In The Course of Human Events

Not long ago I joined in on one of those "write your senator" emails that groups like MoveOn send out from time to time. This one was urging impeachment of dick Cheney. It went out to all the reps for our area. Those being Roy Blunt, Kit Bond, and Claire McCaskill, I only had a slim hope for positive response from Claire. The other two march lockstep with W, so I only write them to aggravate them.

Claire did respond, but what she had to say aggravated me. Here's an excerpt:

"I am disappointed with the direction that the Bush Administration has
taken our country, and the Libby Trial raised further concerns about
the credibility and accountability of the Administration's most senior
officials, including Vice President Cheney. However, impeachment
should be used in only the rarest of cases. This country was founded
on the principle that the democratic process is the best means of
choosing leadership - and that is done through the American people and
their right to vote. American voters recently expressed their desire
for a change in leadership by voting a Democratic majority into
Congress. We now have much important work that must be done for
America and impeachment proceedings would consume most of the time,
resources, and energy of Congress with little likelihood of success."

Pure party line bunkum.

I was moved to write a response:

Ms. McCaskill:

That reply just cost you my vote.

There is no more important business than ensuring the safety of the
rights of the people through enforcement of Constitutional law. The
impeachment process was included in the Constitution just for instances
like the illegal and unethical actions taken by the Bush Administration
on several fronts.

I worked for you in the last election. I will work against you in the
next.

Bob Ranney

I must admit, though, that I was glad that she took the time to respond to me – this time. The last time I wrote her it was a hand written letter accompanying an article that detailed the provisions of the much touted oil income distribution law we are leaning on the Iraqis to produce as one of our "benchmarks of progress". For those who haven't read it or who missed my blog on the subject, that "benchmark" requires distribution of oil income to all Iraqi Sunni's, Shiites and Kurds. Sounds good, doesn't it – until you know that this distribution only applies to the 20% of their oil supply that is tappable through their existing infrastructure. The remaining 80% is to be handed over to the major western oil corporations.

Claire never bothered to respond to that one. Maybe it was just too complex for her to follow. Maybe the Dems didn't have a canned response on hand for her to use. Or maybe the benchmark as written fits into the Democratic Party line just as well as BushCo's restrictions on liberty do. You have to wonder why the Dems think the strong executive branch devised and emplaced by BushCo is such a good idea that they won't challenge it. You have to wonder if they plan on keeping the secret prisons for extraordinary rendition open, whether they will continue to condone torture and what they will do with all the surveillance programs that no one is talking about in Washington any more.

I sent Claire's message and my response around to a few friends, by the way, and they – completely on their own – all wrote to her withdrawing their support. I didn't suggest it to them, but I will to you. If you feel the same as I do about this, please write her and tell her so.

Finally, here's a little item that one party to all this sent to me along with the copy of his message to Claire:

On Wednesday the Lou Dobbs poll question on CNN was... "Whether you are Democratic or Republican, do you plan to abandon the party in favor of a third party candidate in the 08 election, or are you at least considering it?"

Of thousands that responded to the poll nationwide, 86% responding in the poll answered "yes."

This, I think, is where the nation needs to go. Unity08 (unity08.com) is working hard at putting together a third party or mixed party ticket and obtaining the right to have it on the ballot for the 2008 election. Check them out and register to vote on the structure of the ticket.

If the numbers in Dobbs' poll are really accurate, we should all vote for the alternative ballot. Even if the slate doesn't get on the ballot in every state, the excluded states could vote via the web instead of on the official ballot and then scream about the comparative results. If the government will not structure elections so that the people can choose and effectively vote for their candidates, then we the people should just do it ourselves and rub their faces in it.

This is the kind of revolt that could show the world that it is the American system that is screwing them just the same as it is screwing us. This is also the kind of revolt that Thomas Jefferson would have been thrilled to see, and, according to his philosophy, it is long overdue.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. -- M. K. Gandhi

Individually we have little voice. Collectively we cannot be ignored.
But in silence we surrender our power. Yours in Peace -- BR

P.S. -- Talk of Impeachment
Bill Moyers Journal
t r u t h o u t | Programming Note

Airdate: Friday, July 13, 2007 at 9 p.m. EDT on PBS
(Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html.)

Talk of impeachment. Bill Moyers Journal explores the talk of impeachment gaining steam as a new opinion poll says nearly half of Americans favor impeachment of the president and more than half want to impeach the vice president.

In the wake of President Bush's commutation of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence, talk of impeachment is gaining steam as a new opinion poll says that nearly half of Americans favor impeachment of the president and more than half believe Vice President Cheney should be impeached. Bill Moyers gets perspective from constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and The Nation's John Nichols, author of "The Genius of Impeachment." Also on the program, renowned poet Martin Espada speaks about his love of language and the human need for poetry as he reflects on how heritage and immigration, and violence and war, have influenced his work.

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