Scalito Fatigue and Democracy

In the midst of a truly hellish work week, I'm taking this time out to express my extreme exasperation and frustration with the Democratic party. Hours of possibilities and instead of brutal, grilling type questions, the Senate Dems waste time pontificating. Sigh. I guess that's what I expect these days.

Anyway, I'm totally pissed off at that jackass King George. What a total f*ckstick. Here's a claim:

"Democracy is best served by shutting the f*ck up."

ICBS

King George is getting tired of all the criticism of his little war in Iraq. Apparently, King George thinks Democratic criticism of the war brings, "comfort to our adversaries." The burgeoning constitutional scholar stopped short of using the word "traitor" when describing his Democratic opponents, but one wonders when that particular moniker will make an appearance.

At any rate, it's all a bunch of bullsh*t any way you cut it. So far, the President has employed the following lines when responding to criticism on the war in Iraq:

"We're winning" (laughing hysterically, ICBS)
"Criticizing the war jeopardizes our troops" (because they're all fragile emotionally, ICBS)
"Criticizing the war in Iraq risks our democracy" (because democracy is founded on shutting the f*ck up and doing what your government tells you to do, oh wait, ICBS)

There are more, but that's all I can stomach at the moment. The point is, at every single juncture, King George has attempted to shut down the very elements that are critical to a vital democracy - debate, exchange of ideas, and yes, criticism. When he doesn't have an answer to a particularly thorny question, King George returns to a "loyalty, patriotism, support the troops" mantra that smacks of exploitation and dishonesty. It makes me sick.

We have a King that would prefer to sacrifice the lives of thousands of innocent American troops out of "respect" than debate the mission and exit strategy.

We have a King that would prefer to send our troops to combat without the best available body armor because it's "too expensive" yet we can blow billions on missile defense and Halliburton contracts.

We have a King that has no qualms about upsetting the very fabric of our democracy by continually breaking the law.

This just makes me sick. I've never felt, ever, that the very foundation of the American expirement was in jeopardy before. This last year changed that in me. The fact that most Americans are either not paying attention or are just uneducated to the point that they don't understand the stakes makes me even more afraid.

Someone once said something like, "Tyranny doesn't happen over night. Liberty is chipped away bit by bit, peice by peice until one day, you wake up and realize your rights are gone." I always thought that was a bunch of melodramatic Animal Farm-esque BS. Never again.

Vigilance.