As I was listening to Keith Olbermann interview Jonathan Turley who is a constitutional lawyer speak of how Pres. Bush signed off on water boarding, he stated, “We now have President Bush speaking quite candidly that he was in the loop, we have Dick Cheney who almost bragged about it. The question for Barack Obama is whether he wants to own part of this by looking the other way."
As we all know torture is a war crime under the Geneva Convention. After hearing Turley state that, one of my immediate thoughts was the case of impeachment directed at the Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich. Another thought came to mind is that it seems that only Democrats get impeached in this country as evident with the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.
Yes, Nixon faced impeachment, but resigned before the proceedings took place. One has to wonder if he would have actually been impeached.
As we look to the many crimes committed by President Bush, we are all to ready to prosecute a man whose alleged crimes are petty in comparison. As we all know, President Bush lied us into a war which systematically killed thousands upon thousands of innocent Iraqis and over 4,000 of our troops. For each one murdered by Bush whatever crime Blagojevich has allegedly committed there is a clarion-call for his impeachment. Let the ‘I’ word be mentioned as it pertains to Bush and a vast majority in congress run for the hills.
By handing out tax cuts with two wars being fought, Bush bankrupted this country as evident with the economic firestorm that surrounds us. To me, that is economic treason. Our national deficit now stands in the trillions of dollars which will cost each of us dearly. If you are a citizen of Illinois do you still feel like Blagojevich is the bad guy as you lose your homes, your jobs, and whatever safety net you once had? It is bitterly cold and how many of you cannot afford to heat your homes due to the high cost of oil? Where was Bush to regulate the price of oil during these past eight years? I do suspect that some have died due to hypothermia in their homes and he is culpable for their deaths.
Blagojevich came from a blue-collar back ground while Bush on the other hand was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. If you think Bush will care of your concerns once he leaves office next Tuesday, think again. Think of that smirk he often wears as you look at the economic devastation your state and the rest of the 49 states have gone through. Then tell me who deserved to face impeachment.
I just do not know how the legislature in the state of Illinois can look themselves in the mirror wishing to impeach a governor who never signed off on torture as President Bush did. Blagojevich has done far less than the man who currently leads this country until next Tuesday when Pres.-elect Barack Obama will become president. If they truly wish to punish him, my suggestion is to censure him where it will go on his historical record. It will become his ‘Scarlet A’ that he will have to wear openly.
I still remember when House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi said of Pres. Bush that “impeachment was off the table” and that infuriated many like yours truly, yet, yet everyone is on board with the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Help me to understand this. Which crimes rise more to the level of impeachment? As far as I know, Governor Rod Blagojevich never issued orders to launch an attack on guiltless people thereby killing them, but Bush did.
Blagojevich may torture folks with his impersonations of Elvis or the way he quotes historians, but Bush on the other hand actually tortured human beings.
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois had this to say of any legal proceedings against President Bush, Vice President Cheney, et all, “Our economy is so weak; we're in desperate need of jobs. Before we start looking at the pages of history in the Bush administration, we should be looking at the obvious need to create jobs and create a new economic climate in this country." I am sorry, but where is Senator Durbin’s voice when it comes to the impending impeachment of his state’s governor? The silence is deafening. He can defend and look past war crimes, but hold Governor Blagojevich to a different standard?
How many times during these past eight years or when it became clear that Bush lied us into this war, did Durbin stand up and give him a standing ovation at a State of the Union Address as he severs himself from Blagojevich?
When the first half of the TARP money was doled out to various bank executives, it was done without guidelines attached to it. Our tax money went poof! Blagojevich on the other hand went up against the Bank of America by stating that his state would no longer do business with them if they did not help out those workers at the window factory. I still find it highly suspicious that on the day he was set to go to court to force BOA to help these workers, was the same day he was arrested. Oh and let us not forget U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald sought a three-month extension to indict the governor. If one truly believes in conspiracy theories, do some digging into this one.
When senate Democrats had to back down and accept the appointment of Roland Burris who was Gov. Blagojevich’s pick for the senate seat vacated by Pres.-elect Barack Obama, in all honesty, I was highly amused. Here an embattled governor won an important victory and it was the law that stood on his side.
Author’s email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net
