repentance is our friend.

the other day i mentioned xymph on dsm. its worth a read.
i just wanted to make a couple of comments about it

"There is not a snowball's chance in hell that Bush will be impeached over this issue. "
my sense is that there is some chance (i cant wait till tradesports is running an impeachment contract.) maintaining party unity is becoming increasingly difficult as we see the faint glimpses of conscience in some repugs, and the united media front is also breaking down. expect more leaks. xymph argues that only a dem-controlled senate would impeach, and thats impossible given the voting machine problem. i largely agree with that, but it also strikes me that people are gonna be really angry in 15 months and im not sure they'd accept more false elections. leading up to the 2004 election the media was only *just* able to keep the myth alive that it was a 50/50 race with all the 'polarised electorate' nonsense - that myth nearly fell apart a couple of times in the race, but they were able to somehow squeeze that over the line. i dont think the machine is sufficiently sophisticated that they could pull it off again. that said, maybe another terror attack could save them...

"The original memo was almost certainly leaked by a supporter of the Conservatives in an attempt to embarrass Blair enough to earn the Conservatives a victory in the British election. "
i still have questions about this - as ive said repeatedly, the reality was that these memos were never going to change the election in a few days - blair had extraordinary momentum and the memos would have been best leaked weeks before. as we've seen, its taken 6 weeks to get traction in the US, therefore if the intent was to swing an election, then it was simply dumb to leave it till the last few days.

and then there was this: "Another amusing argument made by American newspapers is that they really wanted to cover the issue, but couldn't because the Associated Press hadn't written about it. "
i dont think i mentioned it specifically, but this was truly appalling. you wonder why i hate the AP - its their ability to manage the message as much as their message. i cant believe that they dont receive much ire. my lonely crusade...

"The conspiracy here was huge. It is not hyperbole to say it is perhaps the greatest conspiracy in American history."
i agree that this is perhaps true - and therefore im not prepared to rule out the possibility of impeachment. ive previously stated that i hope that it happens before the 06 elections, for the express reason that, even at the margin, personal conscience might count more than party loyalty. that would be a win for humanity. ive previously discussed the benefits of us 'turning' blinky supporters, because each one will eventually be like a reformed smoker. the people who eventually 'turn' become our best friends as they stand in tears in congress - look at voinovich and senator freedom fries - once they break from the mindmeld, they are our best friends. and we dont need to peel many off. the tears of one are worth more than the words of many. repentance is our friend. its also good to see that we are within glimpse of a limit on what the american people will accept