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.
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2 comments:
But the illegal wiretapping, the flippin' war, the "heck of a job, Brownie"... they can't be justified. Bush has earned the ol' heave ho (and I'd argue for a one-way ticket out of the country -- if a prez starting a war for personal interest or enacting policies that spit on the Constitution aren't treasonable offenses, what are?).
You're right-on about Democrats making everything their message. It's infuriating. I wish they'd stop whining and start offering well-devised alternatives as a group. I hoped their putting Dean as DNC chair would signal a desire to grow spines, but I fear he might de-evolve with the rest of them. By 2008 we're looking at a party of amoebas. I'm not giving up on Dean, though -- the man is my only glimmer of hope for political conscience. (Banished? Would you really say he was banished to DNC chair?)
And can we really talk about the current situation and state "marriage infidelity" in the same breath? The Lewinsky affair seems downright romantic now.
You're right about Karl Rove being a genius. I hate it, but you're right. :)
You've got to be kidding! Are you saying that it's all relative: Monica-gate, illegal wiretapping, this horrible war? That every president lies, so if he lies about a war then whaddyagonnado? aaaaghhh! Nononono. People are DYING. Not coming home, or coming home without limbs or eyes or brain function. THAT is politics becoming personal. A wife discovering an affair? C'mon, not nearly the same thing.
But in the spirit of unity, check out the other links. C'mon, Celine Dion doing Madonna. It's horrible. Unthinkable. Very deserving of censure, not an ongoing gig in Vegas at Caesar's. (They actually have a Celine Dion gift store there. Celine tees. Mugs. I bet if I looked hard enough there would've been Celine snow globes.)
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