Bush: All options are on the table. Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions so as not to destabilize the region.
Oprah: But both the U.S. and Israel have nuclear weapons in the region. Are you suggesting that there be nuclear disarmament for all countries in the Middle East?
Bush: If the United Nations Security Council determines that Iran is creating an explosive situation in the region, action will have to be taken. I'd prefer that to be diplomatic action, but all options are on the table.
ROILING SCANDALS AND IMPEACHMENT
Bush: That kind of question is what I'm talking about, giving comfort to our enemies abroad by liberal attacks such as yours on the president and his policies. Let's move on.
Oprah: Our audience will make up their own minds about no answer being provided. But, yes, we will move on. Next question: If your chief advisor Karl Rove is indicted in the Plamegate case (with Vice President Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby already indicted), and if the Abramoff scandal leads back into the White House, and if the NSA tapping American citizens' phone calls and emails without authorized court warrants is determined by the courts to be illegal -- if all this happens, would you object to the naming of a Special Prosecutor? Don't you think the American people deserve to find out what happened, who was involved in the scandals themselves, and who participated in the coverups that followed?
Bush: None of what you're suggesting will happen, because there's nothing there to find. No proof whatsoever. Besides, the Justice Department is perfectly capable of doing investigations.
Oprah: But Justice is headed by your longtime friend Alberto Gonzales, the same person who made up legal rationales permitting the U.S. government to torture prisoners and for you being able to violate the law whenever you, as "commander in chief," decide it's necessary, with no checks on that power by the Congress or the courts. There's an obvious conflict of interest there -- Gonzales himself eventually could be a target as well -- so why not a Special Prosecutor? And, if an investigation reveals that you and Mr. Cheney might have been involved in any or all of these scandals, will you cooperate with a House impeachment panel? Would you consider resigning, to save the country the trauma of yet another impeachment of a president?
Bush: I warned you that these types of questions were out of bounds. You are providing our enemies -- they hate us for our freedoms, you know -- with ammunition to harm the United States. Everything changed with 9/11, and you liberals haven't woken up to that fact. This interview is over. [He removes microphone from his jacket and walks off the set, to stunned silence, and then some loud boos, from the audience.]#
-------
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D., a playwright/poet, has written numerous Bush satires ( >> www.crisispapers.org/weinerpubs.htm#fantasies << ). He has taught at various universities, worked as a writer/editor with the San Francisco Chronicle, and currently co-edits The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org). To comment, write >> crisispapers@comcast.net << .
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
