The Chronic Curmudgeon

First of all, it was a stupid supposition on my part, because if George W. Bush showed any respect for the Constitution today, it would be the first time in his miserable presidency that he'd have done so. But moreover, with the weekend's revelations that Bush personally ordered warrantless domestic spying on American citizens, in direct violation of our Constitutional rights (enumerated in at least two Amendments), it seems clear that Bush is perfectly willing to violate the Constitution he swore to uphold. Even worse, the treasonous snake is angrily defending his right to do so.

Bush said he had reauthorized the program more than 30 times since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and plans to continue doing so. "I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al-Qaida and related groups," he said.

And then, in tried and true conservative fashion, Bush defaulted to the same tired old whine that we always get from conservatives: it's the media's fault. Instead of apologizing to the American people for the crimes he's admitting to committing against us, Bush instead attacked the New York Times for publishing the story.

"As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have," he said. "The unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk."

Hmm... unauthorized disclosure of intelligence information damages national security and puts our citizens at risk, eh? Would that include the names of covert operatives whose husbands are public critics of your administration, you treasonous son of a bitch?

Amazingly, Bush is whining about the Times even though they inexplicably sat on the story for a year, and worked directly with the White House to strike some of the more sensitive information from the report. The Times bent over, grabbed its ankles, and squealed like a pig for the Bush Administration on this story, and he has the audacity to argue that it's the media endangering national security? Especially when his administration deliberately exaggerated or falsified intelligence information to justify the invasion of Iraq (which took our eye off of al Qaeda and actually destabilized Iraq and gave terrorists a new home to train in)?

Predictably, this disgusting slimeball retreated to his traditional position tonight; whenever there's trouble, fall back on Iraq and try and link it to the war on terror. But we shouldn't let him get away with it. George W. Bush has shown a willingness to violate the Constitution and the oath he swore to uphold it. He's defiantly proud of having done so. Not even RIchard Nixon ever violated the sanctity of the office of the presidency, or his responsibility to the citizens of the United States, so egregiously. George W. Bush is a criminal; he has not only committed treason against the United States Constitution, but he's said openly that he's going to do it again. He needs to be impeached, and then tried for his crimes against our people and our nation.

I really am loathe to suggest that anyone holding a particular set of political beliefs is somehow "un-American" -- because I find it uniquely disgraceful and disgusting when the uber-conservative brownshirts try to argue that liberalism is unpatriotic. But with the revelations of Bush's actions this weekend -- and his stubborn, defiant refusal to refrain from committing any more Constitutional crimes -- continued support for this man and his presidency begins to walk dangerously close to support for the continued trashing of the Constitution. Anyone still supporting George W. Bush is saying they're okay with a president who willfully ignores the very foundations of our democracy and the oath he swore to uphold them. Anyone still supporting George W. Bush is saying that they're okay with the erosion -- not gradual, but sudden and dramatic -- of the privacies and rights that we have taken for granted for 220 years now.

I don't think it's okay, and I don't believe that even most Republicans think it's okay. The only ones left supporting this criminal are the theocracists and the power-mad neoconservatives, neither of whose agendas have ever really represented democracy anyway. It's time, America. It's time for the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment hearings designed to remove this criminal from office -- and then once he's out, he must be tried for his crimes. If a lie about oral sex warrants it, then deliberate and defiant violation of the Constitution most certainly warrants impeachment. If you believe in democracy, America... it's time.

Impeach. Bush. Now.