When allowing the country to be harmed becomes politically convenient

Many of us have heard people talking about it over the past several years. They'll say things like "9/11 was an inside job" or "The Bush Administration was complicit in the attack". Their reasoning being based on the notion that the aftermath conveniently allowed Bush, Cheney, and their cronies to carry out the "neoconservative" agenda. Whether you believe such things or not; it's a fairly-convincing argument.

Apparently the same can now be said about the actions of the Democratic Party since the 2006 mid-term elections. That year the Democrats were swept to an electoral victory on a platform of cleaning up Bush's mess and the Washington corruption that surrounded it. Sounds vaguely familiar to what we're hearing this time around, no? Unfortunately virtually none of what was promised has been accomplished. The Democrats have held plenty of hearings, but little or no substantive progress has been made. As mentioned in this article (and others like it) the Democrats appear to be intentionally allowing the venom that the Bush Administration has injected into the nation to fully run its course; presumably for their own benefit at the ballot box this year. This is unbelievable, and indicative of what's truly wrong with federal politics. As was said in the aforementioned article: "When the Founding Fathers put impeachment into the Constitution, they probably would have never envisioned that it would be used (or in this case, not be used) the way it has. Of course, I don't think they envisioned that politics would become a career for so many, and that doing one's duty for the nation would take a back seat to getting reelected."

This reminds me of the cries of "No taxation without representation" during the American Revolution. It's clear that--when they're not representing lobbyists and campaign contributors--our nation's "leaders" are representing themselves before the people get any consideration. This is reprehensible to say the least. Politicians should be doing what's best for the country, period; not what's best for their re-election odds.

Update: As mentioned in this article Charlie Black, a top adviser to John McCain's campaign, told Fortune Magazine that another terrorist attack on the United States between now and Election Day would benefit McCain.