Tact Free

There are so many reasons why GW Bush should be impeached. The Nation had an excellent issue back in January enumerating the numerous reasons many Americans support the idea. In my opinion this is why this opinion should have legs:

• Iraq WMD: Regardless of where you stand on this issue, the mere fact that the Bush administration was not able to provide any legitimate evidence of WMDs in Iraq should have led to an investigation into how and why this lie got us into this unwinnable war. This includes testimony from all the agencies and individuals who sat through the meetings leading up to this conclusion. The fact that American lives have been and are still being lost makes a thorough investigation imperative. The excuses that have been made for the elusive WMDs are weak to say the least. The fact that our Congressmen and Senators were duped also, should make everyone pause. The continued lies that they got the same security information is the weakest excuse of all. The selling of this lie to America continues unabated. For Americans still not to know that the President and only select members of the Senate and Congress are privy to the more sensitive FBI/CIA information that was used to build up the WMD lie should be made perfectly clear. Those members were overwhelmingly Republican and to this day still are lamenting that the evidence was there. The same evidence that the CIA had already debunked during the Clinton administration. Let's not even mention the "Downing Street" memo which asserts what many were already speculating, that Bush had already planned to invade Iraq to overthrow Saddam. We expect politicians to lie to us. We don't, however, expect that those lies should directly lead to the lost of American lives. When that happens, someone should be held accountable. Who do you think that should be and what recourse should we have for this kind of betrayal of the American people? To ask that we sacrifice our future, our children's lives, for a self-serving lie is unforgiveable and in mine and many others opinions treasonous to say the least.
• Homeland Security Preparedness: More lies. We are safer than we ever were before 9/11. We have not been attacked because the Bush administration is in power. All lies. There has been absolutely NO progress in securing our borders, shipping ports, or airlines (other than having us remove our shoes). Be it by plane, train or automobile, we have done very little to change the way Al Queda members or any other terrorist group would have entered this country before 9/11. The 9/11 panel gave homeland security a failing grade ("5 F's, 12 D's, and two "incompletes"). The ineptitude of this administration is overwhelming. Basic issues that should have been resolved immediately, first responders' communication system, were identified shortly after 9/11 as major obstacles to the police, firefighers, and other emergency groups. For this administration to sat on their asses for over 4 years and not address these issues is unforgiveable. As I mentioned in a previous post, this Presidency appears to have such disdain for public service. Anytime they are required to provide a service to their employees, the US citizens, they balk. To leave us so vulnerable to attack, could only be considered a complete direliction of duty. That alone could be considered strong enough reason for impeachment.
• Katrina - In hindsight, the lack of appropriate response from the Bush administration during the first major castatrophe after 9/11 was not surprising. When you consider the 9/11 Panel grading of the inept Homeland Security Department and then realize that this department was responsible for FEMA, you see that this was inevitable. For the administration to lie about their knowledge of the impact the hurricane would have on a major US city was also expected. When they have the opportunity to do their jobs and serve the US citizens, Bush and company shirk their responsibility, blame others instead of owning the mistakes, and determining ways to make sure the problem does not occur again. With hurricane season again upon us, I doubt that this administration has made any changes that would prevent another New Orleans. The richest most powerful nation in the world DID NOT rescue its citizens. They left them to die. The poor and the elderly of New Orleans were abandoned. What makes us believe that we are safe from terrorist attacks that occur without warning, when we can't manage to protect ourselves from natural catastrophes in which we are given ample warning? The Bush administration may not see that they are at fault here. Throwing their pre-election promises back at them would obviously yield their oft bandied response, "Who would have thought....". Treasonous, direliction of duty.
• Spying on Americans - Need I remind you that Watergate was about the spying on private citizens. Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment for this offense. After Watergate, there were laws that allowed the executive powers to request a judicial warrant for domestic wiretaping. There is also provisions in the law that will allow the executive to proceed witht the wiretapping prior to the warrant for national security reasons. Why did the Bush administration do this knowing that it was illegal? Some speculate the wiretapping was similar to Nixon's true reasons, to spy on political opponents. This is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn. If it is found that they won the 2004 election as a result of wiretapes or political opponents or that the wiretapping were not for national security reasons, there can be no other recourse but to impeach this President and remove his entire cabinet.

That's my case for impeachment. I believe I've provided ample support. We went to war with much less.