Did they introduce impeachment proceedings today? No? Pelosi attended a tea in her honor..?!?

Listen: twist the nitrous knob. Green light. Hit the fucking gas. Build the gallows in front of the White House ***NOW***. We'll find somebody with a cell phone to record Dubya's swinging.

We ought to level Washington DC and salt the earth it once stood on. Clean it up RIGHT NOW or we ought to look hard at returning all significant power to the states and turning our backs on the federal government. Dubya has been a disaster. If Clinton got impeached for lying about a blowjob, Dubya ought to be summarily executed. We can examine the facts later.

Cheney, OTOH, goes to Gitmo to have his legs pulped and his nuts shocked. "So, Dick... anything to tell us about 9/11/01..?"

No quarter. CLEAN HOUSE. Compassion, in this instance, can be put on the shelf. Those motherfuckers ought to hang for their crimes. Hang and be left hanging until they rot away as a grim warning to every wannabe fascist on this rock.

Though our so-called "system" allowed me scant choice, it was still clear. But these are political animals and not to be trusted. Powerful aroma of almighty dollar already wafting through the venal hallowed halls. Traditions of politesse on parade. Fuck 'em. Feet to the fire and no pussyfooting.

90 days. They have 90 days or we have a general strike.

The Democrats have held the majority in Congress for zero time. They convene tomorrow. Now, I want Bush and Cheney impeached as much or more than anyone, but with the power distribution the way it is, it is unreasonable in the extreme to expect Pelosi, et. al., to turn the ship of state around in two weeks. Cindy Sheehan needs to chill the hell out. Nancy gets it, but this is a real and real difficult world, with Commander Codpiece still with his grubby stubby finger on the red button. Change is on the way, but it ain't next week. This isn't tee vee.

Bush will put more troops in harms way and then blackmail Democrats to keep them supplied with clean water and body armor - allowing the Republican, military-industrial, crony-capitalists to take a hefty mark-up.

What to do? Defund the rest of the Defense Budget. Eliminate SDI, the F-22 Raptor, and our own 60 year old and still going strong nuclear WMD program. Defund anything that isn't needed in Iraq. Make Haliburton fight with Lockheed Martin and the rest for the remaining contracts. Forced to choose between supporting the troops in Iraq and paying dividends to their stockholders, the crony capitalists will pressure on Bush to bring the troops home so that can get back to the business of making money for their shareholders.

Why are Democrats so concerned about "checks and balances" now? I don't recall any such concerns during the 60s or 70s or early 90s when Dems held both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Could it be that this is just sour grapes and nonsense?

Of course not! How could I forget! It is because all moral purity and goodness resides in the hearts of Democrats; while all Republicans are fascist and worse, with no redeeming qualities at all.

The snow-white hearts of Democrats, so full of compassion and love for mankind, show so clearly in the first four posts here.

90 days. They have 90 days or we have a general strike.

-- Rance Spergl

Wow, my goodness, a general strike. In America. A general strike, ummmph, now THAT would be something. Imagine, the people rising up to make the government actually do its bidding. The people shutting down the whole kit-n-kabodle to make it clear we won't go along with their Orwellian BS anymore. Imagine that, in America. Imagine the American people taking eight hours off from their constant hustling and mercantilism to bitch slap the government. That would be some kind of incredible. It's impossible really to imagine it happening, in America.

Gordon asks,

Why are Democrats so concerned about "checks and balances" now? I don't recall any such concerns during the 60s or 70s or early 90s when Dems held both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

For precisely that reason. Duh. The hope of the Republic doesn't lie in silly things like

It is because all moral purity and goodness resides in the hearts of Democrats; while all Republicans are fascist and worse, with no redeeming qualities at all.

Neither side has a monopoly on goodness or vileness. Indeed, for the most part, every politician is going to pursue his own interests. That's the way the system is set up -- hence the checks and balances. Government in this nation is supposed to be based on competing interests in the public square, not lockstep conformism to a party line. The sin of the Republicans for the past six years hasn't been any of their positions; it's been the willingness of individual senators and representatives to sacrifice their own consciences and the dignity of their Houses in a craven attempt to curry favor with the ascendant executive.

The system is broken not because Republicans are evil and Democrats pure. It's broken because Republican members of Congress put party above the nation and indeed above the interests of their own branch of government.

There's a story attributed to, I believe, Sam Rayburn. A freshman Democrat newly elected to Congress comes to Rayburn and says, "Where are the Republicans? I want to meet the enemy." And Rayburn tells him, "Son, the Republicans aren't the enemy; they're the opposition. The Senate is the enemy." Although tongue in cheek, it evidences an understanding that the American system works only when each part of government strives with (and sometimes against) the others.

Why does this outrage persist now that Dems have the power?

Why?

I agree with Mr. Shapiro that Democrat’s “major role in the Iraq debate will be through congressional hearings and oversight”. I also agree with the statement, “reelection remains the Democratic touchstone”.

This means that the Bush administration will be bogged down for the next two years answering questions in Congressional hearings about past dubious practices. There could not be a better gift given to the Democrats. For two years, leading up to the 2008 elections, the Republicans will be vilified in the headlines of the nation’s newspapers and web sites. If the phrase, “culture of corruption” had a significant effect on the 2006 elections, look out for 2008. That is unless the Democrats lose focus, and the giddiness of power turns their vainglorious heads. They will soon find out that temptations will be enticingly dangled before them. And any unseemly reactions to these temptations will be recorded and used against them.