Letters to the Editor
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They have killed the Constitution
Our Republic is dead... not because Bush and his cronies have tried to sieze power. The framers expected power-mad Presidents. They expected self-interested politicians to obtain office. They tried to create a system that did not depend on the virtue of the people holding office, but rather in their self interest.
What they didn't expect was that the system of checks and balances put in place to restrain and contain such all offices in government would so utterly fail; that self-interest, that is, interest in real power, rather than the mere trappings of power, would prove as ephemeral as virtue.
Why did our checks and balances fail? Because a large plurality in Congress no longer believe that they have a constitutional role to play. They no longer desire real power. They want only to have the perks and privileges that come with power, Republicans and democrats alike.
If Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid wanted real power, to be players at the table rather than ciphers bearing the impressive titles Madame Speaker and Mr. Majority Leader, they would whip their majorities into line and tell King George that he can have his FISA Amendment when they are good and ready, on their terms, if at all.
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Charge
adnoto:
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...
Glenn is doing more than his part to affect change. What are you doing-- specifically? You don't have to wait for Glenn to take charge, so you can rush the barricades behind him. Get going!
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The Dems are fully complicit in the administration's machinations
I tell myself it's going to get better. And it will. But maybe not in this country. And certainly not in Iraq.
For the past 24 hours, Baghdad has had virtually no running water. Major parts of the city of six million people have lacked running water for six days, while daily high temperatures have ranged from 115 to 120 degrees. The tiny amount of water dripping through the pipes is causing many of those who must drink it to suffer acute intestinal illness. According to reports, not enough electricity is available to run Baghdad’s water pumps. This in a country with vast energy resources. Corporate media outlets—to the extent they have reported this horrific and mind-boggling story at all—have treated it as a failure on the part of Iraqis. In reality, it is an appalling war crime committed by the occupying power, the U.S. military. It threatens the lives of tens of thousands of people in the short term and unthinkable numbers of people unless it is rectified immediately. According to Article 55 of Geneva Conventions (1949) to which the U.S. government is a signatory: "To the fullest extent of the means available to it the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate."
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m35051&hd=&size=1&l=e
How could any elected official of conscience do anything but oppose every effort of this administration to destroy our protections under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Look at what we are doing to another country, a country that we invaded illegally, a country that was no threat to us? We are killing it.
Does anyone think for a moment that the continued erosion of our democracy will not eventually make our society an enemy of the entire civilized world? What makes US citizens think they will never be subjected to the atrocities that have been committed against the people of Iraq? If we do not stop it, it will happen. That is what totalitarian societies do.
This is not a little thing that happened today. It is a VERY BIG DEAL. It should be a warning to every US citizen of the potential future that lies before us as individuals.
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Just lost this voter
With absolute disgust at what the Republican leadership had done to this country I left the party and stood behind the Democrats. With this latest capitulation I have now lost all hope in somebody standing up and fighting back for what is right. The Democrats should be impeaching Bush’s ass, not helping to bail it out (I am looking at you Pelosi).
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ah, Ron Paul
Ron Paul looks better every day. Even though I don't agree with him on a lot of issues, HE HAS A SPINE. Maybe some of these Democrats in Congress can get a transplant.
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Outrageous
Unbelievable! After years of seeing Bush tell congress he doesn't have to do what they say, and treating them more like a nuisance to be "handled" then a co-equal branch of govt, he has the balls to demand that they stay around an extra little while to give him what he wants. And what he wants is more unconstitutional power! What a perfect time for them to let him know they're his equal in power in our system, and they don't have to do anything he demands they do. Thank god we've got a dem majority, no? There were hints that a few pathetic might fold, but no way they'll cave in to this.
Right?
I haven't been able to post much lately, but my frustration is enough now to not care if I miss something by being a minute late. I've been getting more and more irritated by Dems recently, but have been wanting to believe they at least had some desire to fight back against the abuses of this criminal administration. I hoped what looked like reluctance to push back in places that seemed like opportunities belied some latent strategy. Now it's clear--well I'm not even sure what's clear at this point. Most of what's been said about the Dems just being another arm of a corrupt ruling regime that answers only to the moneyed interests that support the election system, now seems patently true.
It's hard to fathom that these things can go on without the media making it apparent to the masses that their rights are being trampled. Absent that, it's hard to imagine being able to stir enough outrage in the distracted American public to generate a serious threat to the ruling two-party system. As with the abuses we already know about, I've become convinced that until the public feels itself directly threatened after seeing exposed some genuinely stunning abuse of power, we're in for one of the worst periods in our nation's history.
I don't plan to sit back and take it.