When the Democrats — who I thought were the good (or at least the anti-Bush, and pro-Constitution) guys — took back Congress in the last election, I was overjoyed. I thought we’d see an end — finally — to the Bush administration’s recklessness and lawlessness that’s made me feel ashamed to be American. Of course, the Democratic leadership has been a pathetic, embarrassing, contemptible, miserable failure, and now we see that not only have they enabled Bush’s insanity, they’ve been willing participants, helping him and Dick Cheney feed our constitution into the shredder. Yesterday, for the first time in ages, I felt my faith in our government begin to return, and I have Chris Dodd to thank for it.
It’s been depressing to watch our Democratic congressmen — the very ones we all worked so hard to put into the majority — do nothing to slow Bush’s destruction of what it means to be American.
I still don’t understand why Harry Reid will honor Republican holds and do back flips to make Mr. 24% happy while he extends a hearty “F you” to Senate Democrats, the Democratic party, and now the vast majority of Americans who are begging congress to do something — to do anything — to stop this tyrannical lunatic before it’s too late to save our country.
It is outrageous that Senators Clinton, Obama and Biden are asking for our votes, but are unwilling to provide leadership now. If they won’t stand up for the principles we all hold dear when they’re trying to earn our votes, how can we expect them to do it once they’re in the White House? Leadership is doing the right thing when it’s risky and when it’s unpopular. (And how depressing is it that upholding your oath of office is risky and unpopular? How doubly depressing is it that the only people who think that — and the only people being listened to — are Joe Klein, the DLC consultants, and the rest of the pundit class?)
Well, as a complete idiot once said: Fool me once, can’t get fooled again.
John Edwards has inspired the hell out of me with his message of hope for America, but Chris Dodd has shown real leadership on one of the most serious issues we’ve faced lately with telco immunity. While the other Senators have talked a good game, Senator Dodd actually did something when his country needed him.
I wanted to share my letter to him here, in the hopes that somehow it will find its way into his hands.
Dear Senator Dodd,
I doubt you’ll get to see this personally, as you’re very busy campaigning and defending our constitution from, well, everyone in government, it seems.
I hope a staffer will convey my immense gratitude — not only as a Democrat but as an American — to you for respecting your oath of office, and standing up to defend the very values that have made America great.
I sent e-mails and I made phone calls yesterday, but you stood up on the floor of the Senate and did something no other Democratic candidate for president seems to be willing to do: you were a leader. You stood not only with the base of our party, but with the vast majority of Americans who want the recklessness of this lawless president brought to a halt.
Your real leadership has inspired me and many others I know who have lost faith in our government, but especially in the Democratic party.
Best of luck to you in the primaries, and thank you for restoring a little bit of my faith in America.
Sincerely,
Wil Wheaton
Pasadena, CA
“You might one day leave the west coast and join the rest of America”
Wow, buildersent, it’s amazing how your math skills think that less than half of the country counts as “the rest of America”. I guess those schools in the red states must be really *top notch*
If you think you are in the majority, you’re the one drinking the kool-aid. Have you even paid attention during the last two elections?
And by the way, the East Coast agrees with the West Coast. It also happens that the ten states with the highest levels of education have been unanimously blue for the past 8 years… all coastal states, btw.
Sooo… you’re one of them “blow ’em all out of the water and let God sort ’em out” people? You must be. You’re obviously racist since you seem to lack the capacity to understand that EVERYONE is in favor of getting rid of our enemies. The problem is knowing who they are. Not everyone with brown skin who worships differently than you is a terrorist. Show me proof that someone is a terrorist and I’ll gladly step aside and let you wax your hard on by killing him.
By the way, I’m not a democrat or republican. I’m in favor of a true democracy, where everyone has a voice and anyone can attain political office. Not this Capitalist Republic farce where the only way to be heard is money and nepotism.
Think that last comment was overboard? Ask Alan Greenspan, former Secretary of the Treasury under your precious burning bush and see what he thinks. You know, the country’s top economist? As soon as he no longer had Bush editing his comments, he came right out and said if you’re not a millionaire, you’re fucked in this country.
And ask yourself this: yeah, there have been a lot of terrorist attacks since 9/11… all in Iraq, and all since we invaded. And I’m all about fighting terrorists. What you fail to realize is that there were NO terrorists in Iraq prior to our occupation. So you can stop beating that dead horse, your pathetic bleating has lost its luster. No amount of harping those lies is going to make them true.
Take some lessons on Middle East culture. You’ll find out that they don’t trust outsiders, with good reason. Westerners have been consistently butting into their business for the last millenium. That’s why they hate our interference… all of it… for the last 50 years. That’s why no amount of brute force is EVER going to make the region settled.
Perhaps some further education on your part is necessary? Oh wait, it wouldn’t do any good anyway, since even you agree that Bush has been working to kill education in this country.
“You might one day leave the west coast and join the rest of America”
Wow, buildersent, it’s amazing how your math skills think that less than half of the country counts as “the rest of America”. I guess those schools in the red states must be really *top notch*
“You might one day leave the west coast and join the rest of America”
Wow, buildersent, it’s amazing how your math skills think that less than half of the country counts as “the rest of America”. I guess those schools in the red states must be really *top notch*. If you think you are in the majority, you’re the one drinking the kool-aid. Have you even paid attention during the last two elections?
And by the way, the East Coast agrees with the West Coast. It also happens that the ten states with the highest levels of education have been unanimously blue for the past 8 years… all coastal states, btw.
You must be racist since you seem to lack the capacity to understand that EVERYONE is in favor of getting rid of our enemies. The problem is knowing who they are. Not everyone with brown skin who worships differently than you is a terrorist. Show me proof that someone is a terrorist and I’ll gladly step aside and let you wax your hard on by killing him.
Yeah, there have been a lot of terrorist attacks since 9/11… all in Iraq, and all since we invaded. And I’m all about fighting terrorists. What you fail to realize is that there were NO terrorists in Iraq prior to our occupation. So you can stop beating that dead horse, your pathetic bleating has lost its luster. No amount of harping those lies is going to make them true.
Take some lessons on Middle East culture. You’ll find out that they don’t trust outsiders, with good reason. Westerners have been consistently butting into their business for the last millenium. That’s why they hate our interference… all of it… for the last 50 years. That’s why no amount of brute force is EVER going to make the region settled.
Perhaps some further education on your part is necessary? Oh wait, it wouldn’t do any good anyway, since even you agree that Bush has been working to kill education in this country.
“You might one day leave the west coast and join the rest of America”
Wow, buildersent, it’s amazing how your math skills think that less than half of the country counts as “the rest of America”. I guess those schools in the red states must be really *top notch*. If you think you are in the majority, you’re the one drinking the kool-aid. Have you even paid attention during the last two elections?
And by the way, the East Coast agrees with the West Coast. It also happens that the ten states with the highest levels of education have been unanimously blue for the past 8 years… all coastal states, btw.
You seem to lack the capacity to understand that EVERYONE is in favor of getting rid of our enemies. The problem is knowing who they are. Not everyone with brown skin who worships differently than you is a terrorist. Show me proof that someone is a terrorist and I’ll gladly step aside and let you wax your hard on by killing him.
Yeah, there have been a lot of terrorist attacks since 9/11… all in Iraq, and all since we invaded. And I’m all about fighting terrorists. What you fail to realize is that there were NO terrorists in Iraq prior to our occupation. So you can stop beating that dead horse, your pathetic bleating has lost its luster. No amount of harping those lies is going to make them true.
Take some lessons on Middle East culture. You’ll find out that they don’t trust outsiders, with good reason. Westerners have been consistently butting into their business for the last millenium. That’s why they hate our interference… all of it… for the last 50 years. That’s why no amount of brute force is EVER going to make the region settled.
Perhaps some further education on your part is necessary? Oh wait, it wouldn’t do any good anyway, since even you agree that Bush has been working to kill education in this country.
“You might one day leave the west coast and join the rest of America”
Wow, buildersent, it’s amazing how your math skills think that less than half of the country counts as “the rest of America”. I guess those schools in the red states must be really *top notch*. If you think you are in the majority, you’re the one drinking the kool-aid. Have you even paid attention during the last two elections?
And by the way, the East Coast agrees with the West Coast. It also happens that the ten states with the highest levels of education have been unanimously blue for the past 8 years… all coastal states, btw.
You seem to lack the capacity to understand that EVERYONE is in favor of getting rid of our enemies. The problem is knowing who they are. Not everyone with brown skin who worships differently than you is a terrorist. Show me proof that someone is a terrorist and I’ll gladly step aside and let you wax your hard on by killing him.
Yeah, there have been a lot of terrorist attacks since 9/11… all in Iraq, and all since we invaded. And I’m all about fighting terrorists. What you fail to realize is that there were NO terrorists in Iraq prior to our occupation. So you can stop beating that dead horse, your pathetic bleating has lost its luster. No amount of harping those lies is going to make them true.
Take some lessons on Middle East culture. You’ll find out that they don’t trust outsiders, with good reason. Westerners have been consistently butting into their business for the last millenium. That’s why they hate our interference… all of it… for the last 50 years. That’s why no amount of brute force is EVER going to make the region settled.
I read the salon article and found it to be very insightful.
I think that many people need to be informed on this issue and what is attempted to be done (immunity/telco protection). I also think there are other equally important issues to be deal with. The common thread is leadership and accountablity. We need to assert the checks and balances that our constitution provides.
I am a big reader of Manga, especially Masamune Shirow. and Mamoru Oshii. I’ve always had a knee jerk reaction to “american empire”. I catch myself now wondering if their insight wasn’t correct.
I applaud his efforts and look foward to see what happens next and what WE can do to support his efforts.
Hey Wil,
After retrospection, I feel the need to apologize. Your blog is not the place for me to go on a political tirade.
bhagczech, you didn’t say anything wrong. You were very eloquent and very right. people don’t realize the history of the Middle East. The British failed miserably at trying to change the region years ago. There’s a reason why there is a saying “Those who do not learn their history are doomed to repeat it.”
Hey bhagczech
I didn’t say one word about Iraq? I stated Islamic Terrorists.
SInce 9/11 the US policy is one of being proactive and not reactive. Had 9/11 not happened, Iraq would not have happened.
Dem’s and Liberals are socialists with a socialistic agenda. The west coasters are out of touch with reality and need to join the rest of the US. If you’d care to lump in East Coasters, that’s fine by me.
The wars are not about making the middle east stable, it is about killing our enemy. The stability part is a hope.
War is a needed evil after we have been attacked. The job of the President is to have the enemy killed before they can kill us. Bush has done a good job, not great, in fighting the wars we are in and as he stated on 9/11, the war will last beyond his Presidency.
Bush is right, Cheney is right and the Democrats are simply wrong.
Last I checked, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, so why did we attack them? Afghanistan was a given because they harbored bin Laden. 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi. Did we attack Saudi Arabia? We were sold a war based on lies. Were there WMD’s in Iraq? Nope. The experts said there weren’t any, but the right went in anyway. Then we were told it was to bring democracy to Iraq. You don’t bring democracy at gun point. If we were to spread democracy to every nation with a dictator we would have to attack some of our so-called friends as well. We’re not the world police and the president ran on a “No Nation Building” platform, yet that is exactly what we’re supposedly trying to do.
Buildersent:
Since I worked so hard to make my main point obvious, I can only presume that you purposely ignored it because you have nothing to contest it.
Like most conservatives (and that includes Democrats, who I consider to be conservative-lite), when backed into a corner by logic you try to work around it by purposely missing the point.
My entire point, which you ignored, is that you are NOT the majority any more.
Unlike you, most of Bush’s supporters from the early days are finally seeing the writing on the wall and joining those of us who prophesized all this from the beginning.
So your asanine statement to Wil about “Join the rest of America” is fundamentally flawed. Just because you have faith in your convictions makes you neither right, nor the majority.
Buildersent:
Now, to prove my last point, I am going to go to effort to recognize your point and contest it.
Let’s boil your argument down to two key statments, shall we?
“He didn’t destroy our enemies with all the firepower we have at our disposal”
Well, since every proven terrorist we’ve gotten our hands on has been executed or is slated to, I can only presume that you mean we should be arbitrarily slaughtering *suspected* terrorists. Like the guys in Gitmo who we keep having to let go because we have NO evidence of guilt? Or should we be wiping out cities to get the 100 terrorists that are inside. If this is not what you mean, then by all means clarify, because that is how you come off. If it *is* what you mean, then you’ve just justified my argument.
“If 9/11 had not happened we would not have invaded Iraq… war is a needed evil after we are attacked”
Ok, just want to point out that adding this statement completely nullifies the “did I say one word about Iraq?” statment and makes everything I said previously valid.
Now, are you saying Iraq attacked us? Please tell me you aren’t continuing to harp the lies that Iraq had something to do with terrorism, which is fabricated bullshit. We sent people in, they came back and said “We have no basis for a war”, we went in anyway.
Hell, we didn’t even PRETEND when going in that Iraq was harboring terrorists. That didn’t come out until people started realizing the WMD line was bullshit. And even then our own intel came forth and said “uh, nope. No terrorist connection.”
To emphasize my point, have I objected to Afghanistan? Absolutely not. They were harboring the people who attacked us. So don’t throw “War is a needed evil after we are attacked” because it’s a common sense statement meant to urge a sense of patriotism over a situation it has no actual connection to.
Stop rewriting history. You can’t make something true by wishing.
Buildersent:
Now, to prove my last point, I am going to go to effort to recognize your point and contest it.
“If 9/11 had not happened we would not have invaded Iraq… war is a needed evil after we are attacked”
Ok, just want to point out that adding this statement completely nullifies the “did I say one word about Iraq?” statment and makes everything I said previously valid.
Now, are you saying Iraq attacked us? Please tell me you aren’t continuing to harp the lies that Iraq had something to do with terrorism, which is fabricated bullshit. We sent people in, they came back and said “We have no basis for a war”, we went in anyway.
Hell, we didn’t even PRETEND when going in that Iraq was harboring terrorists. That didn’t come out until people started realizing the WMD line was bullshit. And even then our own intel came forth and said “uh, nope. No terrorist connection.”
To emphasize my point, have I objected to Afghanistan? Absolutely not. They were harboring the people who attacked us. So don’t throw “War is a needed evil after we are attacked” because it’s a common sense statement meant to urge a sense of patriotism over a situation it has no actual connection to.
Stop rewriting history. You can’t make something true by wishing.
>Tip, “Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4349”
Don’t forget the 80,000 iraqi civilians killed as a result of this insane war.
Hey bhagczech
I am not going to turn Wil’s site into a political fight site. He and I may disagree on everything political but I respect that this is for commentary on what he writes.
You are simply a liberal who believes in revisionist history.
The Afghanistan war is also insane. Attacking Afghanistan because terrorists are hiding out there is like trying to sort out the mafia by bombing Sicily.
When terrorists attacked the Oklahoma City building would it have been appropriate to shoot missiles into towns where McVeigh might have been hiding out?
McAttila,
How many Iraqis would have been killed by Saddam over the last six years if we HADN’T invaded?
I’m not saying that our continued presence there is a good thing (it isn’t), but sometimes a bad move is necessary to prevent a worse one.
ToddCommish,
Why should the US be spending billions of dollars and thousands of lives on changing which group of people get killed this year in Iraq?
In fact why should they be doing so to reduce the number of Iraqis killed?
Is it OK for Canada to invade the US because the US government uses capital punishment and hence they will be saving some people?
It seems a remarkably liberal thing to do, sticking your nose into another country because they aren’t running things the way you like. Political Correctness on steroids…
“The Afghanistan war is also insane. Attacking Afghanistan because terrorists are hiding out there is like trying to sort out the mafia by bombing Sicily.”
As “liberal” as buildersent is accusing me of, I have to disagree. The head of the Taliban, the autocratic government of Afghanistan, said “I have him, but I’m not giving him up” even after he was fully warned of the consequences. The Taliban voluntarily allied themselves with Bin Laden.
Hey Sam, I didn’t say I agreed with the whole invasion concept. I’m an isolationist. As long as they stay in their non-industrialized desert shitholes on their side of the world AND DON’T EFF WITH AMERICANS, I think we should leave them alone to wallow in their own waste. I’m saying that quoting death figures out of context is disingenuous and the mark of a political hack. If Iraqi citizens were doomed to die anyway by Saddam’s hand, don’t say that the death figures are Bush’s fault.
bhaqczech, perhaps we should agree to disagree – Wil’s post isn’t about this – but for what it’s worth the devastation of Afghanistan and it’s people hasn’t brought Bin Laden to justice nor shown any sign of doing so. At worst it, and the Iraq war, have succeeded only in creating a whole new generation of people with huge anti-west/USA chips on their shoulders. If I’m honest, I think the War on Terror’s only success is in creating more terrorists.
Hi Wil,
Just like adamconner7, I also forwarded a link to your post and the text of your letter to one of my friends who works as Dodd’s Iowa campaign spokesperson.
Kat 🙂
Jeebus! This turned into something. Wil, your post wasn’t about this so I’ll let it go after this. Love your blog 🙂
Todd, “If Iraqi citizens were doomed to die anyway by Saddam’s hand, don’t say that the death figures are Bush’s fault.”
Iraqi citizens weren’t doomed to die, by most reputable accounts post-gulf war 1 Iraq was becoming one of the more progressive and liberal Arab states. Your remark is quite disturbing. We’re ALL going to die. Does that mean it’s OK for us to kill each other? I’m going to die someday, don’t think it’s a good excuse for someone to kill me to satisfy their own ends. I’d be against that principle, and I can see why Iraqis might also be against it.
McAttilla,
You’re absolutely right, and I have no problem agreeing to disagree.
I took buildersents initial statement of “joining the real america” as a personal attack on Wil that was just short of name-calling. Far as I saw it, he threw down the gauntlet in an antagonistic way with a blatantly erroneous statement and I responded very heatedly in kind. Probably wasn’t the best way to handle it, but there we are.
Well, crap. I was going to stay out of this until I saw “No Child Left Behind” mentioned.
I work for a school district, and can say without reservation that NCLB has been a good thing for us. It has caused us to change the way we run our schools, plain and simple. We’re busting our butts to educate kids who we would’ve easily slipped through the cracks prior to NCLB making us accountable for them.
“Ashamed to be American.”
– Wil Wheaton, 12/18/07
What a pathetic, desperate, miserable little statement.
The externalization that underpins modern-day liberalism is a recipe for unhappiness.
Wil,
i really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but cd is a total idiot… in my former position i worked with him and has State senate office on several occasions, and he is only a talking head, he dosen’t have a throught of his own… for example:
I worked as a government handler for the Home Depot, my job was to conduct visits by elected oficals, celebrities, and other VIPS. his vist to several of our stores he introduce himself to myself… (a member of the group, a rider in his limo,and the handler… 17 times in a 5 hour time frame… and several time during two of the visits he had many different answers for the same question, almost like he was telling them what theny wanted to hear… Chris Dodd is not a good choice… but i am not hear to tell you to vote for anyone or any party as i value the right of choice, and the privlege to vote…
Sean
I’m not saying that our continued presence there is a good thing (it isn’t), but sometimes a bad move is necessary to prevent a worse one.
Thanks ToddCommish for bringing this up. This, I belive is the central issue here.
Is it better for both the Middle East and the world in general that Saddam Hussein is no longer in power? Yes.
Is the life of the average Iraqi citizen better since the invasion? Possibly; the jury is still out.
These are facts, but they’re not the central issue. The central issue is that WE DID NOT HAVE THE MORAL AUTHORITY TO INVADE IRAQ. We had no reason and no justification to do so. The Bush Administration push the idea because we were under threat of attack from someone, and we needed to attack them first.
WTF? Since when are we so helpless that we have to attack nations a tenth of our size or less because they might attack us someoday?
That is the problem. The principle problem is that we initiated a war without proper reason, or in fact a real plan, and right now we’re buried in the tar baby of that conflict and no matter what, it’s going to be long and nasty trying to get back out. Now Bush-2 has also used the fear from September 2001 to push some really nasty legislation and he’s decided that he’s above the constitution, but the central issue is still that WE INVADED A COUNTRY WITHOUT SUFFICIENT, OR REALLY ANY, REASON.
Shit. Apparently I still don’t have the hang of typepads system yet. I apologize for all the semi-duplicates.
I’ll just go back in my corner and be quiet again.
We have to remember WHY Osama bin Laden and his merry band of miscreants attacked us on 9/11/01.
I’ll give you a hint– Ron Paul was right when he talked about “blowback”. The attacks happened because of the last 50 some-odd years of U.S. foreign policy, stirring up the hornets nest that IS the Middle East. We allied with Saddam when it suited us; we TRAINED OBL!
The real problem with both the invasion of Afghanistan and in the toppling of Saddam is that we didn’t do any real planning for the aftermath– who would step in to fill the power vaccuum?
We didn’t define what “VICTORY” would be, and we didn’t have an inkling of what would happen after our invasion started.
Who would step into Afghanistan after we pushed out the Taliban? Did we actually WANT to make Afghanistan once again the LEADING grower of opium?
Did we REALLY think that the Sunnis and Shiites would coexist peacefully, when their sects are being led by fundamentalist extremists?
Let us face reality. Bush lied, and far too many people have died as a result. And we need to make sure that this NEVER happens again, no matter who is on watch.
Wil, I doubt you will ever see this since its a few days past since you posted the original entry but here goes…
Back when I was a kid and you were a very little kid we had Democrats and Republicans and each had their ideas on how to accomplish the same goals – yup the same goals. Only their means to the end were a “little” different – rarely “drastic”. But those days are long past as most of us are well aware.
Somewhere – sometime – the people that we have continued to elect into the House and Senate in D.C. have morphed into these beltway ostriches. They have no clue what happens outside the beltway because they never pull their head out of sand that the beltway has become. None of them hear us or even care to listen to us any more.
You see, it’s not about Democrats or Republicans any more. Its about the Far-Right and the Far-Left groups and big bank account individuals that control OUR elected officials and whisper in their ears ala wormtongue. We have this group pointing at the other saying “it’s thier fault – we are trying” then the other group retorts “it’s not us it’s them – we have tried but the are blocking us” yadda yadda and so forth back and forth. Each side looks at how or who we have registered to support and then we get lambasted with how the other side is evil incarnate when in truth both sides – both republicans and democrats are just as corrupt and don’t give a hoot about US – who put them there.
Is it any wonder that the approval ratings for EVERYONE in D.C. are at the lowest levels ever? But no one in D.C. is listening – the ONLY polls they obviously aren’t listening to!
There is only one way to put an end to it. Not by those that tend to be more liberal in thinking to jump on the Anti-Republican/Anti-Bush bandwagon. Not by those that tend to be more conservative in thinking to jump on the anti-Democrat/Anti-Pelosi-Reid bandwagon.
What it will take is ALL of us – just like the Constitution says – WE THE PEOPLE – get on ONE wagon and take our country back. This must start right now. This upcoming election. We put aside our differences – set aside all we have been told about who we should vote for – ignore the cult of personality! and vote in the BEST person for the positions up for election. Forget the “party” label. Ignore the hyperbole and propaganda. If it means voting for a non-democrat or a non-republican then so what? Maybe it means writing someone in. But the only way we will ever get our country back and get all this insanity to stop is to totally reject the idiots in office and get people into office that actually cares what the Constitution says and are willing to support and defend it – not twist its words to suit themselves or allow judges that have proclaimed themselves god to change it how they see fit.
Jerry
Wil–
I realize that you are a Democrat and thus probably have an antipathy towards Republican candidates– but I’m kinda curious as to your thoughts are about Ron Paul.
FYI there was an interesting ‘advertisement’concerning the Paul campaign in today’s New York Times– page A17.
Here’s a link to the ad – a .pdf file – (sorry I can’t find the actual NYT link)http://www.dailypaul.com/files/common-sense-2-nyt.pdf
I hope you take the time to read it and post a comment about it here on your blog.
Have a happy new year, and may 2008 be prosperous for you and yours.
Peace.
Wil, I grew up watching you on TNG; my dad was a huge fan. But I had no idea that we shared political leanings. Though, I guess that most of America shares political leanings at this point. I speak as someone who works in tv (at a fox affiliate) and I have to applaud your efforts and the efforts of the true patriots who still reside in these United States. Unfortunatley emails from ordinary humans don’t phase our elected representatives like they used to. Perhaps we need to find a better way to express ourselves.
By the way, Thomas Jefferson said: Every generation needs a new revolution.