Editor�s Page
J�accuse � you!
Who is this �you� whom I accuse? It�s third-person plural and it�s you, the American citizens who voted for George W. Bush � not necessarily the first time, for even though he seemed clownishly unfit for the job, he was, for most, an unknown clown; and an unknown clown is at least better than a megalomaniac. But the second time! How could you - after all any self-respecting moderately intelligent person already knew, or should have known about him because of his actions? That he is indeed, after all, an ignorant, pampered, bumbling, power-hungry fundamentalist who lives embedded (sic) in a cocoon of like-minded, like-feeling, reactionary individuals who, like him, have lied to us in the most nefarious manner: transparent lies told with sincerity, to the extent that one can almost think that they believe their own lies. And maybe they do. That would make them more dangerous still. Recently Bush proclaimed that ��We will not rest until the whole world lives in freedom.� Are those not the words of a madman?
No, I didn�t forget about those who voted against him. But what are we doing now? Sitting home watching the world cup or virtual reality shows instead of working to get rid of the beast which is devouring its own children as well as those of thousands of Iraqis. So I accuse myself as well.
Forget about the Katrina debacle; that�s a question of incompetence and all governments are incompetent to a greater or lesser degree. We can�t quite forget, though, about the United States being unwilling to join the rest of the world in its half-hearted attempt to save the natural environment before it�s too late. Even such watered down agreements are anathema to the Bush government because they could be inconvenient to their friends in the military-industrial establishment. To hell with nature! Forget about technological spying on its own citizens (for now). A congressman attempted to introduce a motion of censure based on that issue and� not even his own party had the courage to support him. So forget about the politicians.
It's hard to forget about the concentration camp operated by the United States in Guantanomo, Cuba (of all places) where human beings - enemies or not - are kept in cages like animals without charges, trial, rights, lawyers and probably tortured (torture is now allowed, remember?) during interrogation.
You may forget about the fact that the United States, once the world�s model for the right to �life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness�, has become despised by the great majority of the world�s population � but I can�t forget it, for I live in the midst of the rest of the world and for the first time in my life I am ashamed of being an American.
Forget about the attempts to change the constitution to make same-sex marriage illegal and enact a law making flag burning a crime. They are too absurdly, transparently cynical.
You may not want to worry about the federal debt, so forget about it, although since becoming president, George Bush has presided over one of the steepest peacetime rises ever in the federal debt. The gross federal debt now exceeds $8.3 trillion. There are three reasons for the increase: reduced revenue during the 2001 recession, generous tax cuts for higher income groups and increased expenditures not only on warfare abroad but also on welfare at home. And if projections from the Congressional Budget Office turn out to be correct, the United States is just a decade away from a $12.8 trillion debt � more than double what it was when Bush took office. This, my friends, means trouble.�������������������
I know that there are relatively large groups of citizens who demonstrate against the war, and I admire and encourage them. But is it enough? Is the objective sufficiently grand? No. The objective should be the impeachment of the president and the vice president of the United States! � for the �crimes and misdemeanors� provided by the Constitution as grounds.
The senseless war in Iraq is a crime of the most heinous sort. Already thousands of Americans � along with many more thousands of Iraqi men, women and children have been killed and maimed (Oh, horror!) as a direct result of this crime. The war in Iraq has the �collateral damage� effect of brutalizing American soldiers to the extent that they murder innocent civilians, including young children. Weren�t the Nazis the bad guys before? And the soldiers are hardly more than children themselves � 18, 19, 20 years old many of them � permanently psychologically scarred. And the chaotic situation in the Middle East has become much more dangerous than ever.
Is all this not sufficient cause for change, for saying basta! Let�s get rid of this gang of criminals before it�s too late � if it isn�t already.
You may say: but such a movement would fail because Congress wouldn�t support it. It wouldn�t fail if a sufficient number of constituents made known to their so-called representatives that they want Bush OUT. Now is the time to begin, in order that our children and succeeding generations will not cry J�accuse because we were lacking in courage and will to act when we saw the horror unfolding before our eyes every day.�� ��
Two interesting sites - especially the first one - working for impeachment of the president.
www.afterdowningstreet.org
www.impeachBush.org
Frank Thomas Smith,
Editor
