Legacy
I was one of the buyer/blogger/readers who pre-ordered Glenn Greenwald's new book A Tragic Legacy - and had ordered and read his first book: How Would a Patriot Act?
Greenwald is, simply and clearly, the most important political writer in America today. There is no other voice that speaks with his measured clarity and cuts all the way through the corruption, incompetence, and lies that have come to define political life in the United States.
And I'm going to review the new book, once I finish it. But what really struck me today was the "crushing defeat" of Georgie's immigration bill. That was to be his legacy bill. Immigration was to be the thing he did right and could point to in his dotage as something that he didn't bring to utter desperate ruin.
It was his own party that did him in. Reactionary racist rightists have had it their way for so long that they now believe that it was up to them all along. That the Bush Junta was using racial language and policy because Rove and the boys actually believed it - not just to keep racial minorities away from the voting machines.
Not that Rove's brownshirts are not racist - you can't run elections in the South the way they have and not be racist. It's just that power is their bag, and they will let their loathing of non-whites take a back seat to getting something done.
Which is why they compromised with Democrats over the bill. I still don't think the Dems should have played along - they should have pushed their own bill - but it's still not terrible. A terrible bill is what the extreme rightists want.
That bill would be the one where people would be allowed to come to the US as a permanent slaving underclass with no rights and frequent expulsions. That's just a few Cossacks short of a Pogrom. And meanwhile in this Mad Maxian future hell, the border would be built up and armed.
If they did that, they might want to arm both sides - lots of people would be trying to get out of the dystopic former "land of the free."
This bill goes a bit toward allowing illegal immigrants the ability to follow a path to citizenship. Why not? They've done the dirty work to earn it.
But the former Junta loyalists call this "amnesty" and forgiveness is not in their creed (other than for corporate tax cheats and other wealthy donors). So they stopped the bill.
Whatever you think of the legislation, it's startling to see how the rightists have left Georgie - and Greenwald points out so powerfully in his book. I was actually skeptical that the repudiation was as widespread as he claims, but this is proof.
What will be the legacy of this highway pile-up of an administration? And what is left for them to do? The rest of the term will be about resisting (further) the will of the American people by fighting the subpoenas of their elected representatives in Congress.
And ginning up a war with Iran.
Greenwald is, simply and clearly, the most important political writer in America today. There is no other voice that speaks with his measured clarity and cuts all the way through the corruption, incompetence, and lies that have come to define political life in the United States.
And I'm going to review the new book, once I finish it. But what really struck me today was the "crushing defeat" of Georgie's immigration bill. That was to be his legacy bill. Immigration was to be the thing he did right and could point to in his dotage as something that he didn't bring to utter desperate ruin.
It was his own party that did him in. Reactionary racist rightists have had it their way for so long that they now believe that it was up to them all along. That the Bush Junta was using racial language and policy because Rove and the boys actually believed it - not just to keep racial minorities away from the voting machines.
Not that Rove's brownshirts are not racist - you can't run elections in the South the way they have and not be racist. It's just that power is their bag, and they will let their loathing of non-whites take a back seat to getting something done.
Which is why they compromised with Democrats over the bill. I still don't think the Dems should have played along - they should have pushed their own bill - but it's still not terrible. A terrible bill is what the extreme rightists want.
That bill would be the one where people would be allowed to come to the US as a permanent slaving underclass with no rights and frequent expulsions. That's just a few Cossacks short of a Pogrom. And meanwhile in this Mad Maxian future hell, the border would be built up and armed.
If they did that, they might want to arm both sides - lots of people would be trying to get out of the dystopic former "land of the free."
This bill goes a bit toward allowing illegal immigrants the ability to follow a path to citizenship. Why not? They've done the dirty work to earn it.
But the former Junta loyalists call this "amnesty" and forgiveness is not in their creed (other than for corporate tax cheats and other wealthy donors). So they stopped the bill.
Whatever you think of the legislation, it's startling to see how the rightists have left Georgie - and Greenwald points out so powerfully in his book. I was actually skeptical that the repudiation was as widespread as he claims, but this is proof.
What will be the legacy of this highway pile-up of an administration? And what is left for them to do? The rest of the term will be about resisting (further) the will of the American people by fighting the subpoenas of their elected representatives in Congress.
And ginning up a war with Iran.
posted by fiduciary at 12:35 PM
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