Therapy

First, a note to readers: yes, it is true that comments require a gmail (google email) address. It is really easy to get one, it can exist along with your regular email address and, most importantly, it serves as a screen to prevent spam and irrationanl, random responses. I hope that readers who do want to post comments will take the trouble to get a gmail address. Thanks

That said, the following is the third in a series of letters I have submitted to the Progressive Populist, trying to convince the editor to give me a regular column. The first two were published as letters to the editor, and they have published several more recently. Today, I got an email from the editor, suggesting that he was open to giving me some space for a column. Negotiations are continuing, As this following letter notes, one of the best therapies for feelings of powerlessness and despair is to have an experience of oneself actually DOING something about it, without excessive concern about optimal results. The process, in other words, is at least as important as the outcome. As I just wrote in another context, all of this is really just the ravings of an old man who has seen too much and is too stubborn too give up trying tomake a difference.

As soon as I get this blog thing up and running and get more accustomed to doing it, I will be posting it on sites that enjoy widespread attention, like Politico, Daily Kos, Tom Paine.com and others. Enough!!! Today's post:

Editor:

Regular readers of this publication may have noticed my recent letter asking whether our democracy is dying and suggesting that it is definitely on life support. What follows is a prescription for a therapy that might well rouse our ailing patient to at least a semblance of its former self.

One of the most effective techniques for ameliorating symptoms such as depression, loss of self-respect and a feeling of helplessness is to encourage behavior which gives one an experience of doing something about the situation that is or seems to be a primary cause of his or her distress, whether or not there is any chance of significant success. There is almost always something profoundly therapeutic about simply making the effort.

All of which brings us back to the thorny issue of what can be done about the manifest high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration. Despite the growing national outcry for prosecution and/or impeachment of most if not all of the members of this Administration, the Democratic leadership and a many of their supporters, in and out of government, keep telling us that there is no point in pursuing justice because “there is just not enough time,” or “the Supreme Court will ultimately disallow it,” or “we have to concentrate on doing whatever is necessary to assure the election of a Democrat in the upcoming Presidential election,” or similar dismissals.

Well, I must insist on taking strong exception to this line of reasoning. If there is any chance of revitalizing our moribund democracy, it has to begin with a clear, unequivocal demonstration that desecrating our Constitution by establishing an Imperial Presidency will not be tolerated, no matter the short-term discomfort or disruption. The electorate are demoralized and cynical. They have no evidence whatsoever that there are serious consequences for defying the will of the people, much less for lying to us and to Congress about everything from an illegal war to their frantic subsequent attempts to justify it. For heaven’s sake, even the Attorney General is a serial perjurer. Incompetence can be corrected by means of the ballot. Malfeasance must be dealt with more severely.

The people of America desperately need an experience of our system working the way it is supposed to. If time runs out, so be it. At least we will have tried. Continuing to shine it on is a recipe for disaster. Failure to act is nearly as treasonous as the behavior we should be prosecuting.