Gonzales is down!

Oh hell yes! Alberto Gonzales is stepping down. That’s completely awesome.

Yes, I had to wake up early for work today. I was logging into my Yahoo email and saw the news. I’ve been busy moving into my dorms and catching up with friends, so it was extremely exciting when I saw that.

Now to get Bush and Cheney to step down.  Maybe the Democrats will finally get the balls (sorry, I meant a different anatomical part, I meant spine.  Nancy Pelosi is a woman afterall.  I apologize).

Anyhow, more ramblings to come later, there have been some good conversations going on around here that have sparked my mind already.

The stall of justice

There has been a small movement for the impeachment of several members in the Bush Administration. I am, of course, adamantly for such actions. I have written letters to my representatives in support for such action, which is especially easy when done through the People’s Email Network (PEN). I also have a “Impeach Cheney” cap that is supposedly on the way, I’m quite excited about it arriving. It would be something fun to wear during the start of the school year.

Congress, however, does not seem too enthusiastic to respond to such calls. They merely stall with their investigations, which I highly doubt will go anywhere. I am still wondering what happened to the new Democrat controlled Congress that this nation voted for. Though the number of Democrats and Republicans is still fairly even, the Democrats should be making a lot more noise than the whimpers they’re screaming right now. I’m still highly frustrated by them letting the wiretappings continue so easily.

Anyway, at the heart of this frustration is the response from my House Representative Jim Cooper. In a reply to my letter for the impeachment of Gonzales, he replied with this letter:

August 17, 2007

Mr. Levy Nguyen
Vu Station B #35-3759, 2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, Tennessee  37235

Dear Mr. Nguyen:
Thanks for getting in touch with me to express your support for the
impeachment of US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
I understand your outrage and frustration over not only Attorney General
Gonzales' actions, or lack thereof, but also the conduct of President Bush
and Vice President Cheney.  The actions and decisions cited in your letter
are egregious and like nothing this country has ever seen from previous
Administrations.  Whether it is the "torture" memo he authored, the
dismissals of the eight United States Attorneys, false statements under oath
to the Senate Judiciary Committee, or his actions at the hospital bed of
Former Attorney General Ashcroft over the domestic surveillance program,
Attorney General Gonzales has repeatedly crossed the line and undermined
some of the most basic tenets of our Constitution and civil liberties.
It is for the above mentioned reasons that this Democratic Congress has
launched countless investigations and held hearings to examine the conduct
of Administration officials.  House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers,
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, and House Oversight Committee
Chairman Henry Waxman have worked tirelessly this year and will continue
to work to gather evidence into the allegations facing Mr. Gonzales and
others.  We are all troubled by the numerous instances of misconduct over
the past seven years, and these Chairmen will get to bottom of what has
taken place.
I understand your call for impeachment as I also understand the sentiments
of people who are calling for censure resolutions.  One thing we can all
agree on is the seriousness of these matters. However, impeachment is not
practical right now while these investigations are ongoing.  Even the
Democratic Leadership has said impeachment is not an option at the
present time.  I support these investigations because we must marshal all of
the evidence regarding the acts of this Administration before any such
proceedings could begin.  We need to move this country in a positive
direction and address the challenges facing our citizens.  Once these
investigations are complete, Congress will proceed accordingly.
These are very serious matters, so I welcome further comments you may
have.  Please feel free to contact me anytime. Sincerely,

Jim Cooper
Member of Congress

He also re-sent me his reply to to my request on the impeachment of Cheney:

August 17, 2007

Mr. Levy Nguyen
Vu Station B #35-3759, 2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, Tennessee  37235

Dear Mr. Nguyen:

Thank you for writing to express your support for the impeachment
of Vice President Cheney. Like you, I am deeply troubled by the
allegations that have been levied against the Vice President.

It is very distressing whenever the integrity of our Vice President is
called into question, and I strongly support a thorough and complete
investigation into the actions of the Vice President in regards to both
the motivation for the war in Iraq and the Valerie Plame incident. It
is important that we learn the full involvement of the different
parties, including the Vice President. The impeachment of a sitting
Vice President is a highly serious matter. As you may know,
Representative Dennis Kucinich recently filed articles of
impeachment against Vice President Cheney, and I will be following
the progress of this legislation extremely closely. 

I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue, and I will keep
your views in mind when making decisions on this topic in the
future.  If you have additional concerns, please don't hesitate to
contact me again in the future.
Sincerely,

Jim Cooper
Member of Congress

Therefore, it seems clear that these representatives have no intention to impeach members of the current, corrupt administration. Gonzales is under investigation, yet they grant him more powers. Too bad no sexual scandals have been leaked, impeachment papers would go flying. Personal matters apparently have great weight, but actions which affect the entire nation must undergo proper drawn out investigations before impeachment can be properly considered.

Therefore, the PEN has stepped up its efforts for a movement to impeach Cheney. They are wanting to start mass shipments of the ‘Impeach Cheney’ caps. You can get the caps though this hyperlink, and it would be nice if you could make a donation to them. I make $8.50 an hour, but still forked over some cash to them. They also want to start collecting votes on whether Cheney should be impeached. The sheets can e found here. If you managed to read this far, I would greatly appreciate it if you left your name, email, and an answer to the question, “Should President Cheney be Impeached?”

Pressure your representatives. Let’s get this nation back on track.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

The mess that is the U.S.

A second post! Yes, I am indeed on a roll. The rhyming title shows it, does it not?

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the United States. But that should be almost obvious to anyone not trapped in some single-minded dogma.

In the past few days, so much news has happened. America was compared to Rome on the verge of its collapse, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps was declared a terrorist organization by the Bush Administration, rumor of a draft for Iraq was thrown about, and the U.S. has drastically increased aid to Middle Eastern allies to put even more pressure on Iran, which includes a thirty-billion dollar deal with Israel.

With a little less than one year left, it seems that the Bush administration is vying with all its energy to push full force in its crusade. There is no where near enough dialogue, but this administration is famous for keeping silent and pursuing its own ways despite popular and world opinion.

The war is a tragic mishap, increasing pressure and enemies will do no good. It will only strain the military more, and the draft might then become a likely option (if it already isn’t). I almost do hope, however, that the draft might take place. I believe, and highly hope, that such a drastic invasion into the average citizen’s life will finally spur this apathetic population into action. If a draft takes place, it could very well make the burnings during the Viet-Nam Era seem like minor flames.

That thought gives me some hope. But there does seem to be some support rallying. Noticeably, the American Bar Association and the American Psychological Association have banded together to oppose the torturing of prisoners that is so easily accepted by Bush. The former, in a vote to oppose the treatment of the POWs, had only one in a vote of five-hundred, reject the idea. They, of course, claim that torture is illegal. Members of the APA have been used to develop some of the torture techniques used, so it highly refreshing that as a group they are now standing against the inhumane treatment of the prisoners.

And, of course, there is the resignation of Karl Rove. Although he will still likely play some sort of shadowy role, the Democrats now have a larger chance of gaining support. Although, I can’t say that I’m enthused about the Democrats as a whole either. Their record low level of approval is completely justified, I feel, as they were elected to stop Bush from pushing his agenda further, but they have failed to enact any solution to Iraq, and they even helped push his Patriot Act to new heights with the recent approval of warrantless wiretappings. Remember when corny Time magazine person of the year (hint: You!), and how that article mentioned the people voting in the Democrats for a change? Well, they have utterly failed.

So in the end, I find that both parties have gone stale. And although I find his ultra Libertarian attitude somewhat distasteful, it is impossible not to admit that Ron Paul has brought some fresh perspectives to current politics. I also find the straight-shooting clip of Mike Gravel speaking on the vain deaths in the Viet-Nam war refreshing. If only he stuck more to his cut-through-the-B.S. attitude, I think he might enjoy more of a similar popularity like Ron Paul. That’s perhaps my wishful thinking, though.

Once again, my thoughts wander back to the draft. Although its a horrible idea, I think it would inject some fresh vitality into this nation. Definitely more so than another bullshit 9/11-like terrorist attack that some of those awful conservatives want. A draft could be the tipping point.  It would be a impetus that would affect everyone, not only a couple Muslims, or the “radicals” now protesting.  But, I have been amazed by people not caring before, and I might be amazed again as a handful of people and I are arrested for burning our tickets as we watch the majority form single files.

And so it starts

And so here goes another try. I’m pretty sure that this one won’t get abandoned after the first post like my last several attempts, however. Just a hunch though. And I’m not promising anything, since all the promised goals I set for myself never work out anyhow.

Just two quick blurbs, like my title implies, as I wait for my laundry to finish and watch the clock tick on towards my dreaded midnight mark (or else I get less than seven hours).

The weekend had a couple interesting articles pop up. First off, props to the progress of science. Scientists have found that inorganic dust, when in the state of plasma and held in zero gravity, forms the helix structures found in DNA.

I wish it was a little bit more detailed, but the results are nonetheless thrilling. I find that its one of the most exciting finds to date in science–that perhaps we are on the verge of discovering the origins of life.

But of course, on the flip side, I would believe that this might disappoint some people. Life has always been a complex mystery, and it does lose some of its luster if we can be categorized something along the lines of organic computers.

I do believe that’s why so many turn to religion, however.

Heading off in another direction (no worries, my thoughts on religion will most definitely show up in the future), I must give props to the conquerer Genghis Khan. The stud managed to get enough offspring that one out of every two-hundred are now related to him.   In central Asia alone, more than sixteen-million have his Y chromosome. Stories also say that the guy died while having sex too.

Unfortunately, this news also means I will have a much lower success rate with my pick-up lines asking, “Do you have any Asian in you?” Oh well, I guess I’ll find a replacement soon enough.

And now I’m off, and I might just somehow meet my midnight self-imposed curfew, which I have never followed before.