You probably all know this Jimmy Cliff song from The Harder They Come:
Sitting here in limbo, but I know it won’t be long
Sitting here in limbo, like a bird without a song
Well they’re putting up resistance
But I know my faith will lead me onSitting here in limbo, waiting for the dice to roll
Sitting here in limbo, got some time to search my soul
Well they’re putting up resistance
But I know that my faith will lead me on
Right now, those lyrics strike me as a metaphor for a lot of things. They apply to a weakened and chastened Bush, who despite all evidence clings to his faith. They apply to the Washington Establishment that has provided the Iraq Study Group report and is praying that Bush will face reality and change course. They apply to the Iraqi government and they apply to all the Iraqis that want us to pull out, are terrified by the potential consequences, but are willing to roll the dice anyway. Anyway you slice it, we’re all waiting in limbo with regard to Iraq.
Which brings to mind another Jimmy Cliff lyric:
Many rivers to cross
And it’s only my will that keeps me alive
I’ve been licked, washed up for years
And I merely survive because of my pride…Yes, I’ve got many rivers to cross
And I merely survive because of my will…
I’d forgive Bush if he began embracing these lyrics, because they really do seem to apply to him. They also apply to our fighting men and women in Iraq. I’ve written something like five posts in a row about the need to impeach the President and Vice-President and I don’t want to beat a dead horse. But it is really true that our country is in a major crisis. No one seems to be able to break through to the President. He does not seem prepared to begin facing the consequences of his invasion of Iraq. We can’t sit in limbo forever, and we certainly can’t sit in limbo for another two years hoping Bush has a moment like this:
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.
Iraq is a really serious problem and it is going to be a lot more complicated once we begin to pull our troops out. We have serious decisions to make and we will have to deal with precarious situations with really vital allies like Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. It’s impossible to envision Dick Cheney and George W. Bush handling the pullout of Iraq competently.
Some people think that we should reprise Vietnam and pull the funding. My questions is: ‘What good would that do if Bush and Cheney are doing the clean-up?’
I don’t really care what we impeach the President for. I suspect the Unitary Executive theory will provide the casus belli but that is not important. What is vital is that we do not keep this administration in power and in charge of our foreign policy over the next two years. If anyone can provide me a reason why we should do that (including any lurking Republicans) please let me know. I can’t think of any benefit for the nation or the Republican Party.
who said that we’re still cleaning up after Nixon…and it’s going to take us a long time to clean up after George W. Bush.
But the only way we’re going to control the contagion that is this era’s Republican Party is with thorough investigations of everyone, not just Bush/Cheney. I want all the fish, not just the big ones…
IMO that we are still cleaning up after Nixon is because we never really got to the bottom of things. You can’t clean house for fall cleaning or spring cleaning without just moving everything around, taking everything out. And we didn’t do that thanks to Ford. He pardoned Nixon. And I do think he had no reason to do that even though he thought he did. The presidency has been smudged, besmirched and no pardon will cover that stain, only deep cleaning. Irangate, in Reagan/Bush times got covered up with the Bush pardons. Bush can cry about his sons, but he never cried about the country or the crisis that he helped to create. And while they are all bragging about Bush elder’s ability to put together a coalition for the first Iraq mess, that was ALL HE DID that was worth while.
I with you Boo. I want a pardon because it feels as if we will only get stuck on the same old ABC chewing gum left on the seats.
One reason: Bush/Repugs continue to provide considerable material for Leno and Letterman, etc. To wit, tonight’s SNL.
one of my favorite things about bootrib is your excellent taste in music.
as i just said in orange:
you left out my favorite part of “Sitting Here In Limbo”.
I don’t know where life will lead me
But I know where I’ve been
I can’t say what life will show me
But I know what I’ve seen
This was one of my anthems when I was going through tough times. I didn’t know exactly how I was getting out of an awful situation – but I’d finally realized that it was unacceptable.
Impeach It’s really comfortable impeach sitting here eating cookies impeach and watching the show impeach in Washington.
Impeach you are so right impeach my dear. Impeach I just finished reading impeach Arthur’s impeach Quack diary and started wondering impeach where all the passion was going. Impeach it’s going nowhere except impeach back to bed right after this show impeach it’s really funny and impeach entertaining.
Impeach we are not helpless. Impeach we need to make it so it seems like impeach is the only word that everybody hears. It’s impeach easy.
ImpeachBush.org impeach sells lovely little impeach yellow stickers that look impeach fine everywhere. These impeach people have been active for impeach years. I buy their stickers, impeach put them all over, impeach sign their petitions, dream impeach dreams. Although impeach, I prefer my RICO fantasies.
Impeachment Tea is on sale for the holidays.
Impeach what else is there to talk about? What impeach I want for Christmas: I want to see bushco covored with that bright yellow impeach duck color.
Quack!
Your words break me out of thinking so much that I want to apply a staple gun to my forehead. Bring on the good stuff damn it! They are a bunch of loser murdering sons a bitches and I can’t believe it takes this much to get the point across to everyone and get the hell rid of them and be comfortable in our skins with our souls again!
When oh when are people going to start calling the mess in Iraq what it really is? A ClusterFuck!
Impeach the bastards.
We have this Imperial Presidency because congress – both houses – allowed it to be built. It is time for congress to stand up and dismantle it, one brick at a time, the same way it was built. I don’t think it can be torn down with a magic bulldozer of impeachment, I understand why Americans, who like big bold simple solutions would think so, but you have to deal with the resiliency of the status quo, which is not a bad thing.
I think Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi know how to do this, and will only grow stronger in the process. At this point we should rejoice that Bush is so intransigent, such a great target, such a stubborn. predictable idiot. He is our best friend, (As Osama has been his).
The first two bricks are Bush and Cheney. They will fight to stop any reversals by the legislature with the veto. They must be removed to make real progressive legislation possible. History shows that the party doing the impeaching ALWAYS makes political gains in the next election.
We need larger majorities and we need a Dem President. Impeachment of Bush and Cheney will grease the skids for bigger Dem majorities better than vetoed legislation alone will. I say make Bush veto Dem-passed legislation while he is being impeached – that’d be much better for progressives over the next two or three election cycles.