"Rove's Pass: A Window on the Real World"

Frank Dwyer on The Huffington Post:

Isn't it surprising how many people who believe the last two national elections were stolen; who do not believe in the integrity, honesty, or competence of the President and his cronies; who do not have any faith in either party in the Legislative branch, and who do not believe in the independence or integrity of the Supreme Court, nevertheless found themselves believing without reservation that Patrick Fitzgerald would save us and the Republic we were too feeble or confused or disheartened to try and save ourselves.

But why did we believe so much that the earnest, hard-working, blue-collar, non-partisan, Republican Special Counsel would follow wherever the evidence led and hold even the highest malefactors accountable; that he would show the world all Americans must obey the law, even those who believe their high office, or superior values, or special pipeline to Jesus exempt them. Why did we believe all that? I suspect if you put your faith in Fitzgerald, you did it for the same reasons I did: because you wanted to, because you needed to.

The point here (here and everywhere) is that no institutions in a democracy are safe if the party that holds power is ruthlessly determined to corrupt and subvert those institutions to keep that power, especially when the rest of us are too disorganized or demoralized or lazy or stupid or afraid to stop them.

Our situation is very serious. This country is in very great danger, more danger than it faced in 1861. (Even if it had split apart on Lincoln's watch, one part would still have been, potentially, honorable, good, just, faithful to the idea of the Constitution.)

I still have hope. Right now, I'm believing (because I want and need to believe) that Al Gore will run a strong, principled, passionate race; that he will defeat them more soundly than he did the last time; that he will lead progressive forces to save and preserve the democracy, not to mention the planet.

We need to decide very specifically what we want and who can best lead us in achieving it; and then we need to fight as hard as we can one more time to persuade enough Americans to vote with us--against greed, meanness, and corruption; for the Constitution and the idea of democracy. Can the American people elect a strong candidate who will rally other good-hearted Americans to achieve a plurality, who will expose the lies and cheats of his opponents without ever lying or cheating himself? Can we break the power of the corporate junta, the rich men and their henchmen (who think themselves above the law and the rest of us easily-manipulated fools)? Can we come together and then come home to the best idea of our union, dedicating ourselves once again to being--and doing--good in the world?

We really shouldn't argue too much with each other: we need to unite and move quickly, boldly, the way we would if we were being attacked by an enemy from another planet--because, in a very real sense, we are.