[Rhodes22-list] Politics: How's It Going? Badly!

[Robert Skinner]

brad haslett wrote:
> Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime
> that damage morale and undermine the military are
> saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.
> ~ Abraham Lincoln
> Goodnight Bill.  We'll have this discussion another
> day.
> Brad

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Brad, let me begin by complimenting you on taking a hand 
in getting the nation's southern coast back into shape.
It is a noble effort, and you deserve to be well 
compensated for undertaking it.  You have my admiration,
and that of many on this list, whatever their political 
leaning, for your work.

And much as I admire Abraham Lincoln, I must say that it's 
not wartime any longer. 
 
Bush announced some time ago "Mission accomplished."
This is what used to be called a "police action."

If you are referring to the "war on terror," I submit
that it is neither a war, nor directed at terror;
rather, it looks more like a convenient excuse to 
increase the power of the executive branch and enrich 
the supporters of the Republican regime, as Eisenhauer
warned us would be the case when military action
became profitable.

This is not a war in any form we have executed in 
the past, and many of the pronouncements and best
advice from our past have a tenuous application to
the current situation.  It more closely resembles
the modus operandi outlined in "1984".

The most applicable comment I have encountered was
previously cited by Dave Woten: 'As I recall Mr. 
Twain also said: “the country is never at greater 
risk than when Congress is in  session”.'  This
is particularly applicable when our elected 
representatives sit on their hands while Bush 
issues 700 signing statements stating that he (and 
his entire administrative apparatus) is above (or, 
if you wish, outside) the rule of law.

What the Hell do we have laws for if not to define 
how this country is to be run?  It's time we dealt
with the real risks to our country -- apathy,
abuse of power, fraud at the highest levels of
government, and Bush's arrogance ("I am the decider") 
both at home and abroad.  

America's greatness among nations in the long run 
will not be judged by how powerful we were (yes, I 
said "were", as we are selling off our ability to
innovate and manufacture miracles), but how we used 
(and abused) that power.

We do not own and run the world.  Other nations have
a say in how things work.  Ultimately, bullies get
shot in the back.  We have a lot of back showing.

Friends, let's figure out how to get our nation
back into a leadership position, not the current
world perception of us as arrogant, bullying, 
wastrels.

/Robert Skinner