I know all the arguments. God knows, I've been immersed in this stuff for years now. But it's the wrong fucking question.

We should be asking, "What are we willing to do to stop them - and how?"

We already have the power to stop them.

It's maddening to me, how people are all too ready to curl up into the fetal position and let these bastards continue to rape our democracy. And make no mistake: They will have their way with us, at least for a while, if you're willing to let them.

You shouldn't be depressed. You should be angry. Angry at what they've done to our country - and ready to fight for it.

What are we going to do if they steal the election? We're going to fight them.

The thing is, until now, they've gotten away with this shit because they're more dedicated than we are. Yeah, they're bastards, but give them this: They're playing hard for all the marbles, and we always let them get away with it. We were more interested in watching TV, decorating the house and playing with our iPods. It was easier not to let ourselves see the inevitable march toward tyranny.

If - when - they attempt to steal this election, they can only get away with it if you let them. That's right, you. The most important part of We, the People is you.

"But I can't go to a demonstration, the kids have soccer!"

You know what? If, in the relative scheme of things, your kid's soccer game is a higher priority than his freedom, you have the wrong priorities.

"I can't take off from work, I only have one personal day left!"

If a day's pay is more important than our democracy, you have the wrong priorities.

"I don't want to stand outside in the rain all night. And besides, it's cold."

You know what? You'd stand out in the rain all night for Super Bowl tickets, or Springsteen tickets, or to get the latest mass-produced piece of crap your child absolutely must have for Christmas. So don't tell me you can't take part in saving our democracy.

If you tell me that, I'll tell you this: You have the wrong priorities.

I'm sick of the lack of backbone and dedication to the cause of our democracy. If you were willing to work one-tenth as hard at protecting our liberty as these bastards are at destroying it, I wouldn't be writing this now.

If these pricks steal this election, and you don't swarm every place that's connected to the theft - the election bureaus, the newspapers and TV stations, your congressman's office - if you don't stand up to be counted for democracy, then just shut up and resign yourself to being a good little cog in a fascist state for the rest of your life.

That's what they're counting on.

But hey, at least you'll have your iPod.

Because it's going to take 2157 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August 2008 to secure the nomination and you have 138 days, from the opening of the Iowa caucuses to the closing of the polls in the California primary, to do it. You're going to have to juggle campaigns in two to three dozen states (most of them concurrent), recruiting and training thousands of volunteers and field staff. In each targeted state, you'll need to contact tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters and caucus participants, and identify those who are leaning your way and those who need a little persuasion. Then, well, you need to persuade the persuadable. Then you need to make sure you get all these identified voters and caucus participants to their polling/caucus venues on caucus and primary days.

In the meantime, you have to pay for all this. So you need a detailed two-year budget and a top-notch fundraising staff.  You don't have a candidate doing "call time", personally soliciting big donors, so you have to be creative: Surrogate events, house parties, small donor "asks" via mail or on-line. You're going to have to raise at least $3.5 million - a small fraction of what the other leadership PACs are pulling in, but still a huge sum for a campaign without a candidate's actual "face" on it.

You have to comply with FEC regulations, so you'll need a compliance specialist and, of course, a reliable database in which to stash all your contributor and volunteer data. You need a press office to craft and distribute your message, and a crack technology staff to develop and maintain a cutting-edge web strategy which does a lot more than keep supporters up to date. It also has to facilitate complex organizing.

And don't forget back-ups: people, machines, and data. And contracts.  You'll also need a contingency plan. A  continuity plan.  A strategic plan.  A campaign plan.

Do you have a plan?  Well, we do.