More Than One Kind Of Liberal
Actually the question is why.
I listen to the podcasts of a number of talk shows. I was listening to Ed Schultz the other day. Ed ,if you aren't familiar with him, is I believe, the most widely circulated liberal show on the radio. He, at the point of this broadcast, is set to have Nancy Pelosi on so this may have been some of his motivation in framing it this way. I was somewhat bothered by what he said non the less.
He said he wasn't going to spend much time on the torture memos. Wait for it ...Because impeachment is off the table. His point was that no matter what Bush did or what memos came out, impeachment is off the table. Bush can do what ever he wants. He said we might as well talk about sports or something because nothing mattered. Impeachment is off the table.
I certainly understand and agree with his point...to a point. I must though admit to a lot of outrage about the way he talked about this. He totally missed the most essential point.
For me impeachment should be done. The main reason it should be done goes deeper though. We want to maintain law and order. We want to preserve a system of democracy that uses all three branches. We want to be seen as a moral and civilized leader. In other words because IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. That people in the rest of the world see that someone in this country stands up for what is right. That we mess up our country but when it goes wrong we fix it.
That would do more to regain our credibility in the world than anything. It would also give the people of the United States a position that we could be far more proud of than the one we currently have. It's about values and morals. While I appreciate what Ed is saying it is not what is most important to me. People absolutely understand the reasons this is being done. What is important to me is that we all understand the morals and values of what we are doing. Are we enhancing the life of citizens or diminishing it. I like people that frame it like that. Mike Malloy is my favorite. Mike regularly goes over the line gets a little nutso. The thing is, what is important to him are the values that are involved in what we are doing. In that fact we are true breathern.
Tom Hartmann has a little different approach but does a great job. A not real well known guy by the name of Peter Collins is pretty good too. Yes I listen to the right every now and then. For as long as I can stand being stupid. Mike is the only one that is everyday. Check him out sometime. He is here. His hours are 7 til 10 mountain time. That means you might miss Dancing With The Stars.
posted by Ron at 4:13 PM
8 Comments:
You can not depend on the established institutions to take the necessary steps, for whatever the reasons. Aren't there petitions circulating for the impeachment of Bush, Cheney, et al?
Larry in New Mexico
Larry, I think his point is that petitions et al, basically nothing will make it happen and Bush knows it.
My point is we need to appeal to peoples values and morals. We need to point out the violations of the Constitution and why it must all be set right. Let people know WHY. I know it is obvious to people that understand the Constitution and how our system insures justice. It's not so apparent to Rush Limbaugh fans who have no clue and think politics is about people and not fundamental ideals.
I sign the impeachment petitions because I think (in theory) Bush, Cheney, etc. should be impeached. My ex thinks they should be impeached so that Hillary* will know that she can't get away with this kind of stuff when/if she is President. Other than that and whatever other nations think of us, it won't do any good in so far as getting rid of Bush/Cheney, Ron. You know that even if the House votes to bring charges (impeach), The Senate has to try them and we'd have to get a 2/3 majority to remove them from office. It would tie up a lot of the House's and Senate's time and not really accomplish anything. But, if we elect a Dem (except maybe Hillary) they will get no pardons from the next President. Then we can try them for war crimes and treason which we have to do, anyway once they are out of office one way or another.
*HIS problem with Hillary is Whitewater, etc. and the Vince Foster thing where he believes all the rightwing accusations. I don't trust her on account of her hanging around with Gingrich and Murdoch and what's up with that when they spent all those years trying to destroy her and Bill? Makes me that she won't keep her promises once she gets elected, esp. on universal health care since she took campaign funds from the drug companies who don't want UHC.
Speaking of my ex, he insists that the majority of blogs out there are liberal. (I think his definition of liberal is what moderate or conservative means to us.) Based on what you have seen, Ron, are there many more liberal ones or is the vast majority conservative?
Well obviously I seek out the liberal ones more than the conservative ones. He might be right. I don't know. I'm not sure what his point would be. There are plenty on both sides and google and blogrolls make them easy to find. It's not like either point is inaccesable or forced on anybody like radio or tv or newspaper is.
One thing I do note for sure is that conservative blogs are far more likely to not allow comments. If they occasionally do they quickly eject you if you don't say the right things. Liberal blogs almost always allow comment back and forth and usually lets the person comment unless they get to the point that they are totally pointless. It's still mostly all snark on both sides though, unfortunately.
Ron, really good to see all of the new postings. Still hope you are checking here down scroll though.
They are not all exactly "liberal" but when people talk about talk radio, politics, etc. it is still amazing how the Really Big Change is overlooked. For the Times They are A-Changin' And Here
Larry in New Mexico
Larry, I have been spending a lot of time at more popular blogs to challenge more people. By the time I get done writing I am pretty much out. I decided what I needed to do was save what I write and find different ways to include it here. Also looking at video blogging here. As soon as I get off my lazy liberal ass and figure it all out.
Who says Liberals are lazy? Republicans?
Ron, you are a workaholic. We all know that, so don't even go there about being lazy. :-)
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