Thanks, Russ

(crossposted at DKos.com)

You are eminently reasonable, sir, and your leadership has been a beacon of truth in a dark era of fear and dishonesty in Washington.

We have to have our priorities straight. There are many, many problems facing the country right now.

Some might even say that the democratic legislatures established by our Constitution are no longer capable of administering the vast oversight and prodigious managerial issues of the United States of America.

If that were true, then we would be better off with a dictator, like Augustus, to "strengthen the body politic" and "unify our political will."

There are many people--especially among those in power now--who would welcome such a solution here. With a dictator in power, the legislature would be free to turn its attention and energy to more manageable, less nettlesome matters.

I don't really believe you are proposing we become a dictatorship, but that is the endpoint of your logic.

Our representatives either stand for us and our sovereignty as the foundation of authority for government, or else they stand for somebody else to hold dominion in the United States of America, either a dictator, an oligarchy, or some other governing force--the military, perhaps.

The point is, Senator, these abuses are being visited on the people not only by and because of the President and Vice President and their Cabinet members, but because the government is not effectively serving the people's interests in national affairs.

Our representatives are always seeking "more practical" solutions than the ones that really go to the heart of the issue: a loss of citizen involvement and empowerment.

If you think you can accomplish anything progressive with BushCo in office, I suggest you are trying to blunt the rightful aim by the body politic to recover its authority from those who seek to prevent us from governing ourselves.

You really don't have the right not to impeach, either, because you are sworn to defend our Constitution. It is now in danger. There is no "other business" for Senators in a democracy. That's really an excuse for accommodating a dictator and sacrificing the right of the people to govern ourselves.