teacherken's musings on everything

This is the first post I have made to my own blog since April 14. As a teacher I have been very busy preparing students for the end of year. As a homeowner I have just been through a refinancing. And as an American I have been going nuts with the idiocy of the current administration, but most of my remarks with respect to that final point have been been made on the blogs of others, most usually dailykos.

I do have several thoughts to offer today.

First -- I think the only hope for our soul (that is, our national soul) will be a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a la S Africa. It is perhaps the only way we may ever know the atrocities that have been done in our (American People) names. So long as there is criminal liability, or even tort liability, those responsible will have ever reason to continue with the coverups.

Next -- I think the item in point one will not happen. We have far too many "whited sepulchres" in both major political parties, and among the chattering classes. There is no one to be on point, nor would the press have any real interest without the possibility of scandal, and absent the fear of prosecution and/or law suits nothing seems to have any traction.

Further, we must desperately hope that the blogging movement survives as a way to provide alternative voices, since our press and electronic media are now so centralized among a few companies that truly independent perspectives are almost non-existent. The News division of NBC sees nothing wrong with promoting (on Dateline) NBC engtertainment programs. Dan Rather says with a straight face that the president should simply tell him where to report. Had the press been doing its proper job, some of the atrocities we are now "discovering" might never had happened, or at least would have been exposed long ago.

Finally, for I have many other tasks this evening, the one good thing about the recent reports about Abu Ghraib and other horrors is that it has become far less likely that Bush & co. could be successful in attempting to use the military and the intelligence apparatus to stay in power -- the Army in particular is pissed off, and the CIA knows where the bodies are buried. Thus it becomes just possible that Bush could actually be voted out. Of course, if he were to continue to tank, with his re-elect numbers dropping below 40 while Kerry were to climb over 50% as a selection, the pressure to replace Bush might really become meaningful. After all, the generic Congressional ballot now has the Democrats +13, which would indicate the Repubs losing the House, and we already know that the Senate may also be in play -- Congressional types might well decide to create some distance between themselves and the possible big loser at the top of the ticket. But that is for another post.



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