I have no quarrel with those who want G.W. impeached now. I certainly have no quarrel with those who would like to see the man tried before a court.
But I also know something much worse than that. Apparently, George W. Bush's worst nightmare comes when he has to answer unscripted questions at length or when his head speechwriter gets the flu. It's the moment when the emperor suddenly stands with his derrier wading in the wind. It is important to note that these speechwriters are not really hired to actually answer questions, but to prevent certain questions from being asked and answered by meticulously beating around the bush. (no pun intented).
My point is that people may not want to entirely focus their protests and gatherings on having him impeached or inprisoned per se. Instead, they could, preferably in their hundreds of thousands, begin focussing on demanding his attendance at a national hall meeting. In a best case scenario, we rent the Superdome in New Orleans and "invite" him to come and answer questions asked by ordinary citizens on his own over a period of several weeks, hosted by none other than Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow (I'm sure M&M candy would be a proud sponsor).
I'm already compiling a list of questions just for fun in preparation. Do add your own in the comments. To be honest, I'd have nothing against giving him a 15-20min. break between each question to do an internet search. However, there will be no printer, no copy machine. He'll need to take his own notes. He can lie all he wants- he will not have to take an oath. However, what he says will go down on the public record as him having said it. Moreover, these questions should not be very difficult (even though my second one below is in a way. But hey, when you use a word in such a way that it puts many people's lives at stake, perhaps you should be able to define it's meaning!)
The first two questions off the top of my head:
Mr. President, people have often mentioned Iraq as the cradle of civilization. It is said to have a "very rich history". Can you tell us one thing about the history of Iraq that doesn't involve oil or Saddam Hussein?
Mr. President, conventional estimates report you have used the words "terrorist" approximately 4000 times since you came to office. Can you roughly define what you mean by the term? Moreover, can you tell us if a so-called freedom fighter automatically becomes a terrorist not because his actions have changed, but because he's changed sides?
I can already hear his answer to my first question:
Where I come from we have a sayin' that will answer your question. But for now, I think I'll just go ahead and answer the question. You see, the Kurds are a group of people in the North of Iraq and Saddam Hussein...at this point Mathews interrupts Please answer the question without using the term Saddam Hussein, Mr. President:
The Kurds are a group of people in Northern Iraq and they have a lot of oil in their fields, I believe the technical term for this is "oil field". You just mentioned the term "oil", Mr. President. Just answer the question. You don't know, do you?
Look Chris, I said the Kurds were in the North of Iraq. That's one thing. I answered her question didn't I?
Come to think of it your right! Next question please.
There now, doesn't that feel much better than impeachment?