A famous US patriot once said “These are the times that try men’s souls.” At the time, he spoke of the events and circumstances surrounding the birth of a nation destined to be defined by the rights and freedoms of the people; a nation led by government of the People, by the People and for the People, where leaders could inspire the People to stand united in spite of differing opinions or particular religious influence.

The advent of the twenty-first century has marked the most severe departure from our founding principles than ever before. We stand on the brink of self-immolation, leaderless and adrift, while selfish, arrogant hypocrites steer our ship of state toward the shoals.

Should we fail now to grow resolute and united in our determination to right this ship, we fail not only ourselves but our children, and their children’s children.

It is time to look to those children for inspiration and a reminder of what we, as adults, are tasked with as parents and guardians: to create and foster an environment where children can grow to adulthood, secure in the knowledge that we have passed along the best models for ethical leadership and responsible stewardship of this nation that we know how.

And a little child shall lead them

On Tuesday, September 6, 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an article appeared in the New York Times about a curious band of refugees that walked into a Baton Rouge evacuation point: six children, comprised of  five toddlers following a six year old boy carrying a five month old child:

They were holding hands. Three of the children were about 2 years old. A 3-year-old girl, who wore colorful barrettes on the ends of her braids, had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them, and he told rescuers his name was Deamonte Love.

Leadership, in action, during a time where the adult leadership of the nation was focused on trying not to appear wholly incompetent.

They failed.

In times of crisis, a nation needs to have faith in the capacity of its appointed leaders to step in and guide them safely through. Taken in that context, our “leaders” have not simply failed — they have failed miserably, to the point where we can no longer think of them as “leaders” at all: that was the turning point where a more critical, if jaundiced, eye was cast upon their actions, and their carefully-constructed façade began to crumble to dust around them.

They were brutally upstaged by the simple competence of a small child.¹

Those self-same leaders, who proclaim their compassion for fellow citizens and their love for children, ardently oppose abortion rights for women — and equally oppose providing insurance for millions of uninsured children. They claim to support scientific research, but stand firm against fully embracing stem cell research while hypocritically claiming successful justification of their idiocy by pointing at the work of foreign scientists — scientists who are forging ahead in the field, while our own endeavors flounder here at home.²

Where have all the (adult) leaders gone?

In the year 2007, that question has been asked repeatedly, with growing emphasis. An eighty-two years old businessman by the name of Lee Iacocca even wrote a book with a very similar title: Where Have All the Leaders Gone?³ In order to find out where to look for leadership, and how to recognize it, we should take a peek inside the cover. The opening passages of the book alone should have sounded a clarion call to the would-be and wanna-be leaders of today:

I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies.

Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions.

Iacocca shouts out that he’d love to sit back and let the youth lead the charge against the encroaching apathy and ongoing destruction of our nation, but the youth is currently distracted and disillusioned. Our children and our young adults — by far one of the bigger factions of the public — don’t trust our politicians to represent their interests; he doesn’t blame them for this, but wants them to wake up and realize that only by standing up and participating in the system can they hope to change it for the better. He laments that we have created “a hell of a mess” and must all pitch in to clean it up.

So here’s where we stand. We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: “Where have all the leaders gone?” Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense?

Those people are the ones who appear to be missing in action. Our Congress holds the responsibility to bring oversight and accountability to the workings of the government, particularly the Executive Branch;

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn’t elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?

[…snip…]

You don’t get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it’s building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play.

We all have a role to play. We need our Congress to play its role and to actively put the wayward Executive Branch back on track. We ourselves need to drop the veil of false civility and inject the righteous anger and frustration of our national plight into the public discourse — it is no longer time for political correctness, it’s time for political correction.

A Child’s Lead and a Childish Leader: Political Correction vs. “Politically Correct”

The legacy of the Republican Party of this day and age can be summed up in the person of their de facto creation: George W. Bush, and the malAdministration that he leads. Juxtaposed against pretty words carefully calculated to say one thing while supporting the opposite, the legacy of Bush Republicans is one of malignant deceit. They claim support of science, yet undermine any research that doesn’t support their politics in spite of the harm to the public or to national security. They claim to be strong on national security, yet gut the programs that would most help the nation and provide true security in order to prop up failed adventures as “successful” — all the while causing more harm than good. They loudly insist that they have created a better, stronger system for education while creating a system where states and schools are practically encouraged to misreport statistics in order to continue receiving funds. Is are children learning became a national embarrassment, along with the memorable phrase Childrens do learn,⁴ both brought to the forefront of national discourse by the ignoble head of the Republican Party and purported “leader” of the free world. Bush Republicans also support and extol the virtues of misnamed national policies like The Clean Air Act or Healthy Forests. These morally bankrupt hypocrites claim their support of severe restrictions on embryonic stem cell research helps children and credit research by others in another nation as evidence of their argument, and they aggressively push for war in the name of peace.⁵

It is a legacy of deceit, denial and dissembly.

It’s time we stood tall and dropped the false cover that political correctness provides to those who excel in prevarication. We need to be direct. We need to be forceful. We need to be blunt.

We should follow the lead of a child.

Here’s an enhanced closeup, as immortalized by marymary of MichelleMalkinIsAnIdiot:

The child appeared to be imitating something she had seen — probably more than once — when associated with the man standing in front of her. But unlike the parent who quickly and gently hid her action from view, the child’s gesture demonstrated exactly the type of blunt, direct and peaceful confrontation that our adult selves have been sorely deficient in. Fortunately, it is a deficiency that is not complete.

Indeed, some Americans have already figured out that the best way to confront the hypocrisy is to visibly challenge those most responsible for it. In this clip, Richard “Dick” Cheney has his own words from the Senate floor (June 25, 2004) quoted back to him in the aftermath of Katrina, when the Bush officials finally decided it was safe to attempt a few photo ops:

Another adult who stood up to the Bush Administration, directly confronting Bush with dignity and grace, was Harry Taylor, a man who is now running for Congress:

These occurrences are, however, too few and far between. In the interest of our national well-being and the future of both the nation and the children who have lent us the temporary custody of it, we have to do better. Congress has to do better. Our next President has to do better. The current crop of ethically challenged and fiscally irresponsible Republicans know that if they are confronted — if the people begin to stand up and demand answers, criticizing the constant stream of noxious nonsense that is being spread thickly over the landscape — then they will lose their grip on power. They know they will likely lose billions in ill-gotten gains. And some of them, if we are truly diligent in our pursuit of truth and justice, may just end up in jail.  They know this, and they are striving to push back against it. They have stooped so low as to repeat and augment the Nixon-era’s challenge that “if the President does it, it’s legal” — they even attempt to quiet dissent by challenging it with the language of treason, while in actuality it is their own actions that betray the nation and her people.

We, the People of the United States of America, need to ensure that this happens. If not for ourselves, then do it for the children. They’re watching us, and will learn from our mistakes as well as our successes — but shouldn’t we try to demonstrate how much better it is to chalk up successes in the fight for freedom and democracy?

Investigate. Impeach. Convict. Remove. Indict. Convict. Imprison.

Set an example; throw the bums out, try them in accordance with the law, not in a kangaroo court, and when they are justly convicted ensure that they are justly imprisoned.

Namaste.

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Notes and Additional Video Support:
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^1. Children have made headlines even more recently as enfants provocateurs (h/t Reason Online via Dawg’sBlog). From News24, an African online news source, comes this story on June 21, 2007:

Cops charge 3-year-old ‘rioter’

^{21/06/2007 13:44  – (SA)}

Patna, India – Police in India have charged a three-year-old boy for allegedly leading a group of rioters and firing at security personnel, the toddler’s uncle said on Thursday.

[…snip…]

This news, of course, comes on the heels of a story from the previous month, detailing that charges were dropped against a six year old boy who was accused of molesting and assaulting a woman in her thirties, again in India.

Those kids in India…gotta watch ’em every minute.  ;P

^2. When Pigs Fly by DarkSyde of DailyKos.

Mr. Spinmeister neglected to mention a few key facts in his apologetic zeal to lay the wreath of discovery at the feet of George Bush. To make a a skin cell behave like an embryonic stem cell, a couple of things go without saying: you’d have to know what an embryonic stem cell does. It would be damn helpful to have worked with human cells, particularly skin cells and embryonic stem cells. And that might be an obstacle if you happened to live in a country where having the latter is an expensive, over regulated pain in the ass specifically because of the unpopular policy of a certain unpopular President. Which may explain in part why this breakthrough occurred in Japan.

^3. Iacocca, Lee and Catherine Whitney.   Where Have All the Leaders Gone?; New York: Scribner, 2007.   ISBN 1-416-53247-1. Citations and initial link in the piece above via Snopes.

^4. This DailyKos diary by buffalo provided a most excellent and relevant YouTube video containing two key clips of education-related Bush malapropisms: George W. Bush: Childrens do learn!, posted 28 September 2007:

^5. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Etc., etc.  From
Always Tell the Truth, posted by TileNut on April 16, 2006.

Free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don’t attack each other. Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction.

The annals of history, as noted in Wikipedia, duly record the following with regard to “The Boxer Rebellion” of the early 20th Century:

The Boxer Rebellion was a Chinese rebellion from November 1899 to September 7, 1901 against foreign influence in areas such as trade, politics, religion and technology that occurred in China during the final years of the Qing Dynasty.

John Nichols, refers to something completely different in his piece called The Boxer Rebellion:

“the person who changed the course of history with regard to the debate over the Bush administration’s nominee for secretary of state […snip…] was Barbara Boxer…”

This time, the Boxer Rebellion was the first time that the excess and free passes of the Bush Administration were directly challenged.

It’s time for another “Boxer Rebellion” in the Senate; it’s time for both chambers, in fact, to finally rise to meet the challenge of curbing the most dangerous and deceitful Administration in history. Senators Boxer, Feingold and others – are you listening?

A Place in History

Whether it is the Boxer Rebellion of the early 20th Century or the early 21st Century, the two significant events occur with eerie echoes inasmuch as they are also strikingly dissimilar. Both occur amid times of bloody, insurgent chaos that costs the lives of thousands in a far-away land. The first “Boxer Rebellion” occured in China after the Qing dynasty was forced to sign a number of Unequal Treaties in the wake of losing the First Opium War to our good friend and ally, the United Kingdom. (Strangely, I found myself wanting to replace “China” with “Afghanistan” and the “United Kingdom” with the “United States”.) Ultimately,

Such treaties were regarded as grossly unfair by many Chinese, as foreigners received special treatment compared to Chinese. Rumours circulated of foreigners committing crimes as a result of agreements between foreign and the Chinese governments over how foreigners in China should be prosecuted. Thus in the late 19th century such feelings increasingly resulted in civil disobedience and violence towards both foreigners and Chinese Christians.

(This ring a bell with anyone? Again, I found myself wanting to substitute “China” for another country, this time “Iraq.”)

It’s possible to extract more similarities between this first Boxer Rebellion’s social context and the flaming inferno of the Iraq quagmire — particularly with regard to the influence of religious leaders who were not subject to local laws — but I’ll stop with this one final similarity:  by the end of the uprising,

over 230 foreigners, tens of thousands of Chinese Christians, an unknown number of rebels, their sympathizers and others had been killed in the ensuing chaos.

We’re a bit beyond that in Iraq, but that’s only due to having much better weapons and a higher level of focused incompentents in charge.

The first part of the modern-era “Boxer Rebellion” took place not in the war-torn trenches where the social chaos ensued, but instead in the halls of Congress, where Senator Barbara Boxer hammered a particularly grueling series of questions and statements into Condoleeza Rice as she sought to win confirmation for the Secretary of State role. To quote the article cited above by Jeff Nichols,

Then Boxer hammered home the point that really mattered: That when Rice and her team lied, people died.

It was a beautiful moment. The article then went on to quote Senator Boxer:

“This war was sold to the American people – as chief of staff to President Bush Andy Card said – like a ‘new product.’ You rolled out the idea and then you had to convince the people, and as you made your case, I personally believe that your loyalty to the mission you were given overwhelmed your respect for the truth,” Boxer calmly declared. “That was a great disservice to the American people. But worse than that, our young men and women are dying. So far, 1,366 American troops have been killed in Iraq. More than 25 percent of those troops were from California. More than 10,372 have been wounded.”

For those of you keeping count, those numbers quoted by Senator Boxer have grown significantly higher. To continue:

When Boxer read out the statistics, it was a devastating moment – and a rare one. Seldom do senators accuse prospective Cabinet members of lying. Rice knew she was taking a harder hit than anyone had expected. The nominee tried to get the upper hand with classic Washington spin. “Senator,” Rice whined, “I have never, ever lost respect for the truth in the service of anything. It’s not in my nature. It’s not in my character. And I would hope we could have this conversation … without impugning my credibility or my integrity.”

Rice’s problem was that her credibility and integrity had been impugned – not by Boxer but by the nominee herself. All Boxer did was bring Rice’s deceptions to light and, perhaps most significantly, to link them to the continuing crisis in Iraq.

I believe that’s called speaking truth to power. More simply put, however, is this simple fact: Senator Boxer was doing her job, not just as a Senator, but as an American Patriot. Here’s my last excerpt, the money quote:

In so doing, she shamed a number of her fellow Democrats into joining her in opposition not just to Rice but to the administration’s entire approach to the war.

Ah. Shamed. Bravo, Senator Boxer — you had the cahones to do what had to be done, and secured a turning point in history that could lead our nation out of the darkness and back into the light, scarred and badly bloodied by battle but intact nonetheless.

You started a rebellion within the Senate, and the Congress, against “playing nice” when in a pit of vipers. You done good, Senator.

Now, we need you to do good again.

The Boxer Rebellion, part deux

Iraq is a disaster; we are currently inundated with emerging evidence of not only purposely manipulated information and outright lying in order to deceive the nation into supporting an aggressive military action against Iraq, we are also finding evidence that the latest call for a “surge” to stabilize the nation we’ve crippled is in direct opposition to intelligence reports and skilled assessments of field generals recommendations. In the meantime, we have heard the increasing drumbeat for a military conflict with Iran, while also finding that intelligence is being manipulated and cherry-picked in direct opposition to the facts suggesting that such a conflict is both unjustified and unwise.

What has the Congress decided to do? Debate the merits of passing a non-binding resolution to deal with the matters.

Uh, no. You, the Congress of the United States of America, will not play this game with the lives of my countrymen. You, the Congress of the United States of America, will not play nice in the sandbox anymore. Too much evidence of impropriety by the White House and their strongest supporters has emerged now. You are now responsible to take this matter head-on, and resolve it.

The President and Executive Branch are out of control. The spending for the war is entirely unrestrained; supplementary off-the-books spending has been used to prevent any accurate review or oversight. No more. A recent story on the BBC News reports that President Bush has called for tightening the domestic budget for the coming year:

Mr Bush said the budget for the year starting in October 2007 would underline the need to tighten spending on domestic programmes – including on education, energy and health.

The Washington Post newspaper said domestic spending would increase by 1% – less than inflation.

Meanwhile military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan would increase.

“Unless we act, we will saddle our children and grandchildren with tens of thousands of unfunded obligations,” Mr Bush said.

He said they would face huge tax rises, huge budget deficits or huge immediate cuts in benefits.

The policies of Mr. Bush and his wreckless, feckless administration have included an absolutely abysmal record of failing to account for the costs and exigencies of this war. The troops are under-funded, under-armed, without armor and without support at home. No more. If Mr. Bush wants to reduce spending, you have the power to enforce that wish — by shutting down the illegal, immoral, criminal enterprise that has taken root in the White House; you can defund this war. Instead of budget restraint, how about simply a balanced and proper budget that includes the planning and costs of the war?

Another BBC News story notes that

US manufacturing activity fell unexpectedly in January, raising fresh concerns about the US economy

while still another BBC News story reports

US unemployment has risen to a four month high of 4.6% after fewer new jobs were created last month than expected.

When does it end?

I’ll tell you: it ends now. You, the Congress, are the ones to bring this dark chapter to a close. And if you don’t, regardless of party affiliation, know that failure to rein in this administration now, in light of all the failed policies, overt lies and blatant obstructionism, makes you complicit in those crimes.

It is time for the Congress to engage in another “Boxer Rebellion,” one of epic proportion.

Lancing and draining the boils

Senator Boxer, I put it to you to initiate and coordinate this latest rebellion; your name, as well as your actions of the past, have chosen you. The following Democratic members of Congress have introduced or spoken in support of measures to attempt to mitigate this miasma, as noted in this diary by  shpilk:(summarized)

Senator Russ Feingold, with S.121 and S.448.

Congresswoman Lynne Woolsey, with HR 508.

Congressman Jerry Nadler, with HR 455

Congressman Jack Murtha, with HJ RES 18

Congressman Sam Farr, to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243) and to require the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq.

Congressman David E Price, to set the expiration of the above-mentioned resolution to December 31, 2007.

Congressman James P. McGovern, “To provide for the safe and orderly withdrawal of United States military forces and Department of Defense contractors from Iraq.”

Congressman Earl Blumenauer, “Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall begin the redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Iraq.”

There is no excuse for failing to intercede now on behalf of the law, on behalf of the people, on behalf of the Constitution or on behalf of this nation and the nations of the world.

Senator Boxer, we call upon you to put Majority Leader Reid into a chair and have him listen carefully. Explain, in a calm and steady voice, that it is the will of the people to directly oppose the ongoing dissembly of this Administration. It is the will of the people that this ill-gotten war be ended. It is the will of the people that Congress resume their duties as public servants, and our will is law.

Invite Speaker Pelosi to attend your meeting with Mr. Reid. Invite other prominent members of the Democratic Party of both chambers, House and Senate.

And invite the most influential Republicans you can find, those who will take the will of the people over the politics of party — those who do not wish to be listed as complicit and enabling of a blatantly criminal abuse of power currently emanating from, but not exclusive to, the White House.

This time, the “Boxer Rebellion” must include everyone who thinks like a true Patriot, everyone who knows that now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country.

Actions, and Words to Empower By

Recent diaries by rktect (here), Maccabee (here and here), Devilstower (here) and myself (here) all suggested actions to take.

Here’s a short list of the relevant resolutions to pass:

1. When the National Guard is deployed outside the boundaries of the United States, the president must send a resolution to congress every six months seeking permission to continue deployment of the National Guard.  If this request fails to secure a majority in both houses of congress, National Guard forces must be returned to their home states within thirty days.  The rule is in effect even in times designated by the president as national emergency.
2. Stop the torture. Find the torturers. Prosecute and punish every single one of them.
3. Revoke or suspend the AUMF for the President to act to respond to the terrorists of 9/11. It must be rewritten and reworked to include measurable oversight and accountability.
4. Revoke (or suspend) the AUMF that pertains to the Iraq invasion. It provides the Executive Branch far too much authority to make war wherever he wishes as part of his actions in Iraq, which by and large have accomplished the stated mission and utterly failed to do so in a manner consistent with competence.
5. A new resolution, one designed to keep troop levels constant then begin to withdraw them, must be drafted. It shall implement oversight and renegotiate contracts with contractors to impose stiff accountability and reporting measures, taking the primary control over the rebuilding away from the Executive Branch and placing it with an independent committee that will report to Congress.
6. Immediately pass a resolution stating that the President and his officers, as well as the Pentagon and their agents, will cease and desist all attempts to provoke, taunt, instigate or initiate a conflict with Iran; any and all monies directed toward “catapulting the propaganda” in support of an action against Iran will be redirected back toward rebuilding Iraq.
7. Congress will immediately Censure the Bush Administration for the intentional delay of the National Intelligence Estimate for what appears to be purely political reasons that conflict with their proposed solution for Iraq as well as their attempts to place a preponderance of blame for the Iraq debacle on Iran.
8. Apologize to the world.

The measures above, as closely as you can reasonably get them and as binding resolutions, must be proffered as the most important agenda items to be accomplished this week, starting tomorrow.

Senator Boxer, you initiated the equivalent of a rebellion during the confirmation process for Secretary of State that may have sparked a much-needed, long-overdue turning point in our current history. Senator Feingold’s statement ended with the words

If Congress doesn’t stop this war, it’s not because it doesn’t have the power. It’s because it doesn’t have the will.

We need someone to engage the remaining members of Congress with the measures above, and to assert in no uncertain terms that those who do not support the measures are complicit in the crimes of the George W. Bush Administration. Be the agent of change once more. Inspire the willingness in Congress to face the truths and fight for the people.

There will be an accounting for the destruction and loss incurred; karma is a bitch, and under the auspices of the “George Bush Republicans” we’ve got a boatload heading our way. Perhaps conveniently for the White House, this happens at the same time we’ve built up a very vulnerable fleet in the Persian Gulf, one that makes quite a nice little target for our enemies.

Help avert disaster, both in the Middle East and domestically.

Lead us to victory, accountability and return our national integrity.

Thank you.