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see the strangle-hold of the "military-industrial complex," war profiteers and global corporate predators on Congress, on our election system, in the massive theft of our tax dollars for purposes that the vast majority of Americans do not agree with, and in many government actions that are impoverishing the poor and middle class, grossly favoring the rich, and destroying our Constitution and civil and human rights.
That is the truth of the matter. And you have only to consider how rightwing Bushite corporations took over the 'counting' of our votes, with extremely insecure and insider hackable electronic voting machines, run on "trade secret," proprietary programming code, with the full support of the Democratic Party leadership, to know just how seriously we have been betrayed by the political establishment.
That is the "broad swath" picture. It is undeniable. But I think we should take heed from what occurred in the French Revolution, which descended into a massive bloodletting--the guillotining of thousands of people who were innocent, or only peripherally guilty (victims of the circumstances they were born to), of collusion with the corrupt Bourbon regime. Are we going to "guillotine" those who are trying to help us? People like John Conyers and Sheila Jackson-Lee? I think we have to be a bit more compassionate in our analysis, and try to understand what someone like Lee is dealing with--or even someone like Pelosi. When it comes to individuals, and what they are able to get done in these circumstances--the circumstances of a fascist coup (and a very, very dangerous one)--I think our analysis needs to be more subtle and nuanced, more human, or we may fall prey to Bushite "divide and conquer" tactics. The Bushites thrive on chaos. That is their M.O. We can see this clearly in Iraq. I have noted it in their South American policy. There is no reason to think that that is not their plan here as well. Beware of this, is all I'm saying! We are in a very, very, VERY dangerous, difficult and volatile situation, with conscienceless maniacs--into chaos as a method of profiteering--in control of the U.S. military, with their fingers on the nuclear button. And those of our leaders who mean us well are themselves in constant danger--if not from bodily harm, from blackmail and other dirty tactics.
I am the first to say that the Democratic Party leadership DID NOT WANT to have an anti-war, or even a progressive, majority in Congress. If they did, they, a) would NEVER have supported NON-TRANSPARENT vote 'counting' by Bushite corporations, and b) would have been yelling about this--warning the public, raising the alarm--from Day One. They did not. They are STILL not. So, when they say they "don't have enough votes" in Congress to impeach Bush, or stop the war, I have to laugh. They cooked this rotten stew themselves!
But where does that leave well-meaning leaders who may have been stupid about electronic voting, or may have yielded to party pressure on it, or may now be fearful of themselves being Diebolded out of office (--and thus denied the power to do ANYTHING)?
I followed the story of California Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, closely. When he went after Diebold, sued them and demanded to see their source code, just before the 2004 election, he was then "swift-boated" out of office, on entirely bogus corruption charges, with the collusion of the state Democratic Party leaders and a gang of corrupt county election officials. So much for Kevin Shelley! It was brutal and unmistakable as a Rove-type assault, combining a corporate news monopoly smear campaign with Diebold-corrupted Democratic Party leaders. The Bushites didn't have to do a thing (except behind the scenes). (And I now have suspicions that the Bushite domestic spying/domestic black ops program was in some way involved, yanking on peoples' strings behind the scenes, and possibly with plants in Shelley's office or campaign.) It taught me a lesson in how these things are done--removal of honest officials. And it also was a searing lesson in how powerful Diebold/ES&S is, and how important this covert vote 'counting' capability is, not just to Bushites but also to War/Corporate Democrats. At the least, War/Corporate or compromised Democrats are very afraid of it.
Multiple that fear many times--anthrax letters, more "terrorist" attacks, fear of riding in small airplanes, fear of the rightwing media machine (which Americans have become largely immune to, but which is nevertheless used to create "narratives" for pre-ordained events, which then demoralize and disempower the majority), fear of countering the rightwing Israel lobby (AIPAC)--loss of campaign funds in this highly corrupt campaign contribution system--fear inspired by Cheney/Rumsfeld's outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame and an entire WMD counter-proliferation network, with no consequences to the perpetrators (--they can "out"--disable, smear, destroy--ANYBODY).
This is the atmosphere that ALL of our office holders and leaders are having to operate in. Yes, they brought it on themselves in many respects--some more knowingly than others. But KNOWING this doesn't HELP us NOW. NOW we have to figure out how to get our democracy back IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE.
So-o-o-o-o, IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE, a resolution against permanent bases in Iraq, even if it is without teeth, is, in fact, an interesting and possibly useful victory. It demonstrates, first of all, that this lopsided LACK of representation of the American people in Congress, is GETTING TO THEM--to our leaders. 70% of the American people want this war stopped--and yet this Diebold II Congress has pretty much the opposite percentage (about 60/40 pro-war). How do they keep the war going, while fending off the increasing and overwhelming view of the American people? They throw a sop at us--but it does, in truth, express our will, though it doesn't implement our will. Contrast this with, oh, Feb. '03, just before the invasion, when 56% of the American people opposed the Iraq War, and there was NO reflection of that significant majority anywhere. It was just "war, war, war!"--as if the majority supported it, when it didn't. Or contrast it to nine months ago, when the Diebold I Congress was in session, and the Bush "pod people" were out in force.
The pressure of the people is getting to Congress, and it is expressed by our better leaders, who are doing what they can--in a still very lopsided, pro-war, anti-progressive Congress (a Congress infested with 40 or so "Blue Dog"--i.e., traitor--Democrats)--to make our will known, and to forge coalitions that are hedging in Bush and Cheney. I think it is pretty obvious that Bush and Cheney HAVE BEEN curtailed. I think the three strongest evidences of that are, 1) that Rumsfeld was pressured out, 2) that they didn't attack Iran (when the British sailors were captured), and 3) that Gonzales and Rove are being hampered on CURRENT efforts to bully US attorneys and others, and to commit further crimes, and cover up crimes, by Congressional investigations and by internal dissent (--they are not being stopped altogether, but they ARE being hampered).
Where is all this going? I don't know. But I suspect that it's going toward consolidation of all the fascist/corporate gains under Bush, in a second Clinton (corporatist) administration. The Bushes make the Clintons look "progressive." I think that's what all this--the entire Bush Junta--is about. To make the Clintons look good. No more Seattle '99s (popular revolts against U.S. global corporate predators). We'll be happy if they don't torture us, and don't spirit us away into indefinite "detention." Believe me, I do not wear rose-colored glasses. HOWEVER, I think that developments in Congress--slow and half-assed as they are--are a good sign. Our democracy is not entirely dead--at the federal level. It has never been dead among the people, and if we get smart, and "throw Diebold and ES&S election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor,'" we will eventually get our country back, and maybe even create a better one. But there are certain disasters that we must avert in the meantime--an attack on Iran, WW III, another Great Depression, and the vast dislocation and civil chaos that these, and global warming, could result in. We are in some danger of the disunity, fragmentation and civil chaos that paved the way to Hitler's rise. I think we need to stick with the leftists in Congress, and with the better Democrats, and keep on, relentlessly, trying to empower them, rather than "guillotining" them in our rage at their compromises.
It has taken many decades to destroy our democracy. It didn't happen overnight. And it is going to take time and much effort to restore it. I think our efforts should be focused on transparent vote counting--at the state/local level, where ordinary people still have some influence. We also need to intensify our GOTV efforts, to try outvote the machines wherever we can (in both the primaries and the general election next year). We are expecting too much for a Diebold/ES&S-(s)elected Congress to suddenly restore democracy FOR us. Even the best-intended of them cannot do that. It's sometimes difficult to sort out who ARE the best-intended among them. But Sheila Jackson-Lee and John Conyers are among the better bets, in that regard. And we should be supporting and not reviling them. Criticize, yes--revile and abandon, no.
As for Pelosi--I think she made a deal with the Bushites on Iran. We won't impeach; you won't attack Iran--and get rid of Rumsfeld. It's just a guess, but a pretty good one, I think. That's where "impeachment is off the table" (--an otherwise inexplicable statement) was coming from. And that's why people like Conyers can't do anything about it. Personally, I object to deals being made at "tables" that the American people are not invited to. And it may be that, in the end, she was just angling for time--time to get a military Draft (--in a War/Corporate Democratic regime), time to fend off potential military/economic hostilities with China and Russia, if we were to attack Iran precipitously, time to lay better ground work. I have not made up my mind about Pelosi--about who she is working for. But IF she made such a deal--for good reasons, or long term bad reasons--it puts people like Conyers and Sheila Jackson-Lee into a real bind. Impeach--and the consequence may be WW III. (And this may BE the bind, even if Pelosi didn't make such a deal--fear of what Bush and Cheney will do, if they are actually held to account, before they can be removed from power.)
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