Day: January 29, 2006

Last Chance for Democrats — and Democracy

Trish

I’m going to say something that will have my ancestors whirling in their graves, something I never thought I would say, something that even to me seems incomprehensible.

I’m willing to abandon the Democrats. There it is.

I’m tired of wondering if George Bush will have to roast babies in the Rose Garden before anyone who represents me will stand up.

Understand, I come from a line of Democrats so long it has no known end. My peeps have forever been Dems, in registration if not always in action. My Uncle Bill, who like me was Democrat at birth, once told a former Republican friend who changed to our side, “It’s O.K. buddy. Before I was a Democrat I wasn’t nothing either.”

But times change. And I’m tired of our team losing, mostly at its own hands. I’m not for one minute suggesting that I would go over to the Dark Side. I’m saying I’m willing to entertain the idea of a third party if it will do what mine isn’t — saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done.

If Samuel Alito gets on the Supreme Court, it won’t be entirely the fault of the conservative whack jobs of which he is one. It will because good Democrats were too busy listening to themselves talk, since talk is all we can do. Others are trying so hard to please everyone that they end up pleasing no one, least of all “the base.”

The problem is that this matters so much. George Bush wants to stand democracy on its head, to abandon the constitution, to literally do what terrorists can’t — kill America and replace it with a fundamentalist totalitarian regime. All he needs is a compliant Supreme Court to go along with his compliant Congress.

I’m tired of being in the sheep party. I’m tired of hoping the next election will be the one that turns it all around. I’m tired of wondering if George Bush will have to roast babies in the Rose Garden before anyone who represents me will stand up.

I have emailed Sen. Bill Nelson, who has always done the right thing before, and asked him to vote no on Alito. Wherever you are, please let your own Democratic elected officials hear from you on this. They need to know we will back them up if they will just make this one brave move. They also need to know we aren’t kidding anymore. We are looking for a better party, either our own or a new one.

Bush Does Know Jack

Jon Ponder

Joe Conason:

It is obvious that Mr. Abramoff was no stranger to the Bush White House from the very beginning. Well before the President took office, Mr. Abramoff was named to the Bush transition team for the Department of the Interior. He may not have had any discernible qualifications to oversee that department’s appointments, but he had clients on tribal reservations and in the Marianas Islands whose businesses were regulated by Interior officials.

He has been a friend of Karl Rove, the deputy chief of staff and Presidential political advisor, for more than a quarter-century. His personal assistant soon showed up as the personal assistant to Mr. Rove. His associate David Safavian, since indicted, became the administration’s chief procurement officer. He told his friends and clients that he could get into the Bush White House — and get whatever he wanted there.

He proved that boast on May 9, 2001, only four months into the first Bush term, when the President met with two Native American tribal leaders represented by Mr. Abramoff. According to a report published in the Texas Observer last June, that meeting was arranged in cooperation with conservative strategist Grover Norquist, another longtime comrade of Mr. Rove. The Texas magazine uncovered documents showing that Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Norquist used their White House access to squeeze money from clients. There are probably photographs of that May 2001 event, and they must be among the photos that the White House is refusing to release.

Eight years ago, the Clinton White House released photos and videos of President Clinton’s coffee meetings with campaign donors and potential donors, following angry demands from politicians and the press. How fortunate for Mr. Bush that his scandals and prevarications provoke no such outrage.