Laws have been broken, the Constitution has been damaged, the
government must be cleansed.

Let's see the Democrats prove that we are a nation of laws. It's time
to introduce the articles of impeachment that have been written for years, lying around waiting for statesmen and stateswomen with enough spine to see them through and a Congress that wasn't just fronting for
a despot. There's a well-worn list - start checking off the names.

Let's see the Democrats rescind the "spies-r-us" Patriot Act. No
tinkering around the edges - the whole thing has got to go. And while
they're at it, let's see them dismantle the 1996 Anti-terrorism and
pro-Death Penalty Act that Clinton signed.

Let's see them restore the right to habeas corpus. Let's see them end
the use of torture by the U.S. military and CIA. Let's see them
dismantle private armies like Blackwater paid for with our tax
dollars, and end the torture rendition of people to countries whose
governments are under U.S. control where they can only dream of justice.

Let's see them declare to the world that the U.S. will no longer try to
overthrow Castro, Chavez, Ortega or any other progressive leader who
stands up to the greed-driven, corporatist U.S. government and tries to bring about better conditions for their people.

Until he's removed from office, let's see them reject every appointment of another war-mongerer that Bush tries to make. Let's see them start with his daddy's old buddy, the new Defense Secretary, an Iran-Contra artifact. Filibuster until January and then vote him down.

Let's see them restore some modicum of respect for the United Nations by showing Bolton the door, and then acting to strengthen and rejuvenate its mission. Darfur awaits.

Let's see them put a litmus test on ALL nominations to the federal
courts: either you're going to strike down anti-civil liberties laws
or you don't get appointed, period.

Let's see them immediately withdraw (not redeploy) all U.S. troops from the Mideast. Moving them from Iraq to Saudi Arabia or Jordan is simply not enough. Get them the heck out of there. It's the only hope for stability in the Middle East. A more critical approach to Israeli aggression may be a pipe dream but without it, blood will continue to flow in Gaza and Lebanon.

Let's see them call a halt to the imperialism of the last 2 decades.
No more US soldiers stationed anywhere outside the U.S. They should be a defense force. Defense of the people of the U.S. is not embodied in offense on behalf of every corporate executive that decides to wave a flag while he steals and exploits from the people in other lands.

Let's see them tie Bush's hands with a law that says the U.S. will never again attack another country in a poorly planned, politically
motivated, pre-emptive war. Let's see them cut the U.S. military down
to the size that serves our needs for defensive purposes as it is intended to be shifting those funds to our poor, sick and disadvantaged.

Let's see them get serious about defending our borders from
terrorists, not peasants risking their lives for a living wage. At
the same time, we don't have to abandon our immigration laws just to
keep our toilets clean. Many immigrants come here to reap the
benefits we enjoy from resources stolen from them in their home
countries as a result of our greed-driven support for their oppressive
dictators. They would not be clamoring to come here if they had
opportunity at home. Foreign aid is not a bad thing, allowing aid
dollars to flow into the pockets of oppressive regimes is.

Let's see them end the abuse of eminent domain. People should feel
secure in their homes and that they won't be stolen and destroyed by
the government for private profit.

Let's see them reverse the subversion of church-state separation and end government enrichment and tax givaways to faith-based organizations.

Let's see them end the whole regimen of high stakes testing in schools
that subjects our young people to a regular racist assault on their
futures.

Let's see them end the current abuse of the legal system that results
in the arrests of some 900,000 people a year for marijuana with the
result that the rich get their records expunged while the poor are
faced with reduced economic opportunities due to their police records and excessive jail time.

Let's see them end the stealing of billions of tax dollars through
no-bid contracting and privatization that has been accomplished by
Cheney's Halliburton and their ilk. The huge chasm in compensation
between executives and rank-and-file workers must be narrowed.

Let's see them restore our commitment to cleaning up our environment by ending the practice of letting industry lobbyists write environmental laws and suppress good science. We need to rejoin the community of nations whose environmental awareness and commitment
seems to dwarf our own.

We still have a chance to see if there really is a difference between
Democrats and Republicans. But the signs are already out there. John
"impeach Bush" Conyers has been told to shut up. And he's obeyed. No
more "impeachment talk" said Nancy "it's time for a change" Pelosi,
and she's going to be the new Speaker of the House. All that talk of
impeachment benefited the Democrats during the election campaign by
making them appear to be anti-Bush, but now reality sets in and we're
now being served up a mik-toast banquet. Eat it at your peril,
America.

Rather than any real pro-people changes, we're probably going to see a lot of posturing, spin control, excuse making and blatant lying about
why they can't do any of these things...and then they'll ask us to
vote for more Democrats in 2008 to "solve" the problem.

The public spoke loudly at the polls but the job is only half done.
We must keep up the pressure to force them to really solve these problems and many others now so the the light of American democracy, so dimmed by Bush and his neocons, can once again be a light unto the world.

Bruce Wilkey
Signal Mountain
bwilkey@bellsouth.net

* * *

Mr. Wilkey,

You sir are exactly the far left, bleeding heart, tree hugging type of Liberal that virtually guarantees that there will never be another Democrat like the ones of my grandparents era. It is obvious from the leftist drivel (of which I feel stupider for having wasted one minute of my life reading), which you spew on the computer that there are indeed Leftist Democrats in this country who will not be satisfied until all of the wealth in this country is gathered in Washington (through higher taxes) and redistributed equally to all of the less fortunate in this country.

The welfare program in this country was always envisioned to be a helping hand up to the downtrodden or disadvantaged, the creators of this program never envisioned it being what Adam Smith claims doesn't exist, a free lunch. You have people who are going on the third generation living in public housing and welfare for no reason other than it pays better than getting a job.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how the country has benefited from the tax cuts put in place by this administration, the Liberal will argue that they only benefit the rich or big business. Newsflash: who do you think employees middle America? When business has more capital they reinvest in expansion and create new jobs, when they are taxed to death they downsize and lay off workers.

I never understood why labor unions were so pro-Democrat, I have seen the slogan the job you save may be your own. However, it is quite the opposite as unemployment is now at it's lowest in history.

Don't even get me started on Iraq or how catastrophic it will be if the Liberal left gets there way on that front. I have seen first hand what it is like in the military with a Democrat majority (downsizing, pay freezes, promotion freezes). You want one example? Somolia, thank you Mr. Clinton the originator of cut and run.

But alas, the elections are over and hopefully after the next two years of typical Democrat Congress I trust the American people will see the light and remedy the situation.

Mark Maynor
USN 1987-1995
markmaynor68@hotmail.com