I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and I am glad it has arrived: Impeach President George Bush. This cry for justice has been on the tip of my tongue but I felt that with little personal political credibility I would degrade the effectiveness of the statement.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican from a historically red state with strong presidential hopes, suggested that it was an option to impeach Bush, citing his lack of accountability to anyone, including public sentiment - and I am willing to jump on the bandwagon. While the suggestion has been quietly whispered in Washington for a while, this is the first time a prominent senator has so candidly suggested the possibility.
As we enter the fifth year of the Iraq war the dishonesty of the president becomes more and more apparent. From the onset, with the justification and testimony for assuming the role of aggressor against Iraq, the administration has poured that poison into the veins of the entire system. It spread quickly, even throughout the military where top leaders such as Colin Powell were tainted.
It spread into Afghanistan with the death of Cpl. Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals football player who traded a $3.6 million contract for the uniform of an Army Ranger. This week new facts revealed that for almost a month officials had misled Tillman's family and the public about the details of his fratricidal killing. In this way of thinking Tillman became a propaganda piece, not a human or soldier who served with honor.
The media and politicians carefully avoid using, endorsing or even suggesting using the word "wasted" in reference to those that have died fighting this war. The term was used widely during the Vietnam War because those men thought that the lives of their brothers were being wasted due to the situation and Cold War politics of the era. When we allow politicians and military administration to meddle in the deaths of those who have given their lives it taints them with their poison, and they potentially become wasted.
The poison of dishonesty has spread through the justice system, and the symptoms have shown in the wake of the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Federal prosecutors serve at the discretion of the president and therefore are political appointments by their very nature.
Setting that issue aside and examining the true issues of the situations reveals unethical political pressure on these prosecutors for Republican political gain. Further confounding this issue is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' apparent knowledge, support and sanctioning of the relieving of the federal prosecutors - all of which he has denied until recent official e-mails revealed the contradiction. Bush continues to unwaveringly support Gonzales throughout the entire storm - he again adopts the mantra of "Stay the course" against all public and common sense feasibility.
With Republicans defecting and a public approval rating below 30 percent according to a January survey, Bush's support circle grows smaller with each passing day
I had hoped the Democrat controlled Congress would strike while the fire was hot and make a move toward impeachment, or at the very least censure, part of their First 100 Hours strategy.
After the sexual scandals of President Bill Clinton, 40 percent of American supported an impeachment trial and Congress acted within four months, citing the loss of integrity and obstruction of justice. Nearly 50 percent of Senate voted for impeachment, short of the two-thirds necessary but quite a statement nonetheless.
I believe that it is time to break this idea of the president as an untouchable power and strike at this disease that is rotting the American way of life from the very top. We have lost credibility on a global scale, and even the citizens of the United States are disheartened by our future prospects.
I believe a movement toward impeaching Bush would inspire Americans again and remind our leaders that they serve at our discretion.
Write to Jason at jlhodson@bsu.edu
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