January 19, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

FIRE UP THE SHREDDERS

The Bush administration has busily been firing federal prosecutors who might make life difficult for the administration. It's a little like the "Saturday night massacre" during the Nixon administration, but on a far bigger scale. If this administration were a house, it would be toppling over from the rot inside and out. This column by Paul Krugman is linked at www.welcome-to-pottersville.com:

In Senate testimony yesterday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales refused to say how many other attorneys have been asked to resign, calling it a “personnel matter.”

In case you’re wondering, such a wholesale firing of prosecutors midway through an administration isn’t normal. U.S. attorneys, The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out, “typically are appointed at the beginning of a new president’s term, and serve throughout that term.” Why, then, are prosecutors that the Bush administration itself appointed suddenly being pushed out?

The likely answer is that for the first time the administration is really worried about where corruption investigations might lead.

Since the day it took power this administration has shown nothing but contempt for the normal principles of good government. For six years ethical problems and conflicts of interest have been the rule, not the exception.

MORE BUSH INANITY

George W. Bush on "60 Minutes" was upset that the Iraqi people aren't more grateful to the United States. We've liberated them from a dictator, you see. We've also "liberated" hundreds of thousands from their lives. Iraqi infrastructure is a mess, and it's difficult to get basic necessities such as clean water and electricity. And, according to Bush, people who watch stories about Iraq on television are "sacrificing peace of mind." This column by Rosa Brooks is at www.latimes.com:

Bush retorted: "That we didn't do a better job, or they didn't do a better job?…. We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude…. We've endured great sacrifice to help them…. [Americans] wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq."

Well, yes. I have wondered about that. Frankly — I'm talking to you, Iraqis! — a few flowers and ticker-tape parades wouldn't be amiss, even at this late stage. Remember, we got rid of Saddam Hussein for you — with a little help from his executioners, to be sure, who sent him to his death amid enthusiastic chants in praise of Shiite militia leader Muqtada Sadr. But that's just a detail.

Anyway, that's not all we've done for Iraq. We also introduced the Iraqis to basic principles of energy conservation. Before the U.S. invasion, the feckless residents of Baghdad used 16 to 24 hours of electricity each day. Today, thanks to us, they thriftily make do with about six hours of electricity a day. Under our tutelage, the Iraqis are also conserving fossil fuels: Oil production is still well below prewar levels! And — recognizing that auto emissions are a major contributor to global warming — a symbolically important number of Iraqis has gone from driving their cars to detonating their cars. Now that's dedication.