Monday, January 22, 2007

You say you want a resolution....

...Well you know,
We all want to change the world

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan

Don't get me wrong. I know there's many reasons to be cheered by John Warner introducing his own resolution opposing the escalation, but for the love of Pete, what the hell good does it do in the end? The Senate is beginning to feel like Walmart on Black Friday with everyone rushing the door to be the first in to get the good deal on electronics. There's so many resolutions floating around right now you need a scorecard. And the hell of it is, they're all non-binding.

It's all political theater. While everybody is busy weighing the potential impact on public perception all the competing resolutions might have, the Great Decider is stomping around 1600 Penn Ave issuing orders to deploy the troops and God knows what else. The escalation pales in importance compared to the damage Bush will cause if he attacks Iran. Making him look like an intractable idiot is dangerous. It's only makes it more likely he'll do something really crazy out of stubborn pride -- to prove he's in charge.

The only person I've seen today who seems to be keeping his focus on the greater issues here, Glenn Greenwald, notes that a simple google search will bring up scads of Orwellian rhetoric in support of the war in 03 from the same players, including Sen. Warner, that are now battling to be the first in line to condemn the escalation. Why are we pinning our hopes on these same people just because they switched their political posturing to reflect the current mood of the public? The whole point is that neither the public, nor the Congressional branch, nor the Judiciary, nor even the military are the ones who can pull the trigger. We've got to disarm the guy who's got the gun in his hand, not just piss him off.

I'm going to keep saying this until somebody listens. The Senate needs to revoke the resolution they passed to allow Bush to use force. He's obviously incapable of using it wisely. And while they're at it, they should rescind the Patriot Act which continues to undermine the rule of law and our system of checks and balances as its little noticed provisions continue to crop up to this day, enabling Bush to circumvent the customary checks on the executive branch.

It's a simple solution that granted would be difficult to pass but it's the only pratical avenue I see to effectively put the brakes on a President who is careening out of control and is about to take us all over the cliff with him.
Bookmark and Share

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

it seems to be accepted wisdom that iran is the locus of terrorism in the world, but I've yet to see the proof.

it seems like we are targerting a non-client state for the crimes our our client states. namely saudi arabia and pakistan.

4:57:00 PM  
Blogger Libby Spencer said...

You got that right Lester. I certainly don't accept the conventional "wisdom. "

7:18:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home