Dana,
You made no mention of the illegal wiretaps that violated the 1978 FISA Law and was also struck down as being illegal by a federal judge. Bush openly and blatantly lied about this on April 20, 2004. This is not in dispute. If we can impeach William Jefferson Clinton for lying to a prosecutor, Why can’t we impeach a President for blatantly lying to the American public about his failure to uphold the rule of law he swore to protect? Again, no mention of the revoking of Habeas Corpus and how or why you can simply not be troubled by this. We openly torture people in this country - even John McCain helped pass a bill to end this atrocity - yet Bush just swished his pen over the bill with a signing statement and claimed he didn’t have to abide by it. How can this not trouble you? Do you want the next Democratic President, whenever and whoever that may be, to have these exorbitant powers?
I have to be honest, what bothers me the most, is that 71% of Americans disapprove of this president, a large majority disapprove of the illegal occupation of the Iraq, 45% of the nation want Bush impeached, 54% want Cheney impeached, our credibility on the worlds stage is bankrupt, we have an 8.6 trillion-dollar national debt, a 500 billion-dollar expenditure on a fruitless and totally unfounded war, 3,761 dead Americans, one country in total ruins and chaos - Iraq, another totally divided -ours, hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, the most unpopular president since Nixon and yet people like yourself - and I say this with all due respect - continue to support the indefensible.
We have lost whole forests to books, written by people far smarter and better educated on these matter than you and I, about either why this president should be impeached, the inexcusable poor execution and manipulation of a war gone terribly bad - one without any real purpose and yet people like yourself, and you are in the severe minority by every poll and by certain virtue of the last election, yet you remain resolute in your rightness in the face of incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. Why?
There are impeachment movements and rallies all across the country, constitutional scholars abound, from both political stripes, who agree Bush is more than worthy of, and surpassed long ago the threshold for, impeachment (most notably Bruce Fein on the conservative side) and still nothing but cheerleading for the greatest threat to our America- a rogue, run-away president. Are all these people wrong in your eyes?
I simply have to bluntly ask, How much evidence will it take for you to see the damage done in your name and mine by this administration?
I quit my job and spent the last 6 years studying the Bush family, Leo Strauss, all the neoconservative players, all the leftovers from the Nixon administration, such as Dick Cheney, have read over 100 books about these subjects, written over 45 articles and essays through 1000’s of hours of research, read every report available, every poll taken, every expert that is not named Kagan or Kristol and I always come back to the same conclusion: Bush deserves impeachment and has divided our country so bitterly that we are no longer Americans, we are either red states or blue states, progressives or democrats, liberals or conservatives, but never just Americans, anymore.
At what point does one say, I can no longer support this administration, its policies and I was wrong? What will it take?
I liked Ronald Reagan as a president. I did not agree with his policies, besides the Iran/contra affair that he did admit to and apologized for, not withstanding, he served his country well. I am not a died-in-the-wool liberal, but an American who knows wrongdoing and bad leadership when I see it. Bush is a bad leader, surrounded by incompetent and/or nefarious men, and history’s first draft already rates him as one of the worst presidents in American History.
Are the remaining 29% hold-outs - Bush’s base - so blind by utter nationalism, or enamored by the idea of conservatism that hubris and pride prevent you from admitting that America got this one wrong?
As a final thought to end my little Ranelli Rant, I support and like Ron Paul, I detest Hillary Clinton and genuinely believe that Bush has done EXACTLY what he intended to do: Whip this country into a patriotic frenzy, crush dissent, divide and distract us and never allow us to try and pull back the curtain to see what really is going on.
When and how do we unite as a country and heal? When do we say no to pre-emptive wars of choice? When do we demand the recall or impeachment of bad leaders or outright liars? When is simply enough?
Our little quid pro quo banal bantering has been civil, and I thank you for allowing me to express myself as a guest, but in the end, we remain divided, unable to reconcile and see the stark truth: We have been had as a nation.
Ps. I wrote this extemporaneously, without spell-check, no synonyms to enhance my point, no grammar check, did not send it to my copy editor for proofing or tried to be the eloquent writer named Frank Ranelli. However, I wrote it from the heart. I hope you will take at least a little of what I said, and asked, to heart as well.
Peace,
Frank J Ranelli
