirrors him, and most of the Democratic candidates either mirror him or are too spineless to actually fix things.

However, I disagree about things staying the same.  If you look at the events that eventually lead up to Krystalnacht, it was a slow, methodical change that occurred over time.  Basically the events of the end of WWI led directly to it, but at a pace not too many people really saw coming or cared to do anything about.  In fact, you can even say that the racism against the Jews and the jingoism of the Germans went back much longer.  The power that be are tweaking our government to get to the point they want it -- our rights and freedoms are being eroded, not suddenly yanked away.

The fact of the matter is you've never really had "freedom"; you've had a controlled series of options determined by the economic situations and abilities of those who maintain that power. You may finally be aware of it now, but that doesn't make it new, and it still won't be new when it's your "party" doing it to the "other party". Cry if you want, I'm not naive enough to be shocked by any of this, and you're old enough to know better, too.

Of course I'm aware of the conditions of life, and I accept that I can't do everything I want.  Again, you've built a hay-man, because nowhere did I indicate that I lack any understanding of this.  The only difference between that understanding and what I hope for is that things can be changed somewhat for the better, rather than things getting worse.

Also, I have no "party" that represents me.  It would be cool if I did, but nobody would elect them.
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That's what I always say about you, boz, you have a good memory for random facts about pussy. -- joh3n
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