Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Broken Government

Reading a blog post last night about the Articles of Impeachment offered in the House by Dennis Kucinich, I noted the author saying that Republicans would try to block its passage. Sadly, they won't need to, as the Democratic leadership of the House has already sidelined the bill by allowing only that it be routed to the Judiciary Committee, where it will be allowed to die. The best that Kucinich could get was to have the bill read in its entirety on the floor.

Electing Barack Obama to the White House is an act of faith, an act of hope for better government and a better nation. That is the appeal that he is making to us, and I believe that is what the voters are responding to. I believe that is what the people of this nation want. McCain is offering tax cuts, "I'll put some money in your pocket." Obama is saying something less concrete but more appealing than that, "I will empower you."

But Congress keeps pulling on the same set of oars. "Impeachment is off the table," because that act would lead to the risk of our party losing power, and us staying in power is more important than justice, or good governance, or the integrity of our constitution, or the force of law.

With its illegal and greedy excesses, this Administration has finally drawn enough attention to itself that the voters of the nation are calling with a loud voice for change, and it appears that the change we desire will be realized.

We can only hope that the refusal of Congress to do its duty will have a similar effect sooner rather than later. So far that appears unlikely, and the Democrats have shown no more willingness to perform their duties than did the Republicans who preceeded them. They make more of a show of doing so, but they take no action whatever.

That's another reason to work for the election of Barack Obama. Perhaps his presence in the White House will shine a light on the deficiencies at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

3 comments:

  1. Hey, its not just my word varification! I am looking at "dsjddqf" for this one, and I don't even remember what all I had to do yesterday!
    For what it is worth, I recall you thinking babies were more than OK.

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  2. One of my hopes (now that a long primary season is over), is that some time, energy, and media can be spent on those "other end" (and in the long run perhaps more important) elections. Of course, one of my local ones is making national news.

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  3. Anonymous11:12 PM

    1) see my relatively recent comment to "Bush Photo-op", second post below, on the possibility of finally impeaching the criminals and incompetents populating the current administr4ation.

    2) Not-so-funny story: Not long ago I read a story about a public-school teacher who got fired for first refusing to take an oath to "protect and defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic", then signing it with the caveat that she would do so "non-violently". She won her court case, because she was a Quaker, therefore a pacifist, and they clearly discriminated against her religion.
    I thought as I read it that the school board was asking for trouble when they required that oath. If someone believed (as I do) that Bush, Cheney, and crew were subverting the constitution, and that it needed protection from and defense against these "domestic enemies"; if they then swore to "defend the constitution" -- they might just feel morally (and religiously, if the invoked God in their oath) obligated to buy a gun, go to Washington, and shoot them. Not, I think, what the school board had in mind!

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