Global Weirding

There's been a political brouhaha on the book club. And as usual, someone explains why someone else's foolish ideas are not, in fact, pure and shining gold, and those debunked people raise a hue and cry about being treated unfairly, however neutrally expressed. Naturally, these are the same people who will bash the heck out of the people they disagree with and do it with a smile. Pointing out where the government misleads people makes the squawkers' question someone's patriotism and the patriotism of their sources, right along with the GOP party line. Whereas someone from the non-GOP side is far more likely to say, "I see your opinion and I disagree." I haven't really been taken to task personally during this go round, but I've gotten better about not getting baited.

Not everyone is perfectly considerate every time, but by and large (except for the usual suspects) this last round has shown pretty good behavior. And remarkably coherent arguments. Still, there are people who just don't want to see politics on the book club and while I can't blame them, I honestly believe another 4 years of this party in power will destroy our country in a way we can't reverse in a decade. I think the way it stands now, we have a chance. So we can't afford to stay silent ANYWHERE.

Partly, considering all I want to say, I've been pretty restrained. This has led to all my energy being tied up in, to borrow a phrase from Sarah F., getting "batshit insane with rage" over the current election and soundbytes, that the GOP is getting any positive airplay at all. Since my blog here is a place for me to defuse the brainpan, here's some of what I want to say. It would be more coherent if there wasn't so much screaming in my head.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney and their staffs and advisors (where they can be included) from the past 8 years should be:

1. Impeached for treason. The leak on Valerie Plame came from the top. It didn't just ruin a woman's career. It ruined an entire CIA information network. And I bet anyone looking on started looking hard at anyone she ever spoke with and probably quite a few of them ended up dead. Does this make people want to help the CIA in the future, knowing that the president with turn traitor and turn on you? Not so much.


2. Impeached for actively working to subvert the constitution. It's breaking the law to wiretap without warrants. They knew it then, they know it now, and yet they still argue that it's ok. How does it make me safer to remove my constitutional protections against overreaching government authority getting out of hand? It doesn't.


3. Tried for war crimes. If we can't get them for starting a war on false pretexts and spurious, even disproved, data that left about a million people in that country dead, we should get them for breaking faith with the Geneva convention and using torture and special rendition and indefinite imprisonment.

No, I don't think I'm overstating the case. Turning in a CIA operative is one of the definitions of treason. The President swears to uphold the constitution. That's his/her primary job. Anything else is secondary. Yet there's been none of that. And waltzing in to a sovereign country to "avenge" a terrorist attack perpetuated by someone who has as much to do with the country's leader as Bill O'Reilly has with Michael Moore. Which is to say nothing - they were enemies. Which doesn't even get to where they appointed unqualified people with know knowledge of the middle east in general or Ira.q in particular to deal with the aftermath.

It just makes my stomach turn to think that people think it might be a good idea to give this current party another chance to "work things out". Especially seeing McCain toeing the party line on everything, including torture. Growing up, studying civics, I always thought 4 years could never get bad enough to wait out. As an adult, I've had the opposite proved. This party needs to be overturned with all possible haste. And lo and behold, we not only have someone we can use to vote against them, we can honestly feel good about voting FOR Obama. He'll bring in a fresh look with new advisors who are technically savvy, well educated people. Even if he does nothing but get the current appointees out of the way, he will be a success. But I do expect and hope for greater change. For the better.

Despite the simmering ire, there were good things today:

• I handed off my SWE secretary duties and archives to the new secretary! Done, done done!


• NPR this morning had a lady on who is writing to people at nursing homes. She pointed out that the generation in assisted living was a big one for letter writing. I realized that while I can't call one of my grandma's anymore, I can write letters. So I did. I sent the other one her 92nd birthday card.


• NPR this evening has a WONDERFUL podcast on energy and oil and why the republican convention's chant of "drill baby drill" is not only ridiculous but backward and stupid. (We knew that.) He talks a lot about how our senators dithering on or voting against alternative energy funding is sending quality engineering jobs and patents and innovative technology overseas to Germany, Japan, and Denmark. He also talks about how government should be used to reward good and punish bad behavior and has great ideas which can be implemented. Please give it a listen. If you like it and the link is wonky, it's Tom Friedman on Fresh Air.

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P.S. If this blog goes silent after this posting, it's because it is no longer a free country where we can disagree with the president with impunity.