I can't do it - it is too absurd

[ProfessorPlum]

On many political blogs I am being urged to contact my representatives in Congress to urge them to oppose Gonzales. Of course, the cause is just - torture is not an American value, etc. etc. on and on.

And yet I just can't overcome the absurdity of it all - the Kafkaesque, gut-wrenching, rationality-shattering absurdity.

_I_ have to call/write my Democratic leadership in Congress and beg them to _please_ not vote in favor of a torturer?

Shouldn't our leaders be telling _us_ what is right and wrong? Shouldn't they already know?

It's becoming clear that the Democratic "leadership" is going to ride our country down into the pit, as long as they have their comfortable seats for the show. Like Kong in Dr. Strangeglove, they are going to ride it all the way down - but with a puzzled expression on their faces, as if to say, "I don't understand what people are so upset about. Al Gonzales is a close personal friend of mine."

I can't do it.

[OutsourceBush]

1. if we have to call and write to tell them to oppose torture they cal all F

off! Pieces of Sh$t.

[peacebird]

2. think how *I* feel...

my congressCreeps are rethuglicans - Warner, Allen and Davis.

[ProfessorPlum]

4. gack

you have my sympathy.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

9. Could be worse

At least you have congressional representation. As of Saturday, when I got my District driver's license and turned in the motor voter form, I am a woman without a representative.

(But yeah, those fucks WERE my congressional reps. Urgh!)

[chicagojoe]

3. "of the people and by the people"

Don.t count on politicians to do the right thing. There are very few real leaders in government. It's mostly ego driven nerds and ideologues. But if you look closely, the true leaders usually do the right thing. Think Dennis Kucinich. Then they get marginalized by the assholes and their brain dead followers.

[punpirate]

5. If the Senate confirms this...

... sorry excuse for a human being, we're the worse for it.

You're right, in this sense--why should the country's representatives need to be reminded of their obligations to their constituents in a matter which should be blindingly obvious? Gonzales deserves the benefit of the doubt solely because he is Bush's choice?

If Gonzales had been a participant in WWII, on the wrong side, he would have spent a good part of life in prison, or wound up at the end of a rope. Our own judges would have passed sentence on him thusly, based on what he has advised the President to do.

This man, in effect, has encouraged a conspiracy to break our own laws and international law, and is to be rewarded for such? What particular message does that send to allies and enemies alike? Why is that difficult for Senators of all stripes to understand?

[BeFree]

6. It is absurd, but it is the truth.

Torture is condoned if he gains that position. At least it won't be hidden any longer as it has been all these years. The marker has been laid: Torture, once denied to be a part of the process is now proclaimed to be at the heart and soul of this administration and it's governance.

The truth be told.

[ProfessorPlum]

8. You know, I'd even let them off the hook if they just voted

against him - not filibustering might indeed be the smartest political move.

But at least, at least, vote "No" on this piece of scum. Please, Joe Biden, spare me the talk about how you _were_ going to vote for him, but now are having second thoughts after his testimony. WTF?

[BeFree]

11. But a no vote means

That a Senator will just be asking for an enevelope of anthrax.

The Problem: We are in a hole.

The solution is not to keep digging, but to prepare for the truth to flood the hole and float us up and out. I know, I know, it doesn't seem like we shall ever float again, but just like MLK, we will rise again.

[brainshrub]

7. Exactly how I feel.

We need a real opposition party in this country. The Democrats have consistently dropped the ball.

I wrote an essay on this subject:

http://www.brainshrub.com/essaysfolder/start_a_real_party.htm

For now I'm going to stay with the Democratic Party. There are a lot of Progressive Democrats where I live, I hope they are the future of the party.

[ProfessorPlum]

10. Yeah, there is no viable alternative

I keep putting all my hopes on the Democrats, and they keep blowing it. What the hell? At least they should do some of the things that the GOP already hates them for - why not?