Which of the following is the SECOND most important political issue?

[paineinthearse]

I am observing much discussion on Roberts and Katrina, but there are some very important abuse of power issues that are receiving little DU attention.

DSM/Plamegate and abuse of power, IMHO, are as, if not more, important than * administration ineptitude. We cannot afford to lose sight, so I have created this poll, which has a twist.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR TOPICS IS THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT, and why?

Reference information.

House Intelligence committee votes down Plame "resolution of inquiry" - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2093564&mesg_id=2093564

Waas: House Republicans beat back Plame resolution of inquiry - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4775633

DSM Resolutions of Inquiry Defeated - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2093269&mesg_id=2093269

HR437, the rethug's Katrina whitewash commission - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2091986

[paineinthearse]

1. Please remember the "why"

"WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR TOPICS IS THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT, and why?"

[paineinthearse]

2. Correction: First question should read THREE HOUSE COMMITTEES,

Not just the Intelligence Committee.

The 3 are Intelligence, Foreign Relations and (drawing a blank). Armed Services is scheduled to vote next week.

[welshTerrier2]

3. the greatest issues we face are

1. loss of our democracy to the corporate infestation of our government ... if we have no real voice to represent our best interests, all else fails ...
2. an energy policy written for and by Big Oil ... the "triple threat" of global warming, peak oil and an emerging China are going to destroy the petty bickering we now see between the two major parties ... our failed energy policies may extinguish life on the planet or lead to global wars ...
3. the war in Iraq and all imperial wars for oil being waged by the US government ... the US is hated all over the world for our expansionism and our exploitation of foreign countries, their resources and their people ... we prop up dictators, lead the world in the sales of deadly armaments, assassinate democratically elected leaders of sovereign nations, all for greed, money and power ...

these would be the three most important issues, in addition to immediate relief for hurricane victims, that enlightened people should be focussed on ...

DSM/Plamegate would rise high on this list but i see it as a symptom; not as the disease itself ...

[paineinthearse]

4. I generally agree, but

I am asking for relative importance of these three issues.

But you raise a valid point.

There are so many "critical" issues pulling us in many directions. Let's create a poll of the top 10 just for shits and grins see what the concensus is in terms of relative importance.

[welshTerrier2]

8. the reason Dems are the minority party ...

is that we keep fighting everything on an ad hoc basis ...

we build campaigns instead of political movements ...

we see issues, like the ones in your poll, in isolation from the "macro-evils" under which they operate ...

Plame, Katrina, poverty, Social Security, Iraq and even energy policy are really all just symptoms ... the cause is as simple as raw GREED ... we have allowed the infestation of our government's massive power structure ...

if you really wanted to get to the "macro-macro" of the problem, what we really have at its root is a population that takes its democracy for granted ... nothing opened the door to corporate greed wider than that ...

i understand what you're looking for in the poll and i see nothing wrong with it ... we cannot only battle on a macro level ... we still need to pay attention to the daily details ...

but as Deep Throat famously said to Woodward "you're (not you specifically) missing the overall" ... fighting the "little battles", however important they may be, will never succeed without the larger framework being established ...

and Democrats seem to be to fearful to take on that task ... it could make us seem like crackpots in the short-run ... things could get much worse with far more republican control ... it might not happen but the "macro" approach is very risky politically ... voters haven't been conditioned to hear this extreme message ... but really, we have no other choice ... we have to start somewhere no matter what the costs may be ... this will not change the national consciousness overnight ... it might even take decades ...

the point of all this is that until we make the macro case that our democracy has been corrupted by self-serving corporations, especially Big Oil and Big Pharma, the "party of the people" will remain little more than a group of irrelevant complainers ...

[benfranklin1776]

10. You are absolutely right that the need is for an overarching movement but.

Movements like journeys are comprised of individual steps and actions. Yes the overall problem is greedy plunder of our nation and the subversion of our political system by the corporadoes and their tools, the Bushes and Cheneys but they can only achieve their rapacious goals if they have the political power to enact their unholy schemes. What happened with Plame was the result of their ovearching belief that they hads the unfettered power to do as they pleased with no accountability to anyone nor any regard for the law. Uncovering and punishing this raw pernicious abuse of power and naked crminality is integral towards weakening their grip on the reins of power they have seized. The less political power they have the less able they are to screw the people of this country. So this is a battle that is a necessary step to winning the larger war. You can't have a movement unless the movement is built on a foundation of principle, and two of those principles which are at stake in this fight are of utmost importance, namely it must be made clear that lies and deception perpetrated at the highest levels of government can and will be punished severely and no person has the right to set themselves up as a king who can do as he pleases unaccountable for the consequences of his actions or the law.

[SeaNap05]

5. Middle Class Tax Cuts

[paineinthearse]

6. SeaNap05

Welcome to DU

:hi:

[Lochloosa]

7. Hey..Not Fair...It won't let me vote three times...

[autorank]

9. Plame is the vehicle, the matrix of all of this.

"This" being the process of "resigning" Bush and getting rid of the neocons. Roberts is irrelevant, he's a replacement vote so he doesn't change the equation. He will also go with the wind, he seems like that type of guy. NOLA was a surprise but will be used.

Just watch Fitzgerald. If he's a dud, we're screwed and the 'powers that be' are nuts. If he moves forcefully, then it's game on and the real public thrashing of BushCo will begin.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. The 3 M's.

Money.
Media.
Manipulation.

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. All are important, but I expect that a power grab for the POTUS and

the Pentagon with even more power to declare and maintain martial law will come out of that partisan Katrina committee report & recommendation. Effectively military dictatorship. They will blame the supposed lack of power of the president and the military for the disaster. Bush has already said this in his speech. All the signs of planning and leadup are there for anyone with eyes to see. They are making their move:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4790112

Indeed, martial law has ALREADY killed people in New Orleans. For example:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1786336&mesg_id=1787294

Not mentioned in the list: a draft plan making PRE-EMPTIVE NUCLEAR STRIKES OFFICIAL US POLICY is nearing approval.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1770759
This horror-inducing development is under the radar of far too many people. As you reported some weeks back, Paine, the official policy was ALREADY recently changed to include pre-emptive strikes. But now this update will make that NUCLEAR strikes. And it can happen if the President says he thinks some country MIGHT at some point want to develop or use bio- chem- or other kinds of WMDs.

We'd already be in a nuclear World War III if this had been on the books when they invaded Iraq. And now they want to attack Iran and probably Syria too. I've been enormously frustrated that this critically important issue of the pre-emptive nuclear strike policy has not received wider attention.

[paineinthearse]

13. The importance of 2006

Please familiarize yourselves with these issues.

Use them in discussions with disinterested dems who need motivation to help win back Congress in 2006.

[Toots]

14. Is that the number one most important issue?

Winning back Congress? I respect you tremendously and would agree winning back Congress is of utter importance but first we need to win back America and Congress will follow. Post #8 has it right. Think Big. Plame is only a battle and one we will probably lose because the deck is stacked. The war is about America. What kind of country are we? What is the soul of America truly like? Are we truly nothing more than a nation of LIARS and THIEVES. It would appear so. There was a world wide poll done recently that listed politicians as the least credible people on earth. Why is it no one believes you guys? My personal suggestion is to work on election/campaign reform. We need verifiable elections and we need to know our politicians are not being bribed (campaign contributions). If America is not a trustworthy nation it is because of direction from top down.