By Dennis Loo, 7/31/07, http://dennisloo.blogspot.com
Many people say they wish the Democrats would “grow a spine” and
“show some courage.” They also say things like: “Don’t the Democrats
realize that they’re throwing away the chance to stand with the
majority of Americans? Don’t they know that failing to do so is going
to hurt them?” There are, of course, other variants on these themes,
with some people saying: “Throw out the lot of them. Elect some people
who will do the will of the people.” All of these responses, while
understandable, miss the point.
The Democrats HAVE been showing a REMARKABLE amount of spine – it’s
just that they are directing their strong backs AGAINST the will of the
people.
Think about this: their approval ratings are even lower than those
for Bush and Cheney (or at least Bush!) because they aren’t doing what
people elected them to do in the 2006 election. Yet they won’t end the
Iraq war, won’t stand up against Bush and Cheney’s plans to attack
iran, and insist that impeachment is “off the table.”
They know that a large majority of Americans want Bush and Cheney gone.
They know that they are shamelessly and transparently lying when they say that they haven’t seen any impeachable offenses.
They know that they are violating the Constitution and international
law through the bills they’ve passed (e.g., the Military Commissions
Act and the John Warner Defense Authorization Act) and by allowing
Bush’s hundreds of signing statements and executive orders that violate
their acts and the law.
They know that their failing to act according to the law,
Constitution and the will of the people runs a huge risk that they will
be punished by the people.
They know that if they were to impeach and were to hold hearings in
the course of impeachment that this White House’s crimes would come
spilling out like an avalanche and that this would bury the GOP for a
generation and the Democrats would thereby earn the gratitude of the
vast majority of the people.
YET they are determined NOT to do these exceedingly popular things.
They are showing tremendous fortitude in resisting doing the right
thing and resisting the American people.
Why?
It’s quite simple. They don’t represent the people. The US is the
biggest, strongest imperialist power to ever exist on this earth. Why
would you expect that the two major political parties in the most
powerful empire to ever exist would be ANYTHING ELSE but fundamentally
representatives of the most wealthy elements and fundamentally
representatives of the extraordinary power and wealth concentrated in a
small number of transnational corporations?
What kind of leaders of corporations that make BILLIONS in QUARTERLY
profits would you be if you allowed “the people,” poor and rich alike,
to have one vote each? Would you turn over your power and wealth to
“the people?” You’d be crazy to do so. You’d make sure the system
worked in your interest. You’d make sure that elections turned out the
way you wanted them to and that the people who get elected do what you
want them to do.
Someone made a button once that I really like. It went something
like this, “If elections meant anything they’d make them illegal.”
The truth is that elections don’t decide public policy. Democrats
and Republicans are part of the same system. They have more in common
with each than what distinguishes them. Even independents and third
parties, should their people get elected, have to operate in the same
structure. The only way that we can take on and defeat Bush and Cheney
and everything they stand for and the whole direction that they are
leading us down (and the Democrats are cooperating and colluding in) is
through the people’s mass, independent actions in our millions.
The Declare It Now: Wear Orange campaign at http://worldcantwait.org offers a vehicle for the American people to act politically in our millions. Take part!