Ashes, Ashes, Part 2

The Articles of Impeachment brought by Rep. Kucinich can now be read on his website. Whether this is the most politically well-timed move or no, this act makes Kucinich the most patriotic member of Congress.

Reason And Loss

A VT professor responds to Dinesh D'Souza's efforts to use the VT massacre as light artilery in his personal culture war, and demonstrates the kind of class and courage we all wish we could rely on possessing under such circumstances:

We atheists do not believe in gods, or angels, or demons, or souls that endure, or a meeting place after all is said and done where more can be said and done and the point of it all revealed. We don’t believe in the possibility of redemption after our lives, but the necessity of compassion in our lives. We believe in people, in their joys and pains, in their good ideas and their wit and wisdom. We believe in human rights and dignity, and we know what it is for those to be trampled on by brutes and vandals. We may believe that the universe is pitilessly indifferent but we know that friends and strangers alike most certainly are not. We despise atrocity, not because a god tells us that it is wrong, but because if not massacre then nothing could be wrong.

Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down

The Great Unraveling continues, as news reaches us of Rep. Kucinich's intent to file articles of impeachment - against Vice-President Cheney.

Which of course is where it makes sense to begin. As much as we admire Rep. Kucinich, at this late stage a waiting strategy has undeniable merit. With the '08 elections looming, Republicans are abandoning the administration in rafts, and the last great hope for a Republican victory would be the ironic charge that Democrats 'circumvented the 2004 election'. Left to their own devices, they will simply unravel and embarass themselves further.

Now, if it were still three years ago, this would have been a much better idea. While we can discuss the merits of 'sending a message' or taking a moral stand, we've all been shouting the message for years now. And our moral stand will count for nothing if we allow the Bush family and their business associates to continue to occupy the White House.

I'd Like To Walk Freely, Myself

Determined that we should 'Get the full picture' about the state of Iraq, and to prove that anyone could 'walk freely' in certain areas of the most secure city in the country, Sen. McCain took an hour-long walk through the Green Zone - just him, his bulletproof vest, 100 soldiers, 3 Blackhawks and 2 Apache attack helicopters.

Less than half an hour after he wrapped up the press conference, the area came under mortar fire.

They Supported Withdrawal Before They Opposed It

Senator Russ Feingold brings up a piece of recent, but still forgotten history:

The amendment offered by Sen. John McCain on Oct. 15, 1993, would have eliminated funding for operations in Somalia immediately, except for funds for withdrawing troops or for continuing operations if any American POWs/MIAs were not accounted for.

The Senator has more to say about defunding the war.

Not a single member would ever vote for any proposal that would jeopardize the safety of our troops. Using our power of the purse to end our involvement in the war can and would be done without in any way impairing the safety of our brave servicemembers. By setting a date after which funding for the war will be terminated -- as I have proposed -- Congress can safely bring our troops out of harm's way.

Actions And Consequences

As the Iranian hostage crisis continues to garner tense news coverage, the Independent fills in a gap in the popular narrative:

Early on the morning of 11 January, helicopter-born US forces launched a surprise raid on a long-established Iranian liaison office in the city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. They captured five relatively junior Iranian officials whom the US accuses of being intelligence agents and still holds.