So Russ Feingold called for a censure of President Bush over his illegal wiretapping program, making Republicans condemn their leader's unconstitutional use of power and empowering Democrats to fight the good fight and speak the truth.
No, I'm sorry, that's only how it would work in Rational Land. Instead, the right is using this to rally their supporters and Democrats are humming quietly with their fingers plugged in their ears. Wha???
It's nearly impossible to remember all the reasons why Bush should be censured or impeached by now. A survival instinct compels most of us to forget these reasons so that we can wake up in the morning and have hope for another day. Illegal spying on his own people. Scoffing at the UN. Wrecking the economy (remember the surplus just six years ago? and yet Bush's degree of domestic budget cuts hasn't been seen since Reagan! screw healthcare and port security, we've got star wars!). Erasing the line between church and state. Ignoring warnings about the levees and then abandoning the Katrina victims. And I'd make an argument for embarrassing the hell out of Americans during every public appearance as an impeachable offense (I know I'm not the only one who hears Bush speak and asks how, just HOW, this man could be a president of anything, much less a country).
This is not an anti-Republican stance. It’s a stance against a president who is negligent, unconstitutional and downright immoral. The man started a war with no exit strategy and based on "slam-dunk" intelligence provided by George Tenet. Bush's recourse? Not admitting fault or mistakes and awarding Tenet with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His "quest for democracy" is marching over freedom's face as Iraq descends into a civil war that we’re going to have to walk out on since there’s no hope of ever establishing a government with a 2/3 majority. How does ANYONE defend Bush's presidency, especially those who wished to impeach Clinton? Bush is responsible for thousands of deaths, but his own legacy is more important than those lives. It's unthinkable.
Maybe there's a plan at work. Perhaps the Dems are playing the game, waiting for the Republican party to do so much damage that the House will go blue in the mid-term elections and then they'll bust out the impeachment hearings. But what about speaking the truth and doing the right thing, for the sole reason that it's true and right, strategy be damned? Saying, "What Bush is doing is dangerous, illegal, and costing lives, and we need to DO something to stop him from continuing"? The Dems need to stop waiting for Republicans to mess up so badly as to make them seem the better alternative, and instead earn the title.
Democrats need to escape the game. Speak the truth. Act accordingly. (Howard Dean, where ARE you?) Yes, an impeachment will fail. A censure will fail. But either will be right to pursue. We've had enough of the whining to Tim Russert on Sunday mornings, enough with self-righteous, pseudo-angry rants that lead nowhere. It's time for Congress to do the right thing and act in a way of conscience and integrity. This calls for
at least backing Feingold on the censure.
You, too, can stand just so.
Because, really, how many times have you not had the perfect thing to wear to a clambake?
This is where it goes from weird to ridiculous. Weird is buying a sweater with a turtle on it. Ridiculous is paying $140 for it. Who? Why? No. And for goodness sakes, woman, brush your hair. You're a model.
