Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General A World Beyond Empire - Impeach the System

I have always had an immense amount of respect for Robert Jensen and I believe his article below accurately describes the situation we find ourselves in. He also points out why all of the Bush bashing absent culpability of the Democratic party is just plain nationalistic, partisan in nature, and extremely naive.

link

More taboo "truth" from the article........

It is way past time that self described, liberals and progressives stopped making excuses for that part of the empire that is designed to placate them, I.E. the Democratic party

And the most truthful part of the article....

Dear Roger Waters:

The points you are making are almost the same as mine. But why not go one step farther and say plainly that the Constitution should be thrown in the dustbin of history and a new, sensible system of governance worked out?

numan,

Who's responsible for the US Constitution not working as you envision that it should be working and why? It's unique and one of the most important documents in recorded history. I believe that Tony Blair was trying to discard another, the Magna Charta.

Joe

I am afraid that I am so barbarous that I regard human beings as more important than documents, no matter how important they may be historically. Along with certain other social reprobates, I affirm that "the law was made for man, not man for the law."

To me, the Magna Charta is just another dusty declaration of powerful men who have gone their way to dusty death. I regard the right of habeas corpus to be a corner-stone of justice, but the "rights" of feudal nobles and freemen are a matter of supreme indifference to me.

I note that the Constitution, which so many regard with idolatrous devotion, did not stand in the way of a president abolishing habeas corpus with the flick of a pen.
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I have always had trouble understanding who is responsible for performing an action when the person suggesting the action expresses it in the passive voice. Could you perhaps elucidate? Whom do you foresee as throwing the Constitution in the dustbin of history and working out a new, sensible system of government?

A side note, with all due regard for the various utopian dreamers and incurable cynics who are toiling to dismantle the system from the outside. As Joe Keegan pointed out on that other revolutionary thread, we have at least one person in Congress who is toiling to dismantle the system from the inside: Dennis Kucinich. I would argue that he has met with a great deal more success at this point than the erstwhile revolutionary leaders of whom we have lately become acquainted here at the Reader Rant - when Mr. Kucinich testified before the House Judiciary Committee a few days ago, in support of his Article of Impeachment against George W. Bush, he presented along with his factual evidence a petition signed by over 100,000 citizens. I among them.

Granted, it is a small step by a tiny segment of the US population. But I return to the wisdom of the cited article in suggesting that before we embark upon tearing down the Houses of Government, we must first tend to our own houses. As Mr. Jensen says:
I appreciate Mr. Jensen's honesty. I can answer honestly for myself as well, that I have not done enough. And, as a person who lives in a house at least partially made of glass, I'm not keen upon suggesting what kind of landslides other, unnamed people ought to start.

numan, I like that. It sounds good. Here's where I upset my "librul" friends: just as guns don't kill people but people kill people, so, too, do people kill documents. Although not dead, the US Constitution is seriously wounded.

Unless, these modern day feudal nobles- Bush, Cheney, et al, pull your sorry butt out of bed at 2:30 one morning and drag it off to some deep dank dark hole, where you family and friends can't find out what happened to it.

You're right, but that's being addressed in the courts, courtesy of the Constitution. You're also right that this Administration has been a disappointment and should be held accountable, but I doubt that will happen. Unfortunately, our representatives don't regard the US Constitution with the idolatrous devotion you credit them with.

Joe


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Steve,

With all due respect to numan, he may not know what the passive voice is, although he used a Latin quote in an earlier post.

Steve, thanks to your link, I signed it, too. I don't know whether to write in Dennis or Ron Paul. Probably doesn't make any difference. We're already a socialist country, so the argument that Dennis is a "socialist" is meaningless to me. Like it or not, as a country and a people, I believe that we are responsible for each other's welfare up to an extent.

Joe

To suggest that I am ignorant of basic grammar does not seem like respect to me.


It is commendable that you believe that we are "responsible for each other's welfare up to an extent." All too many Americans do not have even that much sense of solidarity with their fellow citizens. It would be good to know, however, to what extent your "to an extent" reaches.

In America, we have socialism for the rich, and free enterprise for the poor.
---- Gore Vidal

Why will capitalism always survive? Because socialism will always be used to save it.
---- Ralph Nader's father

It may be that Nader's father has too high an estimation of the intelligence which lies behind the "Invisible Mind of the Marketplace."
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