Promoted by Steven D.
A wise 20th century political philospher said that human beings bear their citizenship in their particular society as a condition of actualizing their humanity. Keep that in mind as you read further.
Booman’s diary on Seymour Hersh’s outstanding article led me to this short one. While reading Hersh’s New Yorker article, I only got to this comment by General Taguba:
“The whole idea that Rumsfeld projects–`We’re here to protect the nation from terrorism’–is an oxymoron,” Taguba said. “He and his aides have abused their offices and have no idea of the values and high standards that are expected of them. And they’ve dragged a lot of officers with them.”
before I had to stop and write this.
Taguba’s statement is the definitive description of the Bush adminstration. Bush was going nowhere prior to the attacks of 9/11, he gleefully used those attacks to deceitfully redefine himself with the collusion of non-thinking members of Congress, the press and the public (except for a lot of us writing in the frog pond….go back and read the diaries), he used those attacks to settle a personal score with a fellow dictator, and he wrapped it all up in a pathetic patina of patriotism. Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, Gonzales, Wolfowitz, Pace, Powell, Rove, (believe me the fucking list is endless) have so dishonored our country that America is now referred to in other countries in words that we ourselves used to describe the Nazis in the 1940s. Thanks George, you recidivistic drunken drug addict. And thanks corporate media for being the handmaidens of fascism.
So, why is it that our Democratic leaders in Congress can’t bring themselves to refer to this adminstration in the harshest of all possible words to condemn their lying, their corruption and their depravity? Why is it that our Democratic leaders in Congress can’t bring themselves to do all they can to block, impede, and derail every single effort of this fascistic, liberty stealing adminstration? I can only refer them to a fine movie, Misissippi Burning in which Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe portray FBI agents trying to solve the murder of three civil rights workers. During a confrontation between the two of them about how to proceed with the investigation, the Hackman character says “These people crawled out of the sewer” and that is where they will have to be fought. How apropo to Bush and his cronies: these people have crawled out of the sewer, they have dragged our country and our honor down into the sewer, and have sullied the honor of true patriots like General Taguba, Joe and Valerie Wilson, Richard Clark, Cindy Sheehan, (this list is endless as well).
It’s time for Congress to send these denizens of the sewer back home. Impeach Cheney Bush Gonzales and 5/9ths of the Supreme Court. If the Founders didn’t mean this remedy to be used for precisely this kind of attack on our Constitution, our nation’s honor, and our civic liberty, then they simply didn’t mean it at all.
Congress, it’s time to get us the fuck out of the sewer. Do something, or God willing, the citizens of this nation will do something in 2008 to eliminate those who go along to get along, who however reluctantly allow their honor to be filthyfied (sorry I couldn’t find a better real word) by Bush or by their own Presidential aspirations.
Leaders lead. Leaders define a moral vision for a country, a business, a homeowners association. It doesn’t matter what the group is, leaders lead. It means they’re out in front, they’ll upset people who are afraid or benefitting from the status quo. But leaders have the fortitude to lead and compel us to follow because their vision is, well, compelling. So Pelosi, fucking lead dammit.
And I think you’ll have to do it yourself. Cuz Harry ain’t up to it. Are Clinton? Obama? Don’t know about them right now. But I do know that Pelosi could be the moral leader of our sick country right now if she could only find the balls that many of her colleagues seem to have misplaced.
And no, by asking my fellow Democrats to show some moral spine, I am not equating them to the incompetent, arrogant assholes and their Republican Party enablers that have done this to my country.
Nancy could be the hero that finally proves to y’all that courage has nothing to do with balls.
To paraphrase Sojourner Truth – “Ain’t I a human, don’t I have a heart?”
This diary reminds me of this excellent comment by leftvet on another post:
I think we’re trying to get away from the idea that violence is a solution to anything. We have leaders who may not have the power to prove that.
Why Democrats in Congress Need a Spine:
To give chiropractors something to adjust.
Why don’t Democrats refer to this administration in the harshest possible words? Easy. Words don’t matter, actions do. And in Congress, the wrong words can often interfere with action.
The real question is why citizens in districts and states with Republicans House Members and Senators aren’t giving them a whuppin’.
We will have to do it ourselves. We always have; we always will. Leadership is the person who gets in front of the parade and announces where it is going–something everyone knew already but most were afraid to tell the person next to them.
Besides letting Republicans know that they represent us too, what can we do?
There is nothing like a strong primary challenger forming a campaign to inject some spine into a politician.
Courage comes from character, not balls OR ovaries, and please tell me how ANY ethical, courageous, character-driven leader even gets elected, can get anything substantial changed anymore in the first place? This whole fucked up political and electoral system has been sold off to the highest bidders: corporate entities who aren’t even human at all. That’s who has the power now and they will never run out of greedy unethical sicko human beings like Bushco, empty shells without integrity or character, who will be glad to do their bidding in order to feather their own foul nests. And who, unhampered by ethics or character, will do ANYTHING to keep that power.
To expect this mess to be fixed from within this absolutely corrupted system, by those who HAD to abandon huge chunks of their own integrity and character, in order to get there at all..(and to stay there once in,) seems downright unrealistic to me. Or at the very least, such a long slow ponderous process that the likelihood of there still being an America we can recognize by that time, is pretty darned slim.
This country chose profits and progress over it’s people a long time ago, and this is the inevitable outcome, in my humble view of things. These choices are unsustainable over the long haul and the time to pay the piper is almost here, I think.
I’ve got grandkids I love a lot, so I hope I don’t even have to tell you that I sincerely hope, with all my heart, that I am dead wrong. But I look around and I see absolutely NO sign of any revolution on the part of the American people. They’re too busy shopping.
Change in this country has never ever ever come from our elected officials…sad to say but true. They are only there after the fact, after women marched and picketed for years and years to get the ‘right’ to vote, after years of anti-war protests, after years and years of workers striking and getting killed by the police and state and federal troops, after years of marching and protesting for civil rights…
So I don’t really expect the dems to all of sudden to become champions of the people-not unless they are forced to. As you said scribe, I believe a true revolution is needed and that doesn’t seem to be happening either. The first phase of the revolution need to be to take back the airways so the news becomes real news and dare I say it…fair and balanced. How do you have a revolution if the general public really doesn’t have a clue of what is going on?
I don’t think improving the media is going to help much, no matter HOW obviously pisspoor the coverage is.
Those in the business of reporting the news KNOW that we are, at best, working for the benefit of maybe 10% of the population on a good night. The fact is that good quality news coverage IS available to the majority of the country via cable/satellite or the internet, which covers most of the politically aware or active households in the country, and studies have shown time and again that with the exception of a fairly small percentage of news junkies like ourselves, the average citizen doesn’t want to bother with it.
Frankly, if the MSM COULD hold a significant audience running real news, they’d do so, but the numbers and the anecdotes show that every single time news on channel A comes up against American Idle on channel B, B gets the viewers and A gets forgotten. Most folks regard the news break as bathroom or beer run moments.
(Go on, ask your coworkers what Lehrer covered — then ask who’s next to be voted off the island. Any questions?)
Newsmagazine sales go up when there’s a blonde bimbette on the cover; they go down when it’s a hard news front. (As a hard news photographer, this one ESPECIALLY annoys me… but it’s what happens.)
Without regard to the negligible effort involved in getting ACCESS to the news (clicking a different bookmarks or switching to CSPAN rather than ESPN/HGTV/P0RNTV), being an informed, educated, aware citizen takes a great deal more intellectual effort than being a couch lump, and most Statesiders can’t be bothered.
And until you can change THAT, changing the MSM won’t get you anywhere…
When the Chinese decide to foreclose, there might be a revolution, but that’s about it, I think.
Impeachment is off the table because the democrats cannot get enough Republican votes in the Senate. Won’t even get Lieberman’s. Politicans hate to lose. They don’t see that even losing battles must be fought.
It seems Cheney destroyed the visitor logs to the Vice Presidential mansion. I believe this is a violation of federal law. It would be one thing to try to hang those guys on manipulated intelligence. Questionable. But this clear violation, if true, should be enough to get enough Republicans to vote for the rule of law. If not, the nation will see what is what and hopefully act accordingly. I agree that Nancy Pelosi is the only one with the courage to lead, but even she was blindsided by the majority leader vote. We all would be better off if the Dems chose Murtha. They should begin by redoing that vote and giving her what she wants.
Truth be told, members of Congress have not been the leaders. They have been following our lead ever since 9-11. Proof is that they act according to the polls. That is, once they realize we have taken a position, they will act on it. Otherwise they just wait to see where we stand.
It is time for Congressional renewal.
I particularly like the
This is rarely stated but is more important than the others, all of whom will disappear within 18 months. The Supremes will be there corrupting law and justice for a generation if this subject is not addressed forthrightly.