The frustration expressed by the members of the Kos community sure goes through a lot of changes. We want the war to end. We want W held accountable. We want meaningful investigations. These days, a lot of us want Bush impeached. We also want to fight global warming, legalize marijuana, keep abortion safe and legal, reform the way elections are financed, end election fraud and elect Democrats. Well, we have succeeded in electing Democrats, but it seems like we are fighting an uphill battle on the rest of these issues. Something needs to give. It was in vogue for a while after the 2006 election for people to believe investigations were the answer. Now, apparently it's cool to think impeachment will solve all our problems. We need to face facts people. The Republicans have rigged the game. We need to think outside the box to get things back on track.
I am not claiming to be the answer man by any stretch, but I just can't understand how anyone can still believe that impeachment (or any other conventional method) is going to change anything. The Republicans have been compassionate, scary, indignant and rude. They do or say whatever it takes to advance their agenda. Somehow, when no one was looking, the neocons took over the Republican party. They laid in wait for 30 years just waiting for their chance to get back in power. They were always operating in the shadows doing whatever they could to advance their perverted dream of American Empire. Every move they made was calculated to lead them back into power. They used Newt to destroy the Clinton presidency and then ditched him when it was politically expedient. But, unlike what the Dems did with Gore, they kept Newt happy and rich when they were done with him so they could roll him back out when the time was right. They used the "liberal media" bullshit to coop the media and then used the media to further their agenda. They completely flat out lied in order to take us to war with Iraq. For god's sake, almost everyone now agrees that the 2000 election was rigged.
It's time to understand that they don't play by the rules. We are still living in a reality based world and they are still laughing at us. They couldn't care less about Congressional investigations. They laugh at Court decisions they don't like and hang their enemies after bogus trials. They impeach sitting Presidents based on charges that they used their own operatives to create and scoff at the idea Bush should be impeached for his crimes. They lie, cheat, steal, cheat on their wives, use drugs and bastardize religion and still act holier then thou.
What then can we do? I was pretty sure right after the 2006 election that investigations were not the answer. I wrote this diary http://www.dailykos.com/... hoping that others would realize the futility of investigating people who piss on your investigations. Christ, they will just pardon or commute any of their own that get caught up in it anyway. The American people always forgive or forget their misdeeds because we let them. My feeling is it is way beyond time to throw caution to the wind and fight fire with fire.
I know it feels good to call your congresspeople to complain and to sign petitions. I understand the desire to follow your moral compass and try to do things the "right way." But, holy shit people, we can't even get them to slightly alter the course of one of the most unpopular wars in history. People like to say that the Bush administration didn't learn the lesson of the Vietnam war. Those people are wrong. They just learned a different lesson. The lesson they learned is fuck everyone who disagrees with our war. They are not leaving Iraq until they are completely out of power. Even then, they will have Iraq so screwed up that it will be virtually impossible to leave anytime soon. They might even sneak back into power before their deeds can be undone. It's tough to just leave a billion dollar embassy empty.
I have the same feeling about impeachment. They are almost begging us to impeach. I really believe the Dems finally understand this and have made a good decision not to play into their hands. However, I am not sure which way to turn. I just know conventional thinking has got us into this mess. I am hoping this diary can foster a discussion about new and different ideas that might be more effective in countering the right-wing agenda.
Let me leave on this note. I have been mostly a lurker around here since the US Atty scandal broke. For me personally, the firing of a number of sitting US Attorneys in the middle of the President's second term was unfathomable. They might as well have just given the middle finger to the rest of America. They were telling you that the law was now what they say it is, and not even someone they appointed to one of the most trusted positions in the land was going to disagree with them. Fuck those people who are trying to uphold the laws on the books. That is clearly not why Bush appointed them. He appointed them to do his dirty work and nothing more. Seriously, can you fucking believe that?
Still, the American people just deal with it. In fact, a lot of people go out of their way to justify it using the ever popular bogus Clinton comparison that apparently makes anything OK. They just wait to be scared by the next "terrorist cell."
More Dems in congress didn't stop the war. It didn't stop the US atty. purge. It didn't lead to a sounder energy policy. It didn't do shit to even slow down the Bush express that is destroying our country.
Anybody out there have any better ideas??