TRYING TO AWAKE FROM THE NIGHTMARE-- A TIME FOR ACTION

-by Mags

That global warming is a fact, and that it is caused by humans is front page news these days. The Iraq war, by all accounts, is going badly and might lead to... dare I say it... all out war in the Middle East. The rich are reaping the benefits of "tax reform," and George Bush just signed an executive order giving his appointees (read political puppets) final say in what is prosecuted and what is not in agencies such as OSHA and the EPA. The great economy that Bush keeps touting as his shining achievement is imaginary by most accounts, though our budgetary deficits and trade deficits can be seen clearly. The GOP and the administration are dropping like flies to charges of corruption, and one can only hope that the Scooter Libby trial will prove to be the Achillles heel for those who outed a CIA agent whose job it was to provide intelligence on WMD's in order to do political damage to her and her husband as retribution for telling the truth, George Bush was lying us into war.

I know I am leaving a lot out here. This is like painting a picture on a small canvas using a paint roller instead of a brush. The details of all Bush's dealings and dirty dealings are too numerous, and too nauseating to elaborate upon. It is, afterall, our home and our country which we find in these desperate circumstances. If we do not awake each morning wondering if George Bush has bombed Iran in the night while we were sleeping, we are not paying attention. And, if we do not go each day about our business wondering if or when he will declare himself Supreme Commander here in this country as he so often reminds us that he is the Commander in Chief of our troops (our sons, daughters, wives, husbands, and mothers and fathers) then we are reading his actions, his body language, his demeanor without an eye for detail.

That George would rob the national treasury was a no brainer. That George would be at war in the world, again, a no brainer. Big Business gaining ever increasing deregulation and power over life and property was inevitable. So many of us on that fateful Dec. morning in 2000 (just get over it) saw all of this coming. But, there is no joy in being right, no none at all. And, now, as I see all of my own fears writ large, not just in the minds of the American people, but in real black and white mainstream headlines, I wonder now what it is we are to do.

This, it seems to me is no longer about politics, but indeed a battle for our survival as a people and as a nation. The darkness we see around us today no matter how dark, is nothing like the darkness that will surround us if George Bush sets fire to the entire Middle East. Even conservative commentators, those who could not fellate W nearly enough as he handed over the keys to the kingdom in his early years, are saying that we cannot economically survive such a war. Cramer of Kudlow and Cramer insists that an attack on Iraq brings us overnight $5 a gallon oil, a price that would drive our economy to its knees. And, a military already stretched to breaking from shortages in the field and too many tours of duty will likely break. What then? Who will defend us from the madness of the King when that happens? Who will account for all the innocent lives lost for one man's mental illness, one man's need to save face.

And, that they would in the face of that, drop a nuclear bomb is no longer unthinkable... and THAT is unthinkable.

The Constitution is in tatters to the point that a co-equal branch of government now stands fearfully wondering how to rein in a madman. We might as well say it. Only a person equally mad would deny the truth that has become so obvious, so blatant. George Bush is flaunting his power. He has no boundaries any longer. His signing statements and his recent executive orders, his head strong plan in Iraq solely designed to deflect his own political and tactical shame leave us no room for doubt. George Bush is a criminal and a tyrannt. His staff are at best lackeys and at worst treasonous bastards. His party, greedy beyond the limits our sense of decency will tolerate. Even out of power they are hypocritical and self-serving.

How easy might it have been to demand the votes be counted. How easy it might have been to demand accountabilty in the run up to the war (sticks and stones and all that jazz). How easy might it have been for the media to ask the real questions to hold Bush to the answers. How easy it might have been to peel back the layers in the beginning, to report the truth about his governorship in Texas, his family's history of greed and powermongering. To have followed the law and the dictates of good sense in the beginning, would not have changed the character of George W. Bush, he was already a ruined soul, but it would have changed the character of the world we live in. There is plenty of blame to go around.

And, yet, this is where we find ourselves. The world that George Bush has created is dark. It is impossible to tell which corner of his world is darker. It is an absolute absence of light.

Each night and day the cable news trots out the coming presidential candidates as if it is the headline of the day. It is nearly two years until the election. More and more it looks as if we are engaging in a collective daydream of better times ahead, new leadership... any leadership. But, as we move through our days, I cannot help but wonder if George Bush will ever relinquish his throne.

Words like "bipartisanship" and measures like nonbinding resolutions are way too late in the game to matter now. Even as Congress schemed and "sent shock waves through the White House" George Bush ratcheted up his own plans and tightened his control over the armed forces and over us. I believe the time is now. Censure, nonbinding resolutions will be DOA. The actions we need now are no longer politically safe ones for those who hold office. At this point what is needed is courage that matches the courage we expect from our military on the battlefield because that is what is required if we are to confront what Mr. Bush has done. He has moved the battlefield here to our streets, to our government, to our institutions. He has placed himself above you, me, Congress, and our sacred history. He has declared himself to be America. He has decided (and he takes this power very seriously) that he is above not only our national and international laws, but that he is above ALL law, ALL sensibility and civility.

I am not sure where the first move must be made, but our lawmakers need to come to terms with the fact that it-- removal of George W. Bush-- must begin. Time is running short. People's lives are bleeding away, real people who had every right to live are victims of the madman's machine. There will be no clipping of Bush wings. That much should be obvious. How he is to be restrained... is a battle that should have been fought a few years ago. The plan ought to have been laid early on, just in case. This leopard has never changed his spots and he never hid, at least not with any success who he really was. His actions from the day he seized the highest office in this country have been consistent.

George Bush, the guy half of America wanted to have a beer with, is at the helm. He is not a nice guy. He is not a good person. He does not value life. He is not a hero. He is not looking out for this country. These things did not happen because George is a bungler, these things happened because George W. Bush is a highly flawed human being. He is full of greed and lust for power. His actions show us a clear picture of a lawless sociopath. The time to debate who he is and why he has done what he has done is long over. It does not matter.

Because most of us are sane and basically honest, we cannot imagine the world of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rove, that world of lust for unlimited power, a world where people are but pawns. But, even if we cannot put ourself in that frame of mind, we can no longer deny that they have that frame of mind.

It is time for action. The American people voted for action. We voted for Congress to lead the way. The time is NOW. You must lead. We will follow. And, if we must do something, sound a clear clarion call for our actions. No more nuance. The time is now to oppose this dark Regime in the light of day.