Few felt brave enough to question this misrule at the top, especially on the subjects of the lies used to invade and occupy Iraq, or on torture of suspected terrorists, or on the shredding of the 800-year-old tradition of habeas corpus along with Constitutional protections of the Bill of Rights. (Bush's near-police state included domestic spying without court warrants, rifling through one's computer, black bag jobs, "disappearing" citizens into military jails with no access to lawyers, etc.). With no effective opposition, and with most of the mass-media parrotting the White House spin, CheneyBush have had free reign to rampage through the law and threaten and invade around the globe. Hundreds of thousands have died or been maimed as a result -- American troops and Iraq/Afghanistan civilians -- and a new war is being planned for Iran.
THE DEMOCRATIC "OPPOSITION PARTY"
And how has the ostensible "opposition party" responded to the stop-me-if-you-can gauntlet thrown down by CheneyBush and their GOP supporters in Congress? The Democrats barely take on the issues that really matter: the ongoing Iraq war, the impending attack on Iran, the destruction of the Constitution.
In 2006, the American people -- angry and turned off by CheneyBush's extremism, thorough-going incompetence, and corruption on so many levels -- voted the Republicans out of power in Congress and installed a slim but telling Democratic majority. Polls revealed that the voters were fed up with CheneyBush policies, especially with regard to the quagmirish Iraq war and the violation of their privacy rights, and that's why they gave the Democrats a mandate to clean out the stables.
But the timid Dems forgot who put them into power and why, and continued to act as if they were still in the minority by rolling over on their backs whenever CheneyBush started calling them "soft on terrorism" or whatever. In effect, the Democrats have become enablers of the worst policies of the CheneyBush juggernaut, and now have blood on their hands.
The logic of the Dems' easy and constant capitulations is baffling. Bush is now the most loathed president in modern history, even lower in approval ratings than Richard Nixon at his lowest, a mere 24%, and Cheney is even lower at 11% approval. The public is more than two-thirds opposed to CheneyBush's Iraq War and Occupation and feel the U.S., in general, is headed "in the wrong direction." And yet the Democrats behave as if they have to snap to it whenever the Administration looks at them the wrong way.
Perhaps the best symbol of that timidity is their refusing to even consider impeachment of Cheney and Bush for a long list of high crimes and misdemeanors. Because of their wimpy behavior, on impeachment and Iraq, the Democrats in Congress are held in even less repute than CheneyBush.
Indeed, elements of the Democratic activist base, the ones who worked so hard to get them into the majority in 2006, are threatening to abandon the party and are denouncing Dem leaders and many of the announced presidential candidates for the 2008 race. Many Dems are no longer sending donations to the Party coffers, and instead are restricting their giving to specific candidates who demonstrate moral strength and independence in their policy choices.
In short, as Lord Acton would have known would happen, the ascension to Congressional majority status power has tended to corrupt the Democrats, and there is great suspicion that if they were given absolute power they would be only a little different from the morally-bankrupt CheneyBush Administration, with more wars of choice abroad and more willingness to misuse the expanded powers of the presidency against their perceived political enemies.
HYPOCRISY IN PAKISTAN
The situation in Pakistan is uber-serious. If a centrist/secular Pakisan government were to fall and militant Islamists got their hands on that country's nuclear missiles, there is no telling what kind of conflagration might occur in the Greater Middle East, or beyond.
But certain lessons can be drawn from the situation there. And, lo and behold, Condi Rice and George W. Bush delivered some of them, calling for Musharaff (nudge nudge, wink wink) to return to democratic institutions, guarantee an honest voting process, support a free-wheeling investigatory press, respect an independent judiciary and oppositional elements, etc.
Trouble is, the CheneyBush vision of what's wrong is sharp when it refers to Pakistan but they seem incapable of seeing the mote in their own eyes. You can't pretend to be an admirable democratic country when you violate your Constitution and deny citizens their rights, and you can't denounce torture and mistreatment of protesters and prisoners when you sanction such in your own behavior, and you can't decry a political leader also being the head of the military when your country operates that way, too. The American double-standard reeks.
(Catch this quote from White House Press Secretary Dana Perino when asked about the situation in Pakistan. Question: "It is ever reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism?" Her unequivocal answer: "In our opinion, No." Oh, but I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.)
LIMITED CHOICES IN PAKISTAN
In a way, what's happening in Pakistan, with Musharraf proclaiming martial law and arresting his political enemies, is reminiscent of the era of Cold War politics. The U.S. supported with gobs of money and military aid any country that professed "anti-communism"; this policy meant that the U.S. lost popular international support around the globe because we were backing the worst sort of dictators who represssed their peoples (Marcos in the Phillipines, the Shah of Iran, the apartheid regime in South Africa, etc. etc.). And here we are again: If you claim you're anti-"terrorist," American will supply you with billions in cash, police "training," and loads of high-tech weaponry.
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at universities in California and Washington, worked for two decades as a writer-editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, and currently serves as co-editor of The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org).
Well written, well said. I concur wholeheartedly with your article. With the gutsy criminal Republicans and the Democrats who either have a Republican gun to their head or perhaps many of our Democrats are really just Republicans in sheeps’ clothing. Perhaps they are a planned deception? Whatever the case, they’re useless. Perhaps we already have, or atleast certainly need, an operating list of the good and bad members of Congress for all to see and read so we all have better voting criteria.
by
Lance L. Landon (4 articles, 1 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 30 comments)
on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 12:16:38 AM
1 comments
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