Some Thoughts on Impeaching President Bush

We have come in just a few short years from a nation whose President didn’t know the meaning of is [1] to a President who can determine good and evil by looking into a colleague’s eyes. [2] Certainty is wonderful. But as philosophers and scientists know, little is absolutely certain. Every measurement, every observation has some uncertainty. Dissent, argument, debate, discussion are absolutely vital to making wise decisions.

President Bush’s presidency appears to be headed away from the attributes necessary to making wise decisions. Dissent, argument, debate, and discussion are not tolerated. People with different positions than the President are branded as unpatriotic. [3] Who would dare tell President Bush that he made a mistake? [4]

The result is that we now have a president who has violated his oath of office by invading a foreign country, forcing a regime change, and now occupying the country. The Constitution [5] of the United States clearly gave Congress [6] the sole authority to declare war.Congress clearly only gave President Bush the authority to use necessary force [7] – not to declare war. Invading Iraq, forcibly changing the regime, and occupying Iraq was and is clearly war and not an application of necessary force.

The current administration is fond of repeating that 9/11 changed everything. Making war on Iraq has changed the country more than 9/11 did. As a country we need to debate and argue the impeachment and conviction of President Bush for violating his oath of office. This isn’t about oral sex in the oval office – this is about the integrity of the Constitution of the United States.


[1] See Transcript of President Clinton's Videotape Testimony to the Starr Grand Jury at URL http://www.povn.com/sandlent/clinton/grndjury/index.htm. The statement on ‘is’ is in Part 2 at URL http://www.povn.com/sandlent/clinton/grndjury/1.htm.
[2] President Bush said he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul.
[3] Most grievous was Senator Max Cleland’s being branded as unpatriotic for opposing the president on whether or not federal workers in the Homeland Security Department should have normal federal worker protections.
[4] Even suggesting that a tax cut might be too large lead President Bush to denigrate members of his own party.
[5]Constitution
[6] “The Congress shall have power … To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;” Article 1, Section 8.
[7] If the force was necessary then we would have found the Weapons of Mass Destruction. More chemicals have been found in Washington D.C. this year than in Iraq. This is from a local news television report that I heard where neighbors complained about the risk of disposal. More residue from biological weapons programs have been found in Maryland this year than in Iraq! This is from a report on a dump at Fort Detrick that was in a local paper.

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Created Wednesday, July 9, 2003
Updated Friday, July 11, 2003