I asked a question on another thread yesterday about why there was so little in the way of civil disobedience against the current government. There's plenty of passion, and there have been quite a number of demonstrations, but no active civil disobedience as with Vietnam.
One astute Kossack noted that there's no draft this time, hence no civil disobedience, and that that is probably why the army is continuing to be an all-contractor all-volunteer force. Still, i can't help feeling that there has to be a tipping point which justifies mass civil disobedience.
Even for the Senate. More on the flip...
At this point it looks like Bolton has had enough arms twisted to get the vote. This is not so terrible because he'll be a lousy, deceitful and complicit goon at the UN, but rather because the SFRC and the Senate have a role in checking the actions of the administration which might do harm to the country, intentionally or otherwise.
Bolton is a proven ideologue. A proven bully. A serial abuser of classified intelligence against other Americans. A lousy manager. A worse diplomat. Incompetent and totally self-serving, according to Newsweek. How can anyone carrying this baggage be confirmed without causing irreparable harm to the "democratic" process which is supposed to weed out people like him?
Let's be clear: the only thing supporting his nomination is partisanship. If that's not fascism, what is?
But, as dismayed as we are about Bolton, there is an even bigger crime about to be perpetrated. The GOP's so-called "nuclear option". As Reid accurately pointed out, this isn't about any of the justices currently facing rejection. It's about taking total control over the judiciary and stacking the supreme court. This is not just a "big deal" this is the "whole deal".
I've been party to a number of negotiations and I can assure you that the Dems need to have their BATNA in order (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement). And my suggestion is that the ONLY alternative is to shut down the Senate. Once the Constitution has been sufficiently abrogated by the government, it ceases to have any effectiveness. There can be no halfway measures, no waffling, no "nuance" here--it's either the Constitution or bust.
I hope it doesn't come to this, but I'm still trying to get over Bush "winning" in 2000, let alone 9/11, Iraq, energy policy, foreign policy, joblessness, medicare, social security, North Korea, 'freedom fries', the left-behind series, Electoral Theft 2004, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and Cat Stevens being a terrorist. So, no, I'm not exactly hopeful.
My suggestion then: if the "nucelar option" succeeds, Dems refuse to show up at the Senate until the administration backs down.
What are your ideas for effective civil disobedience?