The Price of Shame (Mary Lyon)

[Tace]

Mary Lyon, From The Left -- World News Trust

Feb. 13, 2007 -- It’s THE most powerful force moving and motivating Washington, D.C., these days. It’s not vindictiveness, deceit, greed, or warmongering. But it is what has driven John Warner, Norm Coleman and other republi-CONS to blow hot and cold, Mitch McConnell to obstruct and stall, Harry Reid to whine and scold, Hillary Clinton to bob and weave, Chuck Hagel to throw a tantrum before meekly slinking back in line, Tony Snow to change the subject, Tim Russert to avoid the question, and everyone to pile on Nancy Pelosi’s travel arrangements or run off to hide under Anna Nicole’s shroud and Lisa Nowak’s Depends. At the moment, shame trumps it all.

Frankly, they all SHOULD be ashamed.

I suspect many of them really are ashamed, although unprepared to admit it.

That’s because the truth is busting out all over. The dam has burst over what we in the anti-war movement knew and rallied against, by the millions, ever since 2002. Yes. We the Ignored. It’s now painfully obvious that the books were cooked. The intel was ginned and cherry-picked by that stovepiping operation that shunted unvetted and highly dubious inside scoops straight to the Vice President’s office. Douglas Feith, the Pentagon point man, has now been fingered as the cherry-picker-in-chief.

But we knew that. We knew that before the Downing Street Memos came out amid hardly any fanfare, detailing how the intelligence was shaped to fit policy decisions already made. Many of us knew that before Scooter Libby started deliberately trying to screw Joe and Valerie Wilson.

Shame is driving everyone’s actions and reactions now. Shame is what led dozens of republi-CONS in the House of Representatives to stampede toward Pelosi’s 100-hour agenda items. Every one of those motions passed overwhelmingly. Makes you wonder why, in all their years controlling the House, the GOP couldn’t be bothered with such matters as raising the minimum wage, fulfilling the directives of the 9/11 Commission, or following the wishes of vast majorities of their constituents in supporting stem cell research. Now, of course, you have Hagel and others nearly erupting like volcanoes about the blessings and desperate urgency of holding government accountable. Oh yeah? When did THEY get religion all of a sudden? Accountability never seemed that important to anybody on Hagel’s side of the aisle before.

And now it seems almost everyone on Capitol Hill voted for the war before they voted against it. They absolutely SHOULD be ashamed. “If I knew then what I know now…” Well, if I hear THAT crap one more time, I’ll probably start babbling about orphaned gazillionaire babies more incoherently than does that two-legged nonsequitur Zsa Zsa married.

Well, WE knew then. What was the matter with YOU, Hillary? What was the matter with YOU, John Edwards? At least Edwards has owned up to it. Barack Obama knew enough to smell a rat and he wasn’t even in the Senate back then. So much for high-fallutin’ Washington resumes.

more

http://www.worldnewstrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1182&Itemid=9999

[calimary]

1. Kicking this...

Thanks, Tace!

[Tace]

9. The Only Problem Is...

...you don't write enough of these columns. Chrs

[calimary]

14. Yeah... it's been kinda wild and wooly around casa de calimary

lately. Nothing bad, though, I'm grateful to say.

I shall strive to do much better.

Thanks, Tace! :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

[Dhalgren]

2. Huge kick and a big ol' REC!

Man our elected officials sure were stupid back in '02, weren't they? It is a good thing that they now are less stupid. They are less stupid, aren't they?

[calimary]

5. Hey, THANKS!

Well, I'd sure like to THINK they're a little smarter now. But if they were, why'd they be fiddling around with non-binding crap?

Y'know, sometimes you've just gotta take the bull by the horns...

BTW - in that spirit, found another TOLL FREE Capitol Hill switchboard number: 1 (866) 340 - 9281. It's in my sig line now, too.


:hi:

[patrice]

6. They were either too stupid to see through what millions of

us could see through AS it was coming down in 2002 - Or - They aren't that stupid and they DID see through it, but voted for the possibility that thousands of Americans and 10s of thousands of innocent Iraqis would die for _________________?

This IS the basic problem and don't let anyone try to shame us into NOT saying so. Those who do try that don't understand why we have serious TRUST issues with all of the powers that be who voted Yea on IWR.

They gambled with OUR LIVES for something that no on can - or will - identify and I for one will NEVER forget.

:rant:

[calimary]

7. Rant ON, my friend! I won't forget, either!

WE knew. WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THEY????

All other things being equal, it's the one decisive issue that tips the scales for me - over to Obama. Part of me ardently wants to support Hillary, but she voted for the war, and that's a deal-breaker for me, I'm afraid. Of course, if she winds up being our candidate, I'll support her, but this one's the big hurdle they all have to jump. Feingold knew it. Kucinich knew it. Howard Dean knew it. A select few others did, too. And Obama wasn't even in Washington yet, and he knew it.

I'll never forget what former MP George Galloway said - or rather, barked - in that Senate hearing to smarmy normie coleman: "Everything you said about the war turned out to be wrong and everything we said about the war turned out to be right." And he just sat there like a wart on a toad and gaped, completely slack-jawed. Oh yeah, and then he boldly and courageously adjourned the committee meeting. Had ABSOLUTELY NO comeback. Then, OR now.

[patrice]

11. Thanks calimary & Dahlgren.

I'm tired of being told "they didn't vote for the war" like we're too dumb to understand what happened.

I really just want the respect of being told honestly what the ________________ REALLY was.

They're saying it was to give Bush a stick to force compliance with the inspectors and they were fooled. First off, wouldn't someone having to make this decision ask themselves why the Nays aren't Yeas. And then . . . . Even if you weren't paying any attention whatsoever to folks like William Pitt and Scott Ritter or alternative intelligence professionals, and, hence, thought Bush might really try to get compliance, how could you guess the probability of that succeeding in actually obtaining compliance if you didn't know enough about the weapons situation to guess the probability of WMD actually being there or not. And if you don't have enough of that (even hypothetical) information about WMD, why are you taking this risk in the first place, *unless* *it* *doesn't* *matter* *if* *you're* *wrong*!!!!

I'm sorry; I don't know if I'm describing this right. I wish one of those games theorists would work it out for us.

I could still support some of these folks if they'd just have enough respect to talk about it honestly.

No, I've backed off of Impeachment for "more important goals". That shows I can go along to get along, but this strikes too close to what "we" Democrats are and I'm not shutting up about it.

[ClassWarrior]

15. You've backed off IMPEACHMENT?? But you want to condemn THE DEMS??

I'm sorry. I haven't read Mary's article yet, so I can't comment on it, but there's something PLAIN WRONG with what you're saying.

I fully believe we need to hound our elected reps' asses till they end this illegal occupation once and for all. But to say they were "stupid or complicit" ignores a very fundamental third option. They were in a life-and-death dilemma.

I cite Randi Rhodes' recent broadcasts in which she pointed out that our reps faced the IWR with the sound of one word - "nu-kyu-lurrr" - ringing in their ears. Now dammit, maybe you and I would have been more cavalier with the knowledge that the frickin' Office of the President of the United States was claiming - beyond the shadow of a doubt no less - that Iraq had nuclear weapons.

But these people weren't. They did what they thought was necessary to protect their citizens with the best of intentions. How any Progressive can believe anything less is beyond me. And YES, they were WRONG. Wrong, wrong, wrong!!! DEAD WRONG. And WE NEED TO REMIND THEM OF THAT ALWAYS. But if you really think about this and you can still call them "stupid or complicit," SHAME ON YOU.

And what's with backing off IMPEACHMENT?? Bush/Cheney** is the real culprit you're so desperately seeking to blame.

NGU.

[patrice]

17. I'm calling them to account honestly. I'm not condemning them.

The things you assume in that characterization make you appear suspicious.

If the IWR yeas have something useful to say, I want to hear it. They're not going to reach for that if we don't demand it.

It's up to them, whether they condemn themselves by playing various games.

All of us had that word, nuclear, ringing in our hears. We made different decisions. Those differences matter; I will not be told that they don't. I cannot make responsible choices without knowing what the differences are. I will NOT just trust whoever is handed to us.

[ClassWarrior]

18. But that's the point. Their decisions were life and death. Ours weren't.

I doubt there's ANY WAY for you and I to understand the magnitude of the pressure that was on those people. So I don't know that there's any way for us to judge their character on the basis of that single vote. And I do know this - it sure doesn't come down to anything as simplistic or fatalistic as "complicit or stupid."

And I'm calling them to account honestly as well. But we have to have to listen to them fairly, intelligently, and empathetically too. Of course, that's what makes us Progressives, isn't it?

B-):thumbsup:

NGU.

[patrice]

20. Oh, but I think our decisions concerning this sort of thing ARE

about life and death; it isn't just hypothetical. We don't have the control of resources that Congress critters have, so we don't have the same kind of power they have, but we are part of the whole thing that is called the U.S.. We put them in office, so we share the consequences of the choices that are made. This is part of my objection to what happened; we are morally complicit, whether we agree with it or not.

[Dhalgren]

8. Dead on, patrice! Dead on...

[Auggie]

3. I'll kick

[calimary]

12. And I'll say THANKS!

:hug:

[Sydnie]

4. Whacking this thread back to the top n/t

[calimary]

16. Thanks, sweetie!

Much love to your son, also! Great Valentine's Day heart-warmer here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=205361&mesg_id=205524

[midnight]

10. This is a very good read. Did you right this Tace?

[calimary]

19. Glad you liked it!

:toast:

[Tace]

22. Midnight: This Is DU's Calimari...

You'll find her commenting all over this thread. This is a somewhat regular column of hers that appears on a few different sites. : )

[brer cat]

13. We knew.

Where were they?

Thanks Mary, another great post.

K&R

[calimary]

25. Yes. WE KNEW.

What the hell was wrong with THEM??? The same information we saw was available to ANYONE who spent even a few minutes scratching the surface.

Obama spoke of the question of judgment. A MOST astute, AND important, observation. Perhaps the ultimate litmus test for '08 - and beyond.

[Doondoo]

21. K&R

[calimary]

26. Thank you! And Welcome to DU, btw.

I see you just jumped onboard. Glad you're here! Never a dull moment!

:toast:

[DeepModem Mom]

23. A K and an R!

[calimary]

27. As Joe Pesci once said at the Oscars after winning for "Goodfellas,"

"It's my privilege."

HUGS to ya DMM!

[bobbolink]

24. I don't even know what to say anymore.

I didn't have my hopes up for the Dems, like so many did, so I'm not really surprised at the spinelessness.

But, I'm disgusted, and... well, there's nothing I can do about it, so I just focus on other things.

But the lack of action by the Dems doesn't bode well for the future.

Just like * wasted the world's goodwill after 9/11, now the Dems are wasting the passion of this country that fueled their rise to power in the congress.

SHAME?? Yeah, AT LEAST!!

[calimary]

28. It does indeed make you wonder what the hell they REALLY think they'll

accomplish with these nice, flaccid non-binding resolutions.

I hate to find myself in agreement with some of the republi-CONS who ask those of our people who REALLY want to stop the war why they don't just come flat-out and try to STOP it? I wonder that, myself. Rather than the tip-toeing and pussy-footing.

We were watching Olbermann tonight and my husband leaned over to me and asked - with all the crap surrounding bush now, and everything that's coming out, WHY IS THERE NO IMPEACHMENT MOVEMENT BEING LAUNCHED AGAINST HIM IN CONGRESS??? He pointed out, too, that Clinton had all sorts of that shit to deal with - and for SO much less.

Makes me BOIL.

:grr: