Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Many of us, including yours truly, wring our hands and gnash our teeth and appear as millions of lone voices in the vast wilderness of public opinion. Our eyes are opened and the truth rings in our hearts like angelically forged cathedral bells. We may be personally insecure, but are doubtless about what we see, hear and feel as regards the human condition. Yet, we dwell in a land populated by the dazed, confused and afraid; a multitude of anxious survivors who value life over living. It's not their (our) fault. Through exhaustion, over-work, sleep deprivation and misinformation, they (we) have been purposely dumbed-down and made docile to the point of shiny-happy automatons.

It is one thing to believe, as the majority does, the war in Iraq was a mistake and quite another to demand the immediate withdrawal of our troops.

It is one thing to believe, as the majority does, the Bush Administration "misled" the country into war with false intelligence and willful deceit; but it is another to demand accountability by impeachment of those who bear responsibility for those high crimes.

It is one thing to be pro-choice, as the majority is, but against filibuster of draconian judges who believe the Constitution is a dead, but enduring fossil of law that does not allow for the evolution of lexicon and society.

The majority has taken the first step and is one step away from taking the next step; adopting the liberal position on these keys issues and giving us all a step up. They just need a little nudge. In order to change the entropic equation of liberalism, and progress our culture, country and fellow citizens toward peace and justice, we need to unflinchingly adopt three core positions. All three of these stances require the same radical approach; no compromise; no deals; no cooperation with the opposition.

1. Adopt the Cindy Sheehan anti-war platform: complete and total opposition. The `we broke it, we own it' stance of "moderates" is untenable and nothing more than appeasement of betrayal and failure. The Bush Administration was dead wrong in all of its assumptions; slipshod in its planning and negligent in its execution. No amount of the King's horses and men can put Iraq back together again. The entire adventure was misguided and wrong.

The argument against immediate withdrawal; if America was to suddenly withdraw its military, then all hell would break loose in Iraq is disingenuous, ridiculous or both. Hell cannot break loose in hell. There is only one boiling point. And Iraq long ago achieved that point. The obstinate, stubborn and mind-boggling yakity-yak from Rumsfeld and his politicized (compromised) senior military commanders to `stay-the course' is militarily insane, politically suicidal and inhumanly criminal.

There is no nuance, tweak or fiddling with an anti-war position. If you are not for the immediate and complete withdrawal of American troops from Iraq then you are not against the war. All America has to do is `surrender' and let the United Nations work out the details.

I realize the idea that all of our war casualties (not to mention the Iraqi dead and wounded) have been in vain is anathema to the American Way. But it's the fucking truth and the sooner we admit as a nation the Bush Administration is responsible for the vainglorious, immoral and irresponsible crimes against humanity, the quicker we can bring them to account.

2. As our opposition to the war must be utter and complete, so must our support of impeachment of the President and Vice President be as committed and unwavering. Plamegate is the tip of an iceberg that reaches to the center of the earth. What the President and Vice President have done is beyond constitutional high crimes and misdemeanors. What they have done is a crime against humanity. If, as the infinitesimal amount of evidence already indicates, they created the intelligence and facts to fit their preordained policy of war, then not only should they be impeached and removed from office, but turned over to the World Court or the International Tribunal on War Crimes in the Hague.

There is no room for compromise on this matter. The Democrats made a baby step the other day when they invoked rule 21 and brought the Senate into closed session. Let the Republicans spew and sputter their excuses and drivel all they want. As long as they refuse to investigate and hold hearings into the greatest strategic military blunder in our nation's history, they will be the ones seen as obstructers of justice, protectors of lies and partisan hacks who place party above the common good and the national interest.

For the next year, or until it is resolved, there should only be one Congressional activity, the impeachment inquiry of the President and Vice President of the United States for high crimes and misdemeanors against the American People.

3. The rejection of Alito to the SCOTUS is a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer for several reasons. First of all, the Democrats should refuse to cooperate with any business as usual until the Republicans agree to full and complete impeachment inquiries into the alleged misuse and abuse of power by the President and Vice President. Secondly, if after the Republicans agree to accept their Congressional responsibility by demanding accountability for the impeachable actions of Bush and Cheney, then Alito should be opposed because his judicial philosophy, far to the right of mainstream jurisprudence, is already represented on the high court by Scalia, Thomas, etc. We don't need no more stinking Scalias on the court. We need more Souters.

Strict Constructionists are a danger to freedom and progress. What is so hard to understand about that? The Constitution is not, as Scalia believes, `dead but enduring.' The Constitution is enduring because it is alive and was built to respond to the course of human events and the needs of democratic society.

A debate about whether our Constitution is living or dead and what that means for freedom and democracy should be a conversation every Democrat relishes.

And if it should come to the nuclear option; bring it on. Truth, justice and the American Way are liberal values and if we can't communicate them in a way as to make the "majority" take the next step, then we are losers.


Instead of `one step forward and two steps back,' we need to reverse the equation. We need to double the forward motion and cut in half the setbacks. Surprisingly, the dazed and confused "majority" have taken the first step our way. The "majority" is against the war; for accountability in the misleading us to war and for a "moderate" high court. The arrogant, egregious and outrageous behavior by the Republican led Executive and Legislative branches of our government has broken through the white-noise din of the "see, hear and speak no evil" MSM.

The next step is for the "majority" to put their opinion into action by demanding an end to failure, lies and leadership by the GOP lunatic fringe.

As we know, the first step is always the hardest and the majority has already taken it. It's up to us to convince them to take the next.

That means advocating to anyone who will listen, the immediate end to the war, immediate initiation of impeachment inquiries and the rejection of Alito.