"with this fantastic hope that somehow a Democratic president can start some kind of democratic recovery for the country in 2009."
exactly, just like we, in 2006, thought a democratic majority congress would...
do you think more forceful pushback from the blogosphere would help make congress act more responsibly?
there's a reason 40% didn't vote... and if this keeps up, i seriously fear a third party / nader type presidential candidate. the dems in congress are participating in some seriously self destructive behavior.
Posted by selise at June 23, 2007 09:28 AMSadly, I agree with your analysis. See Billmon. See Arthur Silber. See Chris Floyd. Etc. Etc.
The US has crossed the Rubicon, carried by momentum and denial. The system is what it is and, very likely, what it will be (except more so).
The next eleced government will not transcend the dynamics, even in ongoing failure, without confronting, as you mention, the nationalism, racism, tribalism, that has accompanied it the whole way. That ain't gonna happen. In fact, as times get tougher, as they definitely will for the majority of us, expect government attempts at tighter control of the populace.
Its already happening...just simmering away on the back of the stove for when the next "crisis" hits (As I recall, USA PATRIOT actually existed as legislation in bits and pieces that couldnt quite get passed....until 9/11 brought it all to the front burner in one big pacakge).
Ignorance is a powerful thing. Although many Americans that I meet have an inkling that something very fundamental is broken in the country, most end their searches at talkshows or websites that echo their own emotionally based thinking and propagate whatever myths they already hold dear.
If there is any hope, it is that anger amongst the little people will produce association, commonality of concerns and political action that will outstrip government control. The question, in my very humble opinion, will boil down to; Can the tiny minority in power, continue to rule the vast majority without destroying the entire system in the process?
Best case scenario would be the return to sanity in small ways....
What a freakin' optimist ;-)
Posted by soccerdad at June 23, 2007 09:51 AMParadox, good post and unfortunately true. I also suspect that the 40% number of people not voting will be even larger in 2008.
It is so difficult these days to stay focused and optimistic. I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes it seems my current outlook taints everything in my daily life, and I hate that. I guess old beliefs die hard, and my faith in democracy and other human beings are being tested to the limit. What a legacy Bush will leave this Country.
Posted by Judith at June 23, 2007 10:30 AMIt will happen if people let it happen. We will change if enough people want it. As one of the leaflets of The White Rose stated,
Therefore every individual . . . must work against the scourges of mankind, against fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism . . . . Offer passive resistance--resistance-- wherever you may be . . . . Do not forget that every people deserves the regime it is willing to endure.They were 5 students and a professor in Munich in 1943. Surely we can do more, with the freedoms we have left.
Judith points out something that I have felt but have not seen expressed before: "sometimes it seems my current outlook taints everything in my daily life". Since Bush came to power, every facet of his administration - and the fact that so many people blindly follow along - has almost daily exacted some toll on my emotional well-being. Living under six and a half years of constant Bush-induced stress does taint other areas of your life. Other people are more resilient than me, fortunately, so I try to derive some comfort from their optimism.
Posted by Theo at June 23, 2007 11:11 AMYes, I have given up on my elected representatives (and I live in Massachusetts!).
It is clear that fundamentally NOTHING is happening and, in some ways, the emotional toll, the frustration, the realization that the way things are is the way the the overall power structure wants them to be - it's worse. Before the 2006 election at least one could rant and rant about how awful BushCo was and the fact that he was being enabled by a Republican Congress. Now, in spite of the huffing and puffing essentially the administration and Congress both have the same world view and the way that the U.S. behaves toward the world and internally is just plain ugly.
How will people justify celebrating July 4 this year when so much has been lost?
The Democratic congress doesn't have the votes to override Bushs' vetoes. That has a lot to do with the lack of reform. Having said that, it is also true that our congressional leadership has not been as confrontory as it should be with Bush. That is lamentable. However, with what steps that have been taken, such as Waxman's investigations are preventing at least some abuses from getting worse.
The true danger is that a corporatist Democrat like Hillary becomes the next president, then true reform will not occur. The time for mourning will truly arrive if good people give up while there is still a chance for change. The time for action is now, next years' election will determine a lot. Support netroots movements and get involved. The old saying is true in that the easiest way for evil to triumph is for the good to do nothing.
The Democrats don't want to get to the bottom of things because they are just as responsible. I find it hard to believe that after 8 years of controlling the executive branch, there were no back channel leaks to Democratic Senators/Representatives from the CIA about bogus intelligence. The fact that every piece of intelligence was wrong and wrong in the direction that supported attacking Iraq was no coincidence. The Iraq Liberation Act was passed with bipartisan support and signed by Clinton.
The DEmocrats are co-conspirators.
Posted by skeptic at June 23, 2007 12:47 PMYou guys just aren't clapping hard enough for Tinkerbell. Join hands and clap for Tinkerbell! That's all the Democrat supporters want you to do. Join hands and clap for Tinkerbell!
Posted by phidipides at June 23, 2007 02:56 PMTinkerbell is dead.
Posted by Judith at June 23, 2007 03:07 PMYou've got a relatively dark take on things in this post - dark, but accurate. It would be naive for us to hope [our wishes would come true] that the Democrats could really undo the incredible mess we're in right now. There just isn't enough power to simply throw the whole Administration out on its ear. To make a dent will require the full power of the executive, working with Congress, to even try to right our sinking ship. That's just the facts. It can't be done.
And we don't do political coups in America. For better or worse, we do the distance with an elected Administration. So what can we do in the next 18 months?
---Expose the extent of the DoJ infiltration and prosecute wherever possible...
---Shut down their election influencing machine with a vengence...
---Continue to expose the duplicity of the pre-war intelligence...
---Continue to hammer at their secrecy, their signing statements, etc...
---Stand firm in September and make the continuation of this war difficult, if not impossible...
---Stop picking on the Democrats. They're doing the best they can...
---Actively campaign against Republicans who have perpetuated [and perpetrated] this Administration...
---Never forget Bush's perversion of our system, and build a bigger, better firewall to protect open government...
---Elect Digby, Marcie Wheeler, and Josh Marshall to the Congress...
---Help Bush and Cheney along on the road to infamy...
---Make sure that the Karl Rove/Newt Gingrich arm of the Republican Party is amputated...
This is the "shadow box" I thought of - the one from Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat:
For in and out, above, about, below,
'Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
Played in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.
In Medicine, we can't cure many diseases. In lots of cases, all we can do is slow their progression. We're in a better place here. We can put an end to a lot of the sickness, and we can work very hard to get an effective organ transplant. If that's the best we can do, it's still pretty good. The alternative is to just let the patient die...
And we don't do political coups in America.
Supreme Court decisions, anyone?
Posted by phidipides at June 23, 2007 04:33 PMMaybe the problem is that the Constitution gave Congress power under the Commerce Clause. Corporations hire lobbyists to compete. The lobbyists use money to influence Congress to regulate for specific corporate interests.
This leads to a system in which corporations fail the public interest and Congress inequitably represents the people.
The Constitution should be amended to remove this power from Congress. It remains to be seen how we can regulate corporations in a corruption resistant manner, using public trends, boycotts, and competition.
Posted by nobody at June 23, 2007 07:05 PMThe Bush Crime Family philosophy is simple: Take the Money and Run.
This phillosophy applies also to the "culture of corruption" Republican Party, and even to some DINO Democrats, up in Washington.
1) Permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest (even during wartime?!?!).
2) Letting corporate lobbyists actually write the laws.
3) Stripping regulatory oversight from our government.
4) Hiding the real future cost to all Americans of what the Bush Crime Family, Republicans and DINO Democrats have been stealing today, and over the past six years.
5) The Bush Crime Family reportedly buying a 100,000 acre ranch next to Rev. Moons million acre ranch in Paraguay, where they can literally run to after taking the money.
I'm certain there are more examples.
This is bad, really bad. I don't think enough Americans realize yet the true extent of the damage the Bush Crime Family, the Republicans, and the DINO Democrats, have really done to our nation.
I hear that some of these corrupt ones long for the 1950s, but I'm beginning to suspect they actually long for the 1930s, and the Great Depression, because it is quite obvious that this is where they are trying to lead our country.
First, though, they must set into motion that which led to the Great Depression, reprising the runaway greed of the late 1920s, the rising debt, the income inequalities, the purging of governmental oversight of corporations, the racism, the religious bigotries, the trashing of the "rule of law," runaway stock market "gambling," and stupid Republican presidents in office...that led to the 1929 Stock Market Crash.
All that's required now is a "trigger," some event that will light the fuse of this Republican-generated powder keg on which ALL American citizens sit.
Posted by The Oracle at June 23, 2007 08:48 PMYour problem, one I've tried here before, is you began on a wrong premise. Everything is crime after that premise. The election on 2000 was not stolen, corrupted or in any way interfered with. Thousands, tens of thousands of poll workers across this country did not alter nor interfere with the election of 2000. The same goes for 2004. These people for the most part are honest, hard working folks who want to get the vote right. Your insinuations tarnish their work. But you don't care about them, your guy didn't win and that's criminal now. Your guy must win, otherwise someone stole the election. You people make winning a criminal endeavor if your guy doesn't win.
The outcome must always have your guy winning. That attitude is the problem. You people have always call Bush stupid or under educated or some other negative. He went to the very same school that JF Kerry and Bill Clinton went to at about the same time. They don't give those degrees away. He attended grad school at the very same school ALGORE went to. Another, hard degree from a legitimate school.
Even after September 11th, I would guess very few of you fine folks really were behind Bush. Pulling for him to keep America safe and secure. To do what was best for America. How could you have been, he's a criminal in your eyes from the start. He can do nothing right from your point of view. Yeah, you've got Bush Dementia Syndrome. And living with it for these six and a half years must be a real bummer. Knowing that there's till January 20th, 2009 at noon till he's out of office, more dread.
Maybe you think the more you put him down, the more people will get tired of hearing you gripe and turn him off. The Bush family has shown the very same dedication to public service as the Gore family. Maybe these people in Congress understand the rules a little more than you fine folks. You get Josh Marshall elected to Congress and I'm sure he will start to disappoint you and more often than not.
Bush fatigue, Clinton fatigue just about the same thing. It's a shame that you fine folks never gave this president a chance. These years could have been quite a nice ride had many of you worked with him more. But his being a criminal to you just gets in the way.
Whats life going to be like when Rudi Guliani wins the presidency for the next eight years? How are you going to live with yourselves? Will the cup ever be half full again? Will Bush Dementia Syndrome rule the rest of your lives.
Posted by peter at June 23, 2007 09:37 PM