Comments on: Avoiding the Obvious Question

By: DC

DC — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 15:57:04 +0000

The real tragedy of the situation is pretty clear now. Henry Kissinger once commented about Watergate that once the situation started, it could hardly have ended in any other way than it did. Nixon was simply doing what he had to do, based on who he was. The tragic flaw in his character was his downfall, and Kissinger saw it as practically inevitable. I think we have a similar situation with Bush. There is something in him which will make it impossible to pursue a path of sanity, impossible to listen to the collective will of the people. And this is much more serious than Watergate was. Now more than ever, we just need to try as a nation to figure out how he can be stopped. How can we marginalize him so that his views become less important to the course of events? It doesn’t seem appropriate any longer to hope anything about him. But how can we save the country, in spite of him? How can we forcibly take back all the power he has stolen from Congress and the people?

By: Larry Jones

Larry Jones — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 06:02:42 +0000

W cannot even count on his party to have his back anymore. He grows more and more lonely as he pushes further into the Big Muddy. If he keeps ignoring reality and public opinion, can anyone stop him? Will anyone try? And if not, what do the people do? Get drunk? Start fights in the subway? Go shopping? Write a poem?

If the war goes on as it is going, and the Commander in Chief won’t change direction and if the Congress, now in Opposition hands, does not force a change, will we face some sort of national crisis? To be resolved how?

By: Memnison Journal :: OK, and what’s the point to all this?

Memnison Journal :: OK, and what’s the point to all this? — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:45:26 +0000

[…] Firedoglake: And the President we have for the next two years is, above all else, a true believer who cannot abandon his God-sanctioned policies without a personal crisis. He will break the Army before he risks breaking himself. […]

By: KimGW

KimGW — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:17:31 +0000

Rep-Elect Joe Sestak sounds like a Panetta acolyte in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....&eurl=

Why am I not surprised? Democrats, just one wing of the War Party.

By: bush is not a texan

bush is not a texan — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:16:59 +0000

Scarecrow @
35

One of the issues I wanted to explore with this post was whether the media are doing a better job, asking better questions, bringing in new voices who were right before — what I see is a little of each, but not enough. Angie at 24 shows the WH press corp is pursuing this better, but the WH Press Secretary just keep shoveling Snow.

And somehow, someone from the American Enterprise Institute or other neocon “think tank” manages to get on every show. It’s relentless. How do we counteract that?

I think that at this point the only action left for thinking free people, is to take to the streets in mass. It was effective for us in 1970 but in this time that action will probably lead to a one way ticket to Gitmo or worse a KBR/Halliburton Camp in the U.S.
I weep for my once great country and I weep for the dead who died for no reason other than one man’s, and I use the phrase “man” lightly, one man’s ego.
As the people’s air waves are under control of only one party’s viewpoint I see no way to get the message to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Sixpack. Me thinks that we are doomed.

By: citizen k

citizen k — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 03:56:32 +0000

I’d like to say, for the record, that Leon Panetta is a chump, a fool, a Judas, a feckless and reckless enabler of republicans who gets well paid for providing cover for the ongoing right wing extremist rebellion and who deserves to spend the rest of his life repairing levees in New Orleans with a shovel while wearing a chain on his leg. And that doesn’t even begin to touch his role in the Clinton white-house’s horribly shameful quavering surrender to the elves coup. Leon and Lee Hamilton and the rest of the “Democrats” for cowardice piss me off more than the neo-cons.

By: egregious

egregious — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 03:29:53 +0000

TeddySanFran @ 78

Onliners are changing the conversation, and I think we need mobilizing. This is a great time to flood the MSNBC and the CNN with complaints about who’s booked as guests — where are Feingold & Boxer? Can our country afford to wait these two or three weeks while Ditherer Decides? Why do we only hear from Gingrich, Brooks, and Friedman, for instance, on MTP?
.

Again, I think something’s in the works, behind the curtain. Who here wrote about reading newspapers from just before a major war broke out? It has that feel to it, to me.

That would be me.

By: RevDeb

RevDeb — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 03:02:53 +0000

Hey scarecrow,
You just earned an Atrios link!

By: Eureka Springs, AR

Eureka Springs, AR — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 02:31:08 +0000

Scarecrow – Do you all behind the curtain have any idea how many times a post is forwarded through spotlight? Just curious how much it is utilized.

By: rumi

rumi — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 02:26:23 +0000

Scarecrow @ 199

Knut Wicksell @ 197

The good news is, we may suffer total defeat. It did the German’s a lot of good. If our boys are going to die, it might as well be for a good cause.

I can’t imagine we could ever justify these deaths on the basis that our country needed to be taught a lesson. Seems a rather severe disconnect between those who suffer and those who have the power to decide and should be held responsible.

I want to avoid loss of life and suffering as much as possible. I work to make that happen, when possible. I think some of us, though, are numbed to the constant call to bear more than our fair share of responsibility.

The people voted to send a message to get the troops out ASAP. The elected leaders know this, the military knows this and the media knows this, or at least they should if they’re paying attention.

Now, any or all of those groups are in a position to directly influence events in ways that many of us can’t. It doesn’t justify any loss but the potential losses seem irrelevant to those in power.