"Rather than all-night debates about resolutions that go nowhere..."

robert parry tells it like it is, bless 'im...

If the Democrats Want to Win...

By Robert Parry
July 18, 2007

If the Democrats really want to prevail over George W. Bush on the Iraq War and on his authoritarian vision of presidential powers, they would put back on the table two options that their leaders have removed: a cut-off of war funding and impeachment.

Rather than all-night debates about resolutions that will go nowhere, the Democrats would make the case to the American people that Bush has trampled on the Constitution; he has ensnared the nation in a catastrophic war by lying; and he has his eyes set on more dangerous chicanery in the months ahead.

The Democrats would explain that Bush has refused to compromise when offered the chance; he has told the people’s representatives that their only war role is to finance whatever "the decider" wants to do; he has declared that he has the right to ignore or break the law; he has engaged in cover-ups of serious wrongdoing by his subordinates and is now counting on his right-wing judicial appointees to protect him from oversight.

The Democrats would call on the American people to stand up at this dangerous moment in their history – when the president and vice president have become enemies of the constitutional system devised by the Founders, a Republic based on the idea that all people possess inalienable rights and governments must ensure those rights.

Never have a president and vice president abused the public trust to the extent that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have. They have engaged in a consistent pattern of deception, not just political spin or cover-ups of petty matters, but lying about the most profound of issues, including war and the meaning of “freedom” and “democracy.”

[...]

[T]he reality is that Bush has eviscerated many of the most important civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

[...]

Psychologists may debate whether Bush is delusional or just an extremely accomplished liar, but either way he represents an unprecedented threat to the future of the American Republic and to the survivability of the planet.

So, what can be done?

If Bush is to be deterred, the country – and the Congress – must make clear that the public response will be commensurate to the threat personified by Bush and Cheney. In other words, half-hearted half-measures won’t do. The stakes must be raised and the battle joined.

Since Bush already has made clear he will spurn any constraining war resolutions from Congress, the Democrats must face up to their real options (aside from surrender): move to cut off war funding (beyond what is needed for an orderly withdrawal) and/or commence impeachment hearings for both Bush and Cheney.

i've been feeling particularly down in the mouth the last few weeks, watching the national dialog flirting with getting serious about the most critical crisis ever to face the united states, and then failing to go anywhere... i start to think that maybe it's my thinking that's awry, that i should join my more mainstream liberal colleagues and jump on the "out of iraq" bandwagon and continue to wring my hands over kristol, o'reilly, and michael o'hanlon... then i read robert parry and he snaps me back to my senses... hey, it's not like paul craig roberts doesn't do it for me, but robert parry has twice the investigative journalism credentials that roberts has... roberts is an insightful analyst who, i believe, has an intuitive grasp on the seriousness of our situation, but, reading parry is like hearing it from walter cronkite or edward r. murrow...

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