My letter to William Pitt.

[Guaranteed]

We gotta talk about the damned impeachment issue, still. I'm sticking myself in front of a bona fide avalanche, here, but it is my duty to do it nonetheless. I'll make my best attempt to stop it- all that I can do, ever.

I read your last article. I was actually extremely impressed, but quite suddenly I encountered this: "History, it has often been said, is written by the victors, but who really wins anything after all this? If the most delectable left-wing fantasies come true - the Democrats take Congress in November, Bush and his cronies are impeached by a fire-breathing Conyers Judiciary Committee - little will be left to win."

Is that all to be done?

I found myself holding my head in my hands again. If you know me, and you do, it's not the first time.

Mr. Pitt. William. I hate even saying that because it's as if everyone says that to try to get your attention. But, SIR, there is, certainly, so much more to be done- to *save our country*- than just removing Bush, or the neocons, or the Republicans from office.

William- the problem is not in the Chimp. It is in the system. You KNOW this. You must have even SAID it, thousands of times. Our society has allowed ChimpCo to come to the unbelievably influential position that it has, but it is not *that* it has done so that is the problem. The issue is *why*. WHY has it been so easy for such a, frankly, obvious CLOWN to take over our country, along with his buddies? What has our country done wrong to allow it to be even conceivable, not just reality, that such an idiot and his ideas take over? How have our country's values changed so that this kind of garbage can come about?

I think that that is the first thing we need to understand- that, over a number of years, due to the lack of leadership in our party, the societal fabric of our country changed.

"History is written by the winners. Be it resolved, then, that winning means trying to fix everything that is broken, that it means holding the proper people accountable for their actions. Be it likewise resolved that winning means not forgetting, that it means something good absolutely must come from these wretched years. If that good boils down to two words - 'Never Again' - then that is victory enough."

To resolve the past, we have no choice but to hold the actors accountable.

But, my friend, you must resolve within yourself, just as those Republicans did for themselves in Crawford: Is it your country that is important to you, or- your "President?" We are on the upswing. Is now the time to pull the trigger on the actors? "Never again" means actually solving our problems. How is that done?

1) Put out the actual fire.
2) Build fire-resistant homes.
3) Find and jail the arsonists.

Note the order. Oddly, justice, in the classic sense, tends to come last. That is alright, ultimately, as long as we don't forget it. It's just that our country is what is most important. We can't allow it to fall apart in the name of "justice." I think your man Adams- and Washington, and Jefferson, and Lincoln- would have all agreed with this. I think they did, in fact- except maybe Lincoln.

But it could be that we're not so much in Lincoln's position as we're in that of Adams, Washington, Jefferson.....



Anyway. I'm not entirely sure why I wrote this to you. You asked: "Is George W. Bush the cause of all this, or merely a symptom?" I'll tell you straight up that he's a *symptom.* There is no question.

But, I frankly can not believe the *duality* of the position I feel I have to take in this by two of your last sentences:

"Be it resolved, then, that winning means trying to fix everything that is broken, that it means holding the proper people accountable for their actions. Be it likewise resolved that winning means not forgetting, that it means something good absolutely must come from these wretched years."

Accountability-yes. GOOD!!- please, absolutely yes. BUT!!! Let us learn. Let us actually move forward!!!!!

Forgetting- no. We will never forget. But we must still *fix* what has been broken...

We must *find* what has been broken, what has changed in us...

Very moving, the whole article. We can't straddle both the anger and the fixing our country, though- we have to prioritize, as always.

My Best,

...
BGL

[Hekate]

1. KnR for a really heartfelt essay, BGL

We have so much rebuilding to do in this nation that the devastation of the Drowning of New Orleans is an apt illustration for our entire system of government.

I just hope to the gods that we are up to it.

And :hi: to Will, as well. With the likes of the two of you pitching in, we just might be able to pull it off in a generation.

Hekate

[Guaranteed]

4. Thank you.

Sincerely.

This means a lot to me. I'm not sure I even put myself across accurately or correctly above, but I've been trying to say something like this for a number of months, now.

I am quite angry. The anger is a good thing, not a bad thing. It's a good thing to let it drive you- to a certain extent. But I feel like you always have to have in mind that end goal that you're working toward, and if that goal isn't there, where certain means are available for the future (possibly, or otherwise)...


There is so much anti-Bush hatred on this board. It is most definitely NOT underserved. But, we all have to recognize- and most of us do- that Bush is not ultimately the problem, here. And we have to deal with what *is* the problem directly.

[donheld]

2. BullGooseLoony, Will Pitt is very much aware of that.

I've been reading him for about 6 years and he's made it very clear he knows that.

[Guaranteed]

6. It seemed like he did from his piece. It seemed like he had it in mind.

But there was fluxuation. I wasn't saying that, hey, Will, you should have thought of this! I know he did- he was thinking about what is going on....

I'm certainly not trying to lecture him, at all...that piece was absolutely mind-bending, breaking, exploding, even, in some ways. It healed me to know that someone was actually comparing what was *best for our country* with the anger!!! (unbelievable in my mind- seriously!!!) I hadn't seen that before- at least not to the point where I could note it right now.

But it is so important. So I give Will, absolutely, a ton of credit for balancing the issue in the way he did. I can't presume that my side is the right one (although of course I do, like we all do).

Anyway....

:)

[donheld]

24. I'm sure you were just trying to keep Will on his toes

We all need that now and then.

[OneBlueSky]

3. what most has to change is corporate control of government . . .

until that issue is settled, not much else of consequence is going to happen . . . because the corporate/government alliance (which Eisenhower called the "military-industrial complex) won't let it . . .

[Guaranteed]

5. Absolutely.

That is a huge, huge problem, certainly *the* root of the problem if not one of several roots.

[chefgirl]

7. Excellent essay

I couldn't agree more with your premise. Bush IS merely a symptom of the disease that is American politics.

I fear, however, that the disease has spread into the Democratic party with as virulent a force as it has in the Republican party. It simply manifests itself differently from the liberal side of the aisle.

We Democrats have been so focused on ousting Bush and his cabal, that we seem to have forgotten how many times our Democratic Representatives and Senators have WILLINGLY cast their votes in favor of the Neoconservative agenda. Every time this happens there are a million 'valid' reasons suggested by DUers, and other rank and file Dems, but I think we must entertain the notion that the REAL agenda of all politicians is to retain their own personal power.

Accountability for the Bush administration is, IMO, the most pressing political matter in this country today, but the second most pressing is not to forget to hold Democrats every bit as accountable, if and when they regain power in Washington.

We must guard against complacency. We must force them to represent the true will of the people, or vote against them, in favor of those who will.

-chef-

[Toots]

8. Find what is broken and fix it.. Fairness Doctrine and Rush Limbaugh

When a country allows blatant propaganda (especially in our Armed Forces Radio) to go unchallenged year after year what do you expect? There is no excuse for our military being politicized by such propaganda. It should not be allowed. We are a free nation and can not stop such on the regular air waves but military air waves are a whole different thing. Why our Democratic leadership has allowed this is beyond me. It is vital that this is checked.

[conscious evolution]

10. Propaganda operators=war criminals

'It is vital that this is checked.'

a GOOD OLD FASHIONED WARCRIMES TRIBUNAL WOULD GO A LONG WAY TO FIXING THIS.

[Pharaoh]

9. K&R

Yes, deregulation led to corporate control of the government........

that is it in a nutshell.........Fascism.

[annabanana]

11. We have to teach the people

That they ARE the "government". The oligarchs and the repugs have worked VERY VERY hard to foster the disconnect. Right from St. Ronnie's "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help you" crack. The framework that we must strengthen is still there. Social Studies classes nationwide still teach about the "three branches of government" and the system of "check and balances" These classes are given short-shrift in most districts, something that they have to shove the kids through on the way to math and football.

We have to work with the education system to personalize the concept of "civic duty" (how quaint is that phrase?) Being an American is a job worth doing right...

[acmejack]

12. Bless you Miss Banana!

Truer words have never been spoken! What a disservice Saint Ronnie did to the American People with that "terrifying ten words" bull shit.

[PATRICK]

13. One point struck me

among many. The order of action you proposed using the analogy or arson might be looked at in regards to the Bush regime.

Start fires.
Pass laws, stock courts and agencies to protect arson.
Get total power to punish enemies.

Not that any of theses repeating activities are done always in that order but more like a series of cycles paving the way for more "arson". It may be repugnant to compare the actions of just men in a democratic majority with the acts of the arsonists but at least it puts the parallel in larger perspective. It is easier to destroy, quicker to motivate through hate and fear, more possible to pass an unjust law(and crooked appointees) than a careful, respectable just one. The power of the destroyer is sweeping by nature. It has only one focus and immediate physical results. Beating it down, restraining it and then building shows how reliance on the fragility of life itself can be taken for granted- and the root fantasy for the fantasy of the destroyers to follow up on and take advantage of.

We have to build democracy and civil government as it has never existed before, a challenge bigger than FDR's with a yet too somnolent and fantasied public brainwashed against Democrats by hate radio as well as by their own shortcomings. We have to "save the world" from ourselves in the areas of economy, environment, human rights, war, health and population strains, information flow- some of them thankless and unsatisfying jobs opposed by the comfortable, too slow for those mired in the actual crisis.

So in my order it would have to be something to speed up the fatal slowness, compromise and eventual failure of any normal process. South Africa had these choices made more stark by the certainty of civil war. It would seem to me that the release of Mandela only came about when the problem had been resolved to at least prevent chaos for everyone. Truth trials and reconciliation. That would mean not just the crimes of office but the propaganda conspiracies, the fixed elections, all the hidden motives and actors. This "get out of jail free" card isn't free. It is the death of all that would hamper normal process and guarantee a fascist resurgence more deadly than the last. It would build the positive world in which the Democratic pretense of return to normalcy could only partially achieve. Both the normal process and truth trials would be incomplete, the punishments insufficient, the underpinnings(SCOTUS, MSM, RW organizations) to some extent alive and untouched. Resignations would abound rather than rarer impeachments. Transformative MSM changes would happen faster and deeper than legislation could get to- as it itself became in fact the both the spotlight and the spotlighted. Bush's self protection with repressive laws would be matched, checked and trumped by the counter of reconciliation. Ironically it would likely mean that the ones most likely to evade punishment and accountability(the planners, the top beneficiaries) under our current system of scaling the pyramid would likely be held the most accountable and the most prosecutable- because they can't participate in the process that would reveal more than specific courtroom briefs against underlings on specific charges.

I think the fact that you and Will reflect the dilemma of the usual approaches show how the trouble will increase in disunity or insufficiency amid possible crises beyond the political mess. Because America is not obviously aware of disaster such as threatened South Africa with certainty, it is that much likely the new majorities would not go beyond the traditional viewpoints of slow justice and compromises. Not even consider them, in fact, anymore than they want to do impeachment. But I think the roots of undoing all the hatreds and misinformation and schemes of the destroyers is to get ALL the truth out with the participation of the perps themselves. That more than anything will clear the air for- the beginning of America.

I said this years ago in anticipation of the mounting mess the Dems would be faced with. It becomes more true everyday with whoppers like the Military Commissions Act sitting innocently among the ignorant citizen population, world war and environmental crisis mounting each day- AND the anti-Dem propaganda still firmly entrenched even among those who might vote for us this fall.

[warrior1]

14. What William Pitt said and I agree...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5688611

What two things would you do to change the country?

I was sitting at the bar the other night and got into a political conversation with a group of fellow revelers. Shocking, I know. At one point, one fellow asked me, "What two things would you do to change the country?"

"Overthrow two Supreme Court cases," I replied.

Got a furrowed brow in response. "What two cases?"

"Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad from 1886, and Buckley v. Valeo from 1976."


snip

Oh and I would completed impeach the entire bush adminstration and undue every law they heaped onto the American public...make them accountable.

[mmonk]

15. How does one get to 3 without impeachment hearings?

[BeFree]

16. What broke?

You write:"We must *find* what has been broken, what has changed in us...

First ask yourself: In what way is the government held accountable? The answer is through the ballot box. Its been broken into. The HAVA legislation was the pick used to get inside the box and steal the votes.

I continue to see folks overlooking that most basic of actions. Its almost as if its too terrible a truth to be confronted.

But ask yourself how they gained power. Did a majority of the American people decide to go down this path bushco has led? If you think the majority has made such a decision then you'd better just buckle up for the ride. But if you think the decision was one that was made illegaly, then it is time to unbuckle and stand up for the return of proper voting systems.

[xchrom]

17. liberals and progressives need to look very closely at

the questions you ask.

it's taken the republick party and social conservatives since the 70's to do what they've done.

they've built carefully -- but with both confidence and aggression.

they had two periods of explosive growth on the political side -- first with that nut case ronald reagan and second in the 90's with that even bigger nut gingrich.

the social/religious conservatives represent another side of what you are taking about.

and they are not going away any time soon -- UNLESS liberals and progressives stop apologizing for making sense.

stop apologizing for being what they are -- i.e. liberal and progressive.

these folk represent a huge -- but often overlooked threat to our society.

they represent the masses who would willingly vote in authoritarianism.

[CanSocDem]

18. Well said....

...though, as a foreigner, it is hardly my place to judge. Notwithstanding the threat, your "fire" poses my own community.


1) Put out the actual fire.
2) Build fire-resistant homes.
3) Find and jail the arsonists.

With these guidelines, I have confidence we will all be protected.

I can only hope that there are the resources and people, to do the job. 'Putting out the fire' is a job for fire-fighters who understand the difference (and relationship) between 'sparks', smoke, and the devastating power of a full blown raging blaze. DU and the articulate 'veterans' like yourself and Mr. Pitt, are important instructors in this regard.

'Building fire resistant homes' will require an emphasis on education and all the materials required for THAT to be successful. Curriculum, pedagogy and an engaged classroom, not to mention the incentive to learn, may be the most difficult to achieve but certainly not impossible. Hopefully, this can be done without the radical, 'get your attention' style teaching experiences that are sporadically employed in regular classroom environments.

I especially like the order of priorities. With an 'engaged' classroom and a clear objective, removing the "arsonists"(bad teachers), will be much easier, less time consuming and more desirable.

Of course, to carry this metaphor a little further, most of these bad teachers are tenured.

[smirkymonkey]

19. K&R

:kick:

[KoKo]

20. It's long past time for "Accountability." From Nixon down...we've allowed

corruption to go unpunished or punished with a "slap of the hand," because it was felt the "country" would be hurt by accountability.

All that's happened is the "line of what counts as criminality and corruption" has been pushed further back ...so that our tolerance is greater as the corruption and criminality expands beyond what so many of us would find shocking. But, that's us "oldies" who still have standards from another time. Whole new generations will see what's going on today as "minor," having become so tolerant because they have no experience of when standards were different.

[mike_c]

21. K&R-- an excellent essay my friend....

One thing that terrifies me is that even IF the best possible outcome occurs during the next couple of elections and the foxes are thoroughly swept from the henhouse, they'll simply learn from the experience and lay the ground work for a comeback that will be far worse. Maybe it will be economic totalitarianism, maybe just old fashioned jackbooted thuggery, but they WILL be back unless Americans root out the cancer at the heart of our politics and ultimately, our society.

[omega minimo]

22. Agreed. However, the problem is not "lack of leadership in our party"

"We must *find* what has been broken, what has changed in us..."

*Agreed.

"Our society has allowed ChimpCo to come to the unbelievably influential position that it has, but it is not *that* it has done so that is the problem. The issue is *why*. .......I think that that is the first thing we need to understand- that, over a number of years, due to the lack of leadership in our party, the societal fabric of our country changed."

*However, the problem is not "lack of leadership in our party." The problem is a lack of response from the American people as our nation was being disassembled.


Posted by annabanana
11. We have to teach the people that they ARE the "government". The oligarchs and the repugs have worked VERY VERY hard to foster the disconnect. Right from St. Ronnie's "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help you" crack....We have to work with the education system to personalize the concept of "civic duty" (how quaint is that phrase?)


Posted by KoKo01
20. It's long past time for "Accountability." From Nixon down...we've allowed corruption to go unpunished or punished with a "slap of the hand," because it was felt the "country" would be hurt by accountability. All that's happened is the "line of what counts as criminality and corruption" has been pushed further back ...so that our tolerance is greater as the corruption and criminality expands beyond what so many of us would find shocking. But, that's us "oldies" who still have standards from another time. Whole new generations will see what's going on today as "minor," having become so tolerant because they have no experience of when standards were different.


*The whole story is right there in those two posts: the history, the lulling effect, the loss of civic awareness, "the "line of what counts as criminality and corruption" has been pushed further back............."

And here we are. Maybe you already know the answer. THAT is what has to be repaired. Not pointing the finger at leaders but looking in the mirror at ourselves. And teaching new generations not to be hypocrites thinking someone else will always guard our freedoms for us.

KoKo01 says:

"us "oldies" who still have standards from another time. Whole new generations will see what's going on today as "minor," having become so tolerant because they have no experience of when standards were different."

I read a recent Mr. Pitt piece, not sure if it's the one you're referencing. Within the first paragraphs, impeachment seemed treated so flippantly-- as if impeachment were an indulgence, a frolic, a frippery-- that it seemed that generational disconnect was at play. Maybe he is too young to remember Watergate, the summer of wall-to-wall hearings on black and white TVs, the somber faces of the Watergate panel as the whole nation witnessed (if only as background noise) our system of checks and balances at work.

Anabanana mentions teaching "checks and balances" in her excellent post. When it becomes part of American daily life as it did in the 70's, it is harder for the general public to overlook it's importance.

[adamuu]

23. In this case we might want to arrest the arsonists first

Even while the building is still burning
Since they are running around starting new fires in other buildings all over the city.

[omega minimo]

25. or at least quit giving them matches