NO HONORS AND NO HONOR

Well, we just finished our GOTV calling party for MoveOn.org Political Action, and during every break we discussed our total disbelief that Bush and the Republicans continue to command such loyal hordes of women, gays and the middle- and lower-classes, despite the fact that the GOP has spent the past thirty years working against their interests and the past six years specifically passing legislation designed to widen the gulf between the super-wealthy and all other Americans, and to limit the choices and freedoms to which Americans can lay claim. Over and over today I heard, "I don't get it" and "What are they thinking?" It was particularly galling to watch poll updates on the cable networks and hear that the Rethugs are closing in on and even leading Dems in races critical to our winning control of the two houses of Congress.

Then I collapsed in the easy chair, picked up the computer, and the first thing that caught my eye was this:

The American Conservative magazine calls Bush a "feckless president" and says, "The GOP must go."

It should surprise few readers that we think a vote that is seen—in America and the world at large—as a decisive “No” vote on the Bush presidency is the best outcome. We need not dwell on George W. Bush’s failed effort to jam a poorly disguised amnesty for illegal aliens through Congress or the assaults on the Constitution carried out under the pretext of fighting terrorism or his administration’s endorsement of torture. Faced on Sept. 11, 2001 with a great challenge, President Bush made little effort to understand who had attacked us and why—thus ignoring the prerequisite for crafting an effective response. He seemingly did not want to find out, and he had staffed his national-security team with people who either did not want to know or were committed to a prefabricated answer.
...
There may be little Americans can do to atone for this presidency, which will stain our country’s reputation for a long time. But the process of recovering our good name must begin somewhere, and the logical place is in the voting booth this Nov. 7. If we are fortunate, we can produce a result that is seen—in Washington, in Peoria, and in world capitals from Prague to Kuala Lumpur—as a repudiation of George W. Bush and the war of aggression he launched against Iraq.
...
On Nov. 7, the world will be watching as we go to the polls, seeking to ascertain whether the American people have the wisdom to try to correct a disastrous course. Posterity will note too if their collective decision is one that captured the attention of historians—that of a people voting, again and again, to endorse a leader taking a country in a catastrophic direction. The choice is in our hands.

Why do these things seem to come so late in the election cycle? Everybody seems to be piling on Bush and the Republican Congress a couple days before the midterms, before they can hardly penetrate the conscious of most Americans. I can't respect or give credit to anyone who decides to finally go on record as opposing the policies and performance of this "feckless" administration when it can hardly do any good, be they neocons, conservatives, or editors.

Why do so many Americans continue to support the Bush-Cheney-Rove-GOP? Because those who know better, wait till too late to say so.

Tags: midterm elections