Removing Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, and others from office via impeachment would be a nice start. God knows that our government cannot be fixed while these people are still runnning the show. And their crimes warrant removal from office under the letter of the U.S. Constitution.
Article II, Section IV
The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
But impeachment and removal from office is not enough for the Bush gang. Letting them walk away without any criminal charges would be like a judge sentencing a convicted murderer to a fine and community service, hardly fitting for the most severe crime a person can commit. No, these thugs need to put into the criminal justice system for the rest of their lives for what they have done.
Let us explore the most severe of charges that warrant removal from office: treason.
Treason
In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation. A person who betrays the nation of their citizenship and/or reneges on an oath of loyalty and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor.
Here are some possible acts of treason committed by the Bush Administration:
- Lying about Iraq's military capabilities to incite a preemtive invasion.
- Ignoring the U.S. Constitution and claiming dictatorial powers.
- Undermining the U.S. Government by appointing political hacks to important public jobs.
- Ignoring laws passed by Congress by issuing signing statements.
- Practicing a "Starve the Beast" approach to taxes and government spending, a clear attempt to undermine the U.S. Government.
- Election Fraud - Nothing undermines a democratically elected government more than fixing elections.
- Letting a major U.S. city drown while raising money and playing the guitar.
- Taking a month-long vacation and paying little attention to a PDB titled "Bin Laden determined to strike in US" a little more than a month before the 911 attacks.
- Supporting and deploying toture.
- Removing our forces from Saudi Arabia (which is what Bin Laden wanted).
- Failing to pursue Bin Laden aggressively.
- Politicizing the Department of Justice.
- Ignoring the Presidential Records Act and using political servers for official email communications.
- Outing a covert CIA operative.
- Etc., etc., etc...
Okay, maybe it would be difficult to convict the Bushies on all of the aforementioned crimes. But certainly there are some "slam dunk" items on the list. And each act of treason is punishable by death or life imprisonment.
So while I support the impeachment of Bush/Cheney/Gonzales and others, I am more interested in seeing criminal charges brought against them. I do not want to see Bush return to his wealthy, frat-boy lifestyle after he exists the presidency. I do not want to see Cheney on a rigged hunting trip with his enabling friends. I do not want to see Gonzo ever practicing law again. These guys belong behind bars for their crimes against humanity and the U.S. Constitution. I would like top see the next president (hopefully a Democrat) and a de-politicized DOJ investigate all of these crimes and put the guilty parties behind bars. Not only will it give some justice to those who lost loved ones at the hands of the Bush Administration, but it also might discourage future presidents from following in Bush's footsteps.
Impeachment is just the tip of the iceburg.