Jim, do you really think that a bunch of yahoos with stones, slogans and shotguns can defeat the establishment backed by the US Army and a standing army of spin doctors and specialists in mind and behavior control? I wish I had some of that stuff you've been inhaling.
As I see it - we are doomed, at least for a while. There is nothing we can do, whether "we" (whoever "we" are) vote Democract, vote Green, or not vote at all and smash windows instead, or just go to the nearest bar and get drunk. The best possible scenario is making some minor attenuation to the window dressing of institutional order in the US, which is tantamount to rearranging seats on the deck of the Titanic.
Of course, it is difficult to acknowledge one's utter powerlessness and lack of control, hence ritualistic activistism (thank you, Doug) espoused by some, or bitter bitching by others. But let us not be fooled, let us not tell ourselves that the media and politicians are deceiving us and that if we do something a bit different, put a bit more effort, and "organize" (whatever that means) a few more people, the tables will turn around, and the big change, if not the big R, will finally come.
Do not stoop to such vain hopes. "We" cannot change the course of the Titanic. All we can do is to step on the deck and enjoy the last glimpses of good life as we know it, and bid her farewell, the America we are losing (thank you, Constantine http://users.hol.gr/~barbanis/cavafy/antony.html).
Wojtek