Off Day

[hisownpetard]

Today I didn't call any politician's office, sign any petition, write any pleading/encouraging/critical emails, or make a single political contribution.

Today I just sulked.

I feel like all the energy is going out, and none is coming in.

Nothing we (or I) do, politically, seems to matter.

Nothing changes.

If I could just accept the fact that the Democrats' hands are tied and that nothing substantial can or will happen until after Jan. 2009,
I'd be in a better position right now.

But I'm out of patience. I want Gonzo in jail. I want Harriet Miers in the cell across from him. I want all the shills in the Dept.of Justice punished
for the good people they fired and besmirched, for making a mockery of what we used to call "justice."

I want the Cheneys and Rumsfelds and Karl Roves and Scooter Libbys to pay for the harm they've done to this country.

I want Habeus Corpus restored. I want Executive Privilege to not be use as an excuse for executive anarchy. I want Signing Statements
to be illegal. I want a subpoena to mean something and the person who receives it to be held accountable for complying or be severely penalized
for ignoring it. Even (or especially) if it's the Secretary of State.

I want the definition of 'torture' to be what it's always been and rational people anywhere would understand. I don't know how to define it but, as
Justice Stewart said about pornography, "I know it when I see it."

I want to once again feel proud of this nation, back when... well, I can hardly remember that far back.

I want to have an election in this country where every person's vote is counted and nothing illegal effects the outcome.

Most importantly, I want life breathed back into every soldier we sent to Iraq under false pretenses, every single soul who died for the sinister
sake of Halliburton and Blackwater. I want them to come back to life, to make their familes whole again. To resume their lives as students
or nurses, construction workers or truck drivers, teachers or cooks. In other words, I want them to return to their former state of leading
their "insignificant" lives, before they were given the opportunity to become "heroes."

How many decades will it take to undo what's been done?

[Hydra]

1. I just want a believable promise that these things will be fixed

if they are correct in saying that it can't be corrected now...but I just see more and more carnage each day.

[hisownpetard]

3. And a very long tunnel, still, to get through.

[NanceGreggs]

2. Beautifully stated.

I want to be able to hang my American flag on my front porch again, knowing it will be understood as support for for my fellow citizens, and will NOT be mistaken for support of the criminals in the White House.

K & R!!!

[hisownpetard]

4. God, how true! At this point, I wouldn't dream of hanging an American flag in front of my house.

Hopefully, a good night's sleep will bring me some grain of hope by tomorrow.
And thanks, Nance, for the compliment. (Best thing that's happened to me all day!).

[NanceGreggs]

5. The reason I thought of the flag ...

On the morning of 9-11, JeffR and I - without exchanging a word - both got up at the same time, went to the buffet where we keep out flag stored, and hung it up on our front porch.

This is no small flag - it literally covered the front of the porch entirely.

We left it there. We got to be known as 'the house with the flag'. We never had to give the pizza delivery guy our address - they'd just say, "Oh, yeah, the house with the flag. We know it."

The night the Idiot made the announcement about the commencement of "Shock & Awe", JeffR and I - again, without exchanging a word - went outside, took down the flag, and carefully folded it and put it away.

It hasn't been up since. Flag Day, July 4th, Veterans Day - the US holidays go by, and our flag is nowhere to be seen. We don't want anyone to think that its display means support of Bush, his administration, his policies. We don't want to be considered people who condone torture.

That is why I long to put my flag back on the porch - because when I finally do, it will mean that the the dark days are over, and Americans can be proud once again.

[hisownpetard]

6. I experienced the very same reactions. On 9/11, I ran around to 2 dozen stores, trying to

desperately to find a flag. It felt as though my life depended on it. Every store
was sold out. It felt totally urgent to me - our country, our beautiful country, had been
attacked! I had a physiological need to show support. After not finding a flag, I finally
drew one on oaktag and hung it in our front window.

It stayed there until Bush attacked Iraq.

And, much as I hate to say this, now I can't even bring myself to put up a flag on July 4th,
so ashamed am I about what our country has come to stand for. Torturers, liars, criminals
and crooks - that's who holds the highest offices in the land. And until they're held accountable
for the acts they've committed and forced others to commit in their name, I won't be having
anything to do with an American flag.

It's very sad, indeed.

[Hawkowl]

7. One decade, even less

I don't know how long you've been following politics, but can you remember the first 2 years of the Clinton administration? Things started to turn around immediately simply because of there not being a veto threat for common sense bills. At the end of 8 years this country was truly a different place from the dark, gloomy, and oppressive Reagan-Bush years.

It doesn't take that long to turn the corner. However, I believe 16 years of solidly left leaning Dem presidents is needed to truly make lasting change, e.g; Roosevelt-Truman years. Even a decidely mediocre dem pres would be enough to start the reversal. If we were to really clean House and Senate and get some rational progressive leadership instead of craven Reid and Capitulosi, two years of change and we'd be well on her way back to greatness--or at least knocking the rust off our reputation for liberty.

[hisownpetard]

8. 'Capitulosi.' Great! Never heard that one before.