Friday, September 29, 2006

Go, Democrats!

Read Glenn Greenwald, on getting over yesterday's pro-tyranny legislation and focusing on the upcoming election. He makes the well-reasoned and persuasive case that even though the Democrats suck, it would still be far better to have them in control of the Senate than the Republican Bush-zombies.
But that's all besides the point at the moment, because -- right now -- everyone has to answer for themselves these questions: (1) do you believe that the incalculable damage imposed on this country by the Bush administration and its followers (including in Congress) can be impeded and then reversed and, if so, (2) how can that be accomplished? For those who have given up and believe the answer to question (1) is "no," then, by definition, there is nothing to discuss. You' ve decided that there is no hope, that you're done fighting and trying to defend any of your beliefs and principles, and you're ready to cede the country to those who are in the process of destroying it.

But for those who believe that the answer to question (1) is "yes" (and I believe that emphatically), then the answer to question (2) seems self-evidently clear. The most important and overriding mandate is to end the one-party rule to which our country has been subjected for the last four years. Achieving that is necessary -- it is an absolute pre-requisite -- to begin to impose some actual limits on the authoritarian behavior and unchecked powers of this administration -- because, right now, there are no such limits.

One particularly important point he makes is the future of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The only branch of government that has shown any residual willingness to defend the Constitution and the rule of law is the judicial branch. But critical Supreme Court decisions such as Hamdan -- which at least affirmed the most minimal and basic constitutional protections -- depend upon the most precarious 5-4 split among the Justices. One of the five pro-Constitution Justices, John Paul Stevens, is 86 years old. If George Bush has free reign to replace Stevens, it will mean that the Supreme Court will be composed of a very young five-Justice majority of absolute worshippers of Executive Power -- Thomas, Scalia, Roberts, Alito and New Justice -- which will control the Court and endorse unlimited executive abuses for decades to come.

So if you were outraged yesterday, or if you're outraged today, or if you become outraged tomorrow ('bout damn time, too) - don't just sit and fume. Do something. Give a hundred bucks to a Democratic Senate candidate (pick one in a pink or light blue state on the Electoral-Vote.com map if you don't have a close race close by). Write a frickin' letter to the editor every time you get riled up. Buy a pro-democracy and/or anti-Bush t-shirt, button or bumper sticker. Buy ten of them, and give them to anyone that will sport them with you. Call in to talk radio, and fight the good fight. Buy Glenn Greenwald's book, read it as fast as you can, and give it away to someone else who'll read it.

This may be now or never.

3 Comments:

At 9:37 AM, Blogger WnotW said...

What about the XX democrats that voted FOR the tyranny? How do you explain that? Both parties suck. Both parties are spineless. And the public, in general, seems to be apathetic to the abuse of their freedoms. I say, pheck! They aren't getting any of my money until they act in a way that makes me believe they deserve it.

 
At 1:44 PM, Blogger C said...

You gotta read all of Greenwald's piece. Yes, both parties suck. I hear you on that, for sure. Fucking pussies, is what they are.

And that's the Nader argument, back to 2000: "they're both bad, fuck 'em". Or as Jerry Garcia (supposedly) said, "choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil".

But what the Bush years have shown very clearly is, they may both be evil (power hungry, insular, unfeeling, bought-and-paid for by megacorporations, etc.), but the Republicans, especially the crazy fucking neo-cons in the White House, are WAY WAY WAY *more* evil. It's like serial rapists compared to shoplifters.

Couple the majority the R's have in Congress with their mindless rubber-stamping of whatever the crazy fucking neo-cons in the White House want, and it will continue to get worse. Hard to imagine, but I believe it. That's what it's been doing, for going on 6 years now.

I just compared the list of right-voting ("right" as in "correct" ;-) Dems with those up for reelection, and found only Cantwell (WA) as one who could use some help and voted right. All the rest are either shoe-ins or aren't running this year. (You probably saw this acerbic take on the wrong-voting Dems who are up this year.)

But there's also non-incumbent Dem challengers you could support. I know of one in particular who at least claims she'd have voted right. Sure it's quixotic, but I'm hanging campaign lit on doorknobs for her campaign sometime in the next week or so.

 
At 10:04 PM, Blogger Mike Grayson said...

Or if you want a good one who might just win, try Jon Tester in Montana.

Tester is running against Abramoff funded, idiot Senator Conrad Burns(R, Montana). (Campaign Slogan: 'You Bet!')

Tester is currently ahead by 7 points in the latest poll. He has a chance to win, if he can withstand being outspent 3 or 4 to 1 by the Rethuglicans. They are nasty, desperate liars. But I think Tester might just hold on and win. People here are SICK of Burns.

Check out Jon Tester's web site HERE: http://www.testerforsenate.com/

 

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