Whoever said “Ignorance is Bliss,” was Crazy
I should be euphoric. Instead I am suffering a great sadness.
Today I walked the halls of the Longworth House Office Building tracking down Congressmen and women on behalf of my supporters and the impeachment movement.
Oh, what a day; what an education! It is in these halls and behind these thick dark brown wooden doors that history is made. I could only imagine that eager, proud, reverent, people would be at work here trying to make the US a better place to live and to make the US a better world citizen. I could only imagine the seriousness of purpose and the heavy, unbearable weight of responsibility pressing down on these inhabitants. Of course I know better, I sometimes do read the newspapers, but I don’t want to believe that working in these buildings is just doing a job, or having a decent gig for awhile, or it’s just some idea of a cool place to work.
Given the legislation that has come out of here over the last several decades, I really have no right to hang on to any illusions of greatness or that there is any felt burden of responsibility to future generations, the environment, world peace (that’s been relegated to beauty contestants), or alternative futures of any kind. We’re on track to self-destruct from rapacious greed and that’s just that. No, this is purely a place for business as usual.
For a long time history seemed to be on a progressive trajectory. After all, progress is what America has been about – until recently. And I know there are exceptions. There are always exceptions. I know a few. And I know how frustrating it must be. But collectivey they have little to show for what history has demanded of them. This body seems stuck.
Today I was face to face with the reality of Congressional offices and walked away really worried. I visited about 20 offices and collected first impressions of how members of the House of Representatives present themselves to the world. Being unannounced and only bearing a message from a few of their constituents, I did not have a chance to meet any of the Congresspeople, but the responses I did receive would have made a great segment on candid camera or America’s home videos. Typically I was told: “She isn’t here…he’s not back yet…he’s in a meeting…he’s on the floor.” No, that wasn’t a joke, it means he’s in the House of Representatives, even I knew that. But it is what happened next that was so shocking. It was the virtually unanimous ignorance shown by staffers regarding their employer’s position on the impeachment issue and their inability, or unwillingness, to find out.
One Congressman , Zach Wamp, a more or less typical Republican right winger, was actually in his office. But he refused to see me. Instead I was stuck with his…I’m not sure of her title, maybe assistant, maybe receptionist, maybe intern, Malinda. She was a faithful guard dog cum gatekeeper, I’ll give her that. But she was completely oblivious about the Congressman’s position on impeachment and was surprised I would find that strange. Not only that, according to her the office didn’t have a statement; no one knew his position, or maybe they just didn’t want to find out. Maybe it was so obvious, they thought it must be a trick question. They seemed young enough to worry about trick questions. It was as if no one in his district in Chattanooga, Tennessee, had ever suggested that he support H.Res. 333, or wrote in voicing an opinion about the impeachment of Cheney – or Bush.
My visit to Wamp’s office was shocking. It was so odd that someone – even an intern – would not know their Congressperson’s opinion on the Bush/Cheney impeachment efforts, not know how to find out, and not be embarrassed about their ignorance that completely caught me off guard. I know, I know, he’s a Republican member of Congress, what was I thinking? To them the truth is completely situational, it’s OK for Republicans to lie, steal, cheat AND violate the Constitution. It’s just not OK for the Democrats to do so. Impeachment? That’s for Democrats, isn’t it?
I could see that Malinda was uncomfortable because I was standing there incredulous. “Hmmm,” I imagined her wondering, “Is that an issue?” Apparently not, according to faithful Malinda. She wasn’t alone, either. The man who took a place at the computer at the nearby reception desk didn’t know the Congressman’s position on impeachment either. It simply didn’t exist or was too arcane for normal conversation.
I know what you’re thinking. “He’s a Republican, John, don’t you get it? Constitution? What Constitution? His position IS obvious.”
One look at his website gives you a clue – he’s all in favor of a Constitutional Amendment to protect the flag; very concerned about protecting religious freedom in China by supporting athletes’ rights to bring Bibles to the Olympics; recreational boaters not having to buy permits to allow for “non-harmful” discharges that occur through “normal” boat operation; the “right to life;” and, completely privatized health care, so it should be a good bet that he is not bothered by the behavior of this administration.
Turns out, Malinda was right. It is, for all intents and purposes, judging from my visits, and random checks of Reps websites, a non-issue. That means there is no need to even index it, or comment on it. While Vermont’s own Peter Welch shares a statement with Senators Leahy and Sanders about ongoing investigations into no-bid contracts, the reasons for the war, the use of Republican Party e-mails in the White House and the firing of US Attorneys, this sounds very much like the Democratic Party line. In person, as you know, Welch considers impeachment best left alone. And, of course, I didn’t see one byte of information about impeachment on Wamp’s website. My guess is, it isn’t on a lot of web sites besides Kucinich’s and Wexler’s and a few others. Only those who have made it an issue see it as an issue. The silence of the lambs is, again, simply deafening.
After all my questions, Ms. Malinda smiled and said, “Thanks for coming by,” as she dismissed me with a well worn script after simply running interference for the Congressman. She put out her hand to shake mine, but I was too distraught; my skin crawled. Instead, I recoiled seeing her gesture as somehow a death lunge, a push out of the office, not an act of sincere southern hospitality.
It didn’t get much better the rest of the day.
At Capuano’s office, I was met with some sympathy for my journey and cause but again, the staff member attending me seemed more attuned to a TV monitor than our conversation. Did she know the Congressman’s position? “No I don’t….Thanks for coming…Have a nice day.”
At Emanuel’s office. A self-identified intern said “It’s not my policy area.” His concern was constituent relations.
At John Hall’s office, two staffers simply didn’t know. The one at the reception area was sitting next to an open closet with piles of copies of the Constitution. At this point I broke out in a sweat and, frankly, was getting a little ill. I looked into the eyes of ignorance that seemed to scream back at me, “so what?”
At Congressman Holt’s office I was refered to Chris, his Press Liaison who was aware of my walk, in large part, I think, because he mentioned Mary Ellen Marino’s frequent calling with impeachment updates. That was a unique experience. There were two more. One was, Rep. Shay’s office that actually gave me a copy of his position (opposed). His was the one and only office of the 20 I visited to do so.
But the cake goes to a staffer without a name in the office of Rep. Olver. She knew his position and communicated it clearly if haltingly, gathering her words carefully so that she didn’t misrepresent him. She said he believed impeachment was counter productive and divisive even though he doesn’t support the administration .
She was articulate and knowledgeable; the first of the day. I told her how impressed I was, that she was the first to actually know where her member of Congress stood on the issue. I wanted to take her picture. She got scared, as if she had done something wrong! She left her chair to get the Press Liaison but that couldn’t be arranged. “Gee,” I said, “I seemed to have offended you.”
“Yes,” she replied.
Now I was really worried. Was speaking to drop-ins against the rules? Was knowing about the positions held by your boss and talking about them inappropriate? Has every utterance become a matter of strategy, nuance and spin that only designated individuals are allowed to speak? I said, “I didn’t mean to offend you. I was actually complimenting you.”
She wasn’t satisfied. She said, awkwardly, but unconvincingly, “Yes, OK.”
I wasn’t sure she understood I was complimenting her on her knowledge and helpfulness and said again, “Really, it was a compliment.”
She sat back down and resumed her work with an expression of “Now, please go away.”
Left: Rep Shays’ office actually had a statement on impeachment that the staff shared. Right: Rep Olver’s staff won the prize for most informed and willing to show it. (Your eyes are fine, this is out of focus. I must have been shaking either with excitement because of the unique experience or dread that the staffer felt somehow weird in handling the situation well.)
Maybe I needed to bring flowers or Super Bowl tickets, but after today’s experience, I’d conclude that staff are way too ignorant to be the public face of a Congressional office, nowhere else would it be tolerated. Or, as in some cases, they were too new to their jobs, perhaps because turnover is high, or they were simply too scared to misspeak. I hope there are other reasons because this state of affairs depressed me greatly. A serious sadness overcame me at Congressman Wamp’s office and just never left.
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January 23rd, 2008 at 10:53 am
Hi John,
In case you missed it … our leaders’ lies are now fully documented.
You might want to ask Queen Quiet Nancy if the following will help in putting IMPEACHMENT back on-the-table and holding Kinky King Knucklehead accountable for his reckless behavior.
“Study: Bush Led US To War on ‘False Pretenses’
“A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks…
“The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them, or had links to al Qaeda, or both.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/23/6551/
Thank you for your work, John!
Albert
Boston, MA
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
John,
I read your blog above anticipating that there might be news of some genuine concern from behind one of the doors upon which you knocked. I cannot say that I was surprised at the reception that you received in most cases, yet I was surely troubled by the cavalier attitudes and/or lack of knowledge that most of the mouthpieces there exhibited.
I am somewhat pleased that you encountered a receptionist in Rep. Olver’s office who at least could articulate her boss’ position on matters political. I have to say that her fear of photography seemed to rival that of various primitive tribes where such Kodaking is considered “soul-stealing”–you may be lucky that she didn’t cause a stir by voicing her fears in a wavering scream and diving through the panes of the nearest window. Perhaps she was even the one who typed out the email that I received from Rep. Olver yesterday (1/22), the body of which I will copy and paste below (names and addresses withheld to protect both the guilty and the innocent) :
January 22, 2008
“Thank you for contacting me with your support for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and/or Vice President Richard B. Cheney. I appreciate learning your views.
In 2002, I voted against the resolution to use military force against Iraq because I did not believe that President Bush presented ample evidence that Iraq posed a threat to our nation’s security. It has now become clear that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction and that the Bush Administration manipulated intelligence to gain support for the war.
During the 109th Congress, I cosponsored H.Res.635, a resolution that would have created a select committee to investigate the Administration’s intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment. H.Res.635 was not voted on during the 109th Congress.
This Congress, Representative Dennis Kucinich has introduced H.Res.333 to impeach Vice President Cheney for high crimes and misdemeanors. H.Res.333 states that the Vice President purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress about a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests.
On November 6, 2007 Representative Kucinich raised a question of the privileges of the House and offered a resolution, H.Res.799, to impeach Vice President Cheney. H.Res.799 incorporated the text of H.Res.333. I voted to table the resolution, a procedural vote to halt debate, and the bill was later referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, where it now awaits consideration.
While I feel the same outrage and distrust clearly felt by those who want to launch impeachment proceedings against the Vice President and President, I believe that the 67 Senate votes constitutionally required to remove either of them from office cannot be achieved in the 110th Congress. I want an end to the war in Iraq and a robust reassertion of Congress’s co-equal authority in decision-making and ensuring compliance with federal law, and I believe that a significant change of U.S. policy can be achieved by repeatedly challenging the President legislatively on Iraq and other matters, even without a veto-proof majority. With growing bipartisan support for legislative efforts to draw down U.S. military forces in Iraq, there will be repeated opportunities to enact legislative reversals of President Bush’s disastrous foreign policy. It is also critical that the 110th Congress spend time on other issues, like reforming immigration, improving education, expanding and improving health care coverage, curbing global warming and restoring and strengthening civil liberties. With close majority-minority ratios in both the House and the Senate, some bipartisanship is also probably necessary to address these challenges, and I support doing what is necessary to achieve successes in these areas.
I have and will continue to support investigations to hold the Bush administration accountable for its conduct. I want many of President Bush’s policies to be permanently reversed, and you can be assured that I will work to achieve that end in the shortest amount of time possible.
Again, thank you for contacting me. Please continue to let me know your thoughts on matters of concern to you.”
I suppose I had harbored some sort of hope that Rep. Olver would read my letter calling for the impeachment of the president & v.p., round up a posse of fellow congressmen with torches and pitchforks, and storm off in the general direction of the White House with the purpose of taking names and kicking butts. Well, at least I have his assurances that he will be thinking in the right direction. I hope so.
At the least, I deeply appreciate that you are following your convictions with action. And, I believe that your efforts are becoming more widely noticed. It seems that I’m reading about more and more revelations about Bush and Cheney that expose them for what they are. Hopefully, our ranks demanding impeachment will grow. I think they will.
Keep the faith,
CSDaniels
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
John I just seen this on CNN News website and knew you would want a copy.
Study: Bush, aides made 935 false statements in run-up to war
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush and his top aides publicly made 935 false statements about the security risk posed by Iraq in the two years following September 11, 2001, according to a study released Tuesday by two nonprofit journalism groups.
President Bush addresses the nation as the Iraq war begins in March 2003.
“In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003,” reads an overview of the examination, conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and its affiliated group, the Fund for Independence in Journalism.
According to the study, Bush and seven top officials — including Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice — made 935 false statements about Iraq during those two years.
The study was based on a searchable database compiled of primary sources, such as official government transcripts and speeches, and secondary sources — mainly quotes from major media organizations.
The study says Bush made 232 false statements about Iraq and former leader Saddam Hussein’s possessing weapons of mass destruction, and 28 false statements about Iraq’s links to al Qaeda.
Bush has consistently asserted that at the time he and other officials made the statements, the intelligence community of the U.S. and several other nations, including Britain, believed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
He has repeatedly said that despite the intelligence flaws, removing Hussein from power was the right thing to do.
Don’t Miss
Bush ties Mideast peace effort to fight on terror
Ex-aide: Bush, Cheney involved in misleading media
The study, released Tuesday, says Powell had the second-highest number of false statements, with 244 about weapons and 10 about Iraq and al Qaeda.
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Press Secretary Ari Fleischer each made 109 false statements, it says. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz made 85, Rice made 56, Cheney made 48 and Scott McLellan, also a press secretary, made 14, the study says.
“It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al Qaeda,” the report reads, citing multiple government reports, including those by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the 9/11 Commission and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, which reported that Hussein had suspended Iraq’s nuclear program in 1991 and made little effort to revive it.
The overview of the study also calls the media to task, saying most media outlets didn’t do enough to investigate the claims.
“Some journalists — indeed, even some entire news organizations — have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical,” the report reads. “These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, ‘independent’ validation of the Bush administration’s false statements about Iraq.”
The quotes in the study include an August 26, 2002, statement by Cheney to the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction,” Cheney said. “There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.”
That is under politics.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/23/bush.iraq/index.html
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Ex-aide: Bush, Cheney involved in misleading media
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/21/cia.leak.mcclellan/index.html?iref=newssearch
Bush ties Mideast peace effort to fight on terror
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/05/bush.radio.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
And thank you and your family for all the long tireless hours of effort you and so many others have put forth trying to help all of us to have a better country. And a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
John,
First, thank you for your extraordinary courage and effort. I am trying hard here not to lapse into writing a screed all churched up with praise that would just be a Hallmark attaboy statement of congratulations. I do not think that would mean much to you, nor would it do justice to the significance of your actions. You and your accomplishments deserve more.
To be honest, I never have been a politically astute voter. Frankly, politics have always been an onerous subject for me—more of a necessary yet boring topic. I was ordinarily not the type wont to thoroughly research neither an issue nor a candidate, and I was usually content to garner my information from popular news sources. I rarely delved deeper. I thank you for encouraging me to do more than that these days. You have shown me that I truly cannot afford to sit idle while my America is being attacked and ravaged from within. Cocktail party debates and coffee table discussions and bumper stickers may be “feel good” things, but they are not going to make things right. Especially in these times.
When I first learned of you and your intentions late last year, my first reaction was to dismiss you as one more well-meaning yet ineffectual critic of our government. I suppose that I held the same fears as many other American citizens—that terrorists had attacked us, that they were determined to destroy us; yet, I also held onto the same old blind faith that somehow our leaders would magically “save the day”, and we all could again breathe a deep breath of relief and go about our lives. Although the process has been going on for several years, I was largely ignorant of the critical—and sinister—changes that our Constitution and our Executive, Congressional and Judicial branches of government have been undergoing. You have shown me that it’s serious this time. Dead serious.
Although I have always held a basic distrust of big government, I cannot recall any time in my life during which my fears have been so concretely confirmed than during this era that we live in. The warning signs for me started with my viewing of George W. Bush’s presidential acceptance speech. As I watched this man stumble and struggle with the simplest of concepts and phrases, I became more and more concerned that somehow we as a nation had elected an ignorant, self-serving, and arrogant clown. As time passed, I found myself embarrassed that this dolt was our chief executive (lower case letters mine). Even today, I find that it is too painful for me to view/listen to a speech that Bush is delivering. To borrow a description from a recent editorial that I read, I am stricken with a sort of “temporary Tourette’s”, and I begin to curse uncontrollably at the spectacle, even going so far as to question Moon Boy’s parentage, his dismally inadequate intelligence, his knack for effecting the dumb look that a cocker spaniel might give you as he searches your face for your understanding, your forgiveness, even your approval after he has crapped all over the carpet and torn your slippers to pieces. Inevitably, I turn off the TV and treat myself to a written version of the speech at a later time. It’s somewhat healthier for my blood pressure.
Then there were the horrific events of 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, the pitifully inadequate response to the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina, and of course the gradual but certain erosion of our Bill of Rights. After reading it twice, I now doubt the validity of the 9/11 Commission’s Report; I now realize that my fears that our invasion of Iraq was not justifiable are even understated in light of the manifold confirmations that this illegal act of war was taken based on faulty and untrue “intelligence” that has been characteristically defended by Bush and Cheney with outright lies. I have come to see that dame Barbara Bush’s careless remark that the Katrina survivors huddled within the Louisiana Superdome were “better off” than they had been in their previous lives explained the arrogant attitude of her privileged idiot son over same, as he remarked, “Good job!” to his pal “Brownie”. I have come to see that this administration would have no qualms about removing the rights and freedoms guaranteed to us in our Constitution, and attempting to restructure our government so that it amounts to little more than the sort of military/industrial dictatorship that President Eisenhower warned us against as he left office in 1961.
It was through your web site that I became acquainted with Naomi Wolf’s “The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot”—a book that should be required reading for high school history students. You have also inspired me to read and reread “The 9/11 Commission Report” and a nice reference companion, “The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11″ by David Ray Griffin. If someone were to further press me, I would also send them off in search of “Fates Worse than Death” by Kurt Vonnegut, and also “Kingdom of Fear” by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (approach the latter with both caution and tolerance). It was your web site that informed me of Congressman Wexler’s efforts, and also the web site, http://www.VoteToImpeach.org. For these things alone, I have much for which to thank you.
I thank you for reminding all of us that we cannot afford to be passive and complacent. Changes occur faster than ever before in today’s world. We no longer have the elements of time and distance to allow us the breathing room that we used to have before the evolution of the global systems of information and communication that we now take for granted. It is requisite more than ever that we stay informed and be ready to act if our existence as a democratic and free nation is jeopardized, either externally or from within. We no longer have the luxury of time. We no longer have the luxury of inaction.
And last, I thank you for reminding all of us that the American Revolution and the framing of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights was pulled off by a group of radical revolutionaries who were willing to risk everything, including their lives and the lives of their families and friends, to establish a nation where men and women could thrive without fear of oppression. You, through your words and actions, have shown us that it is indeed our DUTY to preserve the integrity of our democratic republic, lest it become some foul counterfeit of itself where FEAR should govern our actions, and not intelligent reason. I—all of us—owe you our sincerest gratitude.
Godspeed,
CSDaniels
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Hi John and everyone here,
it’s great that you document all of this so we can all help by calling Wimp’s office, telling them about your efforts and everyone elses efforts to stand up for the Constitution then ask him where he stands. (We all know where he stands) but the point is to get him to state his views publicly…He can go down in history as someone who stood by and let our Constitution be shredded and let our power-hungry President and Vice President continue their illegal and brutal policies…by ignoring our constitutionally mandated power of impeachment.
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
John, cannot wait to hear how you do at Rep Wally Herger’s office (he’s my rep here in Northern CA).
David