liveonearth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
liveonearth) wrote2006-12-31 08:31 am
liveonearth) wrote2006-12-31 08:31 am
Entry tags:
Forgiveness and Democracy
I've been learning history from listening to the tributes to President Ford after his death. I was a child when he served. Now I understand more about him and I am grateful that he was a president of this nation. It is widely believed that he was not re-elected because he pardoned Nixon. Lots of people have something to say about that decision. It isn't possible to know the true content of his thoughts when he made that decision, but I find myself among those who think that perhaps it was not the right choice.
This morning on the radio I head VP Cheney praise Ford for making the right decision in pardoning Nixon. This does not surprise me. Cheney is a scoundrel no less than Nixon. Should anyone consult the record, the evidence is abundant. Cheney and his puppet president could be found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. He hopes to be forgiven as Nixon was, in the name of healing the nation.
At this point in the development of the United States of America I believe it is more important to work to regain the integrity of our democracy, and the reputation of our nation in the eyes of the world. This cannot be done by sweeping things under the rug and going on. If we pretend that nothing happened, and elect another corporate president, the world will know that we the people are still asleep. Our wealth and resources have been hijacked to serve the construction and military industries. Impeachment would tell the world that we are serious about regaining our national integrity. We cannot afford to allow our government to destroy its own legal foundation.
Unfortunately Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is another compliant corporate Democrat. I knew it by her grade-school criticism of Chavez's spirited attack on W. More recently she said that impeachment is "off the table", and pledged to work with the scoundrels. She is not the fighter that we need to bring responsibility to the people back onto the federal table. The masses are carefully managed to maintain their uninformed consent, and she is quietly playing along.
There was a time when I might have suspected that McCain, if elected, would turn things around. But I have since learned that he has also sold his soul to corporate interests. If elected he would perpetuate our path toward annihilation. If anyone knows of candidates who have the guts to stand up against the widespread corruption, in spite of the fact that they will be smashed by business, please let me know. If we can sneak a few of them into positions of power, perhaps this democracy could become real again instead of just nominal.
The natural lifetime of a democracy has been established by history, and ours has peaked and is well down the decline toward fascism. Never has a democracy recovered from this pattern. So perhaps it is fruitless to even speculate on how to alter the predictable pattern. But I cannot help but to hope that the scoundrels will be brought to justice, and the people will rise to a new awareness and build a society greater than any that existed before.
More predictably we can anticipate escalating terrorism on our part and others', continued willful waste of our resources, and the eventual destruction of most of human civilization as well as many planetary bystanders. The survivors will start over, and if history is any indication, the lessons will remain unlearned.
For some reason, this bleak future doesn't bother me. It is interesting to watch the progress of history being made. What makes our situation unique is the progressing depletion of fossil fuels. Hard times are coming for our planet, but I will be dead and I have no children. I feel for people who have invested their lives in rearing progeny who will endure the hard times to come. They must have hope, because it is the nature of life to hope and fight for the survival of its own. I hope too, but it is a more detached version. I wish that the Mayans were right, and all living humans would attain enlightenment in 2012. But I don't believe it.
This morning on the radio I head VP Cheney praise Ford for making the right decision in pardoning Nixon. This does not surprise me. Cheney is a scoundrel no less than Nixon. Should anyone consult the record, the evidence is abundant. Cheney and his puppet president could be found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. He hopes to be forgiven as Nixon was, in the name of healing the nation.
At this point in the development of the United States of America I believe it is more important to work to regain the integrity of our democracy, and the reputation of our nation in the eyes of the world. This cannot be done by sweeping things under the rug and going on. If we pretend that nothing happened, and elect another corporate president, the world will know that we the people are still asleep. Our wealth and resources have been hijacked to serve the construction and military industries. Impeachment would tell the world that we are serious about regaining our national integrity. We cannot afford to allow our government to destroy its own legal foundation.
Unfortunately Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is another compliant corporate Democrat. I knew it by her grade-school criticism of Chavez's spirited attack on W. More recently she said that impeachment is "off the table", and pledged to work with the scoundrels. She is not the fighter that we need to bring responsibility to the people back onto the federal table. The masses are carefully managed to maintain their uninformed consent, and she is quietly playing along.
There was a time when I might have suspected that McCain, if elected, would turn things around. But I have since learned that he has also sold his soul to corporate interests. If elected he would perpetuate our path toward annihilation. If anyone knows of candidates who have the guts to stand up against the widespread corruption, in spite of the fact that they will be smashed by business, please let me know. If we can sneak a few of them into positions of power, perhaps this democracy could become real again instead of just nominal.
The natural lifetime of a democracy has been established by history, and ours has peaked and is well down the decline toward fascism. Never has a democracy recovered from this pattern. So perhaps it is fruitless to even speculate on how to alter the predictable pattern. But I cannot help but to hope that the scoundrels will be brought to justice, and the people will rise to a new awareness and build a society greater than any that existed before.
More predictably we can anticipate escalating terrorism on our part and others', continued willful waste of our resources, and the eventual destruction of most of human civilization as well as many planetary bystanders. The survivors will start over, and if history is any indication, the lessons will remain unlearned.
For some reason, this bleak future doesn't bother me. It is interesting to watch the progress of history being made. What makes our situation unique is the progressing depletion of fossil fuels. Hard times are coming for our planet, but I will be dead and I have no children. I feel for people who have invested their lives in rearing progeny who will endure the hard times to come. They must have hope, because it is the nature of life to hope and fight for the survival of its own. I hope too, but it is a more detached version. I wish that the Mayans were right, and all living humans would attain enlightenment in 2012. But I don't believe it.