I've been watching Rep. Kucinich read his Articles of Impeachment of President George W. Bush on C-Span and checking into the live blog threads here.
And I'm pretty disgusted.
Not at Rep. Kucinich, but at some here, DailyKos, the great, orange ground zero of Democratic, progressive and constitutional thought on the danged old Interwebs, who feel that, because Rep. Kucinich's efforts tonight are almost surely doomed to fail, that it is unworthy of their attention or approval.
Listen up. This is a United States congressman, standing in the well of the chamber of the House of Representatives, reading into the Congressional Record a detailed and comprehensive list of the violations of U.S. and international law by a sitting president. Even if nothing comes of this, this is an important moment in the history of our country.
Those who are so sure that this is a quixotic gesture, that our spineless Democratic leaders will never bring these articles to a vote on the House floor, that even taking the time to read these articles into the record of our Congress are so pointless as to be beneath their notice or respect, remind me of other people I've known.
Having spent way too many years in the music business, I've hung out with engineers, producers, publishers, publicists, reviewers, managers, artists and other "music people." And, to a person, almost all of them shared a common flaw: they were too cool to dance.
Whether it was one of the last public appearances of the Grateful Dead, Marcia Ball playing to a house of ten patrons in a flooding rain, Bonnie Raitt with half the Meters roaring at the Jazz Fest or just another Saturday night with the local blues band, these tragically hip, how's-my-hair guest-list-and-laminate peacocks couldn't be moved from the wall or the bar to actually shake their asses. To music that extraterrestrials would cross light years to hear.
Friends, Democrats, countrymen, lend him your ears.
This is your history. Your grandchildren will ask if you heard this speech.
Put down your fucking call brand drink and dance.
Morning Update: Well, that went pretty well for a half-drunken rant. Thanks, all. I could have danced all night. Now unrec this thing and let's get some real diaries on the big list.
PS--All these comments and no one mentioned Emma Goldman. . .