In the last month, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean and other Democratic leaders have made an outrageous concession to the hyper-vocal, hyper-minority block of neo-conservatives--they're not going to subpoena or investigate the most egregious criminals on Capitol Hill.
The hyper-vocal, hyper-minority never fails to get democrats running scared. I'm talking about the Republican company spokespeople like Sean Hannity, who warned his listeners that, "This is going to be the party of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid." Hannity and his fellow thugs terrorized democrats by chasing them around with the "Democrats are going to tie up Congress with investigations" card.
Fearing that Hannity's vindictive outrage over possible House Democratic investigations mirrored national sentiment, Democrats promised that they would play nicely in the sandbox if elected. Well it was a foolish mistake.
This morning, President "war criminal" Bush, has begun flattering Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Suddenly these frail-looking old school geeks, who were outcasts for six years, have been invited to the lunch table with the (once but no more) popular jock Bush. As if forgetting in 12 hours why they were elected, the Democrats now appear to be simply cashing in on their newfound celebrity status for glittery lunches, chats with the president and valet service in Washington.
Isn't it amazing how quickly the victorious party can become corrupted by power?
That's right, they promised you, and they promised you, and they promised you, and you shouldn't have, you didn't want to, but you reluctantly put your trust in them. You finally gave Democrats a chance and what do you get? They would rather have limousine rides around the Capitol with President "war criminal" Bush than work; than investigate; than execute justice in the name of God, liberty and our obligation to the world.
You voted AGAINST President Bush. You sent a signal to world that you want President Bush and his rubberstamp congress to be held accountable. You want answers. You want to bring the criminals on Capitol Hill to justice, and from there you want America to begin re-building our relationship with the world. If you could have ousted President Bush through a ballot initiative you would have sent him home to Texas.
And now these Democrats are telling you that they're going to sit on their hands. They're telling you, "Thanks for the vote, but I'm just here for the champagne and souvenir photos with George (soon-to-be) 'Iran War' Bush."
The Democrats are going to not investigate, and not subpoena, and not question, and not act, and not move, and not do anything that we voted for, or are paying for, them to do. Well this type of behavior will ensure a rout in 2008. The tide will reverse on them so quickly that they won't have time to snap off a picture of their new digs in Washington. This is what they think of the people?
Look at Eliot Spitzer. Here's a man who understands that executing justice pays dividends in political capital, but do the Democrats get it? The American people are practically begging the Democrats to take Bush down. This was a vote against Bush, and if the Democrats can slam Bush and his corporate conspirators with subpoenas and knock them around with investigations, then the people will get the beat down they have voted for.
We want to get out of Iraq. We don't give a damn about hurting Bush's "feelings" with investigations when he is possibly guilty of violating the constitution, lying to Americans on Iraq and other criminal behavior. We've logged through the swamp for these Democrats TOO HARD and TOO LONG for them to turn around and say, "We put on our dress clothes and so should you. We're going to be civil now."
Well forget that. We're here to scrap, and scrappers win elections; scrappers aren't afraid to nick their elbows and dirty up their knees; scrappers have a righteousness that governs their every action and radiates into every home across the country; that figures into every dinner table conversation; that wins converts by its unyielding march to the kingdom of justice. When justice runs its course and democracy is restored, from voting rights to eavesdropping to torture to K Street corruption, then and only then may Democrats begin to focus solely on renewable energy, minimum wage and other Democratic initiatives.
To let Bush off the hook sends a signal to future presidents that justice bends its knee to Presidents who act imperial; that politicians will forgo repaying the inequity of presidents with consequences if doing so buys them access to the caviar lifestyle. The majority of Americans will not be outraged when George Bush reaps the crop of injustice that he has sown with the blood of 3000 US soldiers.
Democrats can renege on their short-sighted promise not to open up shop on criminal investigations on George Bush, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and a host of other shady criminals on Capitol Hill. They can redeem themselves from what every early indication suggests is the fastest trip to corruption and buddy-buddy behavior with el Diablo ever.
Democrats can justify breaking earlier promises by saying that the will of the people takes precedent over anything they promised on the campaign trail. The people have thumped the gavel; they have tried the accused and sentenced the guilty to ignominy. They have called for a day of reckoning from which no man beneath God's blue heaven deserves exemption.
And investigations will, for two years, uncover the dark inglorious rot of corruption in Washington and whet the appetite of voters to elect a Democratic president in 2008. For two years, Democrats can have free advertising for their party by uncovering the nasty legacy of the Republican Party. It's their choice. Inaction or happy-go-lucky romps with the president buys them a one-way ticket out of Washington.
Dean Danger Powers is an international man of mystery.
Given that all progressives have been yelling at Bush that in foreign policy he needs to learn to negotiate and talk to enemies as well as friends it is a bit premature to call Pelosi corrupted because as de facto Speaker she accepted an invitation to lunch with the President of the United States..
Politics is politics and it is never pretty what matters is what can be achieved. I do not think you need to worry about whether or not subpoenas will fly or not the electoral advantage in exposing Republican dirty deals is just too attractive so even the most cynical Democrat will support the targets that are worth pursuing. Don't forget that as far as impeachment itself is concerned there is no point in rushing toward that too openly at first as to actually impeach you need a 2/3 majority. On the other hand Conyers will eat at scandal after scandal from the edges and more and more wrongdoing will be exposed so that eventually as with Nixon impeachment becomes a practical proposition. Then you might get a Bush resignation rather than face impeachment.
Of course my true pipe dream is that Cheney and Bush get so panicked they start calling each other names in the Oval office and choke each other to death..... I Nancy Pelosi do solemnly swear......Him he he... Well I can dream can't I? :)
by
Aubrey (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 19 comments)
on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 11:19:44 AM
Hey, thanks for the comment, and thanks for reading my entry. I love feed back. You could be right, but why does Pelosi pick up the snake, crippled as it is, and start petting it. As soon as it heals she's going to get bit, we're going to get bit and this country is going to get bit. Bottom line: put down the snake. This thing needs to be smacked with a shovel.
I do like the idea of a Pelosi presidency for the next two years. Good thinking.
by
Dean Powers (128 articles, 8 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 61 comments)
on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 11:27:49 AM
Firstly, this new iteration of congress isn't going to be able to do diddly or squat until January. To start condemning the winners a mere twelve hours after the fact is, in my opinion, raining on the parade even before the floats are finished, or the marching bands have put on their hats and jiggled their spit valves.
Secondly, how can you be so sure that your congressional inaction scenario is going to play out? You can't, my friend. Nostradamus is dead, and has been for five hundred years. There are many who see him as nothing more than a fortune cookie writer who did it before the invention of the fortune cookie.
While I can understand the trepidation that many feel, vis a vis, what is going to happen with our new congressional iteration, to sit and paint the devil on the wall does nothing but disservice to the progressive cause. It turns people off who might just have enough idealism and belief in what just happened to want to continue the fight.
The last thing we need to do is to maintain an Eyore outlook: "Oh sure, we won the election, but it doesn't mean anything. DUBYA's too powerful, and the Democrats are going to be as corrupt as the Republicans."
Come, come now! Frankly, I have read far too many of these dire prognostications for my tastes. Are you folks the kind who would also bitch while you were getting laid?
Lunch is lunch. Playing political footsie is another thing entirely. I have gone to lunch many times with people who I found disgusting. It doesn't mean I am going to fall madly in bed with them. It means I can be civil.
You have no way of knowing what is going to happen after the new congress is sworn in come January. Since this is the case, why the need to piss all over it before it even happens? Come on, give it a rest. We're living in the real world, and not everything is going to happen in our time and on our terms. That doesn't mean it's time to get out the razor blades and start digging into our wrists.
Nostradamus is dead! Let him rest in peace. Stop whining and painting the devil on the wall. Let's at least let the new congress fart in their new cushy seats before we start saying they aren't going to do their jobs!
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 3:47:06 PM
Thanks for the comments. As stated earlier, I love to see it.
In response, things are pretty dire in this world. There's no time for partying, there's no time for "enjoying" a victory here, and Pelosi doesn't have to "be" the Majority Leader to start enjoying the perks. All I'm saying is, for her to reach out and start coddling a man who is this loathesome to the spirit of democracy, who has perverted democracy as extremely as he has...
How quickly we forget about the sense of impending doom the morning after. I got an email from a guy who joked about meeting in a detention camp if we lost this election. Now he was joking, but a part of me said, "You know what? That's the direction we're headed."
We have a lot of work to do. I'm not taking a break and neither should Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid or any other one of these newly elected politicians. That's how we're going to accomplish our progressive ideals where the Republicans failed.
by
Dean Powers (128 articles, 8 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 61 comments)
on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 4:35:30 PM
In response, things are pretty dire in this world. There's no time for partying, there's no time for "enjoying" a victory here, and Pelosi doesn't have to "be" the Majority Leader to start enjoying the perks. All I'm saying is, for her to reach out and start coddling a man who is this loathesome to the spirit of democracy, who has perverted democracy as extremely as he has...
Firsly, let me assure you you are preaching to the choir as far as DUBYA is concerned. He is, without a doubt, the most reprehensible human being I have ever had the misfortune to know in any way, shape or form. I thank the goddess every day that I only have to put up with him via the television. I can turn him off, or mute him at my whim. For that, I am ever grateful.
Things may be dire, but even soldiers get some time to rest and recuperate. There is nothing that can presently be done by any of our new House and Senate elects until January anyway. I agree that we should let them all know we are watching them like the proverbial hawk. However, I don't really think we should make mountains out of molehills, or pacts with the devil out of civility. There will be plenty of time to point accusing fingers. I don't think it wise to start this early in the game.
How quickly we forget about the sense of impending doom the morning after. I got an email from a guy who joked about meeting in a detention camp if we lost this election. Now he was joking, but a part of me said, "You know what? That's the direction we're headed."
I have not forgotten. However, like I said, there is nothing that Pelosi or any of the other newly elected House and Senate members can do until 2007. That's a few months away. Until then, I think we can at least take a small break in the doom saying and so on.
We have a lot of work to do. I'm not taking a break and neither should Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid or any other one of these newly elected politicians. That's how we're going to accomplish our progressive ideals where the Republicans failed.
Yes we have a lot to do. I couldn't agree more. However, don't you think your idea that Pelosi's lunch with DUBYA being the beginning of a pact with the devil might be, oh, let's say, a bit of an overstatement? I know I think it is.
There are a lot of issues I think need to be addressed, and may or may not be between now and 2008. There will be time a plenty for all that when the time really comes. For now, maybe just taking a day off might help all to decompress. I know it helped me to wake up this morning breathing an air of relief over the elections. Frankly, towards the end, I was getting way over it all anyway.
In the final analysis, we all do what we feel is necessary. Wisdom comes from knowing when it's time to chill out, and when it's time to raise hell. For now, I think it's time for us all to take a chill pill, and take in a bit of the glory our actions have wrought.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 2:30:21 AM
Thanks agian. Good debate. I hear the message of relaxing and getting some rest before we begin the next battle, but like an animal that involuntarily digs holes or stores acorns, I involuntarily react when I read certain things in the news. I can't control myself. I've been plagued with this problem all of my life. It makes me a nuisance to some people, actually to probably most people, but I believe in it, and even if I didn't, I really don't have a choice in the matter.
Bottom line: every time Pelosi and Bush share a smile, every time they share a lunch, every time they get cozy and happy together, I'm going to verbally retch all over the nearest computer screen. :)
Sorry to hear about your job by the way. I wish you the best on getting that back.
by
Dean Powers (128 articles, 8 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 61 comments)
on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 9:00:06 AM
Thanks agian. Good debate. I hear the message of relaxing and getting some rest before we begin the next battle, but like an animal that involuntarily digs holes or stores acorns, I involuntarily react when I read certain things in the news. I can't control myself. I've been plagued with this problem all of my life. It makes me a nuisance to some people, actually to probably most people, but I believe in it, and even if I didn't, I really don't have a choice in the matter.
I think we all have little areas of our lives that qualify as irritants to our fellow man. I know I have more than my fair share of such. I can accept that.
Bottom line: every time Pelosi and Bush share a smile, every time they share a lunch, every time they get cozy and happy together, I'm going to verbally retch all over the nearest computer screen. :)
hehehe Ok, as long as you don't puke on the back of the monitor. The hydrochloric acid is conductive, and you could electrocute yourself through your puke stream. Besides that, puke stinks when it's heated or electrified. hehehe
Sorry to hear about your job by the way. I wish you the best on getting that back.
Thanks. If I got a job for effort put forth, I'd be at that job right now instead of banging away on this keyboard. I remain ever hopeful that part of my life will turn around.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 1:17:02 PM
I completely agree with this post. The President still has a lot of power, and there are a lot of things that need attention. For instance, Bush can, by executive order, still carry out some of his awful domestic policies, such as tinkering with the captial gains tax rate.
I see no reason not to be polite. So often in this country we equate civility with weakness. Shame on us.
by
Peggy McCann (18 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 34 comments)
on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 5:22:13 PM
Thanks for your opinion as well. Politeness is certainly an endearing quality. Perhaps by inference, my commentary is not polite? Perhaps that's your suggestion.
Very well. Again, I love the input. I'm definitely not trying to win any popularity contests here. I care passionately about the generations to which we will endow this country and this world. A Republican Congress and George Bush have promoted eco-terrorism (assaults on the environment) beyond comprehension. They have annihilated the lives of 700,000 human beings.
I love civility and try to practise it in my day in and day out interactions; however, the vermin on Capitol Hill wear the blood of 3000 US soldiers upon their heads and the the blood of 655,000 Iraqis and no one will get me to say "please" and "thank you" to any one of the politicians who orchestrated the Iraq War.
It was bad for our economy, it was bad for our democracy, it was bad for the environment, it accomplished nothing besides more terror, it was bad for our standing in the world...ETC.
And these are still problems. These don't disappear now that Democrats rule Capitol Hill. There was a generation, and I won't mention it by name, that accomplished a lot. But then some of its principal members decided to take an eternal Spring Break and they left my generation with a helluva mess to clean up. And I intend on cleaning that up as best I can. I intend on being as vigilant as I can, just like some members of that generation have done. So that's what drives me on. We need to keep focused. We need to keep moving forward.
So again. Thanks for your comments. I think your big-heartedness is charming and Pappy's suggestion that I complain while I'm having sex is fine. That's what I love about this country.
Again thanks. Don't be afraid to reply. Look forward to it.
by
Dean Powers (128 articles, 8 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 61 comments)
on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 6:27:08 PM
...Pappy's suggestion that I complain while I'm having sex is fine. That's what I love about this country.
Perhaps that was a bit of overblown hyperbole on my part. Trust me, I understand where you are coming from. I am just as outraged by it all as the next progressive.
Not only that, I live this shit daily. I have no job thanks to the outsourcing of mid and low level computer tech jobs. I have no health insurance, and I also have heart disease, ie high blood pressure and a cardiac arrythmia. I have nothing that I had a mere ten years ago. All I have left is this computer, and a car that's been in need of a new clutch for over a year now. Of course, I am concerned. I do as much as I can, and then some. It still gets me not a lot, but at least I have hope. It may not seem like much, but it's better than nothing at all.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 2:39:12 AM
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