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Nothing to Lose

by Open-Publishing - Sunday 13 November 2005
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Edito Governments USA Daniel Patrick Welch

Not that the world beyond America’s shores could give two hoots about the U.S.’ internal squabbles anymore: after years of hoping for some inkling of resistance from the home front, the global community has likely had quite enough. But is there a stirring in the Belly of the Beast? Writer Daniel Patrick Welch, while skeptical, takes pleasure in the growing travails of the Bush cabal and hints that the heretofore neutered opposition may have grown some new appendages.

By Daniel Patrick Welch

Senator Harry Reid, the minority leader of the upper chamber of the U.S. Government, infuriated the Bush administration and its Republican cronies on Tuesday by forcing the body into closed session. The move is allowed under a little used rule that permits any member to demand that the session be closed, ostensibly to facilitate the discussion of secret or sensitive information.

Why now? Why this? Reid’s statement may be the strongest of any Democratic Party leader to date: after years of stumbling into oblivion-by supporting the war and offering little but tepid opposition to the Bush cabal’s most offensive policies—is it just possible that the Dems may finally have seen the light?

Don’t get your hopes up. But it is at least interesting to note the language used by the relatively conservative Democrat from Nevada: he points out that Scooter Libby is "the first sitting White House staffer to be indicted in 135 years." Far from being a political witch hunt, the Treasongate prosecution targeting Libby and Rove is the tip of the iceberg, and the Republicans (and, judging from polls, the American public as well) know it. This fact is not lost on Reid or his colleagues who may finally see the opening they have been waiting for. Reid pulled surprisingly few punches, referring openly to the pattern of vindictive attack by the Bush junta against those who dare oppose its policies. It is not just about Joe Wilson: the Senator names other high-profile victims, among them General Shinseki, Larry Lindsay, Hans Blix, and Mohammed el-Baridei.

The point to be made, and made in as public a fashion as loud as possible, is that the Libby indictment is not about perjury, or Scooter Libby, or even about Valerie Wilson. It is merely a window into a vicious and immoral government that feels itself to be above the law—a long pattern of illegal and repugnant abuse of power to punish perceived enemies and squelch dissent. The ultimate goal, is
of course, the worst: to be left unfettered in its prosecution of an illegal and unnecessary war.

Whence cometh such newfound cojones? Could it merely be frustration at the powerlessness of the minority party in a non-parliamentary system? Of course. In any parliamentary government, Bush’s soaring unpopularity and the scandals and war crimes buffeting his ship of state would undoubtedly have led to new elections by now. But by the wisdom of our own slave-holding founding fathers, the duly ’elected’ Bush administration is free (and quite willing, it seems) to continue to wreak havoc on the country and the world for another three years no matter what the consequences. The fear of jail is apparently insufficient; it is likely that every last one of them will have to be actually in jail for the crimes to stop. Staring in the face of such awesome power may have swayed Reid to lash out against the administration’s most criminal enablers: his willing storm troopers in the Republican senate. Hence Reid’s attack on the "Republican-controlled congress for its unwillingness to hold this Republican administration accountable for its misdeeds...." And not only on Iraq, but also "...with respect to the cronyism and corruption that
permeates this Administration."

Them’s fightin’ words, one might be tempted to conclude—and from a notoriously spineless and complicit opposition, no less. What’s more, other Democrats promised to use the rule to shut down the Senate every day until the Republicans agree to a real, honest-to-goodness investigation into the bogus intelligence that led to the Iraq war. So who cares? Why would this stunt prove any different, even if it works, than all the other useless, blue ribbon panels that conclude everyone deserves a medal and some poor schmuck who drew the short
straw gets a slap on the wrist?

Well, of course, history is not promising. Everyone is looking for this nightmare to end, and there is a tendency to see this or that event as The Sign, like some sort of Final Days cult looking for clues to the coming Rapture. And of course, there is no guarantee that the nightmare won’t just keep on chugging or degenerate into fascism. But there are some signs and new developments that are heartening, at least on the surface. Bush’s government is indeed up to its ass in alligators, as the saying goes, and all indications are that the people are onto their tricks.

The very recent phenomenon of the rise of "Left Talk" may undergo a
test in this climate. For twenty-five years, the right wing ranted on thousands of radio stations throughout the country, a non-stop vomitus of poisonous ideological drivel that paved the way for the conservative revolution. Still in its infancy, the "left" version has a long way to go: it is hardly as radical as its right wing counterpart, and, with barely a year under its belt, it reaches far fewer people. Slated for an early demise, though, so-called
progressive talk is instead expanding rapidly, even managing to take over turf from some righties like Rush Limbaugh in some markets.

Besides, the biggest impetus for the recent Democratic spine-finding may be simply that they have nothing to lose. And this is just the sort of what-the-hell strategy I think the left should embrace wholeheartedly. There is no harm in joining the pile-on. Of course, the antiwar movement should never trust the Democratic Party again, especially when it comes to issues of war and peace. But it might be fun to hold the Old Boys to their word, and watch the Bushistas squirm in the bargain. After all, the left is even worse off than the poor Democrats. If mainstream Dems have nothing to lose, than we have even less. And of course, to quote some special somebody back in the mists of history, we have a world to win.

© 2005 Daniel Patrick Welch. Reprint permission granted with credit and link to http://danielpwelch.com Writer, singer, linguist and activist Daniel Patrick Welch lives and writes in Salem, Massachusetts, with his wife, Julia Nambalirwa-Lugudde. Together they run The Greenhouse School ( http://www.greenhouseschool.org ). Recent columns include Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?http://danielpwelch.com/0509whsg.htm and Try and Catch the Wind http://danielpwelch.com/0510tctw.htm Translations of articles are available in up to 20 languages. Links to the website are appreciated at danielpwelch.com

Forum posts

  • While Reid was admirable in his fight to obtain information and truth about pre-war intel, the results were somewhat mundane. It was agreed that a ’bi partisan’ group be formed to investigate what has heretofore been left un-investigated.

    In laymans terms, a partisan group of politicians will come up with another whitewash. Just as was done with 911. Reid was right, but the machine he fights is much bigger than he’s capable of handling.

    • Reply from the author: Not only that, but he himself, like many of his party brethren, voted for the war. While we were marching by the millions down main streets of virtually every capital on earth, these guys were somehow duped by the liars and criminals of Bush’s inner circle. Either they were in on it, or they were never the smartest bunch to begin with. My money is on a mix of the two. But he does deserve credit for using one of the only tools left in the U.S. parliamentary rules for minority mischief-making. DPW

    • To me personally if someone can stand up and Honestly say "I was duped" and change direction and LEAD(Through action not just talk) I have no problem with that. While I think most of those in congress surely were smart enough before hand to understand the REAL reasons for war and even just who was really involved in 9-11 I do understand these folks feel they only have so much room to manuever. Though I find it hard to believe much of ANYTHING coming out of Conress nowdays isn’t nearly 100% controlled (by a very few players) like most Americans I’ll defer ACTION as proof. I’m from Missouri. SHOW ME!!!

      C’mon REid let’s see whatcha got!!!!

  • THERE’S A LOT MORE UP AHEAD – STAY TUNED!

    The current scandal(s) are linked to many others. They are all part of a huge Criminal Organization that involves:

    Three Main Criminal System areas:
     Very Large Wide Scale Political Corruption
     International Drug Distribution
     Very Large Scale Fraud.

    Who’s Involved:
     The Mob
     Corrupt Politicians (Top of Federal Area down to Independent Towns)
     Corrupt Military/Pentagon
     Corrupt Corporate America

    I have a personal life experience and there are others like me with experience in this system. Please read the following website:
    http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=8361

    Current news has been nibbling away at this and it’s escalating. The big picture is starting to materialize but the news isn’t linking it all together yet. For me, this has been most interesting to see how long it takes! So far, no one has put it together.

    The news is doing well to prepare everyone, however it is complex and difficult to accept. Readers should be advised to have an open mind that a major sized picture is still needed to be understood. Believe me, this is only the tip of the iceberg!

    The Corruption/Fraud part extends beyond our shores and involves direct links to the Mob and is linked with those involved from the top of our political structure, corporate structure and Military structure to all the way to the bottom. They are well organized with communication links throughout to monitor and control our ignorance and surface who may be their latest threat.

    Deep Throat II