UPDATED:  MAR 30, 2008

AMERICA IN CHAINS
            (How George W. Bush Captured and Shackled America) 

It was eerie how just before the Democrats won both houses in 2006, congressmen clamored for the impeachment of George W. Bush.  But remember the quick double take we experienced when we learned that impeachment was off the table?  Talk about jaws hitting the table!  It was “for the good of the nation” we were told, and I remember thinking at the time that nothing would be better for the nation than kicking Bush out of office for his crimes against the people and his destruction of the Constitution.  The sooner the better!    

So how did all us voters get caught so flat-footed and off guard when key Democrats like Pelosi, Reid, Kennedy, Gore, Clinton, and others put on their best smile and acted so God-awful sweet like an angelic, benevolent entertainment committee at a church picnic?  Now we had to act like angels who wanted to do what was best for the country.  Yeah, right!  Like the bugger is still in the Oval Office torturing America and the rest of the world.  Something did not compute.  Still doesn’t.   

It seems perverse how to this day Democrats try their best to make nice while Bush continues to wiretap us illegally and make a mockery of what’s left of our government.  Karl Rove, Tom Bolton and Harriet Meir get to cool their heels and hang out instead of obeying Congressional summons to appear for questioning under oath because Bush gave them an Executive nod and a wink.   

Give me a break, a president who thwarts the law instead of enforcing it? 

In 2006 we voters elected a Congress that defies all logic.  We gave Congress a mandate to stop the Iraq War and to fix Bush’s shredding of what used to be the greatest democracy in the world, America. Republicans and Democrats alike know full well that they continue to let Bush run amuck like a peach orchard boar, unchecked with his nullifying signing statements he affixes like seagull poop to bills duly passed by Congress.  Congress knows that a defiant Attorney General, like Mukasey who does not enforce the Congressional subpoenas for Rove, Bolton, and Meir to appear, is totally out of order, illegal and reprehensible.  Never has a special prosecutor been more urgently needed to smoke out the rats who defy the law and would destroy our laws and our form of government, but alas, everyone is making nice, waiting for Bush to exit the Oval.   

Counting the days until Bush’s term is up instead of taking action now is like playing hooky for a year.  Maybe Congress should have their pay cut off until they report to work to do their job which is to stop Bush’s mad Iraq War and to return order to a lawless Capitol Hill. 

Connect the dots.  Bush began collecting data illegally on not thousands, but millions of Americans long before he was caught and exposed.  Then, Bush defiantly declared that, sure ‘nuff, he had broken the law and bypassed the FISA Court to protect America.  Lovely.  Pick and choose the laws you like. 

Something did not fit.  According to the FISA Court law, if Bush were in such a hurry because he was a-skeered the terrorists might get away, shoot, he could have legally wiretapped to his heart’s content if he asked the FISA Court a couple of days later to approve the wiretaps he already conducted without permission.  Everything would be kosher, above board, and legal.  So what was the big deal?  Why did Bush still fill the need to break the law, and wiretap indiscriminately without permission?  The FISA law gave him such a wide berth and unlimited powers, so what’s up with that little act of defiance?   

Consider for a moment that perhaps Bush had bigger fish to fry.  Perhaps his show of distain for the FISA Law had nothing to do with terrorists or national security.  What if Bush was gathering information and data illegally on political opponents he planned to blackmail?  It might come in handy to dangle illegally collected smut and have key opponents sit still while he attacked Iraq, destroyed the Constitution, exposed the secret CIA identity of Valerie Plame, stacked the roster of federal attorneys with Bush yes men, pardoned Scooter Libby for taking the rap for him and Cheney, borrowed and spent almost a Trillion dollars so far on his Iraq War he lied us into, destroyed habeas corpus, and at his own discretion, employed Blackwater mercenaries (who

Bush has paid a Billion dollars thus far since he first invaded Iraq) instead of using our own uniformed soldiers.  Say for instance, those he wiretapped were political enemies who potentially could cause Bush real trouble.  So consider that he might have collected personal compromising information on Democrats and other disloyal Bush people in power who could vote NOT to fund the Iraq War, or who could impeach the president and vice president if Bush got bold and reckless enough.  But say Bush’s illegal probing of political enemies revealed some real dirt, real “gotcha” stuff that would make Bush’s enemies cringe and back off forever. Stuff to make ‘em drink the old “zip it” tonic, right?   

Perhaps it would be best to just let Bush’s term expire in a year (good riddance to bad rubbish), and nobody gets hurt, and the stench dissipates, and you come out smelling like a rose.  The Bush nightmare would just fade away in less than a year.  It’s a calculated risk that America could stomach, they figured.  America could maybe withstand any extra damage Bush might continue to inflict upon us and what’s left of our Constitution.  Hostages for another year might not be so bad after all. 

I know how the mind can wander when seeking explanations of the unknown.  Especially if it’s this bizarre.  But the fervor that Democrats had for so long to bust Bush’s chops out of office by impeaching his pompous, little ass, died too sudden a death the people voted in 2006 to have Bush stop the war and to impeach him under the Articles of Impeachment in the Constitution.

No wonder Bush feels so cocky and sure of himself.  The damaging information he collected unlawfully on key opponents, rules.  It’s the ultimate equalizer.  It was the epitome of good political planning.  Karl Rove made Daniel Segretti look like the Dalai Lama.  Imagine how drunk with power Bush must have been, to break the law, wiretap illegally, get the dirt in place, and give his opponents a peek at the horror Bush could leak against them unless they agreed to behave and hold still. 

So now we have become a country under Bush’s thumb.  He holds absolute power over the people.  He can change laws by a flick of his “signing statement” pen, and he can pardon criminals without fear of repercussions.  He can keep the war and occupation in Iraq going without fear of political dissent or objection from Congress or We the People Congress is sworn to represent.   Want a surge of troops in Iraq?  No problem, Bush just does it.  Nobody dares to raise any hell.  Want the pesky FISA Law off your back permanently?  Just tell Congress to just do it or else.  Want to torture prisoners?  Not a biggie, just torture away and pay no mind to the Geneva Convention or the US Constitution; they’re only pieces of paper.  Hire an Attorney General who thinks water-boarding is a form of Tidily Winks.  Want immunity from your crimes as president?  Just say the word and as a bonus, you get immunity for all the phone companies who helped you break the law to get the goods on your enemies so they would never dare oppose you again.  And as an added bonus the phone companies, Bush’s partners in crime would be unable to squeal.  Want unlimited funding for your Iraq War that makes the easy Billions of dollars for your crony “Have Mores” supporters like Blackwater or Halliburton?  No problem, just browbeat Congress into believing that a NO vote is not supporting the troops.  And watch the Congressmen’s faces turn as white as the Capitol Dome.  And any extra billions you need to fund the War and Occupation, just ask and you will receive.  Off-budget is fine, just like borrowing and stealing (I mean spending) is okay.  You got the goods on ‘em, George.  What they gonna do?  And everyone will let you exit the presidency unchallenged as they cower in fear and give you a wide berth as you, like a rattlesnake, slither away from the Oval Office, unmolested and unimpeached.  Just like Gonzo and Rove and Libby faded away, one by one.  Those must be some Billy goat pictures you got tucked away in your blackmail vault. 

Government has always spied on us illegally, you say, so why is this different?  It appears that Bush wiretapped millions of key personal enemies to get the trash on them, trash that would damage them enough to back off their sworn duty to uphold and protect the Constitution.  FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover got stuff on everybody, you say.  Swell.  But Hoover did not have the power of the purse and the Army and changing the Constitution the way George W Bush does.  It becomes a giant Monopoly game, and Bush holds all the cards and all the properties.  We know how handy his ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card has proven to be.  Lame duck, whataya mean lame duck?  Ain’t gonna happen dude. 

So our government of the people, by the people, and for the people is in bondage.  We are held captive until Bush is replaced.  No processes work except for those Bush decrees to work, and that is to gag due process under the law while he enriches the war corporation cronies who love and reward him.  It’s all very orderly and precise once you got the goods on your enemies.   First, Bush lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and then Joe Wilson says the British intelligence that said Saddam Hussein tried to buy yellow cake uranium from Niger, is bogus.  To send a message of fear to all those who would oppose him in the future, Bush exposes the secret CIA identity of Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson’s wife.  Scooter Libby, Cheney’s gopher, falls on his sword, takes the rap, gets convicted of perjury and draws a 2-year prison sentence.  Bush lets it fade away up until the time Scooter is to report for incarceration, and then he commutes Libby’s sentence so that he will do no time.  The Republican treasury for Iran Contra stuff and Watergate break-ins foots Scooter’s legal bills.  The people whine and then go about their personal lives again.   

So the Bush crime syndicate gets another pass and the meter is reset for them to do dirty and criminal deeds, ad infinitum.  Another year seems like forever doesn’t it?  Anybody got a deck of cards?