George W. Bush deserves nothing from the Democratic Congress except contempt. Yesterday's performance before an adoring audience at the "Heritage Foundation" was vintage Bush: he was as petulant and authoritarian as ever, using fear and threats to try to cow-tow the Congress into doing his bidding.
When is Harry Reid going to figure out that he is not dealing with a normal president but some strange power-drunk historical abomination?
This president should be impeached for his lies and law breaking. The Downing Street memos are the smoking guns, the illegal NSA wiretaps and sweetheart contracts with Halliburton and Blackwater should seal the deal. But even if the Democrats in Congress have no stomach for impeaching Bush, (save for Dennis Kucinich and a handful of others), the very least they can do is stop playing ball on his court. I wish the Democrats would stop thinking about November 2008 for a minute and begin to think about the United States Constitution.
First, the Senate must reject Bush's nominee for attorney general, Michael Mukasey, because he refuses to define "torture" and because he believes the executive branch has the power to nullify acts of Congress and ignore subpoenas.
Second, the Senate should attach the S-CHIP children's health bill to Bush's request for $196 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. If Bush wants his precious occupation of Iraq and the billions of dollars to maintain it, then he's going to have to sign a bill that also includes $35 billion for the poorest children in the United States to receive elementary health care. What kind of a nation is it that spends lavishly on foreign mercenaries but denies its own children access to a doctor?
Third, the House Judiciary Committee must restore the checks and balances by putting forth articles of impeachment against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. We must decide as a nation whether we are a democracy or a dictatorship and only the corrective of impeachment can begin to restore any checks and balances. When did John Conyers become such a wuss?
Bush's threats and fear-mongering must be met head on and dismissed. His approval rating is as low as Richard Nixon's was during his impeachment proceedings. Why must we suffer the next 444 days, 11 hours and 50 minutes of Bush's misrule when we have more than enough evidence to impeach him now and at least begin the process of removing him from office? If this guy attacks Iran before he leaves office, we are all going to wish the Congress would have impeached him before he could do it.