Read other letters about this article
Chris Floyd's high-flown language is exactly what is called for... now in these (Bush-driven-syntax) days when we can no longer count on any silver-tongued senators (or even an articulate congress person) to say what needs to be said. That we've been cooked. Only much more eloquently than that. Something akin to the language used by the Founders.
I especially loved this part:
If there is to be any way out of the nation's death spiral into darkness, ruin and dishonor, this noncooperation must begin at the top. There is not enough time left now for a broad movement from the general public to rise up and force the ouster of these criminals.
And those two sentences built upon his understanding that true public servants-- of which we once had just enough to keep us out of trouble-- who, recognizing the need, would indeed rise to the occasion. Just imagine if there were a wholesale walkout or sickout-- or a simple lack of cooperation with evil-- by our publicly-salaried government employees, etc. It could be the germ of a Frank Capra movie, or an elite trickle-down of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. (Except that our movies have grown too cynical for such notions, and my own preference would be for a playwright to take it up.)
So, I must also agree that it (probably) won't happen. Still, putting such notions out there into the universe cannot possibly hurt, and who knows who else (besides Senator Dodd) might also be inspired to fight to restore the Constitution. We simply cannot predict. Just as we cannot know a person's breaking point in advance, neither can we know their making point.
So, better that we repeat Chris's notion, instead of merely criticizing it, until it becomes a Meme, an actual talking point, a natural part of any political discussion. Just as we have recently asked who would be the next member of the GOP to be outed from his closet, or the next maladministration official to resign before scandal hits... we might now ask something far better, as in... "So, who do you think will be next public servant to stop cooperating with the Bush regime?"
* * *
Thoreau, btw, is not quoted nearly often enough. Perhaps it's because a complete quote from him would often involve an entire paragraph?