Virginians for Peace and Accountability visit Tom Davis (May 7th 2007).
The little neighborhood where Davis maintains his staff office in Annandale, VA sure doesn’t look like the Citadel of Power. It looks like a little working class suburb except for the Vietnamese signs everywhere. Annandale is the home of Little Saigon. How ironic that we should pass through here to speak out against another war which feels so much like the one that impacted this neighborhood when Vietnamese refugees came here to live 30 years ago.
Davis, being a politician first, appeared gracious enough to speak with us, however, he also was unmoved. Not that this should be surprising. The Congress “Critter” learns early on the value of being moved less by the peoples’ desires than by Corporate interest. But we had our say. I was very moved by Tony’s presentation. Somehow the visual effect of all those names said more than an appeal for the Constitution. Perhaps it shouldn’t be that way, but it was.
Davis disputes this point. He believes that just because we don’t like what President Bush does doesn’t mean we can impeach him. Davis defended Bush and Cheney while being strangely negative toward them at same time - an odd, cynical and unconvincing combination.
Davis asked us to come back – that was the important thing. He said he would keep an open mind and let the investigation unfold. What I believe he really meant was that he would test the political waters and if his corporate masters decided that Bush and Cheney had to go, he would support it. He also repeatedly said that visits like ours “made him better” in responding. I believe he used us to practice deflecting more powerful critics.
In the end the encounter made us better as well. It gave us a chance to focus and hone our message.
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