The Pulse

I live in Germany, but, I like to pretend that I am well informed because I read the New York Times, the Washington Post and the cover page of Wikipedia (I highly recommend this to all that are not yet addicted) on a daily basis. But, no matter what one says, to get the pulse of America, you have got to BE in America. I just know that, over the past couple of years, I have begun to lost touch.

That being said, is America about to explode? From what I have been reading, the Bush administration has been up to some pretty questionable dealings. None of this is any surprise to me, as I have called a spade a spade from the beginning. But, practically every day, there is some news about a top official being indicted for leaking CIA names, about the administration bribing the Iraqi press, or about Bush himself signing papers allowing the NSA to spy on American citizens. At what point does the camel’s back break? What bit of information is going to finally send the public, up in arms, calling for an impeachment and removal of this president? (I recommend impeachment come AFTER they indict Cheney for his involvement in the Libby scandal, but beggars can’t be choosers. Who wants to move on from bad to worse as far as presidents go?) Seriously, though, it seems that any number of these things should warrant serious backlash against the administration. But, it seems, none of it is enough to get the proverbial apathetic American eyebrow to bat. Even going to war under false pretenses was not enough. What, is my question, will finally enrage the American people?

The whole thing, though, reminds me of the time some months before it was finally found out that Nixon was directly involved in the Watergate break-in. If you have never seen “All the President’s Men”, you absolutely must. It chronicles the involvement of two very brave reporters (Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman respectively) and their roles in uncovering, over time (over months, in fact, something most people forget) the historical event. You see, the Watergate break-in was stuck in the nether regions of the Washington Post for a while. No one cared about it. No one thought it was true. Most people thought that Woodward and Bernstein were committing professional suicide chasing a dud story and that “deep throat” was a fake informant. But, through their persistence, and their constant digging, the bugging of the Democratic offices at the Watergate was eventually linked to Nixon himself. At first, no one wanted to believe that Nixon had anything to do with it. So, it is with Bush. Everyone believes that he had nothing to do with the Libby outing , with prison torture at Abu Ghraib, that he didn’t fabricate the weapons of mass destruction story, but, rather naively believed bad intelligence. What will the people think when they find out that he was directly involved with all of the above? Watergate will pail in comparison. Mark my words...

Maybe some of you who actually read this drivel I write on occasion could answer me as to what the “pulse” of the country is at the moment. Enquiring minds are dying to get it.