Letters to the Editor
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Another variation on this theme confirms the disconnect
Herewith a copy of a letter to those who ostensibly represent me in D.C., three in number. Response: One "Dear Friend" letter with strained reference to diplomatic solutions in Iran along with rhetoric about that country's misdeeds. No reference whatever to impeachment. No response from the other two. All in all a verification of the rot that seems to have set in.
Senator/Congressman - I have increasingly heard & seen references to the state of readiness within the military establishment and the intentions of the administration to attack Iran. Bush's recent speech to The American Legion is a case study in sabre rattling, to put it mildly. Is it reasonable to imagine that this possibility concerns you & your office? I certainly hope that such an outrageous but utterly unsurprising act by the claque in and around the upper reaches of the administration is a matter of utmost concern to you. The prospect of such a war is horrifying. What is your stance in the matter?
As for impeachment of the President & Vice-President, all the parsing, nuancing & equivocating in the world serves to confirm the invertebrate nature of the Democratic Congress, as has been suggested. If, for no other reason, impeachment is not taken up with these two who have committed impeachable acts, then you and yours are establishing precedent for even more egregious misdeeds with future incumbents. The aversion to impeachment, when considered in the context of recent history, is ever more inexcusable.
As a registered democrat, I am weary of the onslaught of fund raising surveys sent in my direction. I don't need to be surveyed; I need to be persuaded that the party holds values by which it will act to counteract the relentless lying of the two-term oligarchy. Anything less than this suggests to me that you are members of the loyal opposition more interested in remaining in office and symbolically jousting than representing my concerns. It would be refreshing to be proven wrong.
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@ nabbleblather
Your pathetic trashing against the inevitable tide of history is reminiscent of King Canute's attempts to command the waves. Despite your best efforts, President Bush will be remembered as the unleasher of American greatness and world leadership. You will have a rude shock on November 4, 2008 as President-Elect Rudy Giuliani obliterates Hillary Clinton in the most one-sided Presidential election in American history and the Republican Party makes a clean sweep of Congress which will make 1994 and 2002 look like a bagatelle. Pelosi and her defeatocrats will be jettisoned even in the most supposedly safe liberal districts as the American electorate spurns them with the utter disgust they richly deserve.
Ummm, Nabble: This is Sept., 2007, not October, 2006.
Cheers,
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"Outplayed"
"Outplayed?"
Nice term to use with American soldiers dying each day, not to mention Iraqis. It is really a game? A "war game?"
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The results are in - D.C. Establishment wins handily; American public opinion does not count for squat!
Glenn - I appreciate your efforts, your insights and your seemingly indomitable perseverance to shed light on the course of democracy in America. I really don’t know how you and the many others who blog here and elsewhere continue to have the energy to wage this campaign. Personally, I can hardly deal with it anymore; my mind is so polluted with negativity and my spirits are low.
Glenn, you write -
In one sense, it is quite unhealthy in a democracy for such a large majority of Americans to so distrust the political and media establishment that they even believe in advance that war reports from our leading General will be nothing more than self-serving and misleading propaganda. But in another, more important sense, when a democracy's political establishment becomes as rotted and deceitful and corrupt as ours has become -- enabling the most unpopular President in modern American history to continue what is so blatantly a senseless war for years and years, in complete defiance of what Americans want -- the one encouraging sign is that a majority realizes how corrupt our establishment is and has stopped believing anything they say.
I share some of these sentiments and have since Bush was first “elected.” I have watched in disbelief as our government officials have increasingly disavowed the principles of democracy and the Constitution for which this Republic stands. In practice, there are no longer checks and balances amongst the three branches of government. Political chicanery abounds in an effort to obfuscate the truth. A majority of politicians from both parties engage in the perpetuation of gridlock so that the wealthy elite can continue to suppress the masses while exploiting government coffers and policies. However, I take issue with your assertion that most or even many Americans have wised up to the political machinations of both parties. The people of this country have been and remain largely apathetic, detached and at worse, ignorant to the suppression of their basic rights. Most people vote like cattle led to slaughter. In the past, it was easier for me to focus on the wealthy and political elite than to deal with the incongruity of the average American’s apathy and ignorance.
Why is it not obvious to everyone that our government is under the control of self-serving career politicians who will stop at nothing to preserve their power? And, the surest way for any politician to get into office and stay in office is to serve the wealthy elite. Imagine this - a handful of people in our country preside over a federal budget of roughly 2.8 trillion dollars and have the power to pass legislation that can affect trillions of more dollars. How hard is it to understand the enormous power of our elected federal officials and why wealthy people are willing to spend multi-millions of dollars to empower politicians? For a few million dollars, the wealthy will ensure a return of 100 or even a 1000 times their investment.
There is ample proof that our government has dramatically shifted from a democratically elected republic to an elected oligarchy. This is the direct result of rampant, unfettered capitalistic forces. Our only protection from this blatant suppression of our rights and freedoms is to vote only for people that will adopt term limitations for both elected and appointed officials, radically revamp campaign financing to eliminate all privately funded campaign contributions, and prohibit all lobbying inducements.
Mr. Greenwald, you and many others have provided ample evidence that our country is in political, economic and social decline and I agree. Corruption and deceit pervades the country. Capitalistic excess is rampant. Voices are raised, the din of fingers on keyboards is everywhere, awareness is heightened, but it is not enough. You can blog, talk and write letters to your Congress person until hell freezes over but if we don’t restore our country to a democracy, the status quo will continue to our detriment and to the benefit of the wealthy. Things will not get better until the political establishment is shaken to its roots and the wealthy elite’s control over this country is broken. Think how bad things have gotten since Reagan took office! Since Bush took power, the management of government has been a fiasco; members of the administration have been guilty of crimes against humanity; and, the Supreme Court has rejected established precedents and disregarded constitutional law – all of this done without any repercussions against the perpetrators and consequently with tacit approval of the American people.
I will continue to vote but I will no longer vote for another politician who does not and will not represent the best interests of the majority of American people. I will not vote for anyone who does not actively support legislation for term limitations and campaign finance reform. I will write in my own name before I vote for someone who will not vigorously support and defend the Constitution. Many of you will dismiss my actions as a vote wasted. But, I believe that if the majority of Americans continue to vote as they have in the past, our Republic risks sliding into an oligarchy. Some of you may find Robert Michels “Iron Law of Oligarchy” interesting. The time is now to resist oligarchy and defend the Constitution!
If American public opinion does not prevail over the D.C. Establishment by the next election, then I fear we will have finally turned the corner to an outright elected oligarchy. Corruption and deceit will increase; excesses and indiscretions will abound; and this once great democratic Republic will be ever so close to failing.