This article, really explains what the Adm. is doing, setting up the traditional media like they always do. With their smoke screen of words. I hope it does not work this time. Our people are being spied upon and deserve to know the truth, on what George Bush, has done to, We The People.

Thank you, Glen for shedding some light on this crucial matter. You are most certainly correct, I would go a step beyond and say,

perhaps impeachment of Alberto Gonzales, might be in order.

Thank you, Mr. Greenwald, for holding these people's feet to the fire.

I respectfully disagree. Years of mass protests did nothing to end Vietnam or bring down Nixon. It was his own massive and willful violations of the constitution and law, the relentless work of congressional Dems, several special prosecuters, and a few journalists to get to the bottom of it, the wise and ethical stewardship of Judge Sirica, the political acumen (and, in some cases, sense of principle) of congressional Repubs, the indictment and conviction of some of his top underlings, and, finally, his own acceptance of reality at the last minute, that brought him down.

Not that I object to and don't see the valuable role that public protests play in creating an underlying political climate in which such things are more likely to happen. But they do not, and will not, be what primarily causes congress to impeach, if that's what it ends up doing, but rather a sense that it has amassed a case so solid against Bush & Co. that impeachment in the house is all but assured, and that conviction in the senate is either likely to happen, or its failure to happen a massive political blow to Repub senators up for reelection. Congress is not quite there yet at the moment, though. Mass protests might sway its final decision, but one way or another, it's going to continue to follow the process that it has decided to follow, and see where it leads.

Like you and many others, I'm hoping that that's impeachment. But we're just not there yet, legally or politically, and likely won't be for some time to come. This is a slow and deliberate process, and congress is simply not going to circumvent that in order to chase down illusory instant results. Leahy, Conyers, Reid and Pelosi are too smart and disciplined to be this foolish. They're going to let the process work itself out and see where it leads. And I think that although they've said certain things publically, privately, they know where it needs to lead, and I suspect that they believe that it eventually will. That's my reading of their strategy, at least.

Could it be a vast right wing conspiracy within the deathly hallows of Salon? Check out Joan Walsh's pathetic blog, look for the story she buried on Friday, right before she went on vacation, and see what I mean. Audiofile, people! The place where you used to get free downloads and interesting criticism? Not anymore. Sort of like how you used to get Harry Potter books every other year or so, or how your vote used to be counted. Welcome to the future of Salon, where a story from the same day, but with ninety fewer comments, can somehow be "more active" than another. It's time for some real activism. Stop clicking. Don't be tempted to read about who is shampooing with placentae, or who gets it in the latest Rowling book (the owl does). Don't worry about whether some chick's boyfriend is going to stop checking out other chicks (who are undoubtedly better-looking than she is). And certainly, don't let some dude stroke your liberal ego with some opinions you already had before you read his piece. Think for yourself, stop giving advertizing revenue to the people who kill Audiofile, The Fix, and, soon enough, your favorite culture column.

Just a warning.

Why do you think things got to the point with the Nixon administration that he had to resign? It wasn't because Congress dotted all it's procedural "i"s. It was massive demonstration and civil disorder and disobedience that forced Congress to listen to the people. By the end of Vietnam, marching in the streets was a popular thing to do. It wasn't popular when the freaks all started it.

You're putting the cart before the horse, big time. All power derives from the people. We the people created the nation we are living in now, but the only way to keep it is to FIGHT for it.

Look at the difference some internet bloggers have made! They don't even march in the streets. They just make "virtual noise" about things. Congress would not have found its guts (what limited amount of them which have thus far been located) without encouragement and ridicule from the internet.

You think that helps? Imagine 1 million people carrying signs saying "Impeach the Fucking Dictator."

Congress will take note. Both sides. You think Republicans were all fair minded back during Watergate? Nah, they just knew where the wind was blowing. That's why the impeachment was so overwhelmingly bipartisan. Not because of the integrity of the process in the days of yore, the times of our fathers, or any of that fairy tale nonsense.

It was feet. On the street. That is the ONLY thing that brings big changes. Working within the system is rubbish, it's what we've been doing for decades. Except, mass demonstration IS part of the system. It's the only part we have left.

I like to call them "Publicans." Seems more fitting. And a fair turnabout for Democrat [sic] Party.

We all see the obvious parallels with Roman and the Nazis, and they are undeniable. History does tend to repeat itself, in ways that are generally similar but specifically different. So all analogies are both apt and not. I do not know how this latest episode of "Do an end run around democracy" is going to turn out. But one thing that gives me hope that neither Romans nor Germans could have had is that our democracy--as it were--is stronger, smarter and more robust than either of their democracies were, and far longer-lived than the Germans'. (And neither had the internets!).

And unlike theirs, ours was "designed by geniuses so that it could be run by idiots" from the start, as the saying goes (present example showing the obvious limits of this obviously humorous if not entirely untrue description, but various other corrective mechanisms now appearing to be kicking in, but with their ultimate effectiveness yet to be determined), rather than being cobbled together either over the years in haphazard fashion, or by committees of political enemies who had not had much practical experience with functioning democracy.

So I would argue that our form of democracy is stronger, smarter and more robust than either of these, and more able and likely to withstand assaults on it. However, like any manmade entity, it cannot be assumed to be strong enough to withstand ANY assults on it. Especially if its citizens do not take active steps to protect it when this happens. So I'm not arguing that it WILL survive the Bush years, just that it's more likely to than these previous democracies were to survive assaults on them.

I appreciate the brief history lesson, even though I'm familiar with much of it (history major in college), and how the west and east have influenced each other for millenia, and that this phony "clash of civilizations" meme is both stupid and dangerous. My maternal grandparents were from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Bukkarian Jews who spoke a dialiect of Persian that is quite similar to Dari, I believe. And yet here I am, a US citizen who strongly believes in democracy and does not see any inherent contradiction between my various cultural and political heritages.

Also, I am aware of the meaning and origins of the words "republic" and "republican", which, really, is a form of common or community ownership, even socialism in a certain broad sense (or condominium ownership for those who still have a problem with the "s" word). And I find it endlessly ironic that the party of power, money and the upper classes--a bastion of anti-communism and socialism--is really, in a purely linguistic sense, the party of "socialism". Then again, absurd contradictions between image and realize are hardly unknown in the GOP.

Let's hope that we're not another Roman or Weiman republic.