One more look at "The Table" --

[omega minimo]

The Madame of the house sits with Democratic elites and Republican lites. On the table is "Habeas Corpus Surprise": roasted Constitution with a mangled Bill of Rights stuffed in its mouth. Candles are lit, soft music plays, glasses are raised. The discussion is very civilized and non-partisan, since the only party that matters is the party they are at.

A large picture window looks down on Madame's estate, where the base uninvited have gathered. Trying to get Madame's attention, they wear "Free Speech" across their chests. They build all kinds of things in the garden. They hang clothes from the trees.

The trees have been broken, branches are missing: the legislative branch supports Madame's table of elites, the judicial branch is in the invisible hands of the corporateers who emerge from the depths of Madame's mansion. Together they use the executive branch to club the shrunken government, gasping for air in the bathtub.

The elites and the lites have finished the meal and prepare for entertainment. The legislative leg is removed from the table, which tilts toward a hole in the floor. The leavings from the table are swept away, as the party surges to the window to watch.

An opening appears in the mansion wall above the base. A chute emerges and funnels the party’s leavings into a trough in the yard full of signs. The base pick through the trough for something of value, finding shreds of parchment amongst trampled Rights: a “We The” here ... a “People” there ...

The party lites and elites view with amusement as the alarmed base scramble to retrieve shreds and scraps of meaning from the slimy trough. Bits of vellum and ink are worth nothing against the stacks of gold, the spigots of blood and treasure controlled from above by the power of the purse.

The base collect the scraps of their inherited commonwealth, turn their back on the party, the elites, the lites and go to build a new table.





"What people fail to understand is what happens when you go down that slippery slope we've gone down... regarding our civil liberties... people keep saying "We'll get them back, we'll get them back later" but it's very difficult to climb back up that hill... " -- John Dean on Randi Rhodes show 10-10-07

"You can just imagine my neighbors' reaction to all this. If they were poor and they were sleeping on my sidewalk, they would be arrested for loitering. But because they have 'Impeach Bush' across their chest, it's the First Amendment. ... So I'm well aware of the unhappiness of the base." – Nancy Pelosi “has candid talk with reporters” 10-10-07

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/10/MNTJSN2A7.DTL&hw=pelosi&sn=001&sc=1000

More concerned about angering the neighbors than representing the American people and defending the Constitution, unable to give a believable answer as to why impeachment is “off the table,” will Madame Speaker and other Democrats be surprised when millions more of the base no longer support Democrats or even bother to vote?

The above is a slightly revised OP from 3 years ago:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2025522