posted on July 5, 2002 01:36:32 PM
" As Americans gather under vague threats of terrorism to watch controlled explosions spray color across the skies, ordinary people from the
village of Kakarak in Afghanistan will gather to bury their dead. The uncontrolled explosion of an American 2,000 bomb at a wedding have
sent 250 civilians there, mostly women and children, to the hospital or the morgue. None of them were named Osama bin laden or
Mohammad Omar. The War on Terror continues apace without a shred of true justice for the victims, and with a civilian body count that has
outpaced the death toll of September 11th.
As Americans unfurl their flags and remember the day that birthed the concept of a free and democratic nation, the PATRIOT Anti-Terror
Act gnaws grimly at the guts of everything we're supposed to celebrate. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights have become almost quaint in
their meaninglessness, like a campaign slogan from 100 years ago.
As Americans enjoy a holiday from work, the money they have labored for and saved slowly but surely becomes worth little more than the
paper it is printed on. The stock market has plunged to pre-9/11 levels recently, as investors rightly question where their money is going.
Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart, Adelphia, Tyco - corporate greed and deceit are the watchwords on Wall Street, and the retirement
portfolios of freedom-loving Americans bleed to death on the altar of profit-oriented expediency. Millions of laid-off workers, of course, will
enjoy more freedom than they'd like.
As Americans do all of these very American things, they will be looking over their shoulders. Yet another blizzard of terror warnings have
boiled forth from the Bush administration - do not gather at cafes, restaurants, or anyplace where other people might happen to congregate. It
has become an article of faith that previous warnings were issued to deflect criticism from the administration and its wildly shoddy
mismanagement of this crisis. If the sun rises on July 5th and shines on an unbombed nation, there will be questions and questions again about
the motives of those in the driver's seat.
Bleak? Certainly. Beyond repair? Absolutely not.
The American voting populace will be afforded the opportunity in a little more than 17 weeks to change the dangerous course this nation has
charted. In 125 days, ordinary people like you and I will be granted the chance to save the world.
The congressional midterm elections for 2002 will take place on November 5th. All across the country, Americans will step into voting
booths and pull a lever for a Senator or House member. This simple act will determine which party retains majority control of congress for the
next two years. This simple act will also determine the fate of the planet.
What is at stake?
* Independent investigations into September 11th. The Bush administration has made it clear that it does not want this to happen, and the
GOP majority in the House has no interest in bucking the White House. The current House investigations are happening behind closed doors,
much to the outrage of the families of 9/11 victims who have rallied for an open and effective look into the myriad failures that allowed the
attack to take place. There is, bluntly, political advantage for the Democrats to push for this, which detracts not at all from the fact that it
needs to happen for the sake of us all. A Democratic majority in Congress will have the clout to dig into those secrets the Bush administration
so desperately wants to keep. A Democratic majority will use that clout.
* Effective Congressional oversight regarding the War on Terror. The resolution of September 14th, 2001 gave unprecedented war powers
to the Bush administration, powers that have since been badly misused. There were several Congressional committees active during World
War II that sought to ensure the war was properly fought. Harry Truman was an active part of this while a Senator. The concept of separate
but equal powers divided between Congress and the Executive were devised for a reason. A Democratic Congress with oversight power
would have the capacity to make sure that no more weddings get bombed.
* Bringing corporate robber barons to justice, and bringing reform to a crumbling system. The understanding that Bush and his people are
dangling from corporate puppet strings is as commonly known as the fact that the sun rises in the East. Bush and his Wall Street lackey
Harvey Pitt will do nothing at all substantial to rectify the criminal thievery that has kicked the legs out from under the stock market. The
Democrats are no strangers to corporate influence, but again, this is a matter of political opportunity. A Democratic Congress will leap at the
opportunity to reform the grievous flaws in the system, and thus will exploit a political opening that will come to serve us all.
* The Supreme Court. The last stop on the highway of American justice has become just another conservative-controlled political office. If
Bush is handed a GOP majority in the Senate, he will be free to nominate right-wing ultraconservatives whose views would make Robert
Bork giggle like a titmouse. Reproductive freedom will cease to exist, and the worst aspects of the PATRIOT Act will be blessed by a court
from which there is no appeal. Simply put, there is no measure for how important the Supreme Court is. A Democratic majority in the Senate
will make sure this worst-case scenario does not take place.
This list could go one for quite a while, but behind all of the political considerations and gamesmanship lies a terrifying truth. The United States
of America is being guided into oblivion by an administration that has accrued terrible powers. It has declared open hostility for nearly a third
of the nations on earth, and has stated its intention to attack, without provocation, anyone it chooses. It has alienated and angered just about
every foreign government in existence. It has expressed the desire to do far worse. Its fundamental economic ideology has cost average
Americans billions of dollars. It has advocated the erosion of the most basic principles of freedom this nation holds dear.
The midterm elections that will take place on November 5th, 2002 represent the last, best chance for the American voter to insert a measure
of control upon what has become a careening juggernaut of a nation. No one knows what the next 125 days will hold. It is becoming
apparent that a war in Iraq is on the agenda. Such an event would provide the kind of October Surprise that the GOP needs: they cannot run
on an effective prosecution of the war or on economic prosperity, as each has been noticeably absent of late. Anyone who thinks this
administration is above starting a war to affect stateside polls in November simply has not been paying attention.
The Democratic Party has not done much to earn the admiration or fealty of the common man in the aftermath of 9/11, and has seemingly
gone out of its way to alienate progressives by kowtowing to Bush and his minions. Political expediency and a nose count has been to blame
- Democrats, in the aftermath of 9/11, have been afraid of appearing unpatriotic, while their minority status in the House and miniscule
majority in the Senate have made it even more difficult to fight back.
The midterm elections stand as the last, best opportunity for the Democrats, and for all Americans, to seize control of the agenda. 9/11 was
the second most important event in recent human history. America's reaction to that dark day is and continues to be more important by
orders of magnitude. We are the most powerful nation on earth, and our actions will determine the fate of humanity. In 125 days, we will be
afforded the opportunity to affect that reaction, and to mitigate the damage done by an administration that has failed utterly to do what is right.
Let us resolve to make the most of it. Politics, after all, should have a sense of mission. Too often of late, however, politics has merely been
about power. In 125 days we have the chance to do something momentous. This is a mission we must accept. The alternative offers only
darkness. "
William Rivers Pitt is a teacher from Boston, MA. His new book, 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence,' will be published soon by Pluto
Press.
posted on July 5, 2002 02:43:05 PM
no....he's not....he didn't vote in our last national elections...if memory serves me. And my memory seems to be just as good as anyone else's around here.
posted on July 5, 2002 03:18:17 PM
Hi Ma, where've you been? Don't listen to that linda person when she talks about me behind my back. She does that to everybody - you know the type, like Mrs. Johnson down the street.
Junkson,Its a long storey,My "stuff" and other stuff going on.My eyes are much better for having taken a long vacation from the computor.And this computor is on its last rubber band ! I want to move north,Looks like I will float there before long.Need any water?
posted on July 5, 2002 04:04:27 PM
Snowy,I am in north Austin right now,I was in Oak Hill. 290 west has a history of flooding and that area is pretty saturated.
My lucky star got me out of there before any problems.
If you see Ms.Toke please say Hi for me.I am trying to keep this antique putor working untill, I get the new one set up.I get a constant IE exception and this computor will shut down,And damned if it don't !!
