Duty calls

What could possibly happen next?

No sooner was everyone poised to deal with the consequences of a possible nuclear exchange between Iran and Israel or the US military than President Bush announced plans for major troop shifts from Iraq to the “forgotten” battlefields of Afghanistan.

Then, just as warships were getting into place in the Persian Gulf to blast the hell out of Iran, another US bank — the fifth one this year — went belly-up.

Of course, as all this was happening, the price of gasoline was hitting $5 and more people than ever were losing their homes and applying for unemployment benefits, just as more companies than ever were closing up shop.

Yes, it’s tough to predict what could happen next in a world that seems to be teetering on the brink of financial, political and social collapse with each daily news cycle.

But there’s one thing that we are absolutely certain about, and that is Congress will not do its patriotic duty by heeding Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s calls to impeach Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for a host of crimes, starting with their failure to protect America in the months prior to Sept. 11, then for leading us into war in Iraq based on a litany of bald-faced lies, then for behaving like medieval inquisitors with men captured in some of those conflicts, and then for essentially scrapping the Fourth Amendment and launching an unprecedented spying campaign against all Americans — the very folks they failed to listen to following the Katrina disaster and the devastating Midwest tornadoes of a few months past.

Unfortunately for us, that’s just a sampling of all the truly horrible things that Bush and Cheney have done to — as opposed to for — us over the past eight years. Not surprisingly, all that may be overshadowed by the dynamic duo finally leading us into not just World War III but also the next Great Depression.

Of course, chief White House aider and abettor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already said that impeachment is totally off the table for Democrats in Congress. They’re all just waiting for November, when they think there will be a smooth transition of power and Barack Obama will take over as president.

With the Bush administration’s track record so far, though, you have to wonder what kind of fool would believe these guys are going to give up the virtually absolute power they now enjoy so easily?
They rigged the last two elections. Even some Republicans have conceded that. Who’s to say they won’t pull similar shenanigans for John McCain — or more accurately John McBush — who calmly contemplates a 100-year occupation of Iraq?

There is no question they will do whatever it takes to win. Everybody knows that. Their track records tell us that. But if Congress doesn’t act to stop Bush now, what are we going to do if that day finally comes and McCain actually “beats” Obama?

It could happen.

Kucinich, a Democrat who ran for president, has amassed 35 articles of impeachment: in all, 35 separate crimes committed by Bush and Cheney during their time in charge of the country. Yet none of these atrocities resonate loudly enough with our elected officials to elicit any support.

Oh, all of Congress knows most of it is true. Many were direct participants in some of those crimes. Yet they do nothing. And this inaction, this willful neglect to take proper action, is in our opinion not only a giant mistake, but a potentially criminal act in its own right.

The question we have is: What are they waiting for? World War III? The next Great Depression?
Again, those things could happen.

And what if they do happen? What then?

Remember, as citizens, it is not just our right to report crimes when we see them; it’s our duty to doso, just as it is Congress’ duty to act when it knows about wrongdoing and crimes being committed under the color of authority.

With that in mind, we think these two men should at least be charged with all or some of these crimes. We know time is running out, but even if they never see a day behind bars, they’d both be dancing so hard in defending themselves that they wouldn’t have the time or energy to carry out any more attacks on America before leaving office.

It’s time for our leaders to finally grow a set, start listening to Kucinich and do their duty.

To read Kucinich’s articles of impeachment visit http://impeachment.kucinich.us/petition/.