SEATTLE IS A CITY OF STRONG OPINIONS in an unfortunately predictable vein. The fading Kerry-Edwards stickers are a mandatory accessory on the bumpers of the Mercedes Maybachs that are a glut on the market in town. Indeed, the presence of such a sticker on such a bumper gives a whole new meaning to the Mercedes Maybach's tagline: "Not so much a name as a philosophy." Only a city endowed with more Microsoft Millionaires than any other burg could find no hint of irony in supporting for President a man whose money came not from the entrepreneurial spirit but from the dead husband of his second wife.
Fresher still are the placards suggesting we get rid of a President whose money came from something as filthy as oil and not from the clean rooms of Intel. It's the clear front runner in lawn and window signs and its message brings a lump to the eye and a tear to the throat of committable liberals everywhere. It is:
That's the sentiment and it is popular. It crops up in home and shop windows around town. Exactly how one is going to accomplish the impeaching is left to the imagination of those with BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) which is at shockingly epidemic levels in this town.
It has probably escaped the minds of those to whom the impeachment of George W. Bush is a consummation devoutly to be wished that there is a long and winding road ahead of them if they are ever to reach this bong-powdered Nirvana. Indeed, if BDS did not come with severe short-term memory loss, these hopefuls might reflect back as recently as 1999 for a real-time lesson in the impeachment process as given out by that tireless advocate to the poor, the down-trodden, and the hopelessly horny, William Jefferson Clinton, boy President and now elder statesman.
If they did they would recall that the process is long and painful and Byzantine in the extreme. Add to that it must begin and end with a high crime or a misdemeanor which, so far as we know, George W. Bush has not committed.
"Ah, but he has," they say. "He... he.... well, he.... well --- Bush Lied!"
We will leave the actuality of that aside for the moment and point out that you cannot be impeached for merely lying, you have to lie under oath before a grand jury as established by William Jefferson Clinton. Absent that a mere lie, or a decision taken on intelligence data that proves to be wrong, just doesn't come up to the bar for an impeachment.
What then are we to make of this popular sign? Do the liberal denizens of Seattle know something that has escaped the eagle eyes of the major media? Or are they merely indulging in some deeply self-gratifying form of political self-abuse? I imagine history will tell but as we move, on this afternoon of the Halloween evening, into the time when losers seek to unseat winners in our politics with criminal charges, I can't help wonder if these signs are just this year's version of "Turn on, tune in, drop out." To turn an old song on itself,
Wishin' and hopin'
And thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin'
Each night of his crime
That won't throw George Bush into the slime.
In politics, you've got to beat somebody with somebody. If you don't have anybody, you try to get an indictment. Alas, that seems to be a very slow train coming but, like millions before them, the people behind the Impeach Bush movement keep a comin' but the train done gone.
Posted by Vanderleun at October 31, 2005 4:02 PM
BINGO! Go to Fremont sometime...check out the troll under the Aurora Street Bridge. (seriously)
Fremont has a surplus statue of Lenin...and it ain't there for the ironic value, it's there for nostalgia of what could have been.
Posted by: Mumblix Grumph at November 1, 2005 12:52 AMHuman Nature, the lie is sacred, we must honor the lie , the truth we will not want to hear.
Posted by: Jeffersonranch at November 1, 2005 4:02 AMWhat in the world took you to a place where inverted logic is the natural state of nature? "...bong-powdered Nirvana". Hyuck.
Your piece reminded me of the early days of high school, when the freedom to express oneself was joined with the emerging ability to use big words to even bigger ideas. That those ideas and words were half-baked at best was not the point; it was a time in our development when mental exercise and experimentation was expected and was productive.
But that time of experimentation passed quickly. The old guys in my world would say things like "You'll find out when you get out in the real world". And to that we'd say "Not ME!" Well yes, me. It turns out that Cambodia really did need to be invaded, Viet Nam was a justified obstacle to communist aggression, Jimmy Carter was a thunderous failure, taxes and government intrusion are too broad and common, and life liberty and the pursuit of happiness are all ideals worth dying for.
The faded Kerry/Edwards stickers are sad on a wheezing Volvo and worse on a shiny Maybach.
Wait a minute. Maybach. They made the engines for the German Tiger Tanks in WW II. You know, the one's that the National Socialist Party used to great such affect as the "Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank".
Yes Seattle. It's time to grow up.
Dan Patterson
A grown-up and an
Arrogant Infidel
There's an old lawyer's saying:
If the facts are on your side, argue the facts.
If the law is on your side, argue the law.
If neither the facts nor the law are on your side, pound your shoe...
All that th eleft can do is pound their shoes.
Posted by: Rich at November 1, 2005 12:14 PMAh, but this afternoon the Dems in the Senate invoked that closed session rule and are trying to persuade their colleagues it's time to actually impeach Bush...they're following a script here, even though they didn't get the Karl Rove indictment they wanted as the kickoff to this "coup du theatre", they are stuck with the script and the show must go on. I think we need to recall, impeach, shoot, hang, draw and quarter most of the Democrat leadership...they are playing to the groundlings of MoveOn, KosKids, and the Democratic Underground, and the rest of the country should not put up with it.
Someone has made the call that it's time to avenge the impeachment of Bill "Slick Willy" Clinton for the blackmailable high crimes and misdemeanors and conduct unbecoming the leader of the free world.
This is also their chance to stymie the appointment of Judge Alito to the Supreme court without playing the losing "filibuster" hand and try to tar the Republican party in general prior to the 06 elections...it's a thoroughly planned script...we'll see how it plays in Peoria.
Posted by: Doug in Colorado at November 1, 2005 2:19 PMSo now "you have to lie under oath" to be impeached, and "merely lying" to the American people does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense? You should explain this to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). Her statement to the Senate in 1999 disagreed:
http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/clinton/trial/statements/hutchison.shtml
ARTICLE II, OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE--EXPLANATION OF VOTE
When, on January 26, 1998, the President of the United States pointed his finger at the American people and represented to them that he was the victim of lies and not their perpetrator, he lied to America. The evidence is overwhelming that he did so because all of his `ducks were in a row.'
The White House Intern had executed a false affidavit; subpoenaed gifts had been hidden; his own false deposition had been given; other witnesses had testified falsely based upon his own false representations to them; retribution against the White House Intern had been programmed should she abandon loyalty; and loyalty had been confirmed by the Intern's acceptance of a special new job in New York, that represented, according to a friend of the President, `Mission accomplished.'
Then came the dress, the tapes, and the Federal grand jury. The attempt to obstruct and cover-up grew, expanded, and developed a life of its own. It overpowered the underlying offense itself. A new strategy was required, fast: The President was advised: `Admit the sex, but never the lies.' Shift the blame; change the subject. Blame it on the plaintiff in the Arkansas case. Blame it on her lawyers. Blame it on the Independent Counsel. Blame it on partisanship. Blame it on the majority members of the House Judiciary Committee. Blame it on the process.
The blame belongs to the President of the United States. This juror has concluded that the President is guilty of obstructing justice beyond a reasonable doubt, as alleged in Article II of the Articles of Impeachment in this proceeding.
Posted by: Jamie McCarthy at November 2, 2005 7:32 AM
HOME