The American Crisis Redux: Americans Now Have the Moral Mandate to Remove Pres. Bush from Office
Timothy Sexton
September 13, 2007
THESE are, again, the times that try men's souls. Over 230 years ago a grand, if imperfect, experiment was attempted. The experiment was designed to give the people the right to choose their leaders and, by extension, the destiny of their nation. Yes, by the “people” the architects of America initially meant only a small percentage made up of white men who owned land, but bold achievements often require tentative steps. Over the course of these two and a third centuries the experiment has been expanded; more of the people have been allowed to take part in the process. The Constitution is and never has been perfect; when flaws are found they have been corrected or adjusted and sometimes even readjusted.
It is time to remedy a failure of the Constitution once again.
America is perhaps the only democratic nation in the world that lacks a suitable process for the timely removal of an impotent leader who has lost the confidence of the people. Other democracies have a process that is known as a vote of confidence. When the confidence of their leader erodes to the point where he can no longer govern effectively, lawmakers can vote on whether the need for an unscheduled election is deemed necessary. The U.S. Constitution has a plan for removing a President but it is so unwieldy and subject to the vagaries of politics that it has only been used twice and both times were for enacting political revenge rather than for addressing a pressing constitutional crisis. By contrast, today we face a constitutional crisis that simply cannot be resolved except by impeachment, but the political factors in play have made the idea too frightening to those in the Democratic Party who have had their collective spines surgically removed. As long as the President remains free from congressional or judicial oversight, he can be as mad as Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove and still remain in office due to the patently undemocratic nature of the impeachment process. Constitutionally speaking, America could actually be run by someone certifiably insane and never be removed from office if those in charge of saving America relieve themselves from their duties.
I believe that time is at hand. Pres. Bush's recent assertion that 36 other countries are sending soldiers to fight and die alongside Americans in Iraq is merely the latest statement that should call into question--into serious question--whether America is in the hands of a madman. It would not be the first time in history that mentally unbalanced man ran a government; it would be the first time that he could be removed in legally sanctioned way but hasn't.
The Democrats in Congress have told Americans that their own political insecurities are more important than the security and welfare of their constituents. Congress has broken its social compact with the people of this country. Charged with the responsibility of keeping the executive branch in check, they have chosen to abstain from the duty. As a result, the social compact has been annulled. When social compacts between a government and its people have been annulled, it not just the right but the obligation of the people to correct the problem as free from anarchic and illegal means as possible. When not possible, it is paramount that the people show greater restraint in appealing to a higher law than those leaders who have so abused their powers that exceptional steps must be taken to protect ourselves from them. When the judicial and legislative branches of the American government discharge themselves from the responsibility of carrying out their constitutionally mandated job of overseeing the abuses of the executive branch, they are essentially making themselves complicit in the destruction of democracy and the reassertion of a monarchy
But wait, you say. Doesn’t the Constitution extend the powers of the President during wartime? Yes, but with two caveats. In the first place, the extensions of the powers of the executive branch were written with the implicit mandate that Congress and the courts intervene should those powers be abused. This has not been done. Secondly, terms by which those special powers are extended are among the most clear and incontestable in the entire Constitution: “The Congress shall have the power to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.” In other words, the President does not get to decide who, when and where to invade. That power is reserved exclusively to Congress. Since Congress made no declaration of war—in part because it would have been illegal to declare war against an abstract noun anyway—Pres. Bush has never legitimately possessed any constitutionally mandated special powers. Therefore his abuse of those powers is made all the more egregious by virtue of the fact that he never had powers to abuse in the first place.
A time of crisis such as Thomas Paine wrote of in 1770s is at hand in America. Once again, America is being held hostage to the policies of a man who believes the accident of birth entitles him to his power. The Congress and the courts were intended to make sure that never happened again after a revolution was fought against it, but all laws are meaningless when there are no men and women of value and character to ensure they are carried out. The American political system is currently devoid of men and woman of character. Through the sin of omission, the Democrats have become a fully functioning element of an aristocratic government headed by a man who is at best incompetent and at worst mentally unstable. Because those appointed to make sure this never happened have reneged on their part of the deal, the American people now have the right to take the job of protecting themselves into their own hands.
I believe the time has come to forcibly remove George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from office. To do so would not be seen as a criminal act of revolution in the eyes of history; it would be seen as a heroic act that preserved a nation gone wildly off its tracks. I’m not suggesting that the President and Vice President be executed or even exiled. Indeed, I believe they should be arrested for any of their various crimes against the Constitution and the people of America, tried and held accountable. By removing Bush and Cheney, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would succeed as President. A Presidential election is already underway so the threat of a coup is eliminated. Pelosi would essentially act as a figurehead to oversee the country until a new President could be elected a little more than a year from now. Although Pelosi is, of course, complicit in the failure of the current government, her passive reluctance to use her powers as Speaker of the House can be seen as evidence that she would be the perfect bridge; although she could be counted upon to do nothing to make things better, she could also be counted on to do nothing to make matters worse.
To some, this suggestion will read like a call for anarchy or the overthrow of the country. In fact, these actions would preserve America and democracy. At this point, the always-precarious mental state of George W. Bush is especially unpredictable. The fact is that there is simply no knowing what he is capable of doing under the guise of honestly believing he is doing the right thing. The consistent failures of his every policy decision, the total devastation of his grandiose plans for a democratic Iraq, and the fact his closest confidantes have deserted him like rats on a sinking ship can only serve to lead him into the darker places of a psyche already so dark that it repeatedly confuses failure with victory and befuddled inaction with forceful decision-making. Because Dick Cheney believes the same things as George Bush, we must also take care to protect ourselves by assuming he is also unbalanced.
The argument in favor of the America people doing what their elected representatives won’t ultimately rests on the crux of why we shouldn’t. Should we trust Congress and the courts to finally take steps to protect us? No. Should we trust that suddenly, after six and a half years of nothing but either criminal or incompetent governance that Bush and Cheney will magically transform into effective and capable leaders? No? Should we trust that Bush and Cheney won’t, as lame ducks with nothing left to lose, do anything possible to protect and prolong their power? No.
These are, indeed, the times that try men’s souls. I leave you with some other words written by Thomas Paine who observed that the difference between an oppressive government and non-oppressive government “is wholly owing to the constitution of the people, and not to the constitution of the government.” Once the current crisis is resolved, Congress needs to immediately set to task drafting an amendment that gives the people the power to demand the removal of an unfit President.
It is time to remedy a failure of the Constitution once again.
America is perhaps the only democratic nation in the world that lacks a suitable process for the timely removal of an impotent leader who has lost the confidence of the people. Other democracies have a process that is known as a vote of confidence. When the confidence of their leader erodes to the point where he can no longer govern effectively, lawmakers can vote on whether the need for an unscheduled election is deemed necessary. The U.S. Constitution has a plan for removing a President but it is so unwieldy and subject to the vagaries of politics that it has only been used twice and both times were for enacting political revenge rather than for addressing a pressing constitutional crisis. By contrast, today we face a constitutional crisis that simply cannot be resolved except by impeachment, but the political factors in play have made the idea too frightening to those in the Democratic Party who have had their collective spines surgically removed. As long as the President remains free from congressional or judicial oversight, he can be as mad as Jack D. Ripper in Dr. Strangelove and still remain in office due to the patently undemocratic nature of the impeachment process. Constitutionally speaking, America could actually be run by someone certifiably insane and never be removed from office if those in charge of saving America relieve themselves from their duties.
I believe that time is at hand. Pres. Bush's recent assertion that 36 other countries are sending soldiers to fight and die alongside Americans in Iraq is merely the latest statement that should call into question--into serious question--whether America is in the hands of a madman. It would not be the first time in history that mentally unbalanced man ran a government; it would be the first time that he could be removed in legally sanctioned way but hasn't.
The Democrats in Congress have told Americans that their own political insecurities are more important than the security and welfare of their constituents. Congress has broken its social compact with the people of this country. Charged with the responsibility of keeping the executive branch in check, they have chosen to abstain from the duty. As a result, the social compact has been annulled. When social compacts between a government and its people have been annulled, it not just the right but the obligation of the people to correct the problem as free from anarchic and illegal means as possible. When not possible, it is paramount that the people show greater restraint in appealing to a higher law than those leaders who have so abused their powers that exceptional steps must be taken to protect ourselves from them. When the judicial and legislative branches of the American government discharge themselves from the responsibility of carrying out their constitutionally mandated job of overseeing the abuses of the executive branch, they are essentially making themselves complicit in the destruction of democracy and the reassertion of a monarchy
But wait, you say. Doesn’t the Constitution extend the powers of the President during wartime? Yes, but with two caveats. In the first place, the extensions of the powers of the executive branch were written with the implicit mandate that Congress and the courts intervene should those powers be abused. This has not been done. Secondly, terms by which those special powers are extended are among the most clear and incontestable in the entire Constitution: “The Congress shall have the power to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.” In other words, the President does not get to decide who, when and where to invade. That power is reserved exclusively to Congress. Since Congress made no declaration of war—in part because it would have been illegal to declare war against an abstract noun anyway—Pres. Bush has never legitimately possessed any constitutionally mandated special powers. Therefore his abuse of those powers is made all the more egregious by virtue of the fact that he never had powers to abuse in the first place.
A time of crisis such as Thomas Paine wrote of in 1770s is at hand in America. Once again, America is being held hostage to the policies of a man who believes the accident of birth entitles him to his power. The Congress and the courts were intended to make sure that never happened again after a revolution was fought against it, but all laws are meaningless when there are no men and women of value and character to ensure they are carried out. The American political system is currently devoid of men and woman of character. Through the sin of omission, the Democrats have become a fully functioning element of an aristocratic government headed by a man who is at best incompetent and at worst mentally unstable. Because those appointed to make sure this never happened have reneged on their part of the deal, the American people now have the right to take the job of protecting themselves into their own hands.
I believe the time has come to forcibly remove George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from office. To do so would not be seen as a criminal act of revolution in the eyes of history; it would be seen as a heroic act that preserved a nation gone wildly off its tracks. I’m not suggesting that the President and Vice President be executed or even exiled. Indeed, I believe they should be arrested for any of their various crimes against the Constitution and the people of America, tried and held accountable. By removing Bush and Cheney, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would succeed as President. A Presidential election is already underway so the threat of a coup is eliminated. Pelosi would essentially act as a figurehead to oversee the country until a new President could be elected a little more than a year from now. Although Pelosi is, of course, complicit in the failure of the current government, her passive reluctance to use her powers as Speaker of the House can be seen as evidence that she would be the perfect bridge; although she could be counted upon to do nothing to make things better, she could also be counted on to do nothing to make matters worse.
To some, this suggestion will read like a call for anarchy or the overthrow of the country. In fact, these actions would preserve America and democracy. At this point, the always-precarious mental state of George W. Bush is especially unpredictable. The fact is that there is simply no knowing what he is capable of doing under the guise of honestly believing he is doing the right thing. The consistent failures of his every policy decision, the total devastation of his grandiose plans for a democratic Iraq, and the fact his closest confidantes have deserted him like rats on a sinking ship can only serve to lead him into the darker places of a psyche already so dark that it repeatedly confuses failure with victory and befuddled inaction with forceful decision-making. Because Dick Cheney believes the same things as George Bush, we must also take care to protect ourselves by assuming he is also unbalanced.
The argument in favor of the America people doing what their elected representatives won’t ultimately rests on the crux of why we shouldn’t. Should we trust Congress and the courts to finally take steps to protect us? No. Should we trust that suddenly, after six and a half years of nothing but either criminal or incompetent governance that Bush and Cheney will magically transform into effective and capable leaders? No? Should we trust that Bush and Cheney won’t, as lame ducks with nothing left to lose, do anything possible to protect and prolong their power? No.
These are, indeed, the times that try men’s souls. I leave you with some other words written by Thomas Paine who observed that the difference between an oppressive government and non-oppressive government “is wholly owing to the constitution of the people, and not to the constitution of the government.” Once the current crisis is resolved, Congress needs to immediately set to task drafting an amendment that gives the people the power to demand the removal of an unfit President.
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