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Beginning of the End.
Apathy is not cool. Political apathy is even less cool. Yes, being indifferent and saying you don't give a damn might be easier, but this is your world. Either be part of the process that decides how it's run or -- there is no 'or'. Because you live here, you are subject to its laws, and you need to be part of the process that decides how you will live your life.
The other option is just letting yourself be herded and exploited, and as a free human being, that is not what you are meant for.
This journal is going to have a lot of public, political entries that urge you to sign petitions or fill out pre-written e-mail forms and send them off. I know it already does, but instead of just telling you what's going on, I'm now going to start telling you what you can do about it. To the people that don't live in the US, I'm sorry your flists are going to be clogged up with US politics, but let's face it, the US has an unprecedented level of impact on the rest of the world -- if the US is rotting, you can bet that other countries are being infected too.
Today's cause is Bush's Contempt of Congress, and how he urges his staff to defy Congress as well.
Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, outright skipped a House Judiciary Committee hearing because they'd ordered her to testify about her role in the months-old U.S. Attorney mess. Likewise, Josh Bolton who is the current Chief of Staff, disobeyed a subpoena when he refused to give up White House documents that Congress had demanded by law. Bush, in the meantime, is the one who ordered them to do so and is trying to claim "executive privilege" so that the public won't have to know what he's doing in the White House.
This is wrong.
We have a right to know what he's doing. We have a right to know what his staff are doing.
And perhaps most importantly, we need to know that President Bush can be held accountable for his actions. The American people should be the jury, but apart from that, Congress needs to be respected. Bush cannot be allowed to run America any old way he feels like that; we have a system of checks and balances for a reason, and that reason is that America doesn't need a President with ultimate power -- or "executive power" -- over the whole country.
Sign the petition to have Congress fight executive privilege. Miers and Bolton have to be held in contempt. If this was a court, any judge would hold them in contempt for withholding evidence and refusing to show up. There is no reason for them to get special treatment just because Bush is scared that the truth will come out.
Sign the petition. Take a stand. Care. Do something!
Edit: YES! Citations! There IS justice in this world!
The other option is just letting yourself be herded and exploited, and as a free human being, that is not what you are meant for.
This journal is going to have a lot of public, political entries that urge you to sign petitions or fill out pre-written e-mail forms and send them off. I know it already does, but instead of just telling you what's going on, I'm now going to start telling you what you can do about it. To the people that don't live in the US, I'm sorry your flists are going to be clogged up with US politics, but let's face it, the US has an unprecedented level of impact on the rest of the world -- if the US is rotting, you can bet that other countries are being infected too.
Today's cause is Bush's Contempt of Congress, and how he urges his staff to defy Congress as well.
Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, outright skipped a House Judiciary Committee hearing because they'd ordered her to testify about her role in the months-old U.S. Attorney mess. Likewise, Josh Bolton who is the current Chief of Staff, disobeyed a subpoena when he refused to give up White House documents that Congress had demanded by law. Bush, in the meantime, is the one who ordered them to do so and is trying to claim "executive privilege" so that the public won't have to know what he's doing in the White House.
This is wrong.
We have a right to know what he's doing. We have a right to know what his staff are doing.
And perhaps most importantly, we need to know that President Bush can be held accountable for his actions. The American people should be the jury, but apart from that, Congress needs to be respected. Bush cannot be allowed to run America any old way he feels like that; we have a system of checks and balances for a reason, and that reason is that America doesn't need a President with ultimate power -- or "executive power" -- over the whole country.
Sign the petition to have Congress fight executive privilege. Miers and Bolton have to be held in contempt. If this was a court, any judge would hold them in contempt for withholding evidence and refusing to show up. There is no reason for them to get special treatment just because Bush is scared that the truth will come out.
Sign the petition. Take a stand. Care. Do something!
Edit: YES! Citations! There IS justice in this world!
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48% should form their own country. 51% is majority so roughly greater than half were satisfied at the time.
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And of course they'll change their vote if he breaks his promises! The people that voted for him expected things he didn't deliver. I think that's a very valid reason for not liking him -- if I voted someone into office because they're pro-choice, anti-war and pro-human rights, I'd be very disillusioned if they banned abortion, invaded the moon and legalized slavery. Though Bush hasn't been quite so liberal, worse luck. He's just majorly failed at ending the war in Iraq and bringing the troops home.
...They're not satisfied now and Matt, that 48% is very scattered! They can't make their own country, it would be like half the hairs on someone's head randomly turning purple. They're not grouped together. And the half that voted for him but now repents? They've repented. They wouldn't want to be in his country any longer because he's failing at it!
There's such a thing as making a mistake and acknowledging it, you know.
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Don't take this personally Amila, your counter arguments seem personal. I don't think there will ever be a satisfactory government there, you're still riding against majority ruling.
And yeah; I know you can make a mistake. I'm just fine with acknowledging my own mistakes and trying to fix them up. Perhaps charging full on makes it harder to accept though. Politics are brutal, and people are fickle.
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How am I taking it personally? I didn't vote for Bush. I don't have anything to apologize for. I'm kind of stunned by the stance you're taking and how little you seem to understand about the American political system as well as current events, but that's about it.
He won by 51%. That's hardly a landslide unless you're buying into his mandate bullshit. A majority the other way only requires two percent shifting our way. Or my way. And more people disapprove of Bush than approve of him; the majority of Americans are on my side now.
And I'm not saying that I made a mistake. I'm saying that if someone voted for Bush and then regretted it, it's better than the people who voted for Bush and are still in favor of him. Much, much better. That is acknowledging a mistake and fixing it, as best as they can since they can't revote until next year.
Politics are brutal, people are fickle and this is the system and there is no point hating people that voted for a leader that they thought would do right by them. They were wrong, but the point is, they still voted the way that they thought was right and now the whole country is suffering for it. That doesn't mean that every American should be victimized under Bush's policies and it definitely doesn't mean that the fact that they have to fight against their own constitution should be dismissed with they voted for him so they deserve it.
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