I read KagroX's There is Something Fundamentally Wrong Here and I think the title speaks well to the reality of the situation over FISA but, more broadly, over how our legislative branch is and has been wounded by this misAdministration.
This diary is not about the details of the legislation, nor is it about the checks and balances written into our Constitution.
This diary is about pain.
Every time Congress allows Mister Bush and his minions to force an issue and win, knowing it is wrong, knowing it is a betrayal of what Americans need, want and deserve, the pain that results is not one of politics or legislative agendas.
The pain of someone who is sick and not only cannot get medical care but is made to feel unworthy of it.
The pain of someone who has lost their home in a hurricane and not only gets no help to return home but is made to feel like a burden on society, someone who has nothing to offer.
The pain of someone who is told over and over again that their compassion for others and willingness to give a neighbor a hand up that they are weak, foolish, and will be crushed by those who rightfully hold the power.
This is a cumulative pain which has grown steadily over six years of rule by outright criminals, crooks, thieves.
For every person living in a "red state" who has been told too many times how idiotic these "libruls" are and to shut up about their silly notions of equality.
For every person who has to hear hateful rhetoric being spewed in the workplace and has no recourse, for they need their job to feed their family.
For every person who has been told they are worthless beause they are poor, that if they are poor it's their fault, if they are sick it's their fault.
This is a cumulative pain which has grown steadily over six years of rule by outright criminals, crooks, thieves.
And when Congress caves in to these criminals, it's like sticking a white hot poker in an already awful wound. It's not rational, it's not about this or that law, about this or that agenda. It's not about politics at all.
I was angry when the Iraq Supplemental bill passed, angered by the entire process, the one shout to justice followed by complete capitulation.
Now it is not anger I feel. I feel only pain. I don't think the folks who voted for the obscenity of the FISA bill understand the effects of their capitulation on regular Americans who may not even read about this, may not even know about the bill itself, but who have been suffering for so long under this gang of crooks.
These Americans, my brothers and sisters, are not only in grievous pain over the inhumane policies of this misAdministration, the real pain of no health care, no money, anxiety over their families ... my brothers and sisters are also in such pain over being made to feel they don't matter, they just don't matter at all. From New Orleans to New York City, from Minneapolis to Biloxi, all over the country, folks are being ground down by a terrible despair.
There's much that can lift that despair, and I have hope much will happen, that we will indeed have a real Democratic majority in 2008, including the Presidency.
But the feeling of disconnection with those who make the decisions that affect us all, that is not going to be so easy to repair. Each time Congress allows this gang of crooks to have their way, it hurts us in ways that material problems alone do not explain.
It's not about the notion of standing up to bullies, the notion of our self-esteem and self-pride, though of course that is a factor in the pain we feel over this kind of action. But that's ultimately a negative, to go against Bush and his gang.
What will really ease the pain, heal the wound, is to stand up FOR our brothers and sisters who have been so grievously wounded by what these criminals have done. Each time Congress bows to them, it grinds salt in those wounds. It is not rational, the emotional reaction is not just about the damage to our Constitution, to our country. It is something deeper, something in our hearts that cries to see no one bothering to take a real risk, to stand up for us, who has that power and doesn't use it.
I realize this is an incoherent diary, and I apologize for it. But it seemed to me the FISA debacle is just too painful, out of proportion to the real anger I would normally feel.
When are our representatives going to take a real risk? Because I believe that taking that risk, showing the American people that our representatives are really listening to us, are willing to stand up for us, is the only thing that will heal this awful pain.
I simply have not seen this from our Congress. Nor, as with the Iraq Supplemental, have I seen any real explanation from them as to why they are taking this route. I don't think they realize the consequences to all of us, to our hearts and minds, that are occuring from these actions.
Ah, I wish I could say it better. This is something I believe must be dealt with before 2008.