Charlie Rice Letter of 5-11-06

Date: 5/10/06
To: Gustavus City Council
From: A citizen in support of the impeachment of G. W. Bush and V. P. Richard Cheney
It is impossible to mollify the crimes, lies and corruption of the Bush administration without omitting truth or sounding inflammatory.
The five felony charges of illegal activity posed by the Illinois & Vermont Legislatures are true by admission of George Bush himself, but he has declared himself immune to law, to constitutional restraint and continues to act with impunity.
Rather than argue these charges or itemize more, I’d rather focus on the consequences of his leadershzp, and the incontrovertible residue of a failed presidency.
The treasury is bankrupt to unprecedented degree, nearly a billion dollars per day in interest on national debt, plus $30,000 due from every man, woman and child in the USA alive today.
The country’s social infrastructure is dysfunctional, abandoned in favor of corporate and imperial conquests.
The medical plan was written by the pharmaceutical industry.
The executive response to the New Orleans disaster reflects a systematic ineptitude of boundless proportions.
The environmentJenergy policy was written in secrecy by the oil and electric power lobby.
“The pre-emptive war policy” is formed by the military/industrial complex and war contractors with major stock holders in all levels of the Bush administration.
Bush’s support of and directives for torture have alienated the rest of the world and have become the best recruiting tool for insurgents and terrorists throughout the world. (Job security for the war machine). The United States will never gain world credibility until torture and pre-emptive war strategies are condemned.
Before we invaded Iraq there were seven known terrorist websites, in December of 2005 over 4000 terrorist affiliated websites saturated the internet.
We no longer recognize the world court.
We no longer abide the Geneva Convention.
Bush exempted the U.S. from the Kyoto accord and is systematically gutting hard won environmental law in our own country.

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We do not support the United Nations financially or in spirit. The underhanded Recess Appointment of John Bolton to the United Nations by Bush is indelible evidence that undermining the U.N. is sacrosanct to his arcane agenda.
We defected the nuclear weapons proliferation treaty, continue the use of white phosphorus, sell nuclear components and technology indiscriminately, routinely use depleted uranium in artillery and threaten nuclear attacks on sovereign countries that pose no offensive threat to the United States.
In 2003 thirty one brave congressmen proposed a resolution for Bush’s impeachment. Now it seems 2003 was the good old days. Everything is worse. Interestingly all 31 of those congressmen held their seats in the ‘04 elections with 57 to 78% of the vote.
We continue to support the use, manufacturing and sales of land mines, the most destructive, obscene form of civilian terrorism ever devised. Why are we despised by the world? Could total indifference to international convention and our compassion deficit disordered president be a factor?
We have the highest infant mortality rate in the industrial world. (Except Latvia 31st)
We have the most homeless,
The most bankruptcies,
The most people imprisoned,
And the most enemies.
We also have the most money,
Most resources,
Most toys,
And the most devolved social democracy that money can buy.
The Bush administration has been a culpable failure at every level of leadership.
If I could ask one question of the people in this room it would be - Can anyone identify one accomplishment of the Bush administration for the working man or for humanity?
29 and falling
This is not a football score it is George Bush’s approval rating (as of 5/10/06). This is the lowest sustained rating of any president.
Impeachment by congress is stalled by a handful of patriarchs who will not allow integrity to trump personal ambitions.

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Some of the state movements calling for impeachment are coming from real Republicans.
This is no longer a partisan issue. The real issue is, can we force congress to act before
there is nothing left to lose.
The country and the world are paying a big price to empower a very few.
Fact - By his own admission - God told Bush to destroy Iraq. Now God wants him to bomb Syria and Iran before the November elections. Déjà vu.
Historically everyone using the “God told me so” defense for murder has been sent to prison.
Unfortunately, linguistic impairment or being a lunatic is not an impeachable offence.
If Bush really has a hot line to God - we would be better served if he started praying for solutions rather than problems, such as how to provide health care for 50 million Americans, or how to restore our credibility with the world. If he is not insane he is either communicating with a truly evil God or billions of people are being lied to by their own conscience.
We, the American people are not war mongers.
We denounce torture.
We want our tax dollars to build an enviable society, not a dysfunctional, hated empire
predestined to failure.
We want other cultures to evolve with our example not with our guns to their head.
We want all the Cindy Sheehans to have their sons and daughters.
Nothing less than that is worth killing or dying for.
Charlie Rice
P0 Box 52
Gustavus, Alaska 99826
907-697-2371