A Constantly Amazing Election

Karl Rove’s stated goal was to create a permanent one-party control over all branches of government. So, perhaps, was Caesar’s, and Napoleon’s, and Stalin’s, and Hitler’s, and so on and so on ad infinitum. It is an entirely un-American approach to government; to deny representation to roughly half the population. My impression of Rove is that he really regards American politics as a sort of competitive game, wherein the goal is to win the contest, capture all the pieces, and so on, with no consideration whatsoever of the effect it has on the human lives which hang in the balance. We are just his game pieces. He lost this round, but I expect he will return more determined to win his pieces back in 2008. Expect diabolical behavior on an extraordinary scale.

The Democrats in congress have now been given their orders: Do a better job than the Republicans, or get thrown out next time. This a golden opportunity for the Democratic party to prove they can be a superior representational body. The Republicans blew it when they had the same opportunity. Now it’s the Democrats’ turn. It wasn’t too long ago that the repukes enjoyed similar victories and proclaimed it a “landslide”, a “mandate”, and “political capitol”. The Republicans thought their success released them of all accountability. Through their arrogance, they became pigs at the trough, giving full expression to all the most hideous aspects of human nature. Democrats must not make that mistake: they are placed in a position wherein they are expected to demonstrate highly ethical behavior – no lying, no stealing, no deception, and so on – and if they catch one of their own doing bad things, they need to punish the culprit, not hide them in the basement like the repukes. If they can’t manage that, then they are just as replaceable as their predecesors.

The Democrats must also not mimic Republicans’ gloating over their 2004 victories. There was a lot of sniping back and forth, with the right claiming their “sweeping mandate,” and the left replying, “2% is not a mandate.” And despite their previous rhetoric, Republicans will pull the same “obstructionist” tactics, like filibustering, for which they sneeringly chastised Democrats.

And to those who say the Democrats are as hopelessly corrupt as the Republicans, all I can say is, there is always hope for, and potential for, positive change. The Dems have turned themselves around before – they were once the party of southern racists, and the party of Vietnam. They are now the party that most Progressives choose as the vehicle of choice for expression of progressive values. That in itself is a step forward, and they should keep that momentum.

Everyone is saying the Iraq war is the most important thing. But don’t let that distract from the enormity of damage the Bush administration has done in so many other areas – domestic policy, environmental policy, non-Iraq-related foreign policy, trashing of our Constitution, implementation of the so-called “patriot act”… the list is far too long to repeat here. We must not ignore those things by becoming too myopic; all these problems need to be addressed as soon as possible, while we have the chance.

And finally, the question of impeachment. My position, for the record, is this: we should impeach the president and the vice president, and pursue punitive action against other cabinet members including Rice, etc. Why? Because the only effective deterrent to crime is certainty of punishment. If the Bush Cabal is allowed to ride off into the sunset without being held accountable for their misdeeds, then we are establishing the precedent (or reasserting the already established one) that it is okay for an American executive administration to behave the way they did. We must not send that message. We must not allow crimes of this magnitude to go unpunished. Impeach.

By the way, I still say 9/11 was an inside job.