Goodbye and Good Riddance

[Generic Other]

Paul Waldman, The American Prospect

<snip>Goodbye, we can say at last, to the most powerful man in the world being such a ridiculous buffoon, incapable of stringing together two coherent sentences. Goodbye to cringing with dread every time our president steps onto the world stage, sure he'll say or do something to embarrass us all. Goodbye to being represented by a man who embodies everything our enemies want the people of the world to believe about America -- that we are ignorant, cruel, and only care about foreign countries when we decide to stomp on them. Goodbye to his giggle, and his shoulder shake, and his nicknames. Goodbye to a president who talks to us like we're a nation of fourth-graders.

And goodbye, of course, to Dick Cheney. Goodbye to the man whose naked contempt for democracy contorted his face to a permanent sneer, who spent his days in his undisclosed location with his man-sized safe. And while we're at it, goodbye to Cheney's consigliore David Addington, as malevolent a force as has ever left his trail of slime across our federal institutions.

Goodbye, indeed, to the entire band of liars and crooks and thieves who have so sullied the federal government that belongs to us all. We can even say goodbye to those who have already gone, to Rummy and Scooter, to Fredo and Rove, tornados of misery left in their wake.

Goodbye to the rotating cast of butchers manning the White House's legal abattoir, where the Constitution has been sliced and bled and gutted since September 11. Goodbye to the "unitary executive" theory and its claims that the president can do whatever he wants -- even snatch an American citizen off the street and lock him up for life without charge, without legal representation, and without trial. Goodbye to the promiscuous use of "signing statements" (1,100 at last count) to declare that the law is whatever the president says it is, and that he'll enforce only those laws he likes. Goodbye to an executive branch that treats lawfully issued subpoenas like suggestions that can be ignored. Goodbye to thinking of John Ashcroft as the liberal attorney general. Goodbye to the culture of incompetence, where rebuilding a country we destroyed could be turned over to a bunch of clueless 20-somethings with no qualifications save an internship at the Heritage Foundation and an opposition to abortion. Goodbye to the "Brownie, you're doin' a heckuva job" philosophy, where vital agencies are turned over to incompetent boobs to rot and decay. Goodbye to handing out the Medal of Freedom as an award for engineering one of the greatest screw-ups of our time. Goodbye to an administration that welcomed gluttonous war profiteering, that was only too happy to outsource every government function it could to well-connected contractors who would do a worse job for more money.

Goodbye to the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war. Goodbye to the lust for sending off other people's sons and daughters to fight and kill and die just to show your daddy you're a real man. Goodbye to playing dress-up in flight suits, goodbye to strutting and posing and desperate sexual insecurity as a driver of American foreign policy. Goodbye to the neocons, so sinister and deluded they beg us all to become fevered conspiracy theorists. Goodbye to Guantanamo and its kangaroo courts. Goodbye to the use of torture as official U.S. government policy, and goodbye to the immoral ghouls who think you can rename it "enhanced interrogation techniques" and render it any less monstrous.<snip>

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=goodbye_and_good_riddance

[lonestarnot]

1. Good fucking bye!

K & R

[madokie]

3. I want to continue to read about these assholes

as they make their way through The Hague. :fistbump:

[Subdivisions]

6. Can you get an "Amen"? ...

AMEN!

[Generic Other]

8. Maybe Gitmo will be available for them?

Orange jumpsuits, hoods and manacles.

[PassingFair]

2. "Print this article"

Thank you.

This made me feel better!

[Puglover]

4. WHAT. A. READ.

I agree, print this and give it to all your friends.

[KharmaTrain]

5. I Wish It Were...The "Legacy" Will Live On

As long as there are American troops occupying Iraq, this regime still lives on. As long as there are returning vets who have one less leg or can't get a solid night's sleep, this regime lives on. For the millions who have seen their jobs, savings and security go to hell, this regime lives on.

If anything, we won't really start to "learn" about this regime until after its gone...many of the skeletons we've seen so far have been due to their arrogance and slopiness, I suspect there'll be a ton of hidden messes and landmines that will be a major drag on an Obama administration as it attempts to fix almost everything.

Most important, there are still millions who haven't learned the lessons of this regime....how repugnicans who claim to be for less government can't govern...or that adventurism and American "superiority" were both a major mistake and crime. It won't happen until we get a full accountability of the crimes of this regime and prosecute those who tried to destroy this nation. Only then will we start to close the books on this slimy criminal enterprise.

[Generic Other]

7. True True

Still, it feels good to say good riddance. Imagine not seeing that ugly smirk for weeks at a time!

[orleans]

9. this was fantastic. n/t k&r

[CrispyQ]

10. A great summary of the destruction these monsters have wrought. --nt

[Dukkha]

11. in a way he was a uniter in the end

What will we do now we're not going to have someone the whole world can get together to despise. No one could ever rise to his level of incompetence and utter stupidity.

[pat_k]

12. "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" -- The pretense that ithe nightmare is "behind us" . . .

. . .is just a way to escape the duty to impeach for ongoing torture.

And if Congress resists doing their duty to the bitter end, one of the most shameful moments in our history will be the moment we say "goodbye" as we watch Bush and Cheney walk off, "honor" intact.

Until that moment, our nation is a victim of the war criminals who occupy the White House. After that moment, we become a war criminal nation.

If Bush and CHeney exit unimpeached, it will not be a time for celebration. It will be a time to mourn our lost nation.

If we won't enforce our law when crimes against humanity are being perpetrated in front of our eyes -- violations so grave that violator are subject to the penalty of death under U.S. Code-- our word and our law is meaningless. If we fail to make impeachment a reality, no People's; not our fellow Americans; not those of other nations, can trust us to enforce any law or treaty.

[Generic Other]

13. They won't bother...isn't it obvious?

Seems like they just want to sweep it under the rug...pretend it didn't happen. In a few, no one will even remember it did.

[pat_k]

15. They have certainly proven their determination to. . .

Reality can be denied, but never escaped. As Robert Parry warned in 2007, http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/051006.html">Truth Matters.

The nation is paying a terrible price for the failure of the 100th/101th Democratic Congress to impeach Bush and Cheney 20 years ago. If Congress holds to their 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" stance, one thing is certain: Even if we fall victim to some sort of national amnesia, we will pay a price. And that price could be beyond anything we can possibly imagine.

Things look grim, but if we give in to despair, we seal our fate. Certainly, given the irrational resistance we have seen to date, the likihoold that the Congressional leadership will seize this last chance for redemption may be low, but it is NOT impossible.(Note 1)

I do not mean to single you out, but the belief that impeachment is impossible is a false, insidious, and destructive belief that must be challenged, particularly now. As time grows it is easy to fall into the 'futility' trap.

The truth is that that we can never know how events will unfold until they are behind us. Even the most unpromising among us -- whether it be an addict, a miserly 'Scrooge,' or a deluded and unprincipled politician -- can wake up to reality and transform themselves. Personal and political transformations aren't linear, predictable things. Pressures build. Some 'last straw' can change everything in a moment.

The truth is that, when principle demands action, we must act. We are most effective when we are able to tap the energy and fortitude that comes from hope, but our beliefs about our chances of success are actually irrelevant. Just as each Member of Congress has a personal, moral duty to fight for the sanctity of our Constitution, we have a personal responsibility as citizens to call on them to defend our sovereign authority and keep their oath to 'support and defend." It is our self-esteem as Americans, not our chances of success, that demands it.

The Truth is that Hope and Faith are grounded in reality and reason. We hope for success because we KNOW success is possible. We have faith that our actions today can change the course of events because our past actions HAVE changed the course of events. (Note 2)

In contrast, despair is grounded in presumption -- the presumption that we can KNOW the future (and know it will be bad).

The truth is that when we go for the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hairy_Audacious_Goal">BHAGs -- the Big Hairy Audacious Goals -- there are always benefits and 'wins' along the way, whether or not the final goal is achieved. People have a basic need to be effective. When we take the time to acknowledge our achievements, we satisfy that need. Limiting ourselves to the uninspiring half-measures we believe we can 'win,' instead of going for the BHAGs that tap our passions, is the seal of doom. We will never achieve the big stuff if we won't try, and when we go for some half-measure, we usually end up with even less that that because nobody is excited enough to really fight.

The truth is that our motives are rarely 'pure.' When we "fight the good fights' we do so out of a sense of duty, but we do it for selfish reasons too. We derive personal benefits. We connect with others. We satisfy our need to be effective. We enhance our own sense of self-esteem. When people start turning complaint into action, they are more likely to keep doing it because it feels good. When hope and action is on the rise, the numbers tend to go one way: Up.

But the contrary is also true. When immobilization, hopelessness, and apathy are on the rise, it tends to spread.

If we want to get back on the path to 'a more perfect union' we need to challenge the memes that feed the cycle of hopelessness --> apathy and promote the cycle of hope --> action.

When cynicism disguised as 'realism' is so prevalent in our ranks, hope can be elusive, but as long as we stay connected to the truth, and look to each other to help us do it, it is not actually all that difficult to keep hope alive.

And it all starts with our belief in possibility.

When we encounter or adopt the belief that 'it will never happen' we need to stop and ask a few questions:

"Can we really presume to know the future?

"How can we know what we can achieve if we don't go for what we really want?"

"Is the assertion of futility based in reality, or it is an expression of our feelings of despair?"

"If we allow fear of failure to stop us when duty calls, aren't we being derelict cowards?"

"What is more likely to enhance our own sence of self-esteem: Feeding a vicious cycle of hopelessness -> inaction -> failure --> hopelessness, or feeding a virtuous cycle of hope --> action --> success --> hope."

________________________________

Note 1: Keeping up the pretense that bush and cheney have done nothing that necessitates banishment from public service takes effort. Democrats who have any sense of morality left will pay a high personal price when/if their irrational rationalizations finally crumble. And pretending that everything is hunky-dory has a more immediate price. If it's to be 'business as usual" they must pay tribute to bush and cheney; to honor their service.

As the final exit approaches, some might find the prospect of seeing them off with full honors so repugnant that impeachment starts looking pretty attractive.

Note 2: Like the successful effort to get Articles of Impeachment against Bush and Cheney introduced.

Like 'non-impeachment' hearing that enabled truth-tellers who created a Congressional record of the indefensible crimes.

Like the weeks leading up to Janaury 6th, 2006, when everybody "knew" we would never "get a Senator" to sign on and force a vote on the illegitimate Ohio electors. Even staffers in Conyers' office who were working to "get a Senator" echoed the belief it would never happen. Outraged Americans refused to give up, and they did the 'impossible' -- they "got" Senator Barbara Boxer to stand with the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6741375">

"an incalculable loss"
—Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/20/politics/main4366360.shtml">link

[Shardik]

14. Kicked! & Recd!

Great rant!

[Mike 03]

16. Masterful. You have to read this! NT

[codjh9]

17. Amen to every bit of that, plus trying to reverse every significant piece of environmental

legislation of the past 40 years! Goodbye and GOOD RIDDANCE!