Washblog

It begins at the top in the Republican party. We've seen what Cheney, Bush, Rove and their cronies have done. Incompetence rewarded with medals, those that didn't fall in line demonized, ousted or marginalize. A ruthless disregard for the Constitution. The rape and plunder of our national parks and wildernesses. The unconscionable running up of debit and deficits, and the devaluation of the dollar.

And the mother of all insane, and tragically deceitful decisions, the invasion of Iraq in search of mythical weapons of mass destruction, a holy grail quest of colossally repugnant proportions, coming at a cost of thousands of lives, with no realistically positive outcome in sight.

In the past five years we've seen things go from bad to worse, and they just keep getting worse, and I'm not talking about Bush's approval ratings. Our government has been hijacked by liars and thieves and we're at the mercy of other liars and thieves to do anything about it. Every day the onslaught on decency, against that which made this a great nation, continues unabated.

This Republican Congress, unaccountable to the laws we have to live by, puppets to the Bush Administration, rubber stamping tax breaks for Big Business, loop holes for Big Polluters, subsidies for Big Oil, and sweetheart deals for Big Pharmaceuticals, engages in a lovefest with lobbyists that would have made Caligula blush.

We read about how Republicans unable to agree with themselves on their own diversionary issue du jour, immigration, are concocting another typically pathetic scheme:

(Seattle Times) Some House Republicans feel the best political course may be to put off final action on immigration until after the 2006 election. Another strategy would be to craft a strict compromise that would cause the bill to lose Democratic support in the Senate. If it died, the thinking goes, Republicans could blame Democrats for blocking border protections.

We read how many believe that this nation is in such a mess that holding a majority might not be such a good strategy for Republicans, and some Democrats agree. Unless Democrats gain a sizable majority, you can bet your bippy that Republican lawmakers (irony that term holds aside) would succeed in what they do best: destructionist politics. Their goal would be to make Democrats look as bad a they can so as to improve the party's chances at winning the 2008 elections, and retaining the Presidency.

What the upper brass says goes with this lot, and yes-men and yes-women like freshmen representatives, Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris, are mere rubberstamps. There isn't a bill of importance that they won't bend over backwards to support. Reichert and McMorris have got to be sick of smelling their own rear end from doing that (or perhaps not). These representatives are beholden to a corrupt and shameless GOP leadership and serve only to ensure that the Republican majority gets its way.

Yet, what have they achieved with majorities in both the House and Senate and a President who has never vetoed a bill? Other than leaders, such as Tom DeLay having to step down for criminal conspiracy, they've done nothing but drive this country into a hole and tear us apart as a nation.

They've squabbled about immigration, a divisive and diversionary issue, that will hopefully come back to haunt them at the polls.

They've failed to enact a real energy policy that measures up to the severity and size of the issue, and instead catered to Big Oil and bribe-like initiatives to pay off business and citizenry alike, to appease the former and to make the latter shut up.

They've failed to maintain or improve protections for the environment, looking to every opportunity to roll them back or eliminate them instead, and scoffed at global warming.

They placed a huge tax burden on the working class and middle class, while expanding tax cuts for the very wealthy.

They've ignored the 37 million who live under the poverty level as if they don't even count - and to the GOP they never have.

They've enacted education programs that have been utter disasters, bankrupting schools, placing huge financial burdens on local governments and doing nothing to stem the growing gap in our global competitiveness.

We've seen the lines that separate Church and State blurred to dangerous levels by a Commander in Chief who places his religious belief above all else, and all others.

We've become a nation that denigrates science, belittles independent thought, rewards cronyism, turns a blind eye to social injustice and ignores political and fiscal corruption. We've become a nation that will spy on its citizenry, lie about justifications for wars, accept incompetent leadership that begets more incompetent leadership, and will criminally offload all its problems on future generations.

These are people, Reichert, Bush, Cheney, DeLay, that are going to go out with a bang. Will a war with Iran be their equivalent to a suicide bomber blowing himself up while taking out the enemy? We live in fear, as they would want us to, that it might happen. We cannot afford to elect more of the same in candidates such as Mike "Drill in ANWR" McGavick.

There is only one way that this madness can begin to reverse itself, and that's if there is sweeping change around the nation this election year. In plain terms we have to vote the bums out!

The damage that has been done is so bad it will take decades to recover from it, and every year it continues will add many more years to that healing period. This is a struggle for a compassionate America that leads the world by example, not by force demonstrated by carpet bombs, or illegal seizures of persons and property. This is a struggle for a compassionate America that cares for those that cannot care for themselves, that helps those that need a helping hand, that recognizes we are merely stewards of the land we live on so that our children can enjoy the bounty and beauty we have experienced. Candidates are lining up offering their services as agents of change. We need to support them so that they can represent the vision of America we cherish, so that we can wrest back control of Congress, and start to level the playing field, and lay the foundation for new Presidential and Congressional leadership in 2008 and years to follow.

This is our time, and we cannot afford to blow it!

[Cross-posted at On The Road To 2008]