Impeach!...About Face...

[Madspirit]

I rarely change my mind. I am rarely talked out of a position I hold and I'm highly opinionated. ...and I have been one of the ones arguing against impeachment. I am not politically savvy enough on the workings of the government to know exactly what is required to impeach someone. What I do know is what it does to the country when we have these kinds of ideological battles. I remember Watergate first-hand and of course I remember Clinton's impeachment. It becomes All. It is All anyone talks about. It is All that is on the news. It is All that is in the papers. It is All they talk about in Washington.

When I was in my teens and twenties I was homeless. I have always been poor. I now have a home, thanks to my girlfriend...of 15 years...but am still unemployed, uninsured and unable to get any health care, including medication for my bipolar disorder. Issues of Poverty are MY issues.

I know for a fact that if you asked 100 homeless people if they want Bush impeached, at least 99 of them would say that what they want is a sandwich, some beer and a new tinfoil hat. I know for a fact if you asked 100 single, poverty-stricken pregnant women if they want Bush impeached, at least 99 of them would say that what they want is prenatal care for their baby and a sandwich and some beer. (Everyone wants a sandwich and some beer...showing they also need a little prenatal education as you aren't supposed to feed beer to The Unborn.)

If you asked a man who just got laid off and who has three kids and a pregnant wife and a broken Chevy and a mother-in-law he supports and who isn't "quite right" and so she wanders off sometimes but he can't afford to put her in a "home"...if he wants Bush impeached...he would probably just start crying.

Usually the only way ideological battles touch the lives of THESE PEOPLE, is by pushing their own LIFE AND DEATH struggles to the back of the line...way back...buried and forgotten.

...and all The Leftist Talking Heads...sitting around...brainstorming...about THE High and Mighty Principles and The Constitution and Noble Ideals...and Impeachment...waaaaaay into the night...loving hating Bushy the Chimp. Solidarity. ...designer beer or a nice Merlot, smoke something...if you care to...put on the music, gaze fondly at posters of Che and Clinton...with his crotch in everyone's face...a mellow Brie and a Nice Baguette...or some wafer crackers with cracked pepper...some sun-dried tomato Hummus....all from Whole Foods Market...(...but still...after all these fucking years man...no grapes...damn it..)...and Whoohoohoo...a frothing at the mouth High Liberal Time.

...and still...it hasn't put food in any bellies but their own.. ...because Wealthy Highly Educated Liberals walk past the Homeless, the Almost Homeless, The Walking Wounded, without even seeing them...exactly the same way Wealthy Highly Educated Conservatives do. Exactly. The Real Problems of These Real People are just as invisible to the Democrats In Office as they are to the Republicans In Office.

As rarely as I change my opinion I am also rarely naive. ...but I was. After the mid-term elections I got my hopes up. I was elated after the elections. I thought something changed.

The minimum wage went up. It's not exactly Caesar's Farm Workers but it's something.

...and I also thought....I mean he's looked really dejected lately....Bush would just fade away and in two years we would EASILY elect a Democratic President. As a poor, mentally ill, lesbian leftist I do, at least, feel safer when we have a Democrat for POTUS.

...and then everyone started doing the Impeach Dance...yet again and I felt buried alive. ...and sad. ...and angry. ...and I wanted no part of it. I am so so so so so tired...of the issues of The Poor...The Homeless...The Marginal...The Walking Wounded...being shoved to the bottom....The Last on The List. ...buried, tamped down, some decorative gravel thrown on top...COMPLETELY FUCKING FORGOTTEN....AGAIN...so all the Brains could spar and debate and Play the Game.

After last night, I cannot, with good conscience, continue to hold that position. Bush really is a vindictive, belligerent, son-of-a-bitch. I hate that toady little man with a fiery passion. He really really doesn't care what the majority of us want. ...and he's still getting stroked in all the right places by all the right people. ...all those soldiers being sent off to kill and die for an Unrighteous Cause on the spiteful whim of a megalomaniac. He KNOWS we want them home. Impeach him now.

...but please...try not to forget about us. ...because we are in the millions and millions and millions and our numbers are growing and eventually...society is either going to have to shoot us or help us.

I signed the "Impeach" Petition.

Thank-yeeeeew, ya'll...
Madspirit *a Real Texan Unlike Bushy the Chimp*

[Kurovski]

1. Thank you, and K&R.(nt)

[AndyA]

2. Madspirit, you aren't forgotten.

It infuriates me to see the amount of money going to Iraq, when we have so many people here who need it. We are putting the wants of the corporations above the needs of Americans here at home.

I find it outrageous that we send so much money overseas, when we should be fixing the problems in our country first.

You are not alone in your anger, and the concerns of Americans here at home are not lost on all. Hopefully we can start moving toward helping our fellow citizens who so desperately need our assistance.

It's a national disgrace that we have so many uninsured, homeless, and sick people. And we just ignore them.

I will send good thoughts your way, and hope things improve for you very soon.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Thanks for the post Madspirit

Kicked and recommended

[here_is_to_hope]

4. Wonderful post and I

enjoyed your sentiments and story.
I too would like to see more of these real needs met rather than the focus turning to impeachment.
The country is running aground and we can fix it faster using other means for now.

But can we do both? And toss in a complete and utter pullout from Iraq?
Can we hope that our leadership will render him a "dead duck" rather than a "lame duck" and stop the carnage?

Sorry, gave myself a heartache too.

K/R
:shrug:

[newyawker99]

8. Hi here_is_to_hope!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[here_is_to_hope]

9. Thanks! eom

[NoAmericanTaliban]

5. Great Post. But remember you are not a have or have more

so Bush & Co. could care less about you. He should be impeached.

[cascadiance]

6. It's kind of like looking at a bug list and the 'severity' and 'priority' ratings...

... when you're fixing bugs.

In effect that is what the nation is doing with this current broken political system. There are SO many things wrong that need to be fixed, and we have to know where to start.

The problem is that there are some things that directly affect people, like hunger, health care reform, the Iraq War etc. that need to be fixed so that people don't suffer or die right now. There are also things that are far more important in gravity to fix too, like global warming, etc.

But there are some issues that need to be prioritized ahead of those issues, not because resolving them is necessarily more important in the way it directly affects us, but because of the way they affect the political process itself. When the political process itself is broken, and that affects or prevents resolution of any of these other problems without major additional "workaround" work that would consume all of our time, it makes sense to prioritize these systemic issues first. Doesn't mean we feel that they are more important to us directly, but that they are more important to solve NOW, so that we can help clear the decks and solve all of these other problems a lot more expeditiously and in a less costly fashion later once these have been fixed.

These systemic problems have been for me putting in place public campaign financing, corruption investigations, etc. and I think increasingly one of these big issues is impeachment (both of the president/VP, as well as perhaps other members of government that have been part of the corruption process for so long). Also fixing the internal organization of the Democratic Party to reduce the DLC influence so that we can pave the way for public campaign financing and fixing these systemic problems that their corporate sponsors don't want us to fix.

These are SO important for the fundamental reason that they affect just about everything else in a negative way if the status quo isn't overhauled. To me it's critical we put someone also in place for 2008 nomination that is going to take these systemic problems head on and prioritize fixing them. DLC candidates need not apply in my book!

[Nightjock]

7. wow...

just...wow.

K&R

[porphyrian]

10. Welcome aboard. - n/t

[Senator]

11. k&r

[Madspirit]

12. Thank-you

Wow...I've been gone all afternoon and I come back to find my post K&Red onto The Greatest Page. I am honored. ...and I appreciate all the kind and supportive words.
Thanks guys.
Madspirit

[Laelth]

13. K&R

n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[omega minimo]

14. unbelievable

[calimary]

15. Welcome to DU! Welcome to the expanding IMPEACHMENT NOW club!

It'll be SRO soon. If not already.

I'm just hoping enough of the Pelosis in Washington wake up and start down this road before bush can blow the whole thing to smithereens.

[OneBlueSky]

16. best post I've read in some time . . . thank you . . . k/r . . . n/t

[stephinrome]

17. welcome and thanks! n/t

[mmonk]

18. Good post.

And there is no reason we can't chew gum and walk at the same time. You can pass legislation for the betterment of the lives of your citizens and still impeach officials that abuse power.

[ClayZ]

19. Wow! Keep Writing! K and R

Thank You!

[specimenfred1984]

20. I'm all for it if it ever happens

Your post captured the frustration very well. I signed numerous petitions years ago after becoming outraged at our country supporting sytematic torture, it hasn't done shit.

Maybe it'll work this umpteenth time. I doubt it.