Oversight Committees Are Needed To Correct Goverment

On the political front, there is a lot of news regarding the hearing which placed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others into the hot seat. While there, her pained, but cool demeanor tried to dampen the rising criticism about the Iraqi war. However, it all seemed to only deflect the issue. Not only that, it highlighted the desperate need for investigations to happen in order to get answers to the most dire issues that is affecting all of us.

There seems to be the train of thought that the American people cannot take seeing their leaders prosecuted for the wrongs they committed in government. This idea was especially communicated during the funeral of former President Gerald R. Ford. The problem with this idea is that our politicians are under the perception that we as citizens faint at the sight of any governmental bloodletting that seems to happen. This idea also seems to convey the lack of faith in our understanding of events, let alone the absorption of the gravity that investigations might reveal.

Yes, Americans are slowly starting to wake up about the travesty their country is in. The events that have painted the last five years have finally come to the surface because there is a growing tiredness about being led around and around without any stoppage. To put it more bluntly, people are sick and tired of the BS that is being fed to them from the media and the propaganda that seems to hide the realities of a government that is troubled and fractured, to say the least.

It is eye-opening that despite it might hurt, some Republicans have even faced facts and criticized the handling of America's foreign policy. The party that seemed to be formed by Tom "The Hammer" Delay and propagandized by Karl Rove seems to be trying to change their spots. It might be the fact that some are politically astute to how the temper of the American people can change with the times. After all, the November 2006 elections were one in which frustration had bubbled over and people started to see their consciences when it came to wanting to get the goverment back to serving its constituents.

Contrary to the fear that the American people "might not take what comes out", investigations are good when they aren't used for petty partisan tactics. There are facts about our current situation in the world that need to be known. In the past, certain documents had come to light (such as the Dowling Street documents) to alert the public about how the need for war has been created. Mr. Bush's speech this week also gave some warning signals about why a search for the truth needs to be done.

When it is all said and done, it would be nice if historians would say that depsite the dark ages of America during the Bush era that there were responsible politicians who looked past the media fluffery and punditry to try and set things right. A public accounting can start to find the soul of the United States. We've had it up to here with denial. And denial can only resolve to cloud the issue and make things worse than it already is.

When putting national and international events into perspective, there needs to be some accounting and admittance of what went wrong. For future leaders, this time can turn into one that could teach them what and what not to do when leading the people. For the rest of us, this time can teach us not to turn to denial when seeing the writing on the wall and to be more responsive when our national leaders do not do what we sent them to the Capital for.

For the future journalists out there, these times can also teach them a thing or two about not being hushed into silence when approaching the subject matter that affects all of us. The Fourth Estate also needs to clean house. It becomes increasingly tiresome to hear the cheerleading of certain individuals who are cowed into silence and preventing the public's right to know. Furthermore, those in the media not only have to be competitive for stories, but to also stand by their colleagues when one of them is penalized regarding their freedom of speech.

Most of all, the tenets of the Constitution should be reconsidered, especially when they have been toyed with by the passage of past laws that restrict civil liberties. 9/11 was a horrible and unspeakable event, for sure. But one thing must come to mind when considering this fact: a democracy ceases to exist if we leave our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness in hands of the selfish who do nothing but abuse it. To root out the abuse, this is more than relevant.

The beauty of such committees is the fact that like Watergate and the Iran-Contra Scandals it will be publicized on television. Although the media is more centrally corporate than it has been in the past, this step must be taken in order for us to get to what we desire to know, warts and all.

And believe it or not, the warts are exactly what is needed.