The Power of Inspection and the Claim of Impeachment
Last night’s Democratic debate marked the first time a number of candidates have spoken sanely and frankly about the Cheney-Bush design for a world war. Tim Russert asked each candidate to “pledge” to prevent Iran from developing the capacity to make a nuclear weapon. A mindless and demagogic request, and an attempt to corral the Democratic party into the militarism which holds the Republican candidates (with the exception of Ron Paul) captive and cheering. Russert was out of line and someone should have told him so. Yet the responses were instructive. Hillary Clinton vowed to do all she could to prevent Iran from acquiring a weapon; when that proved not ripe enough for her questioner, she made it clear she would not please him by upping the ante. What he was after was a pledge to initiate a war by bombing Iran.
Joe Biden explained to Russert that the Middle East holds perils more ominous than the possible attainment of a nuclear weapon by Iran some years from now. Biden did not mention Israel’s 200 nuclear weapons, or its second-strike capacity from submarines. He did bring up Pakistan: another nuclear power, and one whose upheaval would have consequences the U.S. cannot possibly reckon. By his answer, Biden was contributing to the education of the public. They surely hadn’t heard before a sober comparison of Pakistan with Iran, whether from Tim Russert or his colleagues at ABC or what remains of CBS.
The education continued with a fine response by John Edwards that addressed the Cheney-Bush pattern of saber-rattling against Iran. Edwards showed how the pair were following the same protocol that created a stupefied popular consensus against Iraq in 2003. He also used the word “neocon”: a word that many of his listeners might have a broad idea of; more of them, probably, a dim and faint idea. The mere mention of this faction constitutes of a public service, now that they are running not only the president’s foreign policy but the policy apparatus of four Republican candidacies (Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Thompson). Next time, Edwards ought to give a name or two, and connect it with a policy. For the individuals he has in mind are as persistent and remorseless as they are destructive. Their previous field of exercise was Nicaragua.
Chris Dodd offered a vivid recollection of the disaster of Iran-Contra when he recalled his part in negotiating a diplomatic end to the artificially induced civil war in Nicaragua: a war that was begun in America’s name but funded and commandeered in defiance of the law. If Dodd alludes to Nicaragua again, he might mention that the earlier war was fought by American proxies with the tactics of terrorism; that it was a war that ripped apart a society and by its end had killed 30,000; and that it was run from the department of state by the same reckless functionary, Elliott Abrams, who pulls the levers now on American policy in the Middle East. The next time you hear (Dodd could easily say) about an assassination that heats up civil strife in Lebanon with profit to no party in Lebanon, or the latest speculative charge against Iran by the White House, or reports of advanced armaments suddenly in use by Fatah militias, or an Israeli bombing of a supposed nuclear site in Syria, where no evidence is given and no radioactive residue appears–be forewarned that you are seeing the handiwork of Elliott Abrams. This is an administration that has everything to fear from the diffusion of facts. But the facts need to be recited slowly, and the history needs to be recounted with patience.
Dennis Kucinich spoke the word impeachment. Whatever the Democrats may do, it is an idea the party would be irresponsible not to consider. No one who has read the Constitution through the minds of the founders, and followed the history of the past seven years, can doubt that the vice president and the president have committed impeachable offenses. The violation of FISA and the development of a secret policy for circumventing the FISA court are only the clearest instances. The withdrawal of the U.S., in secret, from the Geneva conventions, embodies the same insolence and arrogation. The power of inspection by the Senate and the claim of impeachment have long been understood as the indispensable checks against abuse of power by an ambitious executive.
Against impeachment, there is this to be said, that the majority apparently lack the votes to make it succeed. Yet Nancy Pelosi showed a remarkable absence of political mind when, as the leader of a new majority in a critical time, facing a president out of control, she declared that impeachment was not an option. You don’t reassure an opponent–especially an opponent who understands nothing but the language of force–that the one weapon he rightly fears has been taken out of your arsenal. Besides, there are powers of inspection short of impeachment, which the Democratic Congress has been inexplicably backward in using. Dick Cheney has never held a press conference, and has seldom been asked to answer a question. His chief of staff, David Addington, is unknown on Capitol Hill. Why have they never been called to testify? Say by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (for misconduct in the control of post-invasion Iraq)? Or the Senate Intelligence Committee (for the slanting of estimates on Iraq in 2002-03, on Iran in 2006, on Syria in 2007)? Or by the Judiciary Committee (for overturning in secret the constitutional ban on torture and the legal restrictions on domestic surveillance)? When one thinks of the public education on the war in Vietnam that was supplied by the Foreign Relations Committee under Senator William Fulbright, nothing except timidity and a failure of self-respect can explain the omission of such hearings today.
The preferred way in to a world war, as Alastair Crooke pointed out in a recent and disturbing article, may not be a direct attack on Iran, but a “back door” through any of the potential flash-points the vice president has been preparing in the region. It may come from Lebanon, or from the Kurds, or an alarm set off by Israel and the argument that we have to cover what Israel “had” to do. All fanatics are dangerous; and not all of them know this about themselves; but the fanatics of this administration and their propagandists, do indeed know it, and they have begun to turn “dangerous” into a term of praise. They truly believe the surest way to reform the Middle East is to revolutionize the entire region through the engineered collapse of several governments at once, or in close succession. A much larger war triggered by accident, and a mounting series of escalations, would also bury their responsibility in the confusion, chaos, and desolation that followed.
But to carry it off they need the American people to be their accomplices. And that is where the salutary shadow of impeachment may matter. Even if it remains a discussion only, the threat could remind the public, and give notice to TV presenters innocent of political knowledge, that there is an unpleasant smell, a suspicion probably worth exploring, about the familiar crooked path to the next war. There is something finally neither admirable nor laughable about the men who have done these things to our country.
David Bromwich teaches literature at Yale. He has written on politics and culture for The New Republic, The Nation, The New York Review of Books, and other magazines. He is editor of Edmund Burke’s selected writings ON EMPIRE, LIBERTY, AND REFORM and co-editor of the Yale University Press edition of ON LIBERTY.
Copyright © 2007 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
Good article but the word oil was not mentioned. Neither was the fact that Edwards made a good showing until the very end when he declared himself a drug warrior to pretend his concern for children but with no concern for the thousands of children the War on Drugs is imprisoning and killing every day for the benefit of corrupt politicians, drug gangs, Big Pharma, the AMA, private prisons, invasion of other countries, defoliating, polluting and destroying the soil in other countries, attacking poor farmers, etc., etc..
I think the Democratic leadership (like Pelosi) is afraid of the people in the Bush administration. No one is quite sure what their limits are and there are some fanatics among them.
There are some flaws in how the government has been set up by the Constitution and that along with criminality in the voting system combined with a press that is complicit has led us to a government that does not represent large segments of the American population.
It just doesn’t look good to me for the future of America… but I hope I am wrong and that there will be people in power who will continue to follow the American dream.
I support impeachment.
There must be a public airing of what has happened in our government. These are exactly the issues (lying the nation into a war among others)the founders wanted discussed in an impeachment hearing.(Impeachment was not intended for issues about consensual sex between adults)
Nancy Pelosi quickly declared “impeachment off the table” for two reasons. #1) To avoid putting on a trial that cannot get a conviction by 67 Senators, a spectacle that would end as appearing to be a the validation of Bush policies to all his supporters, and the WE TOLD YOU SO rallying cry for them all the way through 2008. And, #2) She believed going in as Speaker that she could be conciliatory and actually get some cooperation from Republicans on legislation, policy and matters of budget.
She was right about #1 and wrong about #2. Republicans do not cooperate with Democrats. SCHIP is a defining example of this problem. This is why we need a Democrat in The White House and and a clear Democratic majority in Congress in 2008. We don’t need a failed impeachment. We need a ballot-box success where American citizens do the voting, and where we’re not required to get 67 Senators (including 17 impossible Republicans) to agree on anything. They don’t. They won’t. And we voters can fix it 12 months from now if we will.
Even if there are not enough votes to succeed in impeaching the Bush cabal, the failure of the Democrats to bring charges against the administration for its illegal actions is of the utmost gravity. Even more shocking, above their decision to “take impeachment off the table”, they have cooperated, negotiated, and colluded with the WH to give them every unconstitutional thing they want, with the exception of the telecom immunity legislation, a domestic matter. They will certainly go down in history as having approved GW Bush’s brutal imperialistic regime as it pertains to illegal wars, invasions, and torture rather than fighting these atrocities.
I cannot express my outrage at the Democrats’ failure to fight the Bush administration tooth and nail, win or lose, as they were elected to a majority to do.
Daniel David,
There is one aspect you are ENTIRELY overlooking. The Dems only need 41 votes to filibuster. That can be equally if not more effective than the 67 votes. So, you basically are wrong in your summation. Pelosi was wrong on #1 and #2!
Nancy Pelosi OUT, Cindy Sheehan IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Russert was out of line and someone should have told him so.” Kucinich did call the media to task for asking questions that could “have consequences” of stirring up war fever or of being construed as such by others.
Daniel David
There are many people who were a part of the Bush administration who are coming forward now and telling the truth about what has occured.
I think it would be beneficial for the US public to hear those voices very clearly in an impeachment hearing.
It is a question of who we are as a nation imo and what we stand for morally. The issues are too big to be ignored. And the people behind the bush administration will continue to push for their policies even if they lose to the Democrats in the next election. I think this all needs to be exposed with an impeachment. And I think it was a mistake not to impeach Nixon because a similar philosophy was behind both the Nixon and Bush administrations.
The candidates are all professional political whores pimping themselves. And Russert is a media whore auditioning for more air time. There is only one political party in America today and that’s the Uncle Buck party. It’s made up of politicians and businessmen, who instead of defending the Constitution, use it to line their pockets. Uncle Buck killed Uncle Sam and we are all going to pay for it.
Hoa binh
You have a YES from me —
It is morally wrong — Constitutionally wrong — and probably wildly insane for Americans to permit this administration to continue on to fulfill its term.
Kucinich is the only candidate who reflecting the truth of our times — and that includes the need to IMPEACH.
Meanwhile, WHY do we have MSM running our debates-?
Why do we have Russert running the show when he was involved in the Plame outing? Or, at least had knowledge of it.
Where are the real questions . . . ?????
Global Warming requires the nationalizing of our oil — and any other fossil fuels. Why are a few private families controlling our natural resources?
Where are the Electric Cars — ??
Why no questions about the bankrupting of our Treasury–??
Why is the Federal Reserve running our economic policies and not our Congress which is elected to do so? Why is the Federal Reserve charging us interest on money it prints? Why not return this responsibility to our Treasury?
Why are we returning to monopolies — especially in the area of our “free press” which exists now only in myth?
Democrats are not an opposition party. Guliani or Mitt Romney will be the next president but Hillary would be just as good. Good luck to everyone.
if everyone in Congress keeps dragging their feet along until the next election and Bush is finally out, can he prosecuted in a civil court for the impeacable offences or will he have complete Blackwater immunity? Kissinger was never held accountable and he is still walking around giving advice to the Bush regime. Is this what will happen? I can’t imaginine a world with Bush as wise old guru.
annabelle
For what it’s worth, I imagine that other countries may try Bush and Cheney as war criminals after they’ve left office but not the US government. Rumsfeld is being tried in France for war crimes right now (authorizing and ordering torture), and four other countries have brought lawsuits against him. I think the rest of the administration, at least Bush and Cheney, are in line for such lawsuits, too.
Such lawsuits aren’t likely to result in anyone’s arrest if a guilty verdict is reached, as long as they avoid visiting the countries where the lawsuit occurred. BUT, it will be in the world record and go down in the history books. That isn’t immediate justice (who wouldn’t love to see him marched in manacles into the Hague?), but it’s a LONG way from Bush’s belief that his illegal and immoral actions will be vindicated by world opinion. Somehow he expects a magical turnaround, maybe from powers conferred upon the minds of the world by fairies dancing in his hair.
impeachment would be lovely. but you’re right - if she had come out with that at the outset, well, it would be much worse now and its already pretty bad. the problem is that the govt would ompletely grind to a halt if impeachment started … unless there was a smoking gun, and alas, there is no rabid left wing conspiracy ready to take them out. and you have to take out BOTH of them….maybe we need to wait for some kind of deus ex machina.
These [debates are such a farce. Russert complicit with war criminals. Many of the candidates except Kucinich are complicit with war crimes. When crimes are commited arrest’s should be made. Give them a fair trial and let the chips fall where they may. The process itself would be a good discovery of information and be likely to reduce further breeches of the law.
It’s sad that in our country most candidates would be commiting political suicide by going any where near the truth. So we are left with these phony strawman debates over strawman topics. They never approach any of the most serious issues.
Probably one good way to get the American people to actually pay attention to what is happening is to have photos of Iraq veterans plastered everywhere, especially those of the wounded. The Administration has purposely hidden from our view the suffering of its victims–American as well as Iraqi, to keep this war one of denunciation and demonization. Since we seem to be completely indifferent to the suffering of the Iraqi people (to our everlasting shame and disgrace!) let’s show the truth about our young soldiers, victims of lies and manipulation on the part of the cynical self serving and truly evil people who have managed to get the reins of power in this nation.
Does Paraguay have extradition agreements with the US?
queensbee November 1st, 2007 1:57 pm
“impeachment would be lovely. but you’re right - if she had come out with that at the outset, well, it would be much worse now and its already pretty bad. the problem is that the govt would ompletely grind to a halt if impeachment started … unless there was a smoking gun, and alas”
I have to disagree. The government wouldn’t grind to a screeching halt. It didn’t during Clinton’s impeachment and it and there isn’t any reason why it would now.
As for the smoking gun, it’s there in plain site. A Federal court has already ruled that Bush broke the 1978 FISA law and in so doing violated the 4th amendment to the Constitution.
I personally believe that if we don’t impeach Bush that we will pay for it in a multitude of ways. It sets a precedent for future presidents to do the same, and in the eyes of the world we look like the “good Germans” during WWII, just to name a couple.
Lobo Gris
#
jjpeter November 1st, 2007 3:49 pm
“Does Paraguay have extradition agreements with the US?”
I don’t think it matters whether they do or not. After Viet Nam a group of Vets tried to sue McNamara for his actions during the war. The courts ruled that he could not be sued for actions he took while acting in an official capacity for the U.S. government.
Impeachment is the only remedy available, at least in the U.S.
Lobo Gris
MSM ‘moderators’ of these candidate events are continually out-of-line, Russert being the worst.
They most-often falsely frame reality with questions that are loaded with unspoken premises, forcing the candidate to accept the premises in order to answer.
Bromwich’s note (above) on Russert’s asking for candidate ‘pledges’about Iran nukes - being just one example.
I want to see Kucinich begin to assertively challenge these stacked questions, which are nothing but a form of brainwashing –a low-key attempt at hypnosis.
Kucinich definitely needs to atriculate such challenges in future forums. Politely-okay, but in a firm manner which lets the viewers begin to see how tendentious and biased the so-called objective media moderators are.
Dennis, are you listening-in, here?
Very good article Mr. Bromwich, thank you.
I don’t believe that the Democratic Party are timid and lack self respect, I think this is how they keep the status quo…it’s too much power to let go of and they aren’t about to rock the boat now when it’s loaded with gold…even if it’s borrowed, stollen, or has blood on it.
You are wrong DANIEL DAVID. The impeachment process would bring out the truth of what Cheney/Bush have done, the press would have to cover it and a whole bunch of people would finally learn of what they voted for. By the time it came for the Senatorial vote, everyone would be watching. Whether it failed then or not, the truth would be known about many thing that we were lied to about. I believe Cheney would be impeached for sure and he may even resign his position before the senate voted. Conyers should have placed the bill on the floor for a vote and let the process begin.
Daniel David,
Re We need a ballot-box success where American citizens do the voting… we voters can fix it 12 months from now if we will.
Uh huh… Just like we did in 2006, you mean?
I won’t even go into the fact that a large fraction of voters will be voting on unauditable machines — again! — and will therefore have no reasonable assurance that their votes will be counted as cast. And I will only mention in passing that the very existence of such vote-recording machinery, mandated by the very people who would be “elected” thereby, indicates massive corruption of our Senators and Representatives. The bottom line is that there hasn’t been a fair election in America since at least 1996, and the scope for massive vote rigging is now at unprecedented levels.
But I won’t dwell on that, because it hardly matters anymore anyway! When Congress wants to do something, they have no problem ramming it through in record time. Take, for example, the USA PATRIOT Act. It was introduced in the House of Leaders on October 23, 2001, passed by the House of Leaders on October 24, and passed by the Senile on October 25 with only a single dissenting vote.
Which tells me that all protestations of “not enough votes to blah blah blah” is hogwash. The bottom line is that, despite the Republican vs. Democrat charade, they’re all on the same team — the team composed of wealthy campaign contributors, large corporations, and our elected leaders, who will spend the great majority of their efforts rewarding those who made their campaigns such a success.
Wanna know why we are seeing a troop surge when 7 out of 10 Americans say they want troop levels reduced? Because your elected officials do not represent you. They represent the political donor class, of which they themselves are a part. Why on Earth would Pelosi take impeachment “off the table” when the whole reason she became the Speaker of the House was because Americans wanted her and her party to do exactly that! Why are Bush’s wars of conquest lavishly funded despite Americans wanting to reduce spending on the Iraq rathole by a 2-to-1 margin? Because what American voters want is irrelevant! General Dynamics can make a real difference in a political campaign, especially if the reward for making that difference is a raft of new Defense contracts that add handsomely to its bottom line.
Make no mistake. You and I have absolutely no voice in a government so thoroughly corrupted.
Don’t believe it? Consider that Nancy Pelosi, in a rare moment of candor, as much as said so herself. In response to protesters, she sneered “If they were poor and they were sleeping on my sidewalk, they would be arrested for loitering…”
Arrested for loitering?
“…but because they have ‘Impeach Bush’ across their chest, it’s the First Amendment.”
The nerve! Petitioning a Congresswoman who is ignoring the will of the overwhelmingly majority of her constituents! They should be jailed for that!
How’s that for representing your constituents?
“We have to make responsible decisions in the Congress that are not driven by the dissatisfaction of anybody who wants the war to end tomorrow,” she continued; then went on to say that it is “a waste of time” for protesters to target Democrats. “They are advocates,” she said. “We are leaders.”
Leaders? I thought the word was “representatives”. It’s called the House of Representatives, isn’t it? With such obvious contempt for her constituents, whom, excatly is Pelosi “representing”?
Pelosi is the poster child for the toxic influence of money in politics. Thinking that we can fix this by capturing the White House requires us to willfully disregard what has been plain for all to see over the past four decades, and since the 1998 elections in particular.
Get out now, while you can. Participating in this system and supporting it with your taxes dollars once you have recognized its true character is to support its crimes, however unwillingly. The only ways left to us to counteract it are refusing to support it financially, or outright rebellion.
I recommend the former, lest we someday are forced to resort to the latter.
If the Democrats don’t bring impeachment charges, the Republicans will forever use it against them. They will NEVER return a kindness for a kindness; they will ALWAYS call you weak for not prosecuting the crimes. They will use that as proof that no crimes were committed, way into the future. Prepare to be stabbed in the back, and don’t be surprised if they steal 2008 also.
It is always right to do the right thing. Impeachable offenses have been committed. It is Congress’ duty to uphold the law. Saying we don’t have time for impeachment because there are so many other things that need to be done, is like saying we don’t have time to stop an ongoing murder in the house because we have to do the dishes.
Congress, remember yourselves. Get some self-respect, lose the fear, and do the peoples’ business, or be cast among the guilty. If you ask me, all in Congress who voted to make torture legal retroactively are guilty of aiding and abetting those crimes, and should be duly charged. It is no different than driving the getaway car. They should be threatened with charges themselves; maybe that will help them with their decision of whether to do their job.
WILLYBILL: Put me down for a YES to recall & start over.
Re: Congressional Fear
Of course they fear for their lives; they know full well what this bunch is capable of. How many small plane crashes does it take? Or heart attacks, comas & poisonings? How about Antrax?
Congress should take a lesson from Chavez, and at the first mention of a threat, go straight to the media and spill their guts! God bless the brave man from Venezuela who cared enough to put his life on the line. Kudos to the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, Jr.
I remember that when the select committee on watergate voted articles of impeachment, the republicans were shouting about a constitutional crisis and demanding Dick’s resignation, which he gladly did to save his pension and SS protection.
The fact is, impeachment is never a crisis; it is the result of a crisis, the healthy response of the body politic to actions that endanger constitutional rule. It is a political response, meaning that those impeached can (theoretically, at least) later be charged as felons under the criminal statutes.
Pelosi’s mistake was surrendering the stick of impeachment too early. Even if they didn’t invoke it, the spectre of it and hearings investigating impeachable offenses would have gone a long way (imho) toward reigning in the demons of death.
impeachment and a compleat new goverment is the only thing that will save U.S.A. why did us so long to see this?
the problem is that the govt would ompletely grind to a halt if impeachment started…
you say that like it’s a bad thing.
we cannot allow this sort of behavior to stand. it sets a terrible precedent. ITMFN!!!
“When one thinks of the public education on the war in Vietnam that was supplied by the Foreign Relations Committee under Senator William Fulbright, nothing except timidity and a failure of self-respect can explain the omission of such hearings today.”
This is not explain why no hearings. I believe ruling members of Congress are working together on a common plan of control.
While the republic “burns” the ruling elite in Congress make personal deals to become more powerful and more wealthy.
let’s face it, bush/cheney will most likely get away with their failure to lead. they’ll join rove, gonzo, rumsfeld, and all the others that have jumped ship. the democratic party, recently put in control by us, has become a national embarrassment as well as an international nightmare (already a packed room thanks to smirk and sneer). where’s murtha these days? not even a peep anymore, kucinich being the lone voice in the wilderness. where are all the viet nam protesters? sitting comfortable in their beemers, their hummers, as they pass thru the local starbucks drive-thru. complacent. lazy. indifferent.
as we sit here jotting our thoughts, the sad truth is that there is no more leadership, from the top all the way down to the grass roots. msm does not report (let’s throw npr in there as well - another embarrassment in our society), will not report, and will not allow the sheople to see the light.
you/we should all be thankful our founding fathers gave us the right to keep/bear arms. some day, when we’ve all had enough, after the armies and tanks are marching in our own streets, maybe, just maybe, we’ll all grow a set of balls and take back our country.
Helix—here here! BRAVO. I could not have laid out a clearer or stronger case for exactly why Daniel David’s faith in 2008 is so naive. DDavid, You seem like an intelligent person. Have you not read Mark Crispin Miller’s book or followed the efforts of Black Box Voting? DO you think because leaders of the party you so admire and look to for deliverance, refused to stand up for fair elections, that that very same refusal made them FAIR???? Please do some serious research! Not so that you despair, but that you might put your energies into making sure we clean up all the corruption in the voting system.It is systemic and it aint “voter fraud” the Repubs keep preaching. Millions of African Americans, more than 40 years after the Civil Rights Act, still had their right to vote challenged, taken away, or did not get their votes counted. And the efforts to disenfranchise even more continues as we speak. Nothing will change until every voting age citizen can be sure their votes count, and will be counted accurately. And when they do, and they have someone they can truly believe in to vote for, THEN and only then will we have something to get excited about come election time.
Like so many of you I would have applauded impeachment. Now I have a fantasy of Bush&Co going through rendition to the World Court in chains to be tried for Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes.
The damage this ship of fools has wrought on our country and our world has yet to be calculated. Our great grandchildren will be paying for this folly. Our standing as a nation in the world’s eyes has been permanently damaged. This is worse than the Balfour Agreement!
The reason that impeachment is off the table and that the unconstitutional and draconian acts like the mis-named Patriot Act, Military Tribunal Act, FISA modernization Act, etc., are not repealed is pretty simple.
By not doing anything to check the Bush Gang, it has established a precedent. If it was unchecked for eight years, then it must be legal. The truth of the matter is that the next generation of politicians wants to inherit der Bush’s illegal and immoral government intact and functioning so they can use it for their own ends. Since the string pullers behind these puppets are the same from one administration to another, you can pretty well bet that things will get worse.
Thomas Jefferson said, “The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.”
In the past seven years, with the connivance of the Congress, the Bush government has severed the links, one by one, leaving the government as, indeed, the legalized version of criminality. Next year they will inherit it.
Let’s talk about the difference between technicians and true CRAFTSMEN.
Because the days of technicians being able to pass as Craftsmen,…………………..is over!
You will soon be seeing cause for despair; the likes of which, will send most folks into staggering TIZZIES. You, gathered here, however, need not despair. What you will be witnessing is the culmination of the USA’s forty-four year, head-long dash into self-destruction; non of which belongs to you, the hard working, tax paying citizens of this nation. What you will be witnessing, is the decline and fall of the elitist, and the consequences of their technician-level escapades into “delusions of grandeur”. The result of the coming “rupture” (not rapture), is that the masses will finally, (under the above levels of duress), come to realize, that Dennis Kucinich saw the freakin forest, when all the other technicians(candidates) could only see the trees. As a result of the world wide melt-down, the other candidates will gladly step aside, figuring “let Denny take it”, having not the first inkling that Kucinich saw this coming 40 years ago….and has been preparing ever since.
ps. feel free to hold me to this. You’d be a fool not to!
I watched No End in Sight a bit earlier then dropped in over here to find this most disburbing article and comment. Can anyone tell me where to send my sign up sheet to sign on with Willybill?
queensbee,
” if she had come out with that at the outset, well, it would be much worse now ”
Whaaahhh th’ f . . . MUCH WORSE? Bush shoved Rummy out, who he was determined to protect forever as quickly as he could — for all his bluster he knew what the meaning of the election was — and Capitulosi, rather than ride the tide of popular enthusiasm for someone who would stop Il Duce, sat back & arranged the doilies.
DD as usual is just passing on the Dimmerslutic Lickarse Cretins’ talking points — “Once we have 6 trillion new Democratic representatives and senators and no Republican pouts or calls us bad names from any outpost in the solar system, we’ll be able to nominate one Supreme Court Justice who will save the planet, taht is, if the Republicans don’t filibuster, in which case practical politics will demand that we put Mitt Romney on the Court, please don’t hit us again — “
Daniel David
I am happy to read a post here from you that doesn’t sound as if you are completely terrified by anything to the left of Hillary Clinton. I find it great that you do a job of doing PR for the Democratic Party (Everybody is entitled to their own opinion after all, and even though the Democrats are obviously not very popular here on Commondreams, I think that especially Progressives should respect different opinions).
But I hope that you also apply your mind to the following:
- If you want to keep the pressure on the Dems, you need to build a strong opposition from the left, not from the right.
- Within the Democratic Party, the rule still applies that the ones with the most funding will get elected, whereas these are exactly the candidates that are compromised and less effective as public representatives. How would you change that ?
- How do you convince Republicans to leave their party instead of Greens ? America needs more Greens, why do you focus on them to abandon their party: why not do PR for the Democrats on the large population of morally confused former Repubs ?
- How can you move to a Democratic Party that respects diversity of opinion and minoriy parties ?
I sincerely hope that the Democrats will win big in ‘08, but I also really hope that they will feel the pressure from their left, because of a big Green Party and many independent candidates. It will encourage them to do what we expect of them : Clean up this mess and make sure it happens NEVER NEVER AGAIN. That they make some Republican enemies along the way should not bother them since those are going to be a permanent minority party after this, if the Dems do their work properly. They should never be voted back into power.
I’ve noticed that both Tim Russert and Wolf Blitzer love to put “opposition” candidates on the defensive. They are so transparently Republican it’s a bad joke for them to moderate anything. “Meet the Press” is where one most often sees Dick Cheney pushing his agenda.
The neocons give speeches in front of audiences at the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute and try to pretend they’re engaging in a sort of public discourse. They really took it to a ludicrous extreme with the fake FEMA press conference last week. They’re doing all they can to keep the public out of the democratic process.
I hope that the Democratic nominee, most likely Hillary, will act to restore some semblance of a dialectical process to the federal government.
Was going to read all of the posts until I read Daniel David’s. You seem to have misunderstood what Mr. Bromwich correctly pointed out:
“You don’t reassure an opponent–especially an opponent who understands nothing but the language of force–that the one weapon he rightly fears has been taken out of your arsenal.”
DD your analysis may be correct about the failure of imeachment proceedings, but she was wrong, and continues to be wrong, to not let those assholes worry that it might just happen.
If someone in the posts I skipped pointed this out, my apologies.
The only thing that can be said definatively about current Democratic “leadership” is that it is hillariously inept.
The question is: inept by design, or by stupidity?
Five votes are all it would take to put the Constitution back on the table. If you’re from Detroit, Richmond, Charlotte, Montgomery, or Minneapolis you have a vote on the Judiciary Sub-Committee on the Constitution. Just five members of Congress, all lawyers, all black men, are being told by one white woman from the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco that they can’t even vote yea or neh to move the impeach bill forward.
These five guys need to go down in history for being the cowards they are: John Conyers (MI), Robert Scott (VA), Melving Watt (NC), Artur Davis (AL), and Keith Ellison (MN). Pelosi needs to go down in history for her utter failure as a leader at a time when this country most needs leadership.
They’re not stupid VINCE.
The Democrats are afraid of Bush and the Republicans. Otherwise they would have acted as those who voted for them thought they would. It’s not a matter of votes - it’s a matter of hearing the will of the people and responding appropriately. Yes, this congress has enacted a few “safe” things, but it has utterly failed to address the core of the problem in a strong, telling manner. The Democrats cannot even field a viable slate of candidates. The end result in 2008 will be perpetuation of power of those now controlling the executive and judicial branches of the government.
VINCE says:
“The only thing that can be said definatively about current Democratic “leadership” is that it is hillariously inept.
The question is: inept by design, or by stupidity?”
I say it is both, but more to the point is the Democrat outlook on the world and America is just plain wrong! The special interest and far left have taken over the Democrats and are destroying it.
What are you calling Keith Ellison twoturtles?
He voted already for HR. 333, he is not a corward!
twoturtles, as much as the current Dem office holders marginalize and probably fear DK I’m suprised John Conyers (MI) didn’t get on board w/ HR333, especially after his work (waist of time because of the Rep. controlled senate) looking into the debacle of the ‘04 Ohio polls.
Must be fear of a toxic envelope.
^ I meant Congessman John Conyers, my bad.
Daniel David,
I have difficulty in seeing the difference between the two parties. I have extreme difficulty in believing that voting will change anything. Diebold et al owns the machines….and will determine the winners and losers regardless of the actual votes…and we will have no way to check their tallies.
Furthermore, most of the folks currently running for president are being financed by the same corporations financing the repugs. They care not which PARTY wins, they own them both.
The media dem darlings can’t even manage to repudiate this damned occupation. The media themselves can’t come up with a single relevent question. The american public is far more interested in who gets tossed off dancing with the stars than they are about our wannabe leaders.
The junta currently occupying the white house will be there, party costume not withstanding, until their house of cards collapses. Then they will take off to parts unknown, offshore bank accounts brimming with our hard earned dollars, leaving us to clean up the mess.
It could all be avoided by either impeaching the bastards or revolution, neither of which the american people have the balls to pull off. Impeachment would end up shining a light on the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, namely the fact that the democrats are as culpable in this mess as the republicans and the american people. Revolution might mean the end to 52 inch flat screen plasma tv’s and frankenfoods, you know, the things that make life comfortable.
We, as a nation, are responsible for our leaders. We thought that it would be easier to ignore their bad behavior than to work to correct it. Know what happens to kids whose parents use that tactic? If we can’t correct them, are afraid to impeach them and unable to vote them out, then what is to stop them from destroying our country? Nothing. Not a single damn thing. Our elected officials have long ago decided that the people don’t count because the people don’t care. Unfortunately, they are right. We have managed to get less than 1/2 of voters to the polls for decades. With so few paying attention, why wouldn’t they just go ahead and do whatever they want? Even now, with almost 2/3 of the country against the war, they ignore us. They know that we will do…….nothing. Not even vote.
So I get upset when I read responses like yours Daniel David. One more person pushing to keep the status quo. Let’s hurry up and do nothing and maybe things will change. Maybe these new foxes really will guard the henhouse. Yeah, right.
patnval said:
“I have difficulty in seeing the difference between the two parties. I have extreme difficulty in believing that voting will change anything. Diebold et al owns the machines….and will determine the winners and losers regardless of the actual votes…and we will have no way to check their tallies….”
and,
“….Furthermore, most of the folks currently running for president are being financed by the same corporations financing the repugs. They care not which PARTY wins, they own them both….”
and,
“…It could all be avoided by either impeaching the bastards or revolution, neither of which the american people have the balls to pull off. Impeachment would end up shining a light on the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, namely the fact that the democrats are as culpable in this mess as the republicans and the american people. Revolution might mean the end to 52 inch flat screen plasma tv’s and frankenfoods, you know, the things that make life comfortable….”
Exactly correct. Which is why I’ve said here many times that unless the US public is willing and able to stand up in violent overthrow of the current system of gov’t, nothing will substantially change. Yes, things have gotten that bad, and continued hope that the traditional peaceful methods of affecting change will work is just that - wishful thinking.
This is ironic. Yesterday, I overheard someone saying that she realized that Ford was right for pardoning Nixon so that the country could “get over it and move on.” But what she and the spineless Dems of today refuse to acknowledge is that fail or succeed, bringing articles of impeachment against Bush and Cheney (and before with Nixon) shows future facists that this behavior will not be tolerated.
I realize that what I’m about to say is a blanket statement, but if you’re supporting anyone from the two corporate parties you are endorsing their behavior.
There is a third party in the US, a “viable” one as they are already winning elections all over the country. But people can stay in their own comfort zone by looking to those who talk the talk but are still corporotists by their association.
I’m sorry, I like everything Dennis Kucinich has to say, but as long as he stays chained to his corporate master he is essentially useless.
Go Green or get out of the way.
“Get out now, while you can. Participating in this system and supporting it with your taxes dollars once you have recognized its true character is to support its crimes, however unwillingly. The only ways left to us to counteract it are refusing to support it financially, or outright rebellion.”
Helix,
Very well said, and I agree.
Folks like Daniel David are hiding something or are shills for whatever organization butters their bread.
The fact is, the Democratic Party is complicit in treason against the Constitution. That means, Party supporters are also traitors. They are all playing politics and mind games while the neocons are deliberately dismantling what was set up by the founders.
I’m not going to try to persuade anyone to vote one way or another - one’s conscience is the best guide. What I am going to do it to keep pointing out that the problem is systemic, and both the Dems and Reps and the Daniel Davids are part of the problem. We need to take real personal responsibility and start living our lives and making choices in concert with the world we KNOW is possible. The one we’re living in is neither possible nor sustainable - it’s an illusion.
Courage.
principessaflamenco wrote:
What are you calling Keith Ellison twoturtles?
He voted already for HR. 333, he is not a corward!
No one has voted on HR. 333 Pelosi took it off the table. The bill is dormant in Sub-committee (Judiciary/Constitution).
The table that Nancy Pelosi speaks of in her eloquent interpretation of the Constitution is housed in the Constitution Sub-Committee of the Judiciary.
Yes, Ellison “co-sponsors” HR. 333. But he has a vote on the Sub-Committee and sticks with “Party Propaganda” by keeping mum as to why the legislation is not being voted on in Sub-Committee.
IT is very frustrating that he won’t talk to us, his constituents, about the dormancy of this legislation before his Sub-Committee.
Ellison and Conyers both came to Minneapolis a few weeks back. Conyers gave 2 reasons: 1) they don’t have time, 2) America needs to concentrate on getting a Dem in the White House.
I find both reasons as offensive.
When you have the direct responsibility and right to cast a vote but won’t, that is cowardly.
We need to demand these Congressman call the vote in Sub-Committee:
John Conyers (MI), Robert Scott (VA), Melving Watt (NC), Artur Davis (AL), and Keith Ellison (MN).