I'd like to thank Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer for demonstrating shrewd political tactics and just awsome leadership in voting yea on Judge Mukasey. As Senator Feinstein stated, this is the best we're going to get from this administration, and as anyone can tell you that means we should just give in and do what the administrations wants. I mean, it's not like we have a choice in the matter - we're being offered a chinese menu where we get to choose one from column 'bad' and two more from column 'worse'. That we might exercise some freewill and choose not to order is unthinkable; don't you know we have to choose? Why, think of what the administration might do if we didn't give them everything they wanted!
Er, what?
Senator Feinsteins' message here is unparalleled in it's clarity - we could all learn a little something from this attitude.
Now, when I was a child, I didn't have this kind of wisdom. I remember one day being harassed by a school bully for my lunch money, and I knew if I didn't give it to him, he and his friends would beat me up something fierce. It seemed a quandary with no answer - I mean, either I get beat up, or I give up my lunch money - after all, these were the only offers the bully was going to offer. I must admit, I thought my solution of saying no and shoving the bully into his friends was innovative, as I was never asked for my money again. Shame on me for not seeing that I was wrong! Why, had Dianne been around back then to guide me, surely I would've known the best thing was to give up my money; that way, the bully could come and demand it the next day, and the one after that. Why, I could just keep laying down and taking it forever, and wouldn't that be the better solution?
/ allegory, that I wish wasn't quite so allegorical
This is starting to feel like I'm unfairly singling out two of the many, so I'll put this question to every democrat who keeps laying down on the job: WHAT GOOD IS POWER IF YOU'RE TOO SCARED TO USE IT? What point is there to amassing favors, power, and committee chairs if you won't stand up and say 'enough is enough - this is still a democracy and we will not stand for this.'
A year ago I was filled with excitement at a new congress, at a democratic take over, and I looked forward to seeing this country set back on the right course. And time after time, when presented with opportunities to serve the American People, rather than stand up to the bully, you've laid down and done as you're told.
Again.
And again.
And again.
There's a profession out there, where people are paid to lay on their backs and do what they're told - you seem to think they're called 'Senators'; well they're called 'prostitutes'. You've confused the two, and sadly by your actions, so have many of your constituents.
What breaks my heart, is I used to think there was a line. I used to believe there would come a point where the "opposition" party would say enough is enough. First I thought it was troop withdrawal, then I thought it might be civil rights... in all honesty, after civil rights I stopped believing, but kept hoping.
And here
we go
again.
What's now dawned on me, is there really is no line; there is no point at which we can trust the leadership to stand up to the president - they're all displaying the most horrible gestalt of failing to 'think outside the box' and boiling-frog syndrome. The president says choose my way or my way, and they do it like a whipped dog. Years ago Tom Tomorrow drew a strip where Senators were debating whether or not to oppose Bush declaring himself dictator for life, and I can only say I think he was being optimistic.
No, there'd be no debate - the debate would get pulled off the table like impeachment was while the senate sub-committee on Dictators For Life would begrudgingly approve it because someone on Fox News said it wasn't right to keep the bill from getting an up / down vote. Some 'professional blogger' working at Time or the WaPo would go back to work after his lunch at the heritage foundation and write about how patriotic it was, and how the constitution doesn't necessarily oppose such a measure during a time of war. Finally Joe Lieberman would endorse it and call on the democrats to end their partisan ways and vote with their colleagues on the right.
Admit it - for a moment there you could see it happening.
That chill running down your spine from it only proves that you're still sane.
I get that bush would recess appoint someone else; I get that appointment could be worse; I get that Mukasey answered several question with clarity and thought. I must've been listening to different answers though, because what I didn't hear was loudest of all. It was the most important answer he could give -roughly paraphrased it looks something like this:
"Proscribing torture is not something a nation does with an eye on circumvention of the law; there is no wink and nudge, no dissemination. As a nation you either stand up and say 'we do not under any circumstance torture, nor do we aid or allow by our inaction our allies in doing the same', or you accept that yes, in fact you do take part in torture; there is no grey area there.
"Waterboarding, whatever name you give it, is a technique so heinous in nature even the nazi's were cautious in it's use. We are better than the nazis; we must ban it utterly."
'IF waterboarding is torture' doesn't even come close. I dare say if any one of us - Judge Mukasey included - faced the idea of our loved one or god forbid our child being waterboarded, we'd scream ourselves hoarse at how utterly wrong, utterly inhuman it is.
A while back I wrote down what I felt our elected officials should keep in mind when they achieve public office; I'm going to add one now:
Your silence endorses the outcome - We hand you our power, and we expect you to use it with wisdom and bravery. If you do not stand up and lend your support to a movement / idea / bill, then when it dies, you were not for it. By comparison, if you do not stand up to men endorsing evil acts, then you lend those acts your name. If you do not fight against injustice, then you are injust. If you do not stare the devil in the eyes and check his power, then when the devil runs amok, you are just as responsible for his actions as he is. We the people vested in your the power to make a difference, more so than any one of us has. We offered you our collective authority; FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, USE IT. If the devil gives you two bad choices then STAND UP AND MAKE A THIRD. You are Senators for Gods-sake; show some initiative.
For the next 15 months, barring a stunning reversal of history:
- Bush will remain in power, when more than any president in history he deserves impeachment
- Bush will demand more power
- Bush will abuse said power, and then demand still more power
- more american soldiers will die
- more iraqi civilians will die
- more innocent people will rot in detention without trial
- more 'persons of interest' will be tortured (*enough* already - it's torture, stop playing games)
- more money will be stolen from our children and grandchildren to pay for this godforsaken war
- more damage will be done to our infrastructure
- damage from Katrina will go unrepaired
- the dollar will continue to fall, and the economy will get worse
- The United States will continue to fall, ever further down into a pit of disgrace
You are our representatives. For the love of God DO something.