Much That Is Hidden

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Book of the prophet Daniel 5:26-28:

"This [is] the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

Did I mention that Bible prophecy is a little hobby of mine? Quite small, in fact. I'm not sure how Perez Hilton gets the Medes and Persians in on this, but it's sure to be interesting.

For a perhaps more balanced assessment of the today's exchange of power, you can't get more spot-on than this anonymous idiot (whose blog link will, out of respect, remain on the left for the first 100 days of the Obama administration - thanks AI!)

And just so it's in my record, my Obama/Favreau faves:

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

"We will restore science to its rightful place."

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works."

"This crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity."

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."

"Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers."

"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

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Labels: Bush, histoire, milestones, President Obama

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The gentleman from Ohio rises to the occasion and he has it right - "The House is not in order."

That Rep. Kucinich intended his opening proclamation to be so metaphoric of our nation's current condition is debatable, but it is highly relevant to the 35 articles of impeachment he presented against George Bush this evening (Raw Story has an article, C-Span video and partial transcript HERE).

UPDATE: A pdf version of the entire 65-page document is HERE

WTG, DK! Bush smugly says history will be his judge, and this will be one of the main reference points for the historians. It is in fact an excellent capsule. Thirty-five articles: torture, fraud, rendition, war crimes, obstruction, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and international law. He’s throwing every book he can find and I say BULLY!

What are the chances that this gains traction? Perhaps very slight, but I don’t think Dennis has any illusions about what he’s doing. Perhaps I gush a bit, but I'd like to think his contemporary 35-part summary is being posted for posterity as forceful as Luther's 95 theses were attached to the Wittenburg gate. Maybe he could tack them to Nancy Pelosi's forehead.

Now some (maybe most) Democrats are saying the primary objective is to elect Obama president, and I don't dismiss that sentiment out of hand. By pursuing impeachment now the Democrats will at least help fill the insatiable news void and show that they are actually doing something, that being to stand up for the rights of law. Think about it - Congress goes after the criminals and Obama goes after the heir apparent to the familia. It could also put the entire GOP on their heels trying to save their own ass and not allowing them to sharply focus on going after Obama. And what could better bring along B.O.'s call for change than to pursue not only throwing the bums out but convicting them and incarcerating them as well? Hell, it should be part and parcel of every Democrat's House and Senate campaign this fall, and for what it's worth would be a huge bandage (with antibiotic ointment) on the sore they've left me with in the past year and a half.

I exhort you to call The Madam Speaker at (202) 225-0100 to let her know you want impeachment back on the table. She just might take to it now that the wife of the last impeached president is not going to be her party's nominee this year.

Hit it, Neil!

Labels: Bush, histoire, impeachment, Kucinich, politix, terms of enragement

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Lots of good remembrances on the blogs today. The theme I am relating to best is not so much remembering what we've lost but rather what we've given away. Former U.S. Senator Gary Hart wrote one of the best essays, copied here from HuffPo:

Six years ago three thousand Americans lost their lives. They need not have. Their deaths could have been prevented. Their lives could have been saved.

The Bush administration was warned months before 9/11 that terrorists were going to attack America. They did nothing. They have yet to be held accountable for the preventable loss of American lives. Yet the administration blames its critics for not understanding the terrorist threat.

The perpetrator of those American deaths is still at large and the war to eliminate those who harbored him threatens to drag on inconclusively for many years. Instead, administration operatives, with the approval of their masters, find it convenient to use him to create fear, and therefore justify their positions of power.

The United States has suffered more than 30,000 casualties in another war that had nothing to do with those attacks. This folly is producing more haters of America than it can ever possibly eliminate.

The backbone of domestic security, the National Guard, is deployed in that war and is thus not at home being trained, equipped, and deployed to protect America.

The consolidation of federal border protection and attack response in a single agency did not begin until at least 18 months after it was proposed and, six years later, it has proved to be woefully inadequate, in large part because those responsible for its administration possess a political philosophy that does not believe government can or should be effective. And they use every occasion to prove it.

The U.S. is currently pursuing a foreign policy in the Middle East and throughout the Arab world that is dementedly designed to promote a clash of civilizations. When this policy produces further attacks, our current policy makers will respond that this is what to expect from those who hate America and only tough-minded conservatives know how to deal with them.

Those who claim to understand terrorism and the use of force, meanwhile, have so exhausted our combat forces that our true national security is greatly at risk and our nation is weakened.

This administration stands indicted for incompetence and mendacity. That it still commands the loyalty of even a quarter of our fellow citizens is testament to the persistence of willful ignorance. Against all the facts assembled in this indictment, that the administration's operatives can still make claims on strength, security, and determination is chutzpah on stilts.

That the media still treat these operatives and spokespersons, and indeed the president himself, seriously is witness to their desire for "access" and "sources" rather than their commitment to the truth.

America is today under the steady gaze of billions of the world's citizens and even more under the examining lens of history. Nothing is more difficult than to admit that we made a tragic mistake in selecting our leaders. But that is the first step toward redemption. Absolute rejection of those who lay claim to ownership of security is the next.

We are too old to behave as adolescents any longer. That includes particularly our president. America must grow up. We must redeem ourselves in the name of those who lost their lives unnecessarily six years ago. We must reclaim our dignity and our honor from those who have neither.

And here is my annual perspective check from that watershed time (cut me some slack on my over-the-top newscaster tone).
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Labels: death, facts, histoire, justice, life, madness, martyrdom, milestones, politix, religion, remembrance, terms of enragement, tragedy, turrists, war, weaponry, words

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"A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on Earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference."

– Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, Dec. 20, 1787

Today marks the 215th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Every person in America knows it is comprised of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, some more than others. You furrners know, of course, that as the greatest country in the universe we're pretty proud of James Madison's humble little framework. Despite his advanced age, the Bill (or The Billster, as I like to call him) is still somewhat prominent today, though in a conceptual sense. As I understand, the original was destroyed after two copies were made - one by rolling a big wad of Silly Putty over the parchment, peeling it back and mounting it on the ceiling above Ruth Bader-Ginsburg's indoor pool. There it can only be read by keeping totally still and thinking pure thoughts. The other has the words - and man, there's a bunch of them - etched into granite and placed in Antonin Scalia's billiard room, where hyphenated bitch Justices with lead pipes are expressly forbidden from tinkering with it.

Anyway, Libertarian policy wonk Adam B. Summers writes in today's Orange County Register that the poor old BOR ain't what she used to be. He cites TJ himself in maintaining that among the 10 original amendments, Old No. 10 is the most important of them all, not to mention a damn good sour mash recipe.

Jefferson wrote in 1791:

"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: 'That all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people'. To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible to any definition."

To which Summers adds this analysis:

"The Anti-Federalists (like Jefferson) were, sadly, prescient in their criticisms of government power under the Constitution and the tendency of men and women of ambition to find ways to expand that power at the expense of the governed. The founders must be spinning in their graves. Nearly everything the government does today is unconstitutional under the system they instituted. Governmental powers were expressly limited; individual liberties were not. Now it seems it is the other way around."

What's a poor civilian to do?
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Labels: analysis, Anti-Federalists, gummint, histoire, justice, riiiiights, TJ