Democratic Conversation

The American Democratic Party may win back the majority of seats in the House of Representatives in a week’s time. They also may win back majority of the Senate. This would give them a distinct advantage—but not an overwhelming advantage—in legislative matters for the final two years of George W. Bush’s presidential term. This advantage will all be for nothing unless they immediately act on three essential legal points for which they will wield some control.

The first is to repeal the Patriot Act. The second is to fix vote fraud. The third is to immediately conduct impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush. Should Democrats fail to act on all of these, they will have failed as America’s political party that looks after the American people. And if they fail in that regard, there is no more democratic America.

None of these will be easy tasks. Nor may they be fully successful. Repeal takes votes; fixing vote fraud takes votes; impeachment proceedings takes votes. They may not have all the votes needed to accomplish any of these vital needs. But accepting responsibility to fix some of the things George W. Bush and the crypto-Nazi Republicans have perpetrated upon Americans and the world in the last six years will show reasonable thinking people that there is yet hope to sustain America’s democratic experiment.

The Patriot Act must be repealed because it is an affront to the legal and democratic ideals laid down by the original 13 United States’ ratification of the country’s constitution. To list point by point the ills of the Patriot Act is too time consuming. One flaw will be enough. Their exists a clause in the Patriot Act that relinquishes America from any further claim to democracy or righteous defense against despotism. This clause deems the American president sole arbiter on who is or who is not an “enemy combatant.” At this moment, George W. Bush has the power of law that allows him to open the local phonebook from any town in America, put his finger on a name at random, and have that person arrested, locked away, and disallowed an audience with an attorney or judge to plead his case. This is the same power that Saddam Hussein held as dictator of Iraq.

America does not make kings. It does not allow dictators. At least, it hasn’t until George W. Bush used war, fear, harassment, and legislative blackmail to make legal his brand of justice and protection. I mean no irony whatsoever when I point out that Adolph Hitler used those same tactics to establish himself as dictator of Germany in 1933. The Democratic Party can stop this repetition of history with immediacy and strength to show the world that America has not in fact let down all right-thinking, freedom advocates around the globe.

George W. Bush and the Republican Party used vote fraud to bring about Bush’s “election.” But they didn’t do this just once. They did it in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The first happened in Florida, a well-documented case of fraud, subsequently taken up by the Supreme Court, who, through Republican appointments owned a majority of votes on the court, simply disregarded the need for a statewide election redo based on perpetrated frauds. Thus the court appointed George W. Bush as president. The slight of hand happened again in 2004, in Ohio, where rampant fraud perpetrated by intimidation and outright “electronic” ballot box stuffing brought Bush into “elected” office for a second term. The most egregious fraud happened in Ohio precincts which had relied on electronic ballots that gave no receipt of votes caste. These electronic machines were owned and operated by corporations that heavily supported the Republican party. They used inferior software that could be easily hacked, without leaving a trail. And no voter had a record of his or her ballot commitments.

The fraud in Ohio was reported widely by local, state, and national media. Post-election investigations laid out, step by step, how Republican fraud operations gave the state’s electoral college votes to Bush. Thus ended democratic, and democracy’s hope for redress of the 2001 election fraud. And few in America listened; fewer still lent their voice to outrage. The Democratic Party can end electronic ballots that keep no records, give no receipts, and use faulty software, with strong leadership and a plan. They might not win this battle—and Republican cheats will fight to retain their fraudulent practices—but they will have begun a campaign.

George W. Bush needs to be impeached, at the cost of gaining credibility with the world. Bush has been caught in his lies made to the American public—and to our allies, and to the world at large—about his reasons for attacking Iraq and invading that sovereign nation, and for the subsequent deaths of more than 200,000 Iraqis (and rising), and thousands of American deaths (and rising). These lies have been well documented. There is a paper trail, video trail, and scores of official enquiries into his criminal behavior as president. Just one lie makes a president eligible for impeachment under the “high crimes and misdemeanors” clause of the Constitution outlining presidential impeachment. By those standards, George W. Bush should be held for crimes against the American people, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and mass murder. His debacle in Iraq need not have happen. Historians will write volumes on this subject in decades to come. For now, though, Democrats have the chance to show their mettle in this matter. They can immediately begin impeachment proceedings as soon as their House majority—should the upcoming election swing their way—takes effect in January. Articles of impeachment against Bush will show the world that America takes seriously its constitution, and its duties as a nation of laws.

Now, the Democrats have an opportunity, if they regain control of Congress. Election spoils will give them the chance to change the country. However, if the Democrats do nothing on all of these essential legal points that are golden threads woven through the fabric of our jurisprudence, then they will have effectively approved despotism as America’s new means of authority. Despots use the ill-formed laws that came before them to keep themselves in power. Despots build on the laws that have repressed the people to further eliminate their ability to re-establish democratic rule and a system of justice. Despots sweep ills under the rug—ills performed by themselves or their rivals, as George W. Bush has done with lies, war, and murder—to save face in the world. If Democrats do not act in favor of American justice, what chance do Americans, and the United States, have for a democratic future? We will have to see which way Democrats move, if they win back control of the country’s two legislative branches. If Democrats don’t regain control, educated people already understand the direction the country will be headed.

I have little hope for America’s future. This comes from watching its political environment sour into a club mentality: if you’re in, you’ve made it; if you’re out, you are just another sap whom they can take advantage of, steal your money, try to buy your vote through intimidation or hysteria pandering. The judiciary is under attack and stuck in ideological chaos. My concern also comes from knowing history, from understanding that power is always in motion to consolidate itself so that no one and nothing can scratch its armor. Except the people and the laws of a nation. When those laws fail, all is lost. It may not happen for a generation, but it will surely happen. This is what has happened to America since the end of World War II. Slowly. Steadily. And, without immediate changes, inevitably. Anything is possible, however, and in the deep recess of the primordial American mind, change can take place. It cannot come from the outside, and it will not happen without a struggle.