A Gut Feeling

During our family celebration of Christmas a topic of conversation occurred which resulted in a gut feeling that George W Bush not only has no intention of leaving Iraq but his recent actions indicate that he has every intention of engaging in armed conflict with Iran. What follows is the genesis of thought which influenced the gut feeling that the current “way forward” leads into the abyss.

Every venture our current president ever engaged in ended in failure yet he managed to be one of the few that profited at everyone else’s expense for example when he sold 60 percent of his stock in Harken Oil in June 1990 for an $848,560 profit after finding out as a member of the board of directors in May that Harken’s finances were deteriorating as evidenced by being $150 million in the red.

Indeed it was in that very same month of May 1990 that as the son of the 41st president he was aware of a secret State Department memo which warned that Saddam Hussein was out of control and it listed the response options on the table including a ban on oil which would affect US oil prices.

In August of 1990 the U.S. invaded Iraq, Harken’s stock dropped 25% and resulted in a substantial financial loss to the majority of investors and although George W Bush who as a member of the Harken Board of Directors was required by law to register his sale as an insider trade by July 10, 1990 he was investigated by the Security Exchange Commission but charges were not pressed by the SEC which at the time was controlled by his father “President George H.W. Bush” who failed to hold his son accountable.

This was the content of George W. Bush’s character then: a moral compass motivated by greed, with absolute disregard for the suffering of others and with the power possessed by those of privilege to avoid responsibility for breaking the law which the less well off have to obey.

Today President George W. Bush’s content of character is reflected in his recent refusal to accept the recommendations of an Iraq Study Group comprised of privileged friends of his privileged family, consummate politicians who offered George W Bush an opportunity to resolve the crisis in Iraq and with a spin carefully crafted spin to avoid any mention about the causes for the current chaotic state of affairs in Iraq or who is profiting and who is suffering.

And today the Commander-in-Chief’s content of character is reflected in his refusal to accept the military advise from his Joint Chiefs of Staff when he calls for an increase in troop levels, a short term surge, and also orders the Navy to the Persian Gulf which borders most of western Iran causing a gut feeling that Iran is in the cross hairs of a man driven by the madness produced by ignoring reality. A delusional man who the nuclear power at his finger tips to destroy human life globally several times over has the same power to push the button on a country allegedly in the process of getting one nuclear weapon..

If the buck really does stop with the person at the top then this President, this Commander-in-Chief is responsible for the death, destruction and decimation of a sovereign nation – another crime which this time our government didn’t even bother to investigate. The 109th Congress, the representatives of the people were not going to hold anyone accountable who they followed in lockstep.

By rejecting the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and refusing the advise of his generals this President lacked judgment when he displayed his disdain for those of privilege who earned it and he lacked wisdom when he showed his contempt for those who have to fight for it if indeed he decides to invade yet another country in the middle-east based on fabrications. Indeed it will be a dangerously delusional response by ignoring reality and trying to create it where it does not exist.

Based on what I know the only way history will favorably remember George W Bush is if he displays the courage to act honorably and accepts responsibility for his actions by resigning his presidency immediately and if he doesn’t then Congress, the people’s representatives must display the courage to act honorably and hold George W Bush accountable by impeaching him for violating the supreme law of the land or else history will eventually be written by another nation if we continue on the way forward into the abyss.

Since I recently read that George W Bush is actively interested in pursuing the purchase of a large tract of land in Paraguay I suspect he will not be acting honorably and since I recently read that the 110th Congress controlled by the opposition party will not be pursuing any articles of impeachment in fact John Conyers is no longer interested in pursuing censure and/or impeachment of George W Bush and Dick Cheney I can unfortunately assume that we will be two years closer to the collapse of the American Empire.