Robert Parry: If the Democrats Want to Win... [View All]

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By Robert Parry

If the Democrats really want to prevail over George W. Bush on the Iraq War and on his authoritarian vision of presidential powers, they would put back on the table two options that their leaders have removed: a cut-off of war funding and impeachment.

Rather than all-night debates about resolutions that will go nowhere, the Democrats would make the case to the American people that Bush has trampled on the Constitution; he has ensnared the nation in a catastrophic war by lying; and he has his eyes set on more dangerous chicanery in the months ahead.

The Democrats would explain that Bush has refused to compromise when offered the chance; he has told the people’s representatives that their only war role is to finance whatever "the decider" wants to do; he has declared that he has the right to ignore or break the law; he has engaged in cover-ups of serious wrongdoing by his subordinates and is now counting on his right-wing judicial appointees to protect him from oversight.

The Democrats would call on the American people to stand up at this dangerous moment in their history – when the president and vice president have become enemies of the constitutional system devised by the Founders, a Republic based on the idea that all people possess inalienable rights and governments must ensure those rights.

Never have a president and vice president abused the public trust to the extent that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have. They have engaged in a consistent pattern of deception, not just political spin or cover-ups of petty matters, but lying about the most profound of issues, including war and the meaning of “freedom” and “democracy.”

While Bush’s remaining acolytes – the likes of New York Times columnist David Brooks – continue to gush over Bush’s rhetoric about “freedom,” the reality is that Bush has eviscerated many of the most important civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

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http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00249.htm