...and I felt wonderful about the call. Really. Honestly. I enjoyed that call the way I've enjoyed few solici-beggars in life.
You may be asking 'Huh???' You might be thinking, 'I want whatever you were smoking/drinking/inhaling--please pass the laughing gas, we're running out."
Indeed.
What happened was this. The designated beggar from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) gave me the whole, we've turned the Congress around and are doing a great job spiel. "Attorney General Gonzales resigned because of the Congressional investigations."
Okay, that caused a moment of mental whiplash.
I heard, "The DCCC has been hampered by Republican tactics".
More mental whiplash.
"Investigations are continuing and they are effective in changing the course of the nation."
Okay, I was doing the whole Exorcist, how long can your head spin before the pea soup stains the curtains as it flies out of every available orifice, thing. And then, I got clarity.
I got my voice.
I said this.
"The DCCC would have a contribution for me if, and I repeat if and only if, they put impeachment back on the table. "
Solicitous-beggar shot back, "the investigations are proceeding and are effective. After all, Karl Rove and Atty. Gen. Gonzales are go..."
Okay. I was rude. I interrupted.
"No. The DCCC has done nothing to reign in the powers seized by this Executive that have stripped out habeas corpus, who've issued Executive Orders causing our nation to cease functioning as the Republic it was intended to be, and the DCCC has done nothing to stop the aggression of this Executive regarding warmaking. The DCCC hasn't stopped torture, they've not gotten to the bottom of lying us into a way, and they've worked with the Republicans, most recently to rescind the Fourth Amendment. The DCCC have sat on their hands presuming that the People think they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. In Nixon's days, the Congress got a lot done, and they started down the road to impeachment.
And Solici-Beggar wished me a nice day and then she hung up on me.
And that was rude.
On her part.
The thing is this. Unless and until the DCCC gets it into their pretty little heads that the doctrine of impeachment is off the table, and unless and until the DCCC understands that cooperating in a "bipartisan way" is really political speak for continuing the destruction of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, there ain't gonna be any money from my pocket to theirs.
Period.
I call the rest of those that love the Constitution more than party politics, more than power, more than lobbying fees, more than junkets, more than the name on the door (followed by named political office), this country will experience no real change for the better.
In 2006 the DCCC campaign slogan was "Had enough?"
To this day, the slogan is still, for me, "I've had enough." Only the enough that I've had enough of is the way Speaker Pelosi sets the damned table. Or un-sets it, if you want to be completely honest. And the DCCC is with her all the way.
Hint: Main Course = Impeachment.
That's right. Impeach the lot of them. Every one of them that has left us with one assurance, for now, Constitutionally speaking. That assurance is that quartering of troops won't be in our homes without compensation. KBR and Halliburton do it better for so much more money after all.
Unless and until the DCCC, and for that matter the rest of the country realize this, we are going to have despots, thugs and imperialists running the government because people are not going to vote for people that don't get results. And results from the Mid-Terms are lacking.
They came to Congress under a mandate, as certain as a mandate could be with electronic voting in play, and were told, "Give us our government by, of and for the People back to us."
That hasn't happened. Ms. Pelosi's table is still wanting that main course. I want someone to feed the Constitution. I am, like the Constitution, hungry.
If, in future, we look back at this time in our history where we've destroyed our beloved government, ripped the Constitution to shreds, and become an imperial aggressor, all in the name of "keeping us safe from the terrrr'sts", we'll only look to Ben Franklin who said those willing to sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither.
For now, the DCCC is getting none of my money. In fact, there is no candidate that will get one thin dime from me, nor will I ever work for, vote for, or support any candidate that puts politics ahead of principle and their own political hide over my Bill of Rights.
Like I said, it was a good conversation.
Go for it Mr. Conyers. I understand that Impeachment is on your table. Let me know where and when to show up to support that move.
Ms. Pelosi, without impeachment so as to reign in the imperial, despotic powers seized by this President and Vice President pursuant to Executive Order, your table is bare, my Constitution is in shreds and frankly my liberty is in jeopardy from the actions of my own government. I cannot support any more of that.
Ever.
In case you're wondering, Ms. Pelosi, I am sitting at an empty table. And I am hungry.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Why the Silence?
Simple answer to the question.
I don't want to bring down wiretaps and other surveillance. So, until I figure out what I can say without the danger of losing my Fourth Amendment rights, with or without my knowledge, I am remaining silent.
Also, if my big mouth goes the way my big mouth goes, then I also remain silent so as not to go slip sliding away to some detention facility for the duration of the endless campaign against evildoers.
Ergo, silence.
I don't want to bring down wiretaps and other surveillance. So, until I figure out what I can say without the danger of losing my Fourth Amendment rights, with or without my knowledge, I am remaining silent.
Also, if my big mouth goes the way my big mouth goes, then I also remain silent so as not to go slip sliding away to some detention facility for the duration of the endless campaign against evildoers.
Ergo, silence.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Does The Most Important Oath Citizens Take Expire?
I've taken the oath.
Chances are, many people you know have taken the oath.
All members of the Senate have taken the oath just as all Representatives have taken the oath.
Everyone in the Executive Branch, including the President and Vice President, have taken the oath.
The oath is a loyalty oath. It is the only oath citizens of the US are required to take. Ever.
It is not based on religion, though faith is certainly behind it. There is faith that those taking the oath will live up to the words they solemnly utter. And, there is faith that the taking of the oath will spark a continuing acknowledgment and fulfillment of duty based on the fact that words matter.
The oath is a sworn statement that lays out your duties for the future. Within that oath, the duties are clear, and do not have a "sell by" date. Sadly, the behaviour of many in government indicates they are selling right left and center even as they utter those words of duty.
Members of the government, and citizens, have taken this loyalty oath for literally hundreds of years.
The President has taken this loyalty oath, as has the Vice President.
It has no expiry date, and should never be treated as 'yesterday's obligation' or 'yesterday's behavioural imperative. It lasts so long as the person is working for the government, err, working for the People who ARE the government. In the best of all possible worlds, the oath applies to all persons, working in, for, or who are citizens. In the reality of citizenship, once taken, it ought never expire.
While the duties imposed can be complex, the oath itself is simple.
The 'money quote' is 'to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic..." There is no mention of political party. There is no duty to a person. There is no duty to an office. There is no duty to a coalition. There is no pledge to a symbol, such as the flag. There is no duty to self. There is no duty except to the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Constitution is above loyalty to person or party. The oath to the Constitution is not an oath to protect a symbol. We don't swear loyalty, nor do we exercise fealty to a symbol. We swear to preserve, protect and defend the living Constitution of the United States of America, for the Constitution is the heart of America. The Constitution is as close as we Americans get to Holy Writ. It, and it alone, is the foundation of the supreme law of the land.
The Bill of Rights, despite having been rescinded for all practical purposes due to signing statements, Executive Orders and legislation that has trampled on the very fabric of and lifeblood of the nation, remains on the books.
And all that signed that legislation, that entered those orders, that have submitted resolutions that have done the trampling, took that oath to protect the Constitution. Apparently, they "cannot recall" their oath, at least if behaviour is the measurement of memory. They've scuppered their duties, ignored their obligations, and done everything they can to rip the Constitution to shreds, but there you have it. All nicely done and legal because when "the government does it, then it is not illegal", and if it were, we won't let you even see the evidence. Ever. Thank you Richard Nixon.
When the FISA Revision Act that finally destroyed the Fourth Amendment was voted on, all those voting had pledged NOT to destroy the Fourth Amendment. Then they went ahead and did it anyway. There are so many examples, it would take a month just to compile the list.
Not one of those oath breakers and oath makers will step up and place the Constitution above their immediate personal goals of higher office, retention of office or the "appearance of being tough on terror". Power first, fulfillment of duty under the oath they took, second. Party before the People.
The people, governed by that Constitution, do not agree. The People are angry that the Constitution we cherish is more suited to lining Tweetie's cage. It is now just a piece of paper. Among those angry people are former members of the armed services, former postal workers, former government workers. Oath breakers all, believe it or not at your peril, citizens who realized long ago that the Constitution is there to protect and preserve their rights against monarchical behavior, are simply fed up.
Speaker Pelosi needs a new table. Candidates for President need a new platform. The Executive needs to loose the monarchical toys it has acquired in these past six plus years. The Congress needs to recognize that they can chew gum and walk at the same time. Impeachment is in the Constitution SIX TIMES for a reason, and not to soak up printers ink. It is there to correct and bring us away from any one branch assuming monarchical power.
When did America decide that we could go anywhere in the world, arrest a person deemed to be an 'enemy', and hold that person for the rest of their natural life? when did America become the ruler of the world? When did we become an empire? When, in law enacted by Congress, was the President given authority to declare Martial Law on his own terms, based upon not one legislatively defined circumstance, so as to override all of the Constitution I took an oath to uphold?
Answer: Never.
So, why Speaker Pelosi do you put the Constitution last and your power first? Or the power of your party? And then cave on warrantless searches? And then fail to overturn the Executive Orders giving this President power to rule dictatorially?
Why?
Did your oath to the Constitution expire because this is coming up on an election year?
And candidates for President, why have you ignored the power grab in this Administration? Is it that you want all those shiny new powers? If you don't intend to fix this mess we are in right now, and I mean NOW, please withdraw your candidacy. I'll not be voting for any of you.
Those freshmen Representatives and Senators that caved on the "No Checks--No Balances" FISA Revision, repeal the Fourth Amendment" Act of 2007, please don't run for office as an incumbent. We didn't send you to Washington to ignore the Constitution or to fail to protect our rights. We don't want you representing us because you have shown you cannot represent us and protect our Constitution. That makes you either ineffective or craven. Pick your poison.
Well, truth to tell, I don't want anyone to have them. What I fear is any person, President or ordinary citizen, having the kind of power over me that currently is vested in the President. And it is time to change.
If, after impeachment proceedings are instituted and the Administration says, "We were wrong, we see the light, we breached the boundaries established in the Constitution", then impeachment can come off the table.
Until then, note this. I have and will continue to fulfill my oath which I took seriously and which has never, to my knowledge expired. Please, members of Congress, fulfill your oath. And do it soon, before there is no Constitution to protect any longer.
Sure the terrorists are out to get us. Not one of them made any in government shred the Constitution though. That is a self-inflicted wound that must be healed. The healing requires that those who have taken their oath, realize the importance of those words.
Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
If you ask me, yesterday would not be too soon.
Chances are, many people you know have taken the oath.
All members of the Senate have taken the oath just as all Representatives have taken the oath.
Everyone in the Executive Branch, including the President and Vice President, have taken the oath.
The oath is a loyalty oath. It is the only oath citizens of the US are required to take. Ever.
It is not based on religion, though faith is certainly behind it. There is faith that those taking the oath will live up to the words they solemnly utter. And, there is faith that the taking of the oath will spark a continuing acknowledgment and fulfillment of duty based on the fact that words matter.
The oath is a sworn statement that lays out your duties for the future. Within that oath, the duties are clear, and do not have a "sell by" date. Sadly, the behaviour of many in government indicates they are selling right left and center even as they utter those words of duty.
Members of the government, and citizens, have taken this loyalty oath for literally hundreds of years.
The President has taken this loyalty oath, as has the Vice President.
It has no expiry date, and should never be treated as 'yesterday's obligation' or 'yesterday's behavioural imperative. It lasts so long as the person is working for the government, err, working for the People who ARE the government. In the best of all possible worlds, the oath applies to all persons, working in, for, or who are citizens. In the reality of citizenship, once taken, it ought never expire.
While the duties imposed can be complex, the oath itself is simple.
The 'money quote' is 'to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic..." There is no mention of political party. There is no duty to a person. There is no duty to an office. There is no duty to a coalition. There is no pledge to a symbol, such as the flag. There is no duty to self. There is no duty except to the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Constitution is above loyalty to person or party. The oath to the Constitution is not an oath to protect a symbol. We don't swear loyalty, nor do we exercise fealty to a symbol. We swear to preserve, protect and defend the living Constitution of the United States of America, for the Constitution is the heart of America. The Constitution is as close as we Americans get to Holy Writ. It, and it alone, is the foundation of the supreme law of the land.
The Bill of Rights, despite having been rescinded for all practical purposes due to signing statements, Executive Orders and legislation that has trampled on the very fabric of and lifeblood of the nation, remains on the books.
And all that signed that legislation, that entered those orders, that have submitted resolutions that have done the trampling, took that oath to protect the Constitution. Apparently, they "cannot recall" their oath, at least if behaviour is the measurement of memory. They've scuppered their duties, ignored their obligations, and done everything they can to rip the Constitution to shreds, but there you have it. All nicely done and legal because when "the government does it, then it is not illegal", and if it were, we won't let you even see the evidence. Ever. Thank you Richard Nixon.
When the FISA Revision Act that finally destroyed the Fourth Amendment was voted on, all those voting had pledged NOT to destroy the Fourth Amendment. Then they went ahead and did it anyway. There are so many examples, it would take a month just to compile the list.
Not one of those oath breakers and oath makers will step up and place the Constitution above their immediate personal goals of higher office, retention of office or the "appearance of being tough on terror". Power first, fulfillment of duty under the oath they took, second. Party before the People.
The people, governed by that Constitution, do not agree. The People are angry that the Constitution we cherish is more suited to lining Tweetie's cage. It is now just a piece of paper. Among those angry people are former members of the armed services, former postal workers, former government workers. Oath breakers all, believe it or not at your peril, citizens who realized long ago that the Constitution is there to protect and preserve their rights against monarchical behavior, are simply fed up.
Speaker Pelosi needs a new table. Candidates for President need a new platform. The Executive needs to loose the monarchical toys it has acquired in these past six plus years. The Congress needs to recognize that they can chew gum and walk at the same time. Impeachment is in the Constitution SIX TIMES for a reason, and not to soak up printers ink. It is there to correct and bring us away from any one branch assuming monarchical power.
When did America decide that we could go anywhere in the world, arrest a person deemed to be an 'enemy', and hold that person for the rest of their natural life? when did America become the ruler of the world? When did we become an empire? When, in law enacted by Congress, was the President given authority to declare Martial Law on his own terms, based upon not one legislatively defined circumstance, so as to override all of the Constitution I took an oath to uphold?
Answer: Never.
So, why Speaker Pelosi do you put the Constitution last and your power first? Or the power of your party? And then cave on warrantless searches? And then fail to overturn the Executive Orders giving this President power to rule dictatorially?
Why?
Did your oath to the Constitution expire because this is coming up on an election year?
And candidates for President, why have you ignored the power grab in this Administration? Is it that you want all those shiny new powers? If you don't intend to fix this mess we are in right now, and I mean NOW, please withdraw your candidacy. I'll not be voting for any of you.
Those freshmen Representatives and Senators that caved on the "No Checks--No Balances" FISA Revision, repeal the Fourth Amendment" Act of 2007, please don't run for office as an incumbent. We didn't send you to Washington to ignore the Constitution or to fail to protect our rights. We don't want you representing us because you have shown you cannot represent us and protect our Constitution. That makes you either ineffective or craven. Pick your poison.
Well, truth to tell, I don't want anyone to have them. What I fear is any person, President or ordinary citizen, having the kind of power over me that currently is vested in the President. And it is time to change.
If, after impeachment proceedings are instituted and the Administration says, "We were wrong, we see the light, we breached the boundaries established in the Constitution", then impeachment can come off the table.
Until then, note this. I have and will continue to fulfill my oath which I took seriously and which has never, to my knowledge expired. Please, members of Congress, fulfill your oath. And do it soon, before there is no Constitution to protect any longer.
Sure the terrorists are out to get us. Not one of them made any in government shred the Constitution though. That is a self-inflicted wound that must be healed. The healing requires that those who have taken their oath, realize the importance of those words.
Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
If you ask me, yesterday would not be too soon.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
The Terrorism of Neglect
You read that right. The biggest terrorism we have to fear in this nation is not the violence and death carried out by the Bin Ladin Boys, nor the violent and fanatical who have no legitimate claim to a religion of peace. We need not fear nearly so much as we do, swarthy men wielding box cutters or shoe bombs (although allowing cigarette lighters on planes is just asking for some idiot to light a terrible and terrifying cigar in the loo).
In America, you have a better chance of winning the Lotto or getting struck by lightning than you do of becoming a victim of "the folks" that brought planes crashing into buildings.
You have a greater chance of dying while eating a peanut (choking on it or finding you are allergic) than you have of being a victim of violent terrorism.
That's right. But you have, on any given day, a 50 percent chance of dying while using infrastructure that has been systematically ignored for decades. The I35 Bridge Too Broken proved that. That particular bridge had, for over two years, been out there, available to public use, all while having a 50 percent chance of catastrophic failure. Like collapse. Like killing people due to that not so benign neglect.
Let it sink in. A huge chance, right up there in league with flipping a coin. Nick Coleman, Twin Cities Curmudgeon in Residence put it well in his Star Tribune piece
.
"This Bridge might or might not get you to the other side. Verify by coin flip -- if you dare". Of course, the flipped coin won't affect the structural integrity of the bridge, won't guarantee safe passage, won't do anything but make you feel that you've done something in the nature of rubbing a talisman as you take your life, and the lives of your family and friends in hand as you cross.
Gee, I feel safer already. I can use toll money for those long trips for double duty. Pay as I travel through Illinois, and check the odds on living to cross a bridge. That's monetary multitasking run amok.
Sadly it all does come down to money. Twice in his administration, Governor Pawlenty has vetoed bills that would have guaranteed money dedicated to transportation (read preserving the safety of infrastructure) and now is trying to claim the Republican controlled Legislative Branch in Minnesota had nothing to do with it. Nope. Not his fault. Blame the Democrats.
Ditto President Bush. The Republicans were in control for six of the past six and a half years, and money has been spent like drunken sailors on everything from Pork A to Pork Zed, plus a War to Nowhere and the infamous Bridge to the same place. But it's the Democrats fault. Yep, in the past seven months, the Democrats were supposed to fix all that was wrong, and vote on new legislation, all while dancing the tarantella on the head of a pin.
No, no, no, no, NO!!!!!
It is the fault of all of us, and those in control of government that have forgotten even a well built house that is not maintained, will fall. We have built our financial priorities on sand. We allow government to spend money like crazy, and if we pay attention, we know that the spending we do indicates our priorities.
We've studiously avoided spending on infrastructure, including the most recent budgets from the President, where he again proposed nothing even close to what is needed to repair and maintain (or replace) necessary bridges.
According to ABC News:
In other words, it's not just a collapsing bridge incident killing us due to poorly maintained infrastructure. Each of those deaths, every injury attributable to unsafe roads, shows our priorities. We spend according to what is important. Public health and safety at home is far down the list for the present administration.
President Bush allowed, no encouraged, pharmaceutical companies to write Medicare Part D, which is costing over 3 times what it should if government were allowed to negotiate prices for drugs needed by the elderly and disabled, while 47 million go uninsured. (The population of the US is just over 300 million, so that's about one sixth of all of us without insurance.)
Of course, President Bush can come up with billions for mercenary soldiers in Iraq, for equipment that is destroyed and for cost plus contracts, but our roads are neglected.
We've cut spending, in real dollars, for education, healthcare, food inspection, drug safety and pollution control.
President Bush has made a religion of sorts out of cutting revenue while infrastructure, such as the poorly maintained levies in New Orleans collapsed in the wake of Katrina. It is more important for us to give tax cuts to the wealthy as the nation crumbles from within.
What of those that died Wednesday? Were there any potential millionaires in that group that could have become one of the recipients of Republican largess? We'll never know now.
To be totally fair, it's not just been the Republican religion of not so benign neglect of the structures that provide safety and are key to the economy. But these past six years, the policies of the Bush Administration and their Congressional cronies, and Republican controlled state houses have made the problems worse as the roads we depend upon reach the end of their 50 year lifespan.
There was no indication of terrorism in the sense of bombs or bombers, in the collapse of the Bridge Too Broken. Except for this. Every time you ride across a bridge, are you thinking 'I wonder--is this one gonna go too?'. If so, you have been terrorized. Rightly so.
And the Republicans currently in positions of power are pointing fingers everywhere but at themselves.
Once again, with the cooperation of Republicans in power, neglect has caused multiple fatalities and a sense we are not safe. Not even driving to grandma's house. Be afraid. Be very afraid. The effects from this terror of neglect are just beginning.
How many needed to die to show us our folly in ignoring public safety? How many needed to die to show us we need to repair roads? In truth none. At least, if we are honest, we would admit that. And we would begin a War on The Terror of Neglect this very moment. If we fail, once again, the terrorists will win, more bridges will truly go 'nowhere' and more will be injured and die.
In America, you have a better chance of winning the Lotto or getting struck by lightning than you do of becoming a victim of "the folks" that brought planes crashing into buildings.
You have a greater chance of dying while eating a peanut (choking on it or finding you are allergic) than you have of being a victim of violent terrorism.
That's right. But you have, on any given day, a 50 percent chance of dying while using infrastructure that has been systematically ignored for decades. The I35 Bridge Too Broken proved that. That particular bridge had, for over two years, been out there, available to public use, all while having a 50 percent chance of catastrophic failure. Like collapse. Like killing people due to that not so benign neglect.
Let it sink in. A huge chance, right up there in league with flipping a coin. Nick Coleman, Twin Cities Curmudgeon in Residence put it well in his Star Tribune piece
Would you drive your kids or let your spouse drive over a bridge that had a sign saying, "CAUTION: Fifty-Percent Bridge Ahead"?
.
"This Bridge might or might not get you to the other side. Verify by coin flip -- if you dare". Of course, the flipped coin won't affect the structural integrity of the bridge, won't guarantee safe passage, won't do anything but make you feel that you've done something in the nature of rubbing a talisman as you take your life, and the lives of your family and friends in hand as you cross.
Gee, I feel safer already. I can use toll money for those long trips for double duty. Pay as I travel through Illinois, and check the odds on living to cross a bridge. That's monetary multitasking run amok.
Sadly it all does come down to money. Twice in his administration, Governor Pawlenty has vetoed bills that would have guaranteed money dedicated to transportation (read preserving the safety of infrastructure) and now is trying to claim the Republican controlled Legislative Branch in Minnesota had nothing to do with it. Nope. Not his fault. Blame the Democrats.
Ditto President Bush. The Republicans were in control for six of the past six and a half years, and money has been spent like drunken sailors on everything from Pork A to Pork Zed, plus a War to Nowhere and the infamous Bridge to the same place. But it's the Democrats fault. Yep, in the past seven months, the Democrats were supposed to fix all that was wrong, and vote on new legislation, all while dancing the tarantella on the head of a pin.
No, no, no, no, NO!!!!!
It is the fault of all of us, and those in control of government that have forgotten even a well built house that is not maintained, will fall. We have built our financial priorities on sand. We allow government to spend money like crazy, and if we pay attention, we know that the spending we do indicates our priorities.
We've studiously avoided spending on infrastructure, including the most recent budgets from the President, where he again proposed nothing even close to what is needed to repair and maintain (or replace) necessary bridges.
The budget I've sent to Congress fully funds America's priorities. It increases discretionary spending by 6.9 percent. My Cabinet Secretaries assure me that this is adequate to meet the needs of our nation.
According to ABC News:
Highway engineers say the neglect of America's infrastructure costs lives every day. More than 40,000 people die in highway accidents each year.
Road conditions, the engineers say, are a factor in almost one-third of those deaths.
America's most important road system — 46,000 miles of interstate highway — is now half a century old.
A report card two years ago from the American Society of Civil Engineers said that 34 percent of major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
And that's not all.
The civil engineers say the number of unsafe dams has risen by more than 33 percent in the past two years, and in that time, there have been 29 dam failures.
Power capacity isn't keeping pace with demand, and the power grid needs $10 billion a year invested over the next five years.
And, according to civil engineers, 27 percent of U.S. bridges are structurally deficient.
In other words, it's not just a collapsing bridge incident killing us due to poorly maintained infrastructure. Each of those deaths, every injury attributable to unsafe roads, shows our priorities. We spend according to what is important. Public health and safety at home is far down the list for the present administration.
President Bush allowed, no encouraged, pharmaceutical companies to write Medicare Part D, which is costing over 3 times what it should if government were allowed to negotiate prices for drugs needed by the elderly and disabled, while 47 million go uninsured. (The population of the US is just over 300 million, so that's about one sixth of all of us without insurance.)
Of course, President Bush can come up with billions for mercenary soldiers in Iraq, for equipment that is destroyed and for cost plus contracts, but our roads are neglected.
We've cut spending, in real dollars, for education, healthcare, food inspection, drug safety and pollution control.
President Bush has made a religion of sorts out of cutting revenue while infrastructure, such as the poorly maintained levies in New Orleans collapsed in the wake of Katrina. It is more important for us to give tax cuts to the wealthy as the nation crumbles from within.
What of those that died Wednesday? Were there any potential millionaires in that group that could have become one of the recipients of Republican largess? We'll never know now.
To be totally fair, it's not just been the Republican religion of not so benign neglect of the structures that provide safety and are key to the economy. But these past six years, the policies of the Bush Administration and their Congressional cronies, and Republican controlled state houses have made the problems worse as the roads we depend upon reach the end of their 50 year lifespan.
There was no indication of terrorism in the sense of bombs or bombers, in the collapse of the Bridge Too Broken. Except for this. Every time you ride across a bridge, are you thinking 'I wonder--is this one gonna go too?'. If so, you have been terrorized. Rightly so.
And the Republicans currently in positions of power are pointing fingers everywhere but at themselves.
Once again, with the cooperation of Republicans in power, neglect has caused multiple fatalities and a sense we are not safe. Not even driving to grandma's house. Be afraid. Be very afraid. The effects from this terror of neglect are just beginning.
How many needed to die to show us our folly in ignoring public safety? How many needed to die to show us we need to repair roads? In truth none. At least, if we are honest, we would admit that. And we would begin a War on The Terror of Neglect this very moment. If we fail, once again, the terrorists will win, more bridges will truly go 'nowhere' and more will be injured and die.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Failing Grades DO NOT Equal Safe Grades
In inspections conducted in 2005 and 2006, the bridge received ratings. On a scale of one to nine, nine being perfectly safe, this bridge received a four. What does that mean?
That was the gist of a question by Jim Lehrer (NewsHour, PBS, 8/2/07) about the Bridge Too Broken in Minneapolis. The answer given on the program is not even at issue for me. What matters is that it is 2007 and the Bridge Too Broken (I35W Bridge, collapsed August 1, 2007) had been failing for TWO YEARS!!!
The Bridge Too Broken received failing grades as far back as 1990. It was rated for a 50 percent chance of catastrophic failure in 2005 and 2006. That's worse than Russian Roulette. At least if you're foolish enough to play that game, you've only got a 1 in 6 chance of blowing your own head off.
Now, if the bridge were a heart-lung machine, and received a rating that meant essentially sometime in the next months, there was a 50 percent chance of catastrophic failure, there would have been immediate action. If failure would result in patient death, the medical profession would have insisted the hospital where such a machine was located, would replace the machine. No medical roulette. Just a fix or replacement. Pronto.
If the Bridge Too Broken were a toy having a 50 percent chance, at one time or the other before repair of causing mayhem, or death to a child, the toy would be recalled. Perhaps millions of such toys.
If the Bridge Too Broken were a food, such as say hamburger, with even a 10 percent chance of infecting people eating that food with some serious disease, the food would be recalled. The machinery used in making that food would be replaced or repaired, and life would go on.
But it's a bridge. Repairs aren't flashy. In fact, if the bridge had been fixed, after spending millions or even a billion dollars, the result would have been a bridge that looked essentially the same as it looked last year. Or the year before. Or the decade before.
Nope, not flashy. And not what we have right now.
It's not just bridges. It's everything here in the United States that brings cars from place to place, people from place to place, water, sewage, electricity, heating and those things we take for granted to us as we go about life without danger to life and limb. And not one bit of it is flashy.
We can sell billions of weapons to the wealthiest countries and call it "Military Aid". We can plunge billions into voting machines that don't work accurately, then hold off on fixing them because the fixing might be a tad chaotic. (Or we could have an election with paper and pencils and people counting the votes, using tally sheets. Just like countries that have democratic processes that work very well thank you, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France and even Iraq.)
Yes, we brought democracy to Iraq, but didn't even think of putting those electronic gizmo's that can be hacked into all the poling places because they don't have the infrastructure to support them. They don't have the electricity, and without electricity, the whiz-bang voting machines wouldn't even appear secure to the voters.
But I digress.
We are so intent on building the flashy stuff. We are like magpies, accruing the shiny bits in our surroundings that we forget a nest that isn't secure won't support the living creatures that will be born there and grow up there. A bird, no matter how much flash they want to entice a mate, pays attention first to the infrastructure. If they return year after year to the same nest, they repair first, bring the flashy bits later.
Flash is an afterthought. Infrastructure is a constant need.
We've spent the past decades presuming that since the bridges, roads, steam pipes, electric grids, and water systems we depend upon work, that those things will work forever. Without repair. Without structural integrity. We presume the bridge will be there even if the bridge receives failing grades for TWO YEARS!!!
We are wrong.
We are willing to take chances with our lives, and the lives of babies, mothers and school children to spend more on those shiny weapons for wealthy nations, or to bomb others into the stone age.
The purpose of government is to promote the public welfare. None of us, not one of us, is wealthy enough to be able to afford to construct all the parts of infrastructure that serve us daily, but only building those parts large enough to support each of us alone. We have government for that.
We have concentrated our public building on stadiums and sports arenas, forgetting that fans won't show up if they are lying at the bottom of a river after attempting to attend a game in one of those flashy, shiny new stadiums built with public dollars.
We allow ourselves to use aging and unsafe infrastructure on a daily basis. If the supports of our own homes were inspected and given a failing grade, we would replace or repair. Why don't we have the same urgency about roads that receive failing grades for multiple years in a row?
That was the gist of a question by Jim Lehrer (NewsHour, PBS, 8/2/07) about the Bridge Too Broken in Minneapolis. The answer given on the program is not even at issue for me. What matters is that it is 2007 and the Bridge Too Broken (I35W Bridge, collapsed August 1, 2007) had been failing for TWO YEARS!!!
The Bridge Too Broken received failing grades as far back as 1990. It was rated for a 50 percent chance of catastrophic failure in 2005 and 2006. That's worse than Russian Roulette. At least if you're foolish enough to play that game, you've only got a 1 in 6 chance of blowing your own head off.
Now, if the bridge were a heart-lung machine, and received a rating that meant essentially sometime in the next months, there was a 50 percent chance of catastrophic failure, there would have been immediate action. If failure would result in patient death, the medical profession would have insisted the hospital where such a machine was located, would replace the machine. No medical roulette. Just a fix or replacement. Pronto.
If the Bridge Too Broken were a toy having a 50 percent chance, at one time or the other before repair of causing mayhem, or death to a child, the toy would be recalled. Perhaps millions of such toys.
If the Bridge Too Broken were a food, such as say hamburger, with even a 10 percent chance of infecting people eating that food with some serious disease, the food would be recalled. The machinery used in making that food would be replaced or repaired, and life would go on.
But it's a bridge. Repairs aren't flashy. In fact, if the bridge had been fixed, after spending millions or even a billion dollars, the result would have been a bridge that looked essentially the same as it looked last year. Or the year before. Or the decade before.
Nope, not flashy. And not what we have right now.
It's not just bridges. It's everything here in the United States that brings cars from place to place, people from place to place, water, sewage, electricity, heating and those things we take for granted to us as we go about life without danger to life and limb. And not one bit of it is flashy.
We can sell billions of weapons to the wealthiest countries and call it "Military Aid". We can plunge billions into voting machines that don't work accurately, then hold off on fixing them because the fixing might be a tad chaotic. (Or we could have an election with paper and pencils and people counting the votes, using tally sheets. Just like countries that have democratic processes that work very well thank you, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France and even Iraq.)
Yes, we brought democracy to Iraq, but didn't even think of putting those electronic gizmo's that can be hacked into all the poling places because they don't have the infrastructure to support them. They don't have the electricity, and without electricity, the whiz-bang voting machines wouldn't even appear secure to the voters.
But I digress.
We are so intent on building the flashy stuff. We are like magpies, accruing the shiny bits in our surroundings that we forget a nest that isn't secure won't support the living creatures that will be born there and grow up there. A bird, no matter how much flash they want to entice a mate, pays attention first to the infrastructure. If they return year after year to the same nest, they repair first, bring the flashy bits later.
Flash is an afterthought. Infrastructure is a constant need.
We've spent the past decades presuming that since the bridges, roads, steam pipes, electric grids, and water systems we depend upon work, that those things will work forever. Without repair. Without structural integrity. We presume the bridge will be there even if the bridge receives failing grades for TWO YEARS!!!
We are wrong.
We are willing to take chances with our lives, and the lives of babies, mothers and school children to spend more on those shiny weapons for wealthy nations, or to bomb others into the stone age.
The purpose of government is to promote the public welfare. None of us, not one of us, is wealthy enough to be able to afford to construct all the parts of infrastructure that serve us daily, but only building those parts large enough to support each of us alone. We have government for that.
We have concentrated our public building on stadiums and sports arenas, forgetting that fans won't show up if they are lying at the bottom of a river after attempting to attend a game in one of those flashy, shiny new stadiums built with public dollars.
We allow ourselves to use aging and unsafe infrastructure on a daily basis. If the supports of our own homes were inspected and given a failing grade, we would replace or repair. Why don't we have the same urgency about roads that receive failing grades for multiple years in a row?
Thursday, August 2, 2007
A Bridge Too Broken
The 35W bridge that fell in my hometowns (Twin Cities) is right near the Stone Arch Bridge, which is a new bridge that looks old, and the Cedar Avenue Bridge, which is about the same vintage as the one that collapsed, within a decade or so.
In those frightening moments last evening, at least 9 people died (and counting) and many more nearly died. Huge numbers were injured. And the bridge that fell, the one resting at the bottom of the river, is a bridge that was unsafe. It was unsafe for TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF INSPECTIONS.
The bridge that fell was a truss design, with the supports in the edges of the river, where current would be low, except during high water, flood conditions and storm surges. It was designed to last at least 50 years (refund anyone?) with normal traffic. Around here, traffic is equal to or worse than LA. There is no normal traffic, ever.
You can figure out if it was stress, poor maintenance, failure to address failing inspections, or just dumb bad luck.
Gov. Pawlenty (of Sen. McCain Campaign fame) is now saying that the bridge had a clean bill of health, all was well, and the collapse was never ever anticipated. That happens to be untrue, but What The H(eck).
You see, even as I write this, others are trying to rewrite history. To wit: Governor Pawlenty, who just this last legislative session vetoed a bill that would have provided $6 Billion for transportation and transit from dedicated auto sales tax receipts and a tax hike. That was money for road repair and to get more cars off the hellish roads we call the Interstates.
Of course, the failing grades of that very bridge during 2005 AND 2006 inspections were of no apparent matter as he vetoed that legislation. Yes, it did contain a tax increase that the public supported to the tune of more than 70 percent. When it gets to 70 percent, the feeling is mainstream, and the people want it.
After all, bridges don't fall, only political careers get dropped in the river and drowned. Right? Check http://www.attytood.com/2007/08/memo_bridge_failure_determined.html from Attytood. Yeah, I can hear it now. I'm just a bleeding heart liberal, beating on about drowned citizen. Don't even think of replying with an insult related to my views on our misplaced spending priorities.
We cannot hear the cries of those that drowned. Their voices cannot rise from the murk that is our beloved part of the Big Muddy. They cannot escape their watery graves to cry out that we are totally missing the fact that there are something in the neighborhood of 60,000 bridges that aren't safe and for which there will be no infrastructure funding for repairs.
We gotta run a war after all.
We gotta keep the money flowing where it can be seen, 'cuz so one actually cares about stuff you can't see, after all. Like bridge supports. And sewer pipes. And drinking water systems.
From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2140291,00.html
But hey, I'm not angry that there are multiple cars stacked on multiple cars at the bottom of the Mississippi in an area of the most treacherous currents in the Twin Cities BECAUSE A FREAKING BRIDGE COLLAPSED THAT WAS ALREADY LABELLED AS UNSAFE TWO FREAKING YEARS AGO!!!
AND ONE YEAR AGO!!!
Phew, that feels better.
BTW, go give a pint of blood, no matter where you are. It's summer and the stocks of the real elixer of life are running dangerously low everywhere. Contact your local hospital or Red Cross for further information.
Be well, safe and don't drive on unsafe bridges. Please.
And tell someone, tell everyone that will listen. Tell them this. We need to fix that which is about to break. It's going to take money. It needs to be done now. The Wars aren't the only things that can do us in. Losing lives, losing treasure because we sent the money to buy bombs and bombers has gotten us a broken bridge in Minnesota and too many broken hearts.
We can't bring back those that died. We cannot magically correct and heal the injuries inflicted yesterday. But, we can and we must, work to prevent another person drowning, another family torn asunder through injury or death that was preventable if we'd only repaired what needed fixing before it was too broken.
It's one bridge too broken in Minnesota. It's not to late for the rest of the 60,000 bridges that need repair. Yet.
In those frightening moments last evening, at least 9 people died (and counting) and many more nearly died. Huge numbers were injured. And the bridge that fell, the one resting at the bottom of the river, is a bridge that was unsafe. It was unsafe for TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF INSPECTIONS.
The bridge that fell was a truss design, with the supports in the edges of the river, where current would be low, except during high water, flood conditions and storm surges. It was designed to last at least 50 years (refund anyone?) with normal traffic. Around here, traffic is equal to or worse than LA. There is no normal traffic, ever.
You can figure out if it was stress, poor maintenance, failure to address failing inspections, or just dumb bad luck.
Gov. Pawlenty (of Sen. McCain Campaign fame) is now saying that the bridge had a clean bill of health, all was well, and the collapse was never ever anticipated. That happens to be untrue, but What The H(eck).
You see, even as I write this, others are trying to rewrite history. To wit: Governor Pawlenty, who just this last legislative session vetoed a bill that would have provided $6 Billion for transportation and transit from dedicated auto sales tax receipts and a tax hike. That was money for road repair and to get more cars off the hellish roads we call the Interstates.
Of course, the failing grades of that very bridge during 2005 AND 2006 inspections were of no apparent matter as he vetoed that legislation. Yes, it did contain a tax increase that the public supported to the tune of more than 70 percent. When it gets to 70 percent, the feeling is mainstream, and the people want it.
After all, bridges don't fall, only political careers get dropped in the river and drowned. Right? Check http://www.attytood.com/2007/08/memo_bridge_failure_determined.html from Attytood. Yeah, I can hear it now. I'm just a bleeding heart liberal, beating on about drowned citizen. Don't even think of replying with an insult related to my views on our misplaced spending priorities.
We cannot hear the cries of those that drowned. Their voices cannot rise from the murk that is our beloved part of the Big Muddy. They cannot escape their watery graves to cry out that we are totally missing the fact that there are something in the neighborhood of 60,000 bridges that aren't safe and for which there will be no infrastructure funding for repairs.
We gotta run a war after all.
We gotta keep the money flowing where it can be seen, 'cuz so one actually cares about stuff you can't see, after all. Like bridge supports. And sewer pipes. And drinking water systems.
The state governor, Tim Pawlenty, said: "Obviously, this is a catastrophe of historic proportions for Minnesota."
The US president, George Bush, pledged help. "We in the federal government must respond, and respond robustly, to help the people there not only recover, but to make sure that lifeline of activity - that bridge - gets rebuilt as quickly as possible," he said in Washington.
Mr Pawlenty said the Minnesota department of transportation had inspected the 40-year-old bridge in 2005 and 2006, finding no structural problems. "There were some minor things that needed attention," he added.
From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2140291,00.html
But hey, I'm not angry that there are multiple cars stacked on multiple cars at the bottom of the Mississippi in an area of the most treacherous currents in the Twin Cities BECAUSE A FREAKING BRIDGE COLLAPSED THAT WAS ALREADY LABELLED AS UNSAFE TWO FREAKING YEARS AGO!!!
AND ONE YEAR AGO!!!
Phew, that feels better.
BTW, go give a pint of blood, no matter where you are. It's summer and the stocks of the real elixer of life are running dangerously low everywhere. Contact your local hospital or Red Cross for further information.
Be well, safe and don't drive on unsafe bridges. Please.
And tell someone, tell everyone that will listen. Tell them this. We need to fix that which is about to break. It's going to take money. It needs to be done now. The Wars aren't the only things that can do us in. Losing lives, losing treasure because we sent the money to buy bombs and bombers has gotten us a broken bridge in Minnesota and too many broken hearts.
We can't bring back those that died. We cannot magically correct and heal the injuries inflicted yesterday. But, we can and we must, work to prevent another person drowning, another family torn asunder through injury or death that was preventable if we'd only repaired what needed fixing before it was too broken.
It's one bridge too broken in Minnesota. It's not to late for the rest of the 60,000 bridges that need repair. Yet.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
After the thing, therefore because of the thing.
The fly was crushed mid-flight by encountering a moving object. Therefore, the moving object killed the fly. Score one for flyswatters.
"Mr. X" hates us, and says so in a letter. An hour after receiving and reading the letter, "Us" has a car accident. Therefore, the car accident was caused by Mr. X. At the very least, Us dislikes "X" a lot. Did "X" cause the brakes to fail? Possibly. The other car to sideswipe the very car Us was riding in? Maybe. The red light to stop working in a power outage. Unlikely.
But life, real life, is more complicated.
For example, in one of the most complicated jobs in the nation, the thought that because President Nixon didn't assert Executive Privilege, and allowed John Dean (then White House Counsel) to testify, President Nixon was forced to resign or be impeached.
In truth, it wasn't Mr. Dean at all, as his testimony was only a vehicle by which the truth was going to come out. Truth has that habit. It does come out. Messy, nasty, cathartic truth. It gets loose and we are the better for it.
President Nixon couldn't have kept the truth in, any more than King Knut could have stopped the tide. Truth is a tide, and not one influenced by the phase of the moon. Executive privilege is not the tool. Executive honesty however is the tool that will save the Republic. Executive honesty is what is required to keep the Constitution.
Always it does come back to those fine Top Ten that the Right Wing spout off about daily. The "Thou shalt nots..." In order to fulfill the oath of office which is not to the People, but to the Constitution, the honor of the office requires an honest assessment of the situation. And it requires honesty to Congress, not contempt of it.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc. It is not the speaking in public by John Dean, his testimony to Congress, that brought down President Nixon. It was Nixon himself. It was arrogance in possession of power that caused Nixon's White House to implode. The Constitution won. The People, only through the words of Mr. Dean, and Mr. Butterfield, and Mr. Cox, and ...
All of them, together brought down that which President Nixon had done to the Constitution. Sure, there was lying, obfuscation, dirty tricks, the birth of the "Unitary Executive" (a concept anathema to the Founders), denials and more. But it was a bridge too far to cross, a scintilla that when push met shove, even President Nixon could not and would not cross the line of breaking the Constitution.
Would we had even one tenth of the honor of those days back again. Break the armed services, break treaties, violate the Bill of Rights, turn the nation inside out in pursuit of wars of choice, all are bad in their own right. But to place witnesses before the Judiciary Committee and require them to assert an oath that is the least important oath int he nation, after those same persons have taken the highest and most demanding oath a citizen can make, is more than hubris. It is insanity.
All government officers take an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution... from all enemies foreign and domestic". That oath requires that the Constitution, and the laws pertaining thereto, be obeyed with all the honest, loyalty, vigor, intellect, energy and love a citizen can muster. Oaths to a person pale in comparison. In fact, oaths to a person, or an office, are not contemplated by the Constitution as being superior to the oath to the Constitution.
Yet that is where we are. A mistaken belief that Executive Privilege, which can stall proceedings in Congress, (im)properly exercised will save the President where the Constitution demands disclosure and treatment of all branches of government as coequal, without a 'king' at the top of one of them, is what has gotten us here. Our Constitution cannot serve us, nor we it, in secrecy or in mendacity.
John Dean's testimony didn't bring down Nixon. If Attorney general Gonzales were to tell the truth, make his 'stories' agree with truth, and even the statements he made earlier, the Presidency will stand. And the Presidency will stand stronger for it.
President Nixon knew this, and so stopped short of obstruction of Congress, inherent contempt of Congress committed by his underlings, and contempt of the American People. President Nixon understood that contempt for the truth would break the nation, would forever break the Constitution.
The cause of Nixon's downfall was never the testimony, and never shall be for any President. The downfall that crying to occur today is simple and must go forward if the Constitution will stand as the highest law of the land. It is the acts for which the Administration desires darkness and secrecy that must be brought into the open, and measures taken to prevent such actions in future. It is the hoping against hope that honest discovery will never occur that will bring down President Bush. Either it shall happen through impeachment, resignation, or in the history books. It is too late to fix it.
King Knut could not stop the tide, nor did he intend to. He took the step to attempt stopping of the tides to show that even a King must be humble before forces that are larger than the Reg. For Knut, the tides were humbling. For us the tide of truth shall save us and our nation.
The time to fix the position of this President Bush on the good side of history was before the wiretaps, before the violations of the Fourth Amendment, before the NSA programme. That time is past, for the evil has been done. Now all that remains is for a shred of honor to emerge and for this President to realize that his oath, to the Constitution demands allowing the truth to come out. Save the Constitution and save the Nation.
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. After the lies, the lawbreaking, the unravelling of the Constitutional fabric of the Republic, must come the truth. It is bigger than all of us. Arriving in time, it just might save us. Under our Constitution, the truth shall keep us free.
Now that is an outcome we can thrive with. After the lying, because of the lying, the Constitution is shredded, and all of us, this great Republic, with it.
After the truth, therefore because of the truth, the Republic shall stand.
After the truth, therefore because of the truth, the Constitution shall be restored.
The fly was crushed mid-flight by encountering a moving object. Therefore, the moving object killed the fly. Score one for flyswatters.
"Mr. X" hates us, and says so in a letter. An hour after receiving and reading the letter, "Us" has a car accident. Therefore, the car accident was caused by Mr. X. At the very least, Us dislikes "X" a lot. Did "X" cause the brakes to fail? Possibly. The other car to sideswipe the very car Us was riding in? Maybe. The red light to stop working in a power outage. Unlikely.
But life, real life, is more complicated.
For example, in one of the most complicated jobs in the nation, the thought that because President Nixon didn't assert Executive Privilege, and allowed John Dean (then White House Counsel) to testify, President Nixon was forced to resign or be impeached.
In truth, it wasn't Mr. Dean at all, as his testimony was only a vehicle by which the truth was going to come out. Truth has that habit. It does come out. Messy, nasty, cathartic truth. It gets loose and we are the better for it.
President Nixon couldn't have kept the truth in, any more than King Knut could have stopped the tide. Truth is a tide, and not one influenced by the phase of the moon. Executive privilege is not the tool. Executive honesty however is the tool that will save the Republic. Executive honesty is what is required to keep the Constitution.
Always it does come back to those fine Top Ten that the Right Wing spout off about daily. The "Thou shalt nots..." In order to fulfill the oath of office which is not to the People, but to the Constitution, the honor of the office requires an honest assessment of the situation. And it requires honesty to Congress, not contempt of it.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc. It is not the speaking in public by John Dean, his testimony to Congress, that brought down President Nixon. It was Nixon himself. It was arrogance in possession of power that caused Nixon's White House to implode. The Constitution won. The People, only through the words of Mr. Dean, and Mr. Butterfield, and Mr. Cox, and ...
All of them, together brought down that which President Nixon had done to the Constitution. Sure, there was lying, obfuscation, dirty tricks, the birth of the "Unitary Executive" (a concept anathema to the Founders), denials and more. But it was a bridge too far to cross, a scintilla that when push met shove, even President Nixon could not and would not cross the line of breaking the Constitution.
Would we had even one tenth of the honor of those days back again. Break the armed services, break treaties, violate the Bill of Rights, turn the nation inside out in pursuit of wars of choice, all are bad in their own right. But to place witnesses before the Judiciary Committee and require them to assert an oath that is the least important oath int he nation, after those same persons have taken the highest and most demanding oath a citizen can make, is more than hubris. It is insanity.
All government officers take an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution... from all enemies foreign and domestic". That oath requires that the Constitution, and the laws pertaining thereto, be obeyed with all the honest, loyalty, vigor, intellect, energy and love a citizen can muster. Oaths to a person pale in comparison. In fact, oaths to a person, or an office, are not contemplated by the Constitution as being superior to the oath to the Constitution.
Yet that is where we are. A mistaken belief that Executive Privilege, which can stall proceedings in Congress, (im)properly exercised will save the President where the Constitution demands disclosure and treatment of all branches of government as coequal, without a 'king' at the top of one of them, is what has gotten us here. Our Constitution cannot serve us, nor we it, in secrecy or in mendacity.
John Dean's testimony didn't bring down Nixon. If Attorney general Gonzales were to tell the truth, make his 'stories' agree with truth, and even the statements he made earlier, the Presidency will stand. And the Presidency will stand stronger for it.
President Nixon knew this, and so stopped short of obstruction of Congress, inherent contempt of Congress committed by his underlings, and contempt of the American People. President Nixon understood that contempt for the truth would break the nation, would forever break the Constitution.
The cause of Nixon's downfall was never the testimony, and never shall be for any President. The downfall that crying to occur today is simple and must go forward if the Constitution will stand as the highest law of the land. It is the acts for which the Administration desires darkness and secrecy that must be brought into the open, and measures taken to prevent such actions in future. It is the hoping against hope that honest discovery will never occur that will bring down President Bush. Either it shall happen through impeachment, resignation, or in the history books. It is too late to fix it.
King Knut could not stop the tide, nor did he intend to. He took the step to attempt stopping of the tides to show that even a King must be humble before forces that are larger than the Reg. For Knut, the tides were humbling. For us the tide of truth shall save us and our nation.
The time to fix the position of this President Bush on the good side of history was before the wiretaps, before the violations of the Fourth Amendment, before the NSA programme. That time is past, for the evil has been done. Now all that remains is for a shred of honor to emerge and for this President to realize that his oath, to the Constitution demands allowing the truth to come out. Save the Constitution and save the Nation.
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. After the lies, the lawbreaking, the unravelling of the Constitutional fabric of the Republic, must come the truth. It is bigger than all of us. Arriving in time, it just might save us. Under our Constitution, the truth shall keep us free.
Now that is an outcome we can thrive with. After the lying, because of the lying, the Constitution is shredded, and all of us, this great Republic, with it.
After the truth, therefore because of the truth, the Republic shall stand.
After the truth, therefore because of the truth, the Constitution shall be restored.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)