Thursday, January 04, 2007

Against unity

As the Democratic party retakes Congress, we learn of laudable plans to increase the minimum wage and to finance stem cell research. All well and good, but Robert Parry argues that nice laws means little if the rule of law itself remains in doubt. Parry:
As the Washington Post noted, “Nowhere in the Democrats’ consensus-driven agenda is legislation revisiting last year’s establishment of military tribunals and suspending legal rights for suspected terrorists. Nor is there a revision of the civil liberties provisions of the USA Patriot Act, a measure curbing warrantless wiretapping by the National Security Agency or an aggressive confrontation of the President on his Iraq War policies.”
Parry reminds us that in 1992, Clinton skimmed over the crimes of Poppy Bush in the name of national unity. As history tells us, Clinton's enemies didn't get that "unity" memo.

One of the great scandals of the GHWB era was Iraq-gate and the clandestine re-arming of Saddam Hussein. Had the Clinton administration uncovered the true Reagan/Bush record on Iraq, America would not now face its second lost war.

Now is not the time for unity. Now is the time for war on those who created war.

Cato would end his speeches with the phrase "Carthago delenda est!" -- "Carthage must be destroyed!" Let us follow his example.

Neoconservatism must be destroyed. The theocrats must be destroyed. The war-mongers must be destroyed. The profiteers must be destroyed. The Republican party must be destroyed.

Update: At least twenty-five years separates this day from my last class in Roman history. That time span explains (without excusing) the fact that my first draft attributed Cato's words to Cicero. A little net-searching indicates that others have made the same error. So I don't feel quite so foolish.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, true enough Joe, but the mass of democratic politicians simply don't share that passion.

Chuck, Hillary, and Rahm would barely register as centrists, in any other industrial democracy.

There just aren't enough voices to fight for small matters like the Constitution and personal freedoms, when nothing is more important to these guys than reelection.

Taking on the preposterous and horrifying claims of legal authority claimed by this president isn't a good campaign issues in most districts.... Particularly when people like us have no choice but to pull the lever for them anyway, because no matter how craven and corporate-corrupted they are, we're still far better off than with Republican control (at least we've learned that lesson).

Anonymous said...

sofla said...

It was CarTago, not CarTHago, btw.

On this rule of law thing, sure, the Congress could and should repeal their post hoc enabling legislation. However, that is less than half the job.

For the reason they passed those enabling acts was to officially endorse what the president was already doing in contravention of law, to give his actions the color of legality.

Repealing these laws will not yet stop the executive's power grab. Only impeachment would do that.

Perhaps the Democrats figure they better have some accomplishments in the bag for credibility with the people before they proceed down the path that inevitably leads to considering impeachment?

Anonymous said...

Joe, The World Can't Wait. Drive Out
the Bush Regime! Thank you.