The Empire Crumbles

I should leave the country more often. In a short time span of ten days, the most incredible things have come to pass, and for the first time in years, I am seeing a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. It seems entirely possible that we will witness in the coming months the shame and utter demise of the Republican Party, and all due to their own greed and blatant lack of regard for the laws that they themselves have written. If I weren't so jet-lagged, I would open that bottle of 12 year old McCallen, and pour myself a liberal serving on the rocks.

A couple of really significant things happened last week that will rock the corrupt foundation of the Republican party. Judy Miller got tired of her orange jumpsuit, and agreed to cooperate with the special prosecutor, she even found some notes from 2003 that implicate Scooter Libby. Karl Rove will be called in front of the grand jury for a fourth time to discuss some discrepancies in his earlier testimony. Perjury? Obstruction of justice? Both? This is all speculation, but it's good news for those of us who want to see the leadership of this country called to account for some serious misdeeds.

In Florida last week, a few guys were arrested in connection with the whacking of Jack Abramoff's former business partner Gus Boulis. It's been a matter of public record for a few years, that Abramoff's company paid one of the arrestees $25,000 around the time that the whacking occurred. If it comes out that Abramoff paid to have this guy eliminated, it will mean big trouble for many Republicans, because there's only a handful that didn't take a ride on the Abramoff gravy train. Bush's nominee for Deputy attorney General, withdrew his name from the confirmation process rather than face the Senate grilling about his work with Tyco and Abramoff.

The reign of corruption is coming to an end, and I hope it is replaced by serious reform, and the elimination of the K Street influence purchasers. These dirty Republicans most likely will not end up in jail, but at the end of this scandal (does it have an end?) I hope that we wind up with real reform, because as long as the rules allow the purchase of elected officials, those that have money will always be in a better position to bend the lawmaking process at the expense of those who have not.

This is an opportunity to become a country governed by principle and not by money. If we don't take this chance to redeem ourselves as a nation, then we will go the way of those other countries, Spain, France, Italy, England. We have the advantage of knowing the history of corrupt empires. We now have a chance to become the democracy that our founders envisioned. Let's take a chance and work for real change.

Without it, we are history.

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