I want to ask that every last one of us who stood up against the Vietnam War get out there and protest this one. WE were children and grandchildren of those who went to war to preserve our precious Democracy and save Europe. Far from being spoiled by post-war boom times, we were charged with making a better world. We grew up believing the U.S. was the most moral country. World War must never happen again! We studied Existentialism, Democracy, we heard JFK tell us to "Ask not what [our] country can do for [us], but what [we] can do for our Country." And when we had children, we did our best to help them grow into the best they could be. I am proud of all of our good efforts, but now it is time to assume our wise elder roll: I ask you to remember that Idealism, that Love, that questioning of authority, Violence & the "necessity" of War. Despite the deep wounds of our generation- the Draft, the Bomb, Duck And Cover, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War and the terrible fact that ALL our leaders were assassinated or disgraced by political skullduggery -- take action. Do not let this become another Chile, also a victim of the "Chicago school of economics." Get back to Humanity-based government of, by, and for the People. Remember that all our country's progress was made because the People demanded it. Take it to the Streets!

I am wondering if anyone out there has heard of the Freedom Force? If so, is it legit or not?

Bill, your "Journal" is the most important and compelling television program on the air. I wish it were mandatory viewing for the executive and legislative branches of our disfunctional government.

Moyers Webmaster: Please remove my phone number from the Post of November 8, 2007.

Why was my post quashed? Did I get too close to the truth?
Don't be ashamed of our good dead friends. Email me: beretco.op@hotmail.com

Bill, you interviewed the radical hillbilly Myles Horton many years back. (backtrack on that gold baby!) He wasn't a protestor so much as an enabler. Oppressed people were invited to Highlander on the foundation and social conscience dime to think it out and make a plan of action. What seems to be lacking today is enabling institutions to build plans and solidarity. New effective methods will be found to unleash people power in such incubators. I hear that even during Hitler's reign some visionary Germans held retreats to plan for a better government after the war. With folk schools people with little resources gain self-respect and begin to demand their due. I'd like to see the office workers in the big insurance firms get organized, and maybe even the cooks and porters working for Brown and Root. We should start everywhere and never stop. Where is that seed money and that visionary attitude, Bill?

This is one of the best programs Bill has done! Keep it up. Don't let them restrain you!!

Dear Mr. Moyers,

Re: lack of anti-war coverage.
The war in Vietnam and the conflict in Iraq could not be more different. Vietnam was an evolving mistake, a series of blunders by well meaning politicians and a military unprepared for a new kind of war and unwilling to change basic philosophies on how to wage it. We knew it would fail and we were right to oppose it.
Iraq is the exact polar opposite, unlike anything America has faced before. No one "got it wrong" in Iraq. The people who made this war aren't stupid. Every possible action and response was studied and carried out with the goal of establishing a permanent, virtual Okinawa in the Gulf region, and every tactical "mistake" made in the initial days and months of the invasion served that end.
So why the lack of coverage of the anti-war movement?
Fear. We are up against what is arguably the most intelligent and focused group of people to ever wield power in this country and we allowed ourselves to be manipulated to a degree we thought impossible after Vietnam. We were unprepared for the opportunists who saw nothing wrong in using the tragedy of 9/11 to further their agenda and most importantly, we were unprepared for the blatant rape of the Bill of Rights under a chest-thumping banner of nationalism. What was once a closely held "enemies list" is now policy. What were formerly unthinkable invasions of privacy are now standard operating procedures.
The sense of clarity we had when we marched against the war in Vietnam has been replaced by a sense of futility. We allowed this to happen and we will be held responsible for the carnage that will inevitably come if we abandon the Iraqi people. Coverage of protest is now equated with encouragement of protest and no media outlet wants to be seen later as having been pro-genocide.

John D. Anthony
Salem, Oregon Dear Mr. Moyers,

Can anyone give me a glimmer of hope that the will of the majority of the people in this country will ever be heard, and adhered to again? Or, are we so far down the slide to destruction, propelled by the big money corporations in bed with our elected officials, that we are doomed? Millions of us need something for which to hope. And, we'd do something, if we knew what to do. But, as I look at the polls regarding the candidates for president this time, it looks like the same ole system is still in control of us. We don't seem to have the courage to support someone who would stand up to the elite among us, and say "enough, we're taking back our country for the majority."

Dear Bill:

"Takin' It to the Streets" was a masterful work of public service. I forwarded it to my teenage children so that they might grow in wisdom.

40 years ago I began my undergraduate studies intent on becoming a naval officer.

I came from a rural, very conservative, Nebraska town.

I also came from a family steeped in the military tradition.

One of my uncles graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1941 and served as a Navy Aviator in both theatres of war during World War II.

A second uncle survived the fighting on Iwo Jima as a Marine Corps junior officer.

One of my great great grandfathers served as a captain in the cavalry company that served as Abraham Lincoln's personal guard.

I competed my university studies receiving my commission as a US Navy Officer in May 1971.

After serving a four year tour in the fleet, and in bitterness and despair, I resigned my commission in May 1975, only months after the abandonment of Saigon.

I hope and pray that we/the United States shall not repeat the entirety of the Vietnam War.

Please press on: let the People hear your voice.

Paul Mathew
LCDR, SC, USNR-Retired.

I cannot believe that this unprecedented power grab, a "STATE of EMERGENCY" that mimics Musharref's, has not been aired by anyone!!! PLEASE, BILL. READ THIS!!! AND TALK ABOUT IT ON AIR

President Bush, without so much as issuing a press statement, on May 9 signed a directive that granted near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president.

The "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive," with the dual designation of NSPD-51, as a National Security Presidential Directive, and HSPD-20, as a Homeland Security Presidential Directive, establishes under the office of president a new National Continuity Coordinator.

That job, as the document describes, is to make plans for "National Essential Functions" of all federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations to continue functioning under the president's directives in the event of a national emergency.

The directive loosely defines "catastrophic emergency" as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."

When the president determines a catastrophic emergency has occurred, the president can take over all government functions and direct all private sector activities to ensure we will emerge from the emergency with an "enduring constitutional government."

Translated into layman's terms, when the president determines a national emergency has occurred, the president can declare to the office of the presidency powers usually assumed by dictators to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over.

Ironically, the directive sees no contradiction in the assumption of dictatorial powers by the president with the goal of MAINTAINING constitutional continuity through an emergency.

The directive issued May 9 makes no attempt to reconcile the powers created there for the National Continuity Coordinator with the National Emergency Act. As specified by U.S. Code Title 50, Chapter 34, Subchapter II, Section 1621, the National Emergency Act allows that the president may declare a national emergency but requires that such proclamation "shall immediately be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register."

A Congressional Research Service study notes that under the National Emergency Act, the president "may seize property, organize and control the means of production, seize commodities, assign military forces abroad, institute martial law, seize and control all transportation and communication, regulate the operation of private enterprise, restrict travel, and, in a variety of ways, control the lives of United States citizens."

The CRS study notes that the National Emergency Act sets up congress as a balance empowered to "modify, rescind, or render dormant such delegated emergency authority," if Congress believes the president has acted inappropriately.

NSPD-51/ HSPD-20 appears to supersede the National Emergency Act by creating the new position of National Continuity Coordinator without any specific act of Congress authorizing the position.

NSPD-51/ HSPD-20 also makes no reference whatsoever to Congress. The language of the May 9 directive appears to negate any a requirement that the president submit to Congress a determination that a national emergency exists, suggesting instead that the powers of the executive order can be implemented without any congressional approval or oversight.

The White House had no comment.

jerome corsi's article
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55824

the acutal directive
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

the whole world is turning into a variety of socialized prisons

Hi Bill, I have inadvertantly viewed the movie, Zeitgeist. My life has been in upheaval ever since. I have told everyone I know about it and gotten no response from over 50 friends. My husband is furious at me for buying into this. I don't know where to turn. I believe that most of this film is true. And then there's the B-52 incident in last August toting 6 Russian nuclear missiles across the country. Six military personnel have died over this. No media coverage. No investigation. I have seen the Amero. I would like to mobilize people to do something. They are all frozen in fear, I guess. Please advise.

Isabel Cohen
Omaha, NE

mr. ahles, below, is ENTIRELY correct.

Dear Mr. Moyers,

The solution to the Iraq war is not as we think, in the hands of the President or Congress who have taken us to such a terrible place; but rather, in this Democracy of America, the remedy is solely up to its citizenry or us.
Simply stated, if no one signs up for military duty, the war would have to end.
The solution Mr. Moyers is not for people to march in the streets; the solution is for our young to simply stay home.
The president doesn’t have the power, we do!

=
MJA