I assume you believe he should be impeached? I don't think its gonna happen, despite whatever problems he has gotten the US into in Iraq and around the world. On the one hand maybe you could assert the fact he did nefarious things domestically, but barring the destruction of Executive Privilege I don't think hard, concrete evidence would be available to impeach him.
Allowing this administration's illegal actions to go without some sort of accountability, impeachment or at least censure, sets a dangerous precedent for future administrations.
Unfortunately, JasonF is correct. As long as Bush can invoke Executive Privilege, impeachment would fail. I still think it is worth the attempt, if only as a way of saying, "We will not simply let you get away with this" to future presidents.
Personally, I think he's a great guy, and he did some good things when he was my governor (well, better than this liberal pansy we have now). I would like to see any one name an illegal act he has done. Honestly. As for the "Worst President Ever" charge, I'd choose a supposed idiot over a rapist any day.
um... okay elephantforprez this should be fun
- Was pre-warned of Osama Bin Laden's ambitions, yet did absolutely nothing.
- The false claims Mr. Bush cooked up to drive america's early consent of the Iraq war that is a political and strategic failure
- "Waterboarding is not torture"
- the P.A.T.R.I.O.T.S. ACT that limited our civil liberties post 9/11.
- Gitmo and Abu
- Went from a Surplus to a Trillion dollar debt in the midst of a recession
- failed tax system that crunches the middle class and led to the outsourcing of jobs
- Unemployment rates, or the failure to do anything about it.
- Claims that he will make us safe, yet the 9/11 commission suggest that we are ill-prepared for any form of an attack on U.S. soil
- Has been ineffective in preventing N.Korea and Iran from gaining nuclear capabilities.
- Hasn't done anything to offset rising gas prices.
- Failed to help Katrina victims
Good list, HopeNation. Nothing will be done in response to these issues because the Bush administration also managed to turn the Judiciary branch of our government into part of its political machine. Thank goodness that guys like Henry Waxman were able to put enough pressure on the administration for politicizing of the Justice Dept that some of Bush's minions-- Gonzo, Monica Goodling, etc-- had to go. Sadly, I think Mukasey revealed he also has too much partisan allegiance when he wouldn't call waterboarding torture.
In any event, I think that impeachment is basically the only form of retribution against the president at this point. Moreover, I agree with Secularian's point that not taking measures to impeach Bush will set a dangerous precedent of overwhelming executive privilege for future presidents. Even though I'd expect ANY of the current presidential candidates to act more honorably than Bush, I'm skeptical if any of them would actively rescind the power Bush has granted them. Giving any president that level of power scares me.
HopeNation says:
"um... okay elephantforprez this should be fun - Was pre-warned of Osama Bin Laden's ambitions, yet did absolutely nothing. - The false claims Mr. Bush cooked up to drive america's early consent of the Iraq war that is a political and strategic failure - "Waterboarding is not torture" - the P.A.T.R.I.O.T.S. ACT that limited our civil liberties post 9/11. - Gitmo and Abu - Went from a Surplus to a Trillion dollar debt in the midst of a recession - failed tax system that crunches the middle class and led to the outsourcing of jobs - Unemployment rates, or the failure to do anything about it. - Claims that he will make us safe, yet the 9/11 commission suggest that we are ill-prepared for any form of an attack on U.S. soil - Has been ineffective in preventing N.Korea and Iran from gaining nuclear capabilities. - Hasn't done anything to offset rising gas prices. - Failed to help Katrina victims"
Ok, hopenation, I do agree with some of this, although let me do some editing:
Was pre-warned of Osama Bin Laden's ambitions, yet did absolutely nothing- Ok, agree here, although Bill Clinton was presented with a situation where we could have caught Bin Laden, and he chose not to.
The false claims Mr. Bush cooked up to drive america's early consent of the Iraq war that is a political and strategic failure- The whole world (with exception of France and Germany) thought that Saddam had WMDs. I think I would too. The United Nations had asked Saddam 14 times to let inspectors come over and look around for the weapons. I would get pretty suspicious, since Saddam said no to each of the requests. Turns out he was trying to make Israel afraid of him, make them think he had some really powerful weapons. We went over there, didn't find anything, but if you think about it, it's like the quote, "Better safe than sorry". France and Germany did not agree that Saddam had WMDs because they had arms deals with him (determined later during the war).
Claims that he will make us safe, yet the 9/11 commission suggest that we are ill-prepared for any form of an attack on U.S. soil- You know, I don't recall having any more terrorist attacks here, do you? Maybe we are safe- but if we leave the Iraq war we might not. We either fight the terrorists over there, or over here.
Failed tax system that crunches the middle class and led to the outsourcing of jobs- Yes, agree here, but if the government gets involved, then it will be even worse (why I do not agree with the Democrats and the "Big Government" thing).
Don't feel like doing much more. I think the media has also caused a lot of people to turn against Bush. They need to report both sides for once (why I'm one of the only people who favor the FOX news station). Basically, I say yes, Mr. Bush was not the best president, but the title "Worst US President" is going a bit too far.
On the pre-warning I am not going to argue the point about Bill, however certain mishandlings can be simply overlooked when everything else seems to be going okay. On the same token, Osama attacked the United States under Bush's watch, a republican who's forte is suppose to be national security, and not Clinton..
Not everyone thought that Saddam had WMD's, not even within our own government. This was not a unanimous slam dunk that Bush made it out to be, there was still a lot of grey area, within the UN and our own CIA. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/30/tenet/index.html?iref=newssearch
Fighting them over there, so they won't come over here, is.. well....its the stupidest thing conceived by the right wing since George mounted Barbara for the first time. Hate breeds hate. The more you bomb a country, the more anti american sediment grows. Wait 10 years when the sons of the innocent by-standards lost in cockamamie war come of age eligible for student visa's, what then now? Where will their loyalty stand? Terrorism not unlike gangs breeds in oppressed, violence torn societies. So we haven't been attacked since on our own soil, but they have killed twice as many americans over the past 7 years, haven't they. Whether they are in fatigues of camouflage or blazers, an american is an american.
Why would it get worse with government involvement? The market is being minipulated by high society fat cats, you acknowledge this much, but how do you expect the situation to be fixed? just by itself? as if all the wizards and all the gods will just put us back in the green for the first time in 8 years? surely something must be done, no? Hoover ignored the depression, much like Bush ignores our current situation, it took FDR to fix it the first time, why not another Dem?
Make no illusions about the intent of the media, facts and truths hold no bias. its not their fault that just by simply reciting the decisions made by this president they have created a dark light on the Bush family legacy.
A guy who seemed to have thought that a risk of WMD's, was justification enough to start a war that cost 130 000 lives. I call that reckless paranoia. But in reality, it was probably about energy security so I don't think we should spend much time on just the excuse for war. It was about energy security and promoting liberialism in the middle east to be an ideological counter to islamic extremism. Unfortunately it seems to have backfired. Bush lacks competency.
Anyway, Bush has violated these laws.
Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment 8 - Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Clinton and Osama: that's garbage. Clinton directed his generals several times to come up with a realistic plan to nail Osama, and the Republicans at the Pentagon defied him. Finally he ordered them to attack in 1998, and he came closer to nailing Osama than Bush ever did.
The Iraq war is not making us safer. They don't have to kill Americans in the US because we're delivering their targets to their doorstep.
