"Shallow Throat" looked like a ghost -- exhausted, pallid skin, and, when the wrap-around shades came off, I could see dark circles under the eyes.
The GOP mole high up in the Bush Administration had contacted me through our secret code. Given our numerous conversations* over the past six years, where the inner secrets of Republican strategy were revealed, I hurried to set up a meeting. This one took place in a back room of a pharmacy in a location near Washington, D.C.
"You don't look so hot," I said.
"You should see the other guy," said ST, using the old joke but with a grimace. "I feel like crap because the tenure of these extremists in the White House has just been guaranteed for the next year-and-a-half by your liberal Democrat buddies. They had CheneyBush backed into a corner, on the ropes, reeling, and the Dems walked away."
"Whoa, wait a minute," I interjected, "I'm just as appalled as you are by the craven surrender of the Democratic leadership on the war-funding bill, lobbying reform and the possibility of impeachment hearings. So don't hang that charge around my neck. The progressive base of the party, which I support, has been very active in trying to get Pelosi and Reid and the others to do the right thing on these issues and in denouncing them when they don't."
Shallow Throat thundered a reply: "If you progressives want to get through to the Dem leaders, you'll have to lead them! Right now, they have you by the shorts. They know that regardless of what they do, you liberals have nowhere else to go. You're not going to support the GOP, you're not going to commit suicide by trying to form a third party, so the Bushistas can just run over you, time and time again, convinced that you'll eventually come back to the fold with your money and energy because the Republicans are even worse. Why shouldn't they take you for granted? You make it so easy for them."
NOW IT'S THE DEMS' WAR ALSO
ST scratched at the new wig and continued: "Your guys blew your one best chance to stop this war, or at least to begin to bring it to a close. I could understand the Dems' timidity if the population were evenly divided on the issue of the war and on the need to get our young soldiers out of there ASAP -- but, damn it, that's not the case!
"Nearly 70% of the public agrees that Bush's war strategy is mistaken and will lead to even more deaths and maiming of untold numbers of U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians. By nearly two-thirds, the public is in support of starting to withdraw our troops soon. In short, your ass was covered! Why on earth would you give in so easily after just one or two tries? You could have let Bush veto the war-funding bill for the second time and sent it back to him again and again, each time carving away a few more wavering Republicans. You could hammer Bush each time as not being willing to bend a bit to 'support the troops'.
"Instead, out of fear of being criticized for 'not supporting the troops' and and for being insufficiently 'patriotic,' you gave away the store, and became, ipso facto, enablers of the Republicans and this slaughter. The blood of young American troops is now on your hands too. Now it's not just Bush's war, but also the Democrats' war! How could your Dem buddies have been so stupid?"
COULD DEMS LOSE WHITE HOUSE IN 2008?
Shallow Throat was breathing heavily after those white-hot denunciations. I passed over my water bottle and let the traditional conservative official take a long swig.
"I agree that they blew this one big time," I said. "I think that the vacationing Senators and Representatives will feel the heat of the public's anger this week when theyt are back home. I suspect they will come back to Washington with more starch in their spines to hold the Bush Administration's feet to the fire in September."
"As a lifelong Republican," said Shallow Throat, "I guess I'm expected to take comfort in how badly the Democrats are bumbling with regard to the race for the White House in 2008. The GOP could lose the House and Senate again but hang onto the Presidency, and that's supposed to make me feel good.
"But, as I've told you many times, Bernie, I am appalled and terrified by the brand of far-right extremists who have hijacked my party. Just looking at the crop of candidates running for the GOP nomination -- not one of them electable who proudly represents those of us in the traditional-conservative middle -- doesn't give me hope that anybody decent will emerge that would change the self-destructive direction of the party. And it's not clear whether the Democrats will come up with anyone significantly better.
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).
Those who are looking to end the war should consider the Gravel United States Armed Forces Withdrawal from Iraq Act. If they like the idea they should contact their members of Congress and ask them why they are not supporting it.
Democratic Presidential candidate Mike Gravel has a plan that will end the war in Iraq in three months with all US troops home in six.This plan recognizes that under the United States Constitution the power of the Congress is superior to the power of the Presidency.
Mike’s plan is to pass a law in the Congress making the war in Iraq illegal.Failure to comply with the law would be punishable by five years in jail without possibility of parole.The President of the United States is required to follow the law like any other American citizen.
Of course, once the law is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is likely that President Bush will veto it. Mike Gravel’s plan would call for the Senate and House Democratic leadership, Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to bring the bill to a vote day after day, 7 days a week, 30 minutes per day, forcing the media spotlight to shine on those Senators and Congressman who are prolonging the war until pressure from their constituents produces a two-thirds majority sufficient to override the Presidential veto.(If the law is filibustered in the Senate initially, the same procedure would apply.)
Mike Gravel is a legislative strategist who served two terms in the US Senate fighting for "unpopular" causes and winning against the odds.He released the Pentagon Papers and successfully ended the US military draft by conducting a five month filibuster in the US Senate.Most other options for ending the war fall into the "do the right thing" category or involve timelines that extend far off into the future.Rather than wait, let’s force our elected representatives to listen to the will of the American people by introducing Mike Gravel’s draft legislation, the United States Armed Forces Withdrawal from Iraq Act, and end this destructive and unnecessary war now.
by
SMcNeil (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 8 comments)
on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 10:49:39 AM
1 comments
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