Throw Down!

What happened to the claims against President Bush - that he lied about matters of National Security? With the election behind and the Democrats installed, Speaker Pelosi says she won't call for impeachment. Joe Biden says no one any longer wants to point fingers regarding how we got into the mess in Iraq, but only to look for solutions. How can this be? Just replay recent history and consider the statements about President Bush: "He lied about WMD. He just wants control of the oil. He's shredding our Constitutional rights." Even the epithet "liar in chief" underscored many stump speeches, and the list goes on.

If there were any truth to these claims, the President's conduct would amount to no less than treason, and one would expect him to be impeached, removed from office and imprisoned for life. After all, at issue is the most fundamental mission of government - to keep its citizens safe - so any taint of corruption or abuse should demand formal charges. But no, instead the new power players suggest they've risen above partisan differences. That's a nice slight of hand.

Of course Democrats don't want to examine how we got into "this mess" - because their fingerprints are all over it. How many lives have been lost because they consistently downplayed the good news from Iraq and put the worst possible spin on the bad? How many initiatives have faltered because they prognosticated failure - prophesies that have often become self-fulfilling? The airwaves and headlines have been littered with doubts, recriminations, and loathing that continues unabated, like an engraved invitation to embolden our enemies. Thus, through their inflammatory rhetoric, Democrats are as covered in blame as the President. Yes, they can say they were standing up to the President - doing their "patriotic" duty to bring forth the truth - but then how can their claims of presidential malfeasance be so easily transformed into banalities - statements the President is guilty of no more than "incompetence?"

Where national security is concerned, we can no more excuse criminals than we can those who make claims of criminality without evidence or intention of backing them up. That itself is a crime, and the cost in blood, treasure, and principle is too great to ignore. Does anyone really think President Bush lied about any matter pertaining to National Security? Obviously a lot of people throughout the US and the world think so, but what about leaders elected to positions of power? Does any one of them still hold to the notion the President lied, manipulated data, or broke faith with our Constitution? Because if anyone does, it's their solemn Constitutional duty to press for impeachment: Those who claimed President Bush committed treasonous acts must "throw down." Failing that, their pre-election rhetoric reveals itself as nothing more than posturing - a shell game for political gain in a time of National crisis. Failing to impeach, what other conclusion can be drawn? And in that instance, think of the damage and injustice inflicted to win this political game! Given the gravity of the situation in Iraq and the world, such maneuvering in its own right is tantamount to treason, and Republicans - anyone who is interested in principles and truth - should be screaming bloody murder.