At this time last week I was discussing intimate details with two congressional staffers about their occupations and freshman boss (from a state that shall remain unnamed).
It's a little creepy. The truth.
They were exhausted from a day on The Hill when roughly 70 amendments were made to a spending bill. To paraphrase their paraphrase, it went something like this: Republicans would get up and say, "let's cut (insert name) taxes." Then it would be voted down. Democrats would get up and say, "let's find a way to fund (insert cause)." Then it would be voted down.
The other impressive thing they've noticed is in two parts. The first is the alarming absence of any senator on the senate floor during "the speeches." Seriously, watch CSPAN some time, you'll see what I mean. They are never there. Where are they? Meeting with constituents and lobbyists and attending committee and sub-committee hearings. Two, and no big shock, they don't write their own speeches. They are written by twenty-somethings who paw through old speeches and pull quotes. At least, hat is what this twenty-something told me, who spent the better part of the day pawing through old speeches and pulling quotes. What I found more interesting is that the senator (maybe it was a congressman) didn't even see the speech until 15 minutes before curtain. Strange.
Those speeches are aimed not at influencing the other senators or congressmen (because they aren't in the chamber), but instead to look good for the small-town paper "back home."
This explains why so many speeches are dispassionate before the latest catch phrase that toes the party line: because the twenty-something does not want to be fired. The greatest show on earth, folks. Democrazy in action.
Showing posts with label Democrazy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democrazy. Show all posts
Friday, March 30, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The Definition of Failure: Democrazy
Not to get on a rant here, but prior to the House passing a bill that would bring the troops home by Sept '08, Tony Snow mouthed to the press how that was a recipe for failure... Has this administration defined failure?
Defining THEY as the administration who propagated this war:
1 - They failed on the intelligence which got us into the bloody thing.
2 - They failed to maintain the Iraqi army after "gaining control" of the country.
3 - They failed to maintain public utilities.
4 - They failed to secure the borders.
5 - They have failed to prevent the looting of precious and priceless cultural artifacts from Iraqi institutions that reflect the culture of Iraq, the cultures of Islam, and the culture of human civilization.
6 - They failed to hire adequate staff members to get the ball rolling and instead chose party-loyal cronies.
7 - They failed to hire local labor, contracting it out to American Big Businesses (also party-loyal), which lead to:
8 - Failure to maintain or improve the Iraqi economy, which has been spiraling south.
9 - They have failed to maintain order within daily civil discourse.
10 - They have failed to maintain a police department in several major cities.
11 - They fail to prevent the violent deaths of about 30 Iraqis a day.
12 - They fail to prevent the deaths of about 8 American soldiers a week.
13 - They fail to prevent the kidnappings of about one journalist or foreign aid worker a week.
14 - They have failed to work with the neighbors of the Iraq.
15 - They have failed to work with the International Community to gather support for the war.
16 - They have failed to establish and maintain a stable government within the country.
17 - They have failed to understand the differences
a - between Shiite and Sunni,
b - between Al Queda and Saddam,
c - between Radical Islamic Jihadi Fundamentalism and Soviet-Era Cold War aggression.
18 - They have failed to really determine the source(s) of the insurgency and how to communicate with them.
19 - They have failed to maintain quality intelligence.
In the film The Fog of War, Robert McNamara underlines the fact that the war in Vietnam, prior to heavy US involvement, was a Civil War between the North and South Vietnamese and not a war of Chinese Communist Aggression. We did not know this because no one was directly communicating with the North Vietnamese.
Maybe I am missing something. How else can we possibly fail? How can we pull victory from the jaws of defeat? George Will stated in a June Newsweek op ed how Iraq is the result of lines drawn in the sand at the end of the First World War, and that the clumsy shaping of that country then has beeen partly the cause of a century of strife in that neck of the woods.
I'll define what failure means to this administration: It is the realization that it is impossible to bring a country Democracy by force. Democracy is an act of the people, by the people, and for the people. To impose it, like some Crusading Christian Conquistador, is democrazy.
Defining THEY as the administration who propagated this war:
1 - They failed on the intelligence which got us into the bloody thing.
2 - They failed to maintain the Iraqi army after "gaining control" of the country.
3 - They failed to maintain public utilities.
4 - They failed to secure the borders.
5 - They have failed to prevent the looting of precious and priceless cultural artifacts from Iraqi institutions that reflect the culture of Iraq, the cultures of Islam, and the culture of human civilization.
6 - They failed to hire adequate staff members to get the ball rolling and instead chose party-loyal cronies.
7 - They failed to hire local labor, contracting it out to American Big Businesses (also party-loyal), which lead to:
8 - Failure to maintain or improve the Iraqi economy, which has been spiraling south.
9 - They have failed to maintain order within daily civil discourse.
10 - They have failed to maintain a police department in several major cities.
11 - They fail to prevent the violent deaths of about 30 Iraqis a day.
12 - They fail to prevent the deaths of about 8 American soldiers a week.
13 - They fail to prevent the kidnappings of about one journalist or foreign aid worker a week.
14 - They have failed to work with the neighbors of the Iraq.
15 - They have failed to work with the International Community to gather support for the war.
16 - They have failed to establish and maintain a stable government within the country.
17 - They have failed to understand the differences
a - between Shiite and Sunni,
b - between Al Queda and Saddam,
c - between Radical Islamic Jihadi Fundamentalism and Soviet-Era Cold War aggression.
18 - They have failed to really determine the source(s) of the insurgency and how to communicate with them.
19 - They have failed to maintain quality intelligence.
In the film The Fog of War, Robert McNamara underlines the fact that the war in Vietnam, prior to heavy US involvement, was a Civil War between the North and South Vietnamese and not a war of Chinese Communist Aggression. We did not know this because no one was directly communicating with the North Vietnamese.
Maybe I am missing something. How else can we possibly fail? How can we pull victory from the jaws of defeat? George Will stated in a June Newsweek op ed how Iraq is the result of lines drawn in the sand at the end of the First World War, and that the clumsy shaping of that country then has beeen partly the cause of a century of strife in that neck of the woods.
I'll define what failure means to this administration: It is the realization that it is impossible to bring a country Democracy by force. Democracy is an act of the people, by the people, and for the people. To impose it, like some Crusading Christian Conquistador, is democrazy.
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