As a man of conscience who is opposed to violence as well as despotism I cannot advocate the kind of disappearing that Pinochet ordered and the CIA orchestrated in the seventies and eighties but there are a growing number of individuals on the political scene I would love to see and hear no more. I do not wish them harm. I just want them to go away. I want them to live within their own circles of friends and family and never to appear before any public forum. If I could wave my hand and be done with them I would do so.
First on my list is former President George W. Bush. In fairness, we don't see a great deal of the former president but when we do it reminds us that Donald Trump was not our first systemic collapse in electing a president. The son of Poppy Bush took his rightful place at the podium to eulogize his father and that should have been the end of it. We cannot allow ourselves to forget what this man did as commander-in-chief and how he misled us into everlasting war and quagmire in the Middle East. That he himself was misled by his amoral vice president and a circle of Neocons is no excuse. He was "the decider" and his decisions led to disasters. We should not forget as well that his economic policies nearly pushed us into a global depression. Go away, Mr. Bush. Let that be the end of all Bushes. You cannot rehabilitate a pile of rubbish.
In the spirit of bipartisanship, next on my list is former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee for the presidency, Hillary Clinton. Let's add Bill to the list for good measure and give warning to Chelsea that she's not far behind. Hillary may be suffering under the illusion that because she was cheated out of the White House people want to hear from her. As one who firmly believes she was cheated by a collaboration of nefarious elements, including Russian intelligence, Facebook and dimwitted members of the Trump campaign, I can say without reservation that I do not want to hear from her. Even with Russia tampering and the complicity of social media, Hillary should have thumped Trump like a dirty old rug.
She thought she could win without a discernable message. She thought she could get the working person's vote by not being Trump. She thought it was enough to be a woman against a misogynist. She thought she could just show up with corporate money and buy her way to the top. It was not enough. Now go away and write another memoir that no one wants to read.
Next on the list is Vice President Mike Pence. Here is a man who seems to believe he is welcome in any room because he is not Donald Trump. I have to concede: He is not Donald Trump. He is a man so twisted with fundamentalist venom that he fears being alone in a room with any member of the opposite sex. He is man who refuses to speak out against laws that would send doctors and women to jail for terminating a pregnancy in the first two months of gestation. Mr. Pence is a primary reason Democrats hesitate to impeach the president. What if they succeeded? What if Trump was removed from office? The notion that Pence would get the next Supreme Court appointment must give us all pause.
Now we proceed to the heart of the matter: I would like to see disappear the honorable Attorney General of the United States, head of the Department of Justice and Obstructer-in-Chief, William Barr. Best known for his defense of Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal, Barr volunteered for his current role as the president's personal lackey with an infamous 19-page memo summarizing his opinion that the president is above the law. As Nixon once said: "When the president does it" it's not illegal."
Barr spun the Mueller Report with the veracity of a spider on steroids. To say that he misrepresented the report is an understatement on par with declaring Native American genocide a quiet resolution of conflict. Barr used the president's terminology in stating his conclusion that there was "no collusion" and implying no obstruction. In his testimony before congress he displayed a thousand and one ways to avoid answering a question. Is he guilty of obstruction? Absolutely. Will he be held accountable? Highly unlikely. Barr should be hauled out of the Justice Department, tarred, feathered and transported out of town on a rail. Am I advocating people taking justice into their own hands? No, Mr. Barr, I'm simply sharing a vision of justice for your amusement.
Next and most prominent on my list of wishful disappearance is the honorable Robert Mueller, Special Counsel assigned to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Of all the mealy mouthed and cowardly testimonials the Special Counsel's report will have a prominent place in history. Despite a mountain of evidence collected over the course of two years the honorable Mr. Mueller could not draw a conclusion because a Justice Department policy forbade him. Had he made his position clear he should not have taken the job in the first place.
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