I’ve been watching with interest the latest tactical lunacy emanating from the right. These guys may be crazy (well there’s not much ‘may be’ to it) but they are clever...in a sneaky underhanded mad scientist sort of way. One of the ways they try to destroy something they fear is to turn it into an object of ridicule, as they did with impeachment. Having crapped all over the process, they rendered it useless...apparently.

I believe they are attempting the same tactic with the subject of revolution. Fearing that one is coming, they are making a deliberate effort to render the subject radioactive by inflaming their pet nutcases via Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, et al.

At the risk of getting a lot of innocent people killed (and yes, there have been actual deaths), they have created quite a stir in the lunatic fringe. In the process they have managed to spotlight the idiocy of armed insurrection against a powerful police state armed to the teeth with the most modern and horrific weapons imaginable. In that sense their tactic has succeeded. Even the would be revolutionaries on the left (like me) can see how silly it all is. The howling nutters on the right have shown just how crazy it would be to rise up against the might and power of the United States government with shotguns and peashooters. The brains (so to speak) behind the rightwing sleaze machine have de-fanged revolution.

But armed insurrection is not what they should fear because no one with more than one brain cell to rub together is going to advocate any such thing. That is not to say that there is no way to fight back, because there is. There always will be. When ’more and better democrats’ turns out to be not enough, there are always protest and civil disobedience.

Some very smart people are organizing on the left to resist the oppression by the oligarchs. In fact, a mass nationwide demonstration is scheduled for this Saturday, April 11, 2009.

The following is a partial list of those backing this new way forward:

Honorary Co-Chairs Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake

Mike Lux, Obama Transition Team and President of Progressive Strategies Sponsors and Elder Counselors David Sirota, Syndicated Columnist, Author

Joe Trippi, Change Congress, co-founder

Zephyr Teachout, Visiting Assistant Professor of Duke University, Dean Campaign

Joe Costello, Energy, Communications, and Political Economy

William Greider, "Come Home, America", National Correspondent, The Nation

Yves Smith, Economist, Naked Capitalism Support Jerome Armstrong, MyDD, founder: "The corporate bailouts have become a complete political disaster."

Alternet

AFSCME - Pittsburgh

Rural Votes

American Family Voices

New Paltz Women in Black

Economic Justice Committee of New Paltz and Vicinity for Obama

Portland Jobs with Justice

David Dayen, D-Day, founder and Hullabaloo*, blogger

David Swanson, After Downing Street

Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee

Cleveland Committee on Corporations, Law & Democracy

Progressive Democrats of America

Democrats.com

Grassroots Change

Public Accountability Initiative

Liberty Tree

The Voters

Wake County Young Democrats

New Haven Peace Council

Consumers for Peace

Billionaires for Bush

BuzzFlash

CODEPINK

San Francisco Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign

Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice

FedUpUSA.org

Common Security Club

Portland Jobs with Justice

David Donnelly, Public Campaign Action Fund*: "New Way Forward is visionary, simple, and important."

Protests are scheduled across the nation. Click here to see what’s happening in your neck of the woods and to learn more about a new way forward.

Our plan: Real structural change of Wall Street DECENTRALIZE: Any bank that's "too big to fail" means that it's too big for a free market to function. The financial corporations that caused this mess must be broken up and sold back to the private market with strong, new regulatory and antitrust rules in place -- new banks, managed by new people. An independent regulatory body must protect consumers from predatory practices. As Wall St. corporations grew bigger and bigger until they were "too big to fail," they also became so politically powerful that they led to distorted and unfair policies that served companies, not citizens. Its not enough to try to patch up the current system. We demand serious reform that fixes the root problems in our political and economic system: excessive influence of banks, dangerous compensation systems, and massive consolidation. And we demand that the reform happen in an open and transparent manner. A New Way Forward

Get out there and do something real people. Let’s show the rightwing how intelligent people resist tyranny – with peace, non-violence, sanity and dignity.