First, the rats or as I like to call them, the reds.
It seemed to start a couple of weeks ago, when the 520 page report entitled "A Failure of Initiative" was released from the almost completely red, House of Representatives, committee on the "national failure" that was the government's "Response" to Hurricane Katrina. "Passivity did the most damage," the report stated "The failure of initiative cost lives, prolonged suffering, and left all Americans justifiably concerned our government is no better prepared to protect its people than it was before 9/11, even if we are." The hearings that followed had reds like Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), the Congressman who led the inquiry, saying "It remains difficult to understand how government could respond so ineffectively to a disaster that was anticipated for years and for which specific dire warnings had been issued for days,".
Not since the ridiculous nomination to the Supreme Court of Harriet Myers, has the administration met with such opposition from its own party. A party that has controlled congress for eight years, the presidency for 5+, and the Supreme Court now more than ever. Why the change? Why the separation from the man "god" told to run for president? Maybe it's the new 34% approval rating of president george w. bush, or the 18% vice president cheney received. Maybe it's having a company, controlled by a country with a "checkered" past when it comes to al qaeda and the taliban, controlling six of our Major ports. Or maybe it's the increasing "sectarian" violence in the “neo-con”, “pre-emptive”, “bush doctrine”, war of choice in Iraq. For whatever reason, real or spun, reds seem to be distancing themselves in advance of the Congressional elections of 2006. But as much as I enjoy seeing the current administration hung out to dry, it's the sinking ship that has me worried.
The mistakes, poor decisions, incompetence, and dishonesty of this administration affect all of Us. How can an administration that failed to plan for an oncoming category 4 hurricane plan for the climatic change due to global warming, illustrated again last week by reports of rapid ice melts in Greenland? How can an administration that failed to plan for their war to continue passed it’s “shock and awe” campaign be expected to plan for Our security as a people, Our future as a Nation, or the re-establishment of Our place among the industrialized and civilized nations of the world. Our nation's reputation has never been as bad, especially in the "Muslim" world we have been taught to fear, as it is today. And at home, by typing the word al Qaeda into the text of this rant, the NSA is now allowed to tap my phones and read all my emails without a warrant, even one received 72 hours after the tap. And when they arrest me, they can arbitrarily call me an "enemy combatant", send me to Guantanamo Bay, and hold me without charge or lawyer for as long as they like. Adherence to the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions or the Army field manual as it pertains to torture (or anything else) is not something this president, this attorney general, this vice president, or this secretary of defense give a good god dam about, except to give lip service to when they're backed into a corner while avoiding being put under oath.
This president and his administration act as if there is no law they can not usurp, under the auspices of National Security or their undeclared war. They are dangerous to Our system of government, Our treasury, and Our values as Americans. The person in charge of and responsible for this administration and all of its actions is the president of the United States. Onward pushes the impeachment movement.
"We have before us in the White House a thief who steals the country's good name and reputation for his private interest and personal use; a liar who seeks to instill in the American people a state of fear; a televangelist who engages the United States in a never-ending crusade against all the world's evil, a wastrel who squanders a vast sum of the nation's wealth on what turns out to be a recruiting drive certain to multiply the host of our enemies. In a word, a criminal-known to be armed and shown to be dangerous"
- Lewis Lapham “The Case for Impeachment" Harper's (March 2006 issue) Read it here or in a barnes & noble lobby near you.
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