Letters to the Editor
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thank you glenn...
i have been so frustrated by the dem leadership in congress. on iraq, on our constitutional framework, the recent votes on h.con.r.21 and s.amdt.2073 (both on iran), effective oversight (i've been watching a lot of hearings)... i see irresponsibility and kabuki.
that has been bad, but the (relative) silence among the blogosphere has been a cipher to me... i 'm so grateful to you for this post. thank you.
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Increasingly Obvious To All Of Us, How Deep The Corruption Goes
Thank you, Glenn, for stating in print, in a major media outlet, what so many of us believe to be true. The Democrats are accomplices in the subversion of the Constitution and the diminution of our rights. They do not want to roll back the power of the lawless presidency, so blatantly obvious to any observer, domestic or foreign. Instead, they want to seize the presidency with its enhanced powers. A naive and destructive strategy. The future is bleak indeed. I wish to reject the belief we are being ruled by a criminal class -- one that cuts across party lines -- but it is increasingly difficult to ignore the evidence.
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When they get away with this
What is to keep them from postponing the election next year, or postponing the inauguration in '09? This is just horrific. I am as scared now as I have been.
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Steve:
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the D's think that it's better to keep giving the R's more rope with which to hang themselves and to try to protect themselves (the D's) as best they can.
The problem with this is that the Democrats are giving themselves that same hangman's noose. With each of these spineless turns, they make the administration's abuses of power their own, and provide invaluable cover for the Republicans. They also pull approval of Congress even lower. It's as if the Democrats had the Republicans write their political strategy for them.
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They'll Blame Us Anyway
Reagan could not have waged mass slaughter and genocide throughout Central America, Afghanistan (hi Mr. bin Laden!), and Southern Africa and had he not entirely been enabled by Congressional Democrats.
The Iraq invasion & occupation may not have occurred had there been unified Democratic refusal to accede.
We know this, but it doesn't matter:
If Democratic official popularity or electoral chances suffer (the only things that Democratic politicians and their hired associates care about after, of course, money and career prospects), they'll still blame us crazy, wacky, leftist extremists who are always ranting and raving about "Constitution this" and "Constitution that" instead of dutifully peeing in our pants every time some crazy hawk says "Boogety Boogety!!!"
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Why are the Dems weak?
I have believed for a long time that the US does not have two distinct political parties but a single party with two factions. That single party has been called at times the Corporatist Party, the Property Party and the Elite Party. It is never called the Populist Party. That used to be the role the Democratic Party played and that is the role that established the Democratic Party as the dominant party from the 1930s until the mid-1990s.
But that is over.
It is not enough to say that fear dominates the Democratic party or to say that the Democratic party is weak. The Democratic leadership is voting its own self-interest. And that self-interest is to get elected and to get re-elected. To be a political leader in the most powerful nation in the history of civilization is worth the price of perceived "weakness." None of our congressional elected officials are poor, or homeless, or jobless, or without education or sufficient healthcare. They are elites. Even the least among them is an elite. They are connected - politically, economically, socially. Why should they exhibit "a fervent and passionate belief in our country's constitutional framework, the core liberties it secures, and the checks and balances it offers as a safeguard against tyrannical power?" It is not in their interest to do so.
This is not cynicism. There is a conflict in this country between the needs of its citizens and the greed and corruption of its ruling class. That ruling class is comprised of both Democrats and Republicans. It will do no good to elect people to replace those who are corrupted if the people who replace them are coopted the day they take office.
The Republican Party is the party of greed, division and corruption. Nothing new there. Everybody knows it. Sections of the general population support it in the degree that they think they benefit from it. But the Democratic party is supposed to be the party of the people. Obviously they are not. Perhaps Trent Lott is correct when he says, "Democrats are the ones taking the blame for not getting anything done." Perhaps it is the Democrats who are actually obstructing progress by their complacency and their own desire for power, wealth and status -- in other words, to get re-elected whatever the cost.
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I want a cookie
Seriously. I have been saying this very thing for months... only to have the idea met with derision and scorn though of course. Now Mr. Greenwald on the other hand, well, he takes the next logical step in his maturation process and all of the sudden the dimwitted masses eye's are opened. Oh well, I suppose I am glad about that. Now I wonder how long it will take him and the rest to realize it isn't really even the Democrats fault. It is ours. It is "the people's" fault. One can not say this is a government of, by and for the people and then continue to lay blame at the feat of the knowingly evil and craven. That is for suckers and/or folks who are doing their damndest to avoid the truth.
Ah well, perhaps GG will eventually even get to the place where it dawns on him that direct action is needed. Perhaps he will realize his leadership abilities and help rally the people. Perhaps...
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What's most amazing about this IMHO
Give Bush credit: He knows the Beltway Democrats. Making Congress stay in session to consider FISA amendments would have been a perfect opportunity for the Democratic majority to demand disclosure of Bush's surveillance programs as part of the debate on the measure. Instead, Pelosi punts ... and lets Bush continue to manipulate Congressional Democrats -- whose spinelessness is exactly why the polls have shown them to be only slightly less despised as the Bush Administration.
What has doomed Democrats in recent years isn't the lack of ideas, it's the lack of leaders. There's no Presidential candidate with both the charisma and mental toughness of JFK or FDR (I would take even the stubborness of Truman), or Congressional leader/strongman like Lyndon Johnson or Tip O'Neill, who's willing to (cliche alert!) take the bull by the horns -- especially when seizing a golden opportunity is the Right Thing To Do.