Suppose it could be proven that the integrity of the vote-counting in the 2004 election had been seriously compromised, and that Bush-Cheney probably lost. What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration told huge lies to get the U.S. military into Iraq, thus leading to the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, the maiming of tens of thousands of others, the deaths of more than 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians? What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration effectively has turned over the writing of pollution-control legislation to the corporations that create much of the pollution? What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that the Bush inner circle knew that a huge terrorist attack was about to go down in the Fall of 2001 and chose, for whatever reason, to ignore the warnings. What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that high officials of the Bush Administration, for political reasons, deliberately revealed the identity of a covert CIA officer, and that of a CIA mole inside Osama bin Laden's inner circle? What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration concocted a legal philosophy that would permit the President to ignore laws passed by Congress, and has "disappeared" a number of American citizens into military-base prisons away from public or legal scrutiny -- in effect, making the President into a kind of dictator? What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that under rules devised by the Bush Administration, confidentiality between lawyer and client no longer exists, federal agents can enter your home and conduct a search without you being present or even being told it happened ("sneak&peak," it's called), can hack into your computer and read your private emails without you being informed, can check what library books you're reading and prevent librarians from telling you they've done that. What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration devised legal rationales for torture of suspected terrorist-prisoners in U.S. care -- with more than 100 dying while being interrogated -- and that key detainees are being sent to U.S.-friendly countries where extreme torture methods are used? What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that because of their incompetence and delay in responding to the Gulf Coast Katrina catastrophe, more than a thousand innocent American citizens drowned or starved to death? What would you do about it?
Suppose it could be proven that the Bush Administration, hostile to science, has denied the reality of global warming and its effects on regional weather changes, such as the increase in monster hurricanes like Katrina and Rita, and thus devoted little or no attention to the deadly implications. What would you do about it?
"WHAT DO I CARE WHAT YOU THINK?"
Well, you get the idea. You or I could continue this list forever -- civil liberties decimated, church&state merging, humongous deficits, activist judges granting more and more power to the central government, certain citizens (especially women and gays) being discriminated against, etc. etc. And then we'd always come back to the same closing question: "What would you do about it?"
The reason I ask is that the Bush Administration has been caught in the spotlight on these issues for the past four-and-a-half years, with documented evidence reported in the mainstream media. Scandal after scandal, corruption after corruption, high crimes and misdemeanors -- and yet, nothing happens.
As Bush himself once said about his critics, almost in these words: "So what, I'm the President. What are you going to do about it? What do I care what you think?" As long as Bush is in the White House, with all the power at his command, with all his loyalist toadies keeping real-world consequences away from him, he feels that he and his inner circle in the bunker with him are untouchable.
And, to date, he has been. So what are you, what are we, going to do about it?
If the impeachment of a sitting President was a decision made by the electorate then I would say your excellently framed article stood the chance of becoming reality.
With Democrats continuing to vote along GOP party lines (see the Roberts vote in the Judiciary Committee wherein five demos voted against and the rest voted tail between their legs), with the continuing absence of genuine opposition within the Democratic leadership to the heinous, fradulent, dishonest and abysmally incompetent Bush administration how would anyone hope that the House could bring impeachment charges and the Senate prosecute them?
To continue to fantasize about sending that Alfred E. Neuman clone home to Crawford in disgrace I would suggest that all you loyal democrats concentrate on two goals. First a change in the leadership of your party, a wholesale house cleaning actually. Secondly a sweep in the coming '06 election. I admit to not having the numbers before me and do not know how many seats could possibly change parties but , if a substantial number of repugs are sent home and replaced by democrats with guts several things might be accomplished:
1. Impeachment charges might be brought
2. The GAO and the Justice Dept might be urged to begin investigations into the numerous and blatantly obvious war profiteering by the usual suspects and yes I do mean Dick, go F#$k Yourself, Cheney ( this last might needs await a Democratic President)
3. The votes might be mustered to cut off all funding for the Iraq war until such time as the mess could be turned over to the UN in which instance we would have to fund their efforts simply because we created the mess.
4. All further Bush schemes, machinations and plans could be voted down and likewise bills that make sense could have the weight of enough votes to overide any veto.
Now those are fantasies with a chance of reality........
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 6:55:48 PM
