In the waning days of the Bush Administration, we are seeing but another travesty of incompetence and corruption unfolding. I have long been an advocate for impeachment. It is clear that someone who is so obviously corrupt and immoral can not be entrusted with the power of the presidency. Any single act of outright incompetence or worse corruption would have been enough. And the list is long and only historians will be able to fully document the failures. Some of the more glaring ones are Katrina, Iraq, the Rove/Cheney affair with the leaking of an agent, the firing of the US Attorneys, the corruption of intelligence and the blunders of the Defense Department under Runsfeld. Each and every one of these fiascoes clearly had the finger prints of George W. all over them. Incompetence, malfeasance, misfeasance – call it what you will but any and all were the grounds for impeachment.
As if this litany of failures weren't bad enough to endure, the Times devoted op ed space to some hacks reminiscing about the Bush Presidency. One cannot make this stuff up. In a piece entitled, Loyal to a Fault, a Robert Draper incredulously states “President Bush has paid a price for his human decency.” That comment was made in reference to Katrina. He cites Mr. Bush's loyalty as blinding. What a joke! So if you at the helm and the ship it is heading towards the crags and the first mate says full steam ahead you remain loyal. Unbelievable, that this knucklehead can cite that a virtue. The fact is Browne should never have been in that position; and once it was learned, he was out of his league he should have been fired on the spot. Then there is Ari Fleischer. We all remember him spouting lies and misrepresentations for Bush. He praises Bush's “clear view.” This past operative who graduated to pundit is still selling the kool-aid as relief from an immoral world. Like the maniac down in Jonestown who encouraged his followers to drink the poison elixir, Fleischer promotes the “strength and moral clarity” of Bush. I guess one could with the same logic talk of Speck's singleness of purpose in the face of a relativism regarding protecting the lives of young nursing students.
Here it is folks the last desperate attempts by those who were a party to high crimes and incompetence. These so called pundits are attempting to put spin on an administration that was by any account a dismal failure. But more, the actions taken by the President and his men traverse the line between what is legal and what is moral. Because I carry a bible and go to church doesn't make my actions right. Fleischer talks of the elimination of Saddam Hussein. And I guess he can look beyond the five years of chaos and countless deaths and injuries not to mention the billions of dollars and assume it was justified. Hasn't he heard there were no weapons of mass destruction? And in that coterie of neo cons didn't anyone offer the suggestion that negotiations might have gotten to the bottom of our concerns. These wags are trying to re-write history and their feeble words are laughable.
The real tragedy of this dark dark period of American History is that Congress failed to act. There was some misguided judgment that impeachment hearings would have crippled the government. But when the government is clearly violating the public trust, when an administration is actively involved in criminal behavior, it is the constitutional responsibility of elected representatives to remove the offender from office. For those who declare it wasn't criminal, why then were pardons necessary? And remember there has been no serious investigation of actions taken in the oval office.
The inability of this president to discharge his duties under the constitution was clearly evident time and time again.. Citizens died because of the actions or inactions of this president. Yet the Congress failed to draw up impeachment articles. That the house hadn't stopped this administration in its tracks as soon as it gained a majority will go down as a most egregious error in judgment. It is especially ironic given the precedent set by the high and might Republican congress to pursue Clinton because of some misguided dalliance.
Politicians like to stand on the soap box and lecture. They like to rationalize whatever advised or ill-advised action they may take. Reasons flow from their staff till black can be made white and white can be anything they desire it to be. Curious how moral turpitude can be twisted around illogical and criminal actions by a spokesperson.
Yet in their attempt to be rational and reasonable, the house has let this president continue in office. It is clear that this administration is incapable of governing. And now in the closing months of this historic failure of a president, we begin to see but a further eroding of the protections in environment and labor. Contemplated rule changes would make water less safe, workers more vulnerable, air quality more toxic. We have to ask ourselves why didn't those entrusted with constitutional authority exercise their responsibilities to begin a process whereby the wrongs perpetrated by this administration was brought to a hearing and hopefully stopped in its tracks.
All those strident righteous right wing pols should have been made to make the case for this presidency. Each and every one should have been thrust into a forum that would have made them defend the actions of this president. Never has one man brought such disgrace to the office. The ghosts of thousands of humans cry out from their graves. If this nation is to gain its moral high ground, then, it must ask for an accounting of this man and his cronies. Glibness and buffoonery are not a valid defense, not for a capital offense.
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