Paul Krugman totally demolishes Bush in a brilliant column,
"Limiting the Damage" in tomorrow's
New York Times. Calling him an "insecure bully" in a "dream world" he outlines a few of the disasters of the Bush administration, noting Iraq is only part of it: "The degradation of the federal government by rampant cronyism ... may come to be seen as an equally serious blow to America's future." He points out that Bush has never played by "constitutional niceties" but points out that:
no matter how hard the Bush administration may try to ignore the constitutional division of power, Mr. Bush's ability to make deadly mistakes has rested in part on G.O.P. control of Congress. That's why many Americans, myself included, will breathe a lot easier if one-party rule ends tomorrow.
Let's help Krugman breathe easier with 50 more hours of GOTV!
I know most of us have made calls and it can be frustrating. (I got someone in Ohio today explaining we were in the end times!) And some of us are getting called too often. (My favorite was the call I received, when I was at Move-On headquarters, asking me if I could come down to MoveOn headquarters to volunteer!) But let's keep our eyes on the prize--voter turnout. We all know that the Republicans aren't competent at much. But they are competent at this. Stunningly competent. Let's be as committed as they are and build this infrastructure, not just for this election, but all the future ones as well!
Why: As Krugman says:
Mr. Bush has gone further than any previous president -- even Richard Nixon -- in attacking the patriotism of anyone who criticizes him or his policies.
We have many odds against us:
The feeding frenzy over John Kerry's botched joke showed that many people in the news media are still willing to be played like a fiddle. And if you think the timing of the Saddam verdict was coincidental, I've got a terrorist plot against the Brooklyn Bridge to sell you. Moreover, the potential for vote suppression and/or outright electoral fraud remains substantial. And it will be very hard for the Democrats to take the Senate for the very simple reason that only one-third of Senate seats are on this ballot.
However, we have momentum on our side. I hope we won't have an election with conditions this good for our side (and disastrous for the country) again in my lifetime. We absolutely must prove that if Thomas Friedman actually gets something right he is also correct:
Let Karl know that you're not stupid. Let him know that you know that the most patriotic thing to do in this election is to vote against an administration that has -- through sheer incompetence -- brought us to a point in Iraq that was not inevitable but is now unwinnable.
Let Karl know that you think this is a critical election, because you know as a citizen that if the Bush team can behave with the level of deadly incompetence it has exhibited in Iraq -- and then get away with it by holding on to the House and the Senate -- it means our country has become a banana republic. It means our democracy is in tatters because it is so gerrymandered, so polluted by money, and so divided by professional political hacks that we can no longer hold the ruling party to account.
It means we're as stupid as Karl thinks we are.
I, for one, don't think we're that stupid. Next Tuesday we'll see.
Of course, Call for Change isn't the only way to make a difference. But whatever you are doing for the next 49.75 hours, when the last polls will close in California, see if you can give those extra hours to whatever you are doing. Let's prove to the entire country that the netroots, along with Dean and the 50 state strategy, can deliver!