By Joshua Daniel Hershfield 11/9/06

The Democrats came out victorious in the electoral battle for the House and Senate.  People across the country are celebrating the defeat of the Republicans.  The news comes as a wave of relief for those of us who have opposed the Bush administration's tyrannical actions.

But the victory is not as sweet as it should be.

Howard Dean said in an interview with Jon Stewart that, while he knows at least half of the Daily Show's audience would like to see impeachment, "we"re not going to do that."  He said it as if he was reassuring us that we had no need to worry, our fear of impeachment will not come true, or as if impeachment is an immature and unsophisticated tactic that the new noble Democratic Party is not going to participate in.

Why not?  The Bush administration is guilty of war crimes.  They are guilty of crimes against humanity.  Like Eichmann, like Milosevic, like Saddam Hussein.  They are war criminals.  They should not just be impeached, not just fired or allowed to dignifiably resign, but by the rule of international law they should be put on trial.

Nancy Pelosi said in her victory speech, "Mr. President, we need a new direction in Iraq.  Let us work together to find a solution to the war in Iraq."  She said nothing of the 650,000 people killed in Iraq.  She said nothing of the plan to invade and occupy yet another country.  She said nothing about defending the right to abortion.  She said nothing gay people being human beings that must have the same rights as everybody else.  She said nothing about the environmental catastrophe of fossil fuel use, climate change, and the poisonous industrial chemicals in our food, water, air, and bodies.  She said nothing of the Military Commissions Act, the legalization of torture, and the elimination of Habeas Corpus.  She said nothing of the relentless assaults on immigrants and the 700 mile militaristic wall that will soon be gracing our southern boarder.  She said nothing of the Patriot Act, the disintegration of civil rights, and the growing power of big brother government.  She said nothing of the corporate stranglehold on our economy, its attacks on labor, human rights, and environmental sustainability.  She said nothing of the tens of thousands of people in Louisiana who were left to drown, to die, to sink, while the federal government twiddled their thumbs and staged photo shoots.  She said nothing of how we are all being expected to take sides in a war between fundamentalist Islam and US imperialism.  She said nothing of the manipulation of language and how as a country we"ve come to accept terms such as "collateral damage."  She said nothing about impeaching, firing, and putting on trial the criminals who currently occupy our government, who stole two elections, and are committing countless crimes against humanity.

She said that her accession to House speaker is a chance to demonstrate that women can occupy the highest positions of power and "can breathe in that rarified atmosphere."  That "to break the marble ceiling that is here is great for all women in America."  It would be nice if the party she is speaking for intended to defend the right to legal, safe, and free abortion. 

It is good that the Republicans no longer have the majority in the House and Senate.  Let's go throw a party and get down with our bad selves, but when we wake up in the morning with a hangover and a splotchy memory, we need to realize that not only are the Democrats not going to impeach Bush, but we"ve elected a party that has every intention of continuing the illegal and brutal war in Iraq, every intention of attacking Iran, every intention of perpetuating the terrifying "War on Terror," and has no plan to repeal the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act, and no plan to protect our right to abortion. 

We can call this a victory.  It is.  After all, most of us voted against the Republicans and they did lose.  But we must recognize in the midst of this fervor of the Republicans finally losing, that our political system is being lost as well.  We now have the choice between two parties whose politics are growing closer by the day.  We are posed with the illusion of political diversity, a diversity that doesn't make a difference.  And the terms of debate are not the discussion of whether or not we should be in Iraq and how best to get out, but rather the discussion of who will do a better job of continuing an endless war of endless bloodletting.  These terms of debate are not only stifling and oppressive, but are a continual death sentence for what is now estimated to be 500 people a day.

The Democrats may have reclaimed the House of Representatives, they may have reclaimed the Senate, but we have not yet reclaimed our country.

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