Stop with the "Fitzmas" Already

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October 26, 2005

Stop with the "Fitzmas" Already

UPDATE: As Michael Silence points out, Bob K and I were operating on a synchronized wavelength today. [/UPDATE]

I'm too young to remember the Watergate era, though I was alive. I think it stressed ordinary people out a little, though, to have such grave misdeeds perpetrated by individuals in whom they thought they trusted. I don't know that they danced around gleefully as the Vice-President, then the President resigned; I would guess that the events were on the somber side.

I'm not too young to remember the Clinton impeachment trial, and the hoopla that came before it. I do know that there was a good deal of "gotcha" sentiment displayed by Republicans. The fact that perjury is perjury (but don't ask Senator Hutchison) notwithstanding, the deeds behind the alleged lies in these two administrations are quite different. The giddiness in GOP circles when Clinton got caught lying about diddling an intern was bad enough.

But now is it going to be even worse? Has the internet done this to us? In the 1970s, information was pretty much a one-way street, i.e., from the news medium to the viewer/listener/reader. As much as it is a good thing — a great thing — that just about any person can publish h/er own content and disseminate it to the furthest corners of the planet, I sense a double edge to it as well. The dark side is that old "mob mentality" that just happens whenever people congregate.

Make no mistake: I am against the invasion of Iraq. I don't care for the nth troop death "milestone" media frenzy; to me, the first, the last, and every one in between are equally horrific* and, while I of course laud the courage and commitment shown by the fallen, I have become quite bitter about the cause for which they fell (even as I haven't quite figured out what that cause is, exactly). So, if untruths and data manipulations were utilized to prepare for an unnecessary war, one that isn't certifiably part of the general war on terrorism, of course I want justice to be served to those who wronged the American people, the world, and the families of the dead.

Do I consider that application of justice a time for champagne and dancing, though?** For making silly songs and pointing/wagging the finger? Hell, no. It is a trying time, and a worrisome one too, as the alleged actions of these men and women in the administration may have structurally damaged national and international security. I'm sorry to rain on the DKos parade, and I'm not saying that we should sit around and mope, and do nothing; but I'm speaking out against "Fitzmas" and the unholy bile that accompanies it. Grow up, get serious, speak out against what's truly wrong and shameful, become a participant and not just a hooligan, and work your butt off for change. The root causes for some of what we're seeing now were present in the Clinton administration, and in the first Bush administration; this is not a partisan thing. The festering cancer that is the Beltway establishment must be healed. We're the ones to process that healing.

So, indictments? Maybe. Probably. But even though I will be satisfied in seeing wrongdoers punished, I won't be glad. This is not like rooting for your favorite sports team, people. It's far more important.

Footnotes:

*As were the Iranian, Kuwaiti, and Kurdish and Shiite Iraqi deaths at the hand of Saddam; the Iraqi civilian "collateral damage" deaths; and many more, all equal in my view. Of course.

**I do recognize the room for argument that just about any time is good for champagne and dancing, but that's a different context.

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