Okay, I've started caring about the midterm elections again

Posted by Raznor

As pissed off as I am by the spinelessness of the Democrats in Washington right now, I fully agree with Glenn Greenwald here:

But that's all besides the point at the moment, because -- right now -- everyone has to answer for themselves these questions: (1) do you believe that the incalculable damage imposed on this country by the Bush administration and its followers (including in Congress) can be impeded and then reversed and, if so, (2) how can that be accomplished? For those who have given up and believe the answer to question (1) is "no," then, by definition, there is nothing to discuss. You' ve decided that there is no hope, that you're done fighting and trying to defend any of your beliefs and principles, and you're ready to cede the country to those who are in the process of destroying it.

But for those who believe that the answer to question (1) is "yes" (and I believe that emphatically), then the answer to question (2) seems self-evidently clear. The most important and overriding mandate is to end the one-party rule to which our country has been subjected for the last four years. Achieving that is necessary -- it is an absolute pre-requisite -- to begin to impose some actual limits on the authoritarian behavior and unchecked powers of this administration -- because, right now, there are no such limits.

Frankly, I fear that the answer to (1) is "yes". But that doesn't mean that I should act under that assumption.

Right now, I suspect that Democrats have simply handed the Republicans a victory in November by deflating their base. And I'm unsure if even Democratic control of both houses would do much to prevent Bush from doing everything he wants.

But I know with utter certainty that 2 more years of Republican control of the government is more than this country can afford. On one path lies certain death. On the other, merely near-certain death. The other is the path we must take.