The Democrats are Punks Revisited

Charles Pierce's post on The American Prospect and Greg Saunders blog "Don't Vote Democrat" on Huffington Post are right on the money.

The Democratic Party allowed some so-called "maverick" Republicans to co-opt the torture issue, and we wind up with Bush getting exactly what he wants: the ability to torture and amnesty for his own human rights offenses.

As Pierce says:

... the Democratic Party was nowhere in this debate. It contributed nothing. On the question of whether or not the United States will reconfigure itself as a nation which tortures its purported enemies and then grants itself absolution through adjectives -- "Aggressive interrogation techniques" -- the Democratic Party had...no opinion. On the issue of allowing a demonstrably incompetent president as many of the de facto powers of a despot that you could wedge into a bill without having the Constitution spontaneously combust in the Archives, well, the Democratic Party was more pissed off at Hugo Chavez.

Saunders has the right idea about what our response should be:

Since the Democrats don't seem to be interested in convincing the public to vote for them, then here's a better idea : This November vote against every incumbent on the ballot. Whether they're part of the Republican, Democrat, or Connecticut for Lieberman parties, throw out the whole damn lot of them. If the choice is between a party that openly supports the destruction of habeas corpus or a party that's too timid to take a stand in favor of basic human decency, then I'd rather just roll the dice and try to start over with a clean slate.

The two-party system is crippling the United States. Between the criminal leaders of the GOP and the wussy punks in the Democratic Party, we are stuck with no decent choices. This is why so many Americans don't vote.

The majority of US citizens polled are against the war in Iraq, but both political parties are trying to figure out how to fight it better. Most of the world (even my often misguided right-wing buddy, Paul Hue) recognizes that torture is bad for business, bad for the US public image, and (HELLO!!!) bad for US soldiers should they be captured on the battlefield, but both the Republicans and Democrats just gave a blank check to this fascist administration.

The worst part is that this so-called "compromise bill" will permit torture, and it will provide protection for US personnel who violate the Geneva Conventions. This not only exempts interrogators from prosecution, but sanctions the actions of the outlaws in the Bush crime family as well.

It is a sad testimony for the Democrats that Bill Clinton is still the only Dem with some cahones! And he stands up only to defend his own record, not to defend the Constitution or the American people.

Where has Clinton been during the last six years? Supporting the war in Iraq, and admitting that he would have invaded Afghanistan himself. Where was Al Gore when his election was stolen and thousands of Americans were disenfranchised? Where was John Kerry when election irregularities in Ohio provided enough evidence that the 2004 election should be contested? Where is Howard Dean? Where is Nancy Pelosi? The Democratic Party is not fighting to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and it is surely a testament that they don't believe it is worth the illegal hemp paper on which it is written.

Okay, I take that back. Cynthia McKinney has cahones, but they sold her out, didn't they?

When will we take a cue from Mexico or the Ukraine or Budapest where the people stand up and fight against injustice in the electoral system when they see it?

Who is going to stand up to these murderous thugs in the Bush Regime? It's obvious that the Democrats aren't going to do it.

It looks like We, the People, are on our own.

To see my previous "Democrats Are Punks" posts click below:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4