Why It Matters

If you are a progressive then there is little I need to say to convince you to vote for a Democratic candidate in the upcoming elections. If you are moderate, or even a conservative, who isn't happy with our country's current state of affairs, then I will give you one reason, and only one reason, you should vote Democratic as well: accountability. Under the topic of accountability I will address one candidate: Congressman Mac Thornberry. At best Thornberry is a rubberstamp Republican who has given the Bush Administration almost everything it has asked for, and has dissented only when it was safe to do so. At worst, he is an authoritarian neocon who shares the Bush Administration's reckless and dangerous ideology. Try as he may to pass himself off as just a down-home-cowboy-gone-to-Washington the reality is that he is a Good Ol' Boy who is blindly loyal to the Bush Adminstration.

If you want to know what really happened in Dick Cheney's super-secret Energy Task Force meetings, then Mac Thornberry has to go.
If you want greater oversight of the hundreds of billions have been tossed into the Iraq War black hole, then Mac Thornberry has to go.
If you want the Bush Administration to answer for their ill-conceived and ham-fisted prosecution of the Iraq War, then Mac Thornberry has to go.
If you think the Bush Administration should be held accountable for violating the law rather than given a retro-active "get out of jail free card", then Mac Thornberry has to go.
If you believe in the principals of "due process" and "habeas corpus", then Mac Thornberry has to go.
If you think that the three branches of government are supposed to act as checks and balances against one another, then Mac Thornberry has to go.
If you believe that the Constitution is something more than "just a goddamn piece of paper," then Mac Thornberry has to go.

The Democrats are poised to make big gains this election cycle, possibly even reclaiming both Houses of Congress. As satisfying as this would be the reality is that there probably won't be an immediate or dramatic change in course. The havoc wrought by the Bush Administration runs deep and will take decades to undo. If there is one thing the Democrats could do swiftly, effectively, and I think with great public support, it is to exercise the oversight of the Bush Administration that has been so sorely missed for the past 6 years. I cannot guarantee that a Democratic majority will force this president to account for his actions, but I can guarantee that it won't happen without one.

I don't say these thing because I am a hereditary Dem who supports the party soley for the sake of supporting the party. I'm aware of the fact that some Democrats have enabled this President's actions. I don't know why they did and I will not defend their doing so. The fact remains they are the only viable cure to the disease called Republicanism that is currently afflicting our country.

Roger Waun is the Democratic candidate for Texas Congressional District 13. A vote for Roger Waun will be a vote for a progressive philosophy. A vote for Roger Waun will be a vote for holding Bush accountable for his miserable and failed presidency.