Why impeach Bush now?
Posted: Monday, January 28, 2008
Earlier this month, former South Dakota Sen. George McGovern wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post calling for the impeachment of President Bush (“Why I believe Bush must go”). In the column, McGovern writes, “Of course, there seems to be little bipartisan support for impeachment. The political scene is marked by narrow and sometimes superficial partisanship, especially among Republicans
” McGovern could have made a stronger case if his own column had not been peppered with partisanship and half-truths.
For starters, does he honestly expect any reasonable person to believe that congressional Republicans should be singled out as the party guilty of narrow and superficial partisanship? Last year’s do-nothing congressional session was certainly that way in part due to the partisanship of the party in charge n the Democrats. We might have expected as much when Nancy Pelosi gave her first speech as speaker. The event was marked with superficiality. Fresh from another Botox injection, Pelosi filled the chamber with photo-op ready grandchildren and empty words. She talked of ushering in a new era of bipartisanship. We’re still waiting.
Mr. McGovern later writes, “The dominant commitment of the administration has been a murderous, illegal, nonsensical war against Iraq." Yes, the oft-repeated mantra by Bush bashers of “illegal war” is heard once again. Are they (and McGovern) hoping if this mantra is repeated enough we will all fall into the trancelike, meditative state more conducive to the power of suggestion, thereby influencing our opinion? Sounds like a good topic for Oprah or Deepak Chopra.
Whatever the case, George McGovern tries to have it both ways. He calls what’s happening in Iraq an illegal war, but in the very next paragraph states, “All of this has been done without the declaration of war from Congress ” So what is it George? Is it a war or isn’t it? If a war has not been declared, can it be called an illegal war? Perhaps McGovern has renounced his divinity degree and turned to Buddhism? Maybe his use of the mantra “illegal war” is just to beg the question “When is a war not a war?” Sounds similar to the koans of “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” or “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Well, that falls outside the scope of political discourse and this column. Better ask the Dalai Lama.
Entering the half-truth zone, McGovern adds “the Bush-Cheney team repeatedly deceived Congress, the press and the public into believing that Saddam Hussein had nuclear arms and other horrifying banned weapons ” We know Saddam possessed banned weapons. He used poisonous mustard gas to kill his own people. Also, he most likely HAD possessed weapons of mass destruction. Our intelligence indicated as much. Maybe during our “rush to war” - issuing one U.N. resolution after another for 17 months prior to the Iraq invasion - Hussein was able get rid of the evidence (Buried deep in the bowels of Iran?).
The former Democratic nominee for president certainly missed his calling. He could have been a soap opera writer considering his flair for being overdramatic. He rants, “How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?” If that were true, would there be such a disproportionate number of people trying to enter this great nation as opposed to leaving it?
So why impeach Bush now as he enters the final year of his presidency? McGovern writes that doing so would “signal to the American people and the world that some of us feel strongly enough about the present drift of our country to support the impeachment of the false prophets who have led us astray." No, I think the real answer lies in McGovern’s advancing age (he is 85). He is most remembered for his landslide defeat at the hands of Richard Nixon. George McGovern is in legacy-building mode right now and that might explain his partisan call for Bush’s impeachment.
Michael McNeil is a free-lance writer from Dakota City, Neb. You can write to him in care of the Journal or at lvrcomments@hotmail.com.
For starters, does he honestly expect any reasonable person to believe that congressional Republicans should be singled out as the party guilty of narrow and superficial partisanship? Last year’s do-nothing congressional session was certainly that way in part due to the partisanship of the party in charge n the Democrats. We might have expected as much when Nancy Pelosi gave her first speech as speaker. The event was marked with superficiality. Fresh from another Botox injection, Pelosi filled the chamber with photo-op ready grandchildren and empty words. She talked of ushering in a new era of bipartisanship. We’re still waiting.
Mr. McGovern later writes, “The dominant commitment of the administration has been a murderous, illegal, nonsensical war against Iraq." Yes, the oft-repeated mantra by Bush bashers of “illegal war” is heard once again. Are they (and McGovern) hoping if this mantra is repeated enough we will all fall into the trancelike, meditative state more conducive to the power of suggestion, thereby influencing our opinion? Sounds like a good topic for Oprah or Deepak Chopra.
Whatever the case, George McGovern tries to have it both ways. He calls what’s happening in Iraq an illegal war, but in the very next paragraph states, “All of this has been done without the declaration of war from Congress ” So what is it George? Is it a war or isn’t it? If a war has not been declared, can it be called an illegal war? Perhaps McGovern has renounced his divinity degree and turned to Buddhism? Maybe his use of the mantra “illegal war” is just to beg the question “When is a war not a war?” Sounds similar to the koans of “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” or “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Well, that falls outside the scope of political discourse and this column. Better ask the Dalai Lama.
Entering the half-truth zone, McGovern adds “the Bush-Cheney team repeatedly deceived Congress, the press and the public into believing that Saddam Hussein had nuclear arms and other horrifying banned weapons ” We know Saddam possessed banned weapons. He used poisonous mustard gas to kill his own people. Also, he most likely HAD possessed weapons of mass destruction. Our intelligence indicated as much. Maybe during our “rush to war” - issuing one U.N. resolution after another for 17 months prior to the Iraq invasion - Hussein was able get rid of the evidence (Buried deep in the bowels of Iran?).
The former Democratic nominee for president certainly missed his calling. He could have been a soap opera writer considering his flair for being overdramatic. He rants, “How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?” If that were true, would there be such a disproportionate number of people trying to enter this great nation as opposed to leaving it?
So why impeach Bush now as he enters the final year of his presidency? McGovern writes that doing so would “signal to the American people and the world that some of us feel strongly enough about the present drift of our country to support the impeachment of the false prophets who have led us astray." No, I think the real answer lies in McGovern’s advancing age (he is 85). He is most remembered for his landslide defeat at the hands of Richard Nixon. George McGovern is in legacy-building mode right now and that might explain his partisan call for Bush’s impeachment.
Michael McNeil is a free-lance writer from Dakota City, Neb. You can write to him in care of the Journal or at lvrcomments@hotmail.com.
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Dick wrote on Feb 6, 2008 5:15 AM:
Jose' wrote on Feb 4, 2008 8:03 AM:
eddieo wrote on Jan 31, 2008 2:49 AM:
Citizen wrote on Jan 30, 2008 10:43 AM:
Bush said, "The Constitution..it isn't anything but a G'd piece of paper!". Didn't he swear on oath to uphold the Constitution? In fact, his methods seem to parallel those of Hitler. Blow something up at home; blame someone else in order to go to war. The American people are slowly waking up. People like you get brainwashed by the mainstream media so much to the point that in your brain you see "patriot" and "terrorist" not "truth" and "lies". This isn't similar to what Hitler did, IT'S THE SAME THING. Welcome to fascism America. "
Keith wrote on Jan 30, 2008 10:07 AM: