Pissed Off?
So imagine you’re the mayor of the nation’s second largest city. Imagine you have been told that the president is going to talk about a thwarted terrorist attack in a speech, an attack of which you only have the vaguest knowledge. You are told the President will mention the attack but no more. Now imagine that the president not only mentions the attack but gives specific details: who planned it, how it was to be carried out, what the target was. Turns out it was a repeat of 9/11, in which terrorists planned to hijack a plane and crash it into the tallest skyscraper in your city. You, the mayor, knew none of this. You did not know the president was going to release these details. Not only that, you learn of these details by watching the president’s speech on television. Wouldn’t you be a bit pissed off?
Or imagine that you are the head of FEMA. You have been head of FEMA long enough to have over seen a number of emergencies, including major hurricanes. In the past you have always been able to call the White House and say “I need so many troop and so much equipment” and they’d give it to you. Now imagine you are overseeing the response to the biggest natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. You call the White House. You say “I need so many troops and so much equipment,” and you are told this time, for the first time, that you need to send that request up through the proper chain of command at Homeland Security. Wouldn’t you be a bit pissed off?
Now imagine imagine that you are a United States Senator. You have been elected to pass laws and to represent your constituents. One of your duties under the constitution is to act, with the rest of the Senate, as a check against Executive and Judicial authority, in order to maintain the equal balance of power between the three branches of government. Now imagine that the Attorney General of the United States comes to testify before you and says that, in times of war, you and the rest of the Senate have no authority over the president. That he’d be “happy to listen to your opinions,” but that you would have no authority to either approve or disapprove of his actions, in spite of what it says in the constitution. In other words, you don’t really exist. Wouldn’t you be a bit pissed off?
Now imagine you are a voter. There are midterm elections coming up. What are you going to do?
posted by M.A. Cramer/Valgard at 2:08 PM
2 Comments:
To be honst I am currently involved in helping mold civillians into the soldiers being required for these actions being taken by the government. I for one have a hard time swallowing this pill that my understanding of the current situation on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan and here in the US. With seeing what happens to our soldiers and knowing the support from our government which at times you wonder exactly where their loyalties lie. I question myself if it the right thing to do and am I sending our sons to the crucible for our families safety or for national economic gain? With the state of todays political arena what is more important the presidents personal agenda or the olitical one we are already intertwined with. i feel like the proverbial S**t sandwich is becomming the normal fare for me and my brethren of the military but oh well I still do what I'm told and have 5 years left to retirement as to which I'll be glad and ready when I'm done and not another day more.
You are one of two reasons I didn't really march in any anti-war protests. I did march in the protest at the republican convention, but I had to cross the street.
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