Mad King George
by Ian Mosley
Rosa Brooks is saying out loud what virtually everybody in the country knows, but is too terrified to come out and say: George W. Bush is as nutty as a fruitcake. On October 25th, the Los Angeles Times ran a column by Rosa Brooks entitled simply: “Straitjacket Bush.” It opened up full bore: “George W. Bush and Dick Cheney shouldn’t be treated like criminals who deserve punishment. They should be treated like psychotics who need treatment. Because they’ve clearly gone mad.”
Seven years on, and someone has finally had the moral courage to say it!
Ms. Brooks goes on: “Exhibit A: We’re in the middle of a disastrous war in Iraq, the military and political situation in Afghanistan is steadily worsening, and the administration’s interrogation and detention tactics have inflamed anti-Americanism and fueled extremist movements around the globe. Sane people, confronting such a situation, do their best to tamp down tensions, rebuild shattered alliances, find common ground with hostile parties and give our military a little breathing space. But crazy people? They look around and decide it’s a great time to start another war.”
Again, this is incredibly refreshing. Someone has finally dared to stand up and say that attacking Iran is not just a “risky move politically,” it’s not just “potentially dangerous economically” or any other polite circumlocutions. Attacking Iran for no reason, with the United States military in the shape it’s in today, is insanity, and the neocons who advocate doing this are insane, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Ms. Brooks continues “Huh? Iran is now a major threat to Europe? The Iranians are going to launch a nuclear missile (that they don’t yet possess) against Europe (for reasons unknown because, as far as we know, they’re not mad at anyone in Europe)? This is lunacy in action… The United States has a GDP that is 68 times larger and defense expenditures that are 110 times greater. Israel and every Arab country (except Syria and Iraq) are . . . allied against Iran. And yet we are to believe that Tehran is about to overturn the international system and replace it with an Islamo-fascist order? What planet are we on? Planet Cheney…you could read Bush’s remark as a madman’s threat rather than a madman’s prediction — as a warning to recalcitrant states, from Germany to Russia, that don’t seem to share his crazed obsession with Iran. The message: Fall into line with administration policy toward Iran or you can count on the U.S.A. to try to start World War III on its own. And when it comes to sparking global conflagration, a U.S. attack on Iran might be just the thing. Yee haw! You’d better believe these guys would do it too. Why not? They have nothing to lose — they’re out of office in 15 months anyway.”
I won’t spoil the rest of the column for you. Read it, you’re in for a treat. Of course, like all liberals, Brooks goes all mushy when she comes to a solution. She seems to feel that there is some way Bush and Cheney could be forced to take psychiatric examinations and then removed from office to a nice, quiet padded cell, as if making the linguini-spined Nancy Pelosi president would be any solution.
But what is the solution to the fact that our President and Vice President have clearly lost their marbles? The US Constitution says that any high official (including the president and vice president) who commits a high crime or misdemeanor “shall be impeached.” The Constitution doesn’t say they “may” be impeached depending on how gutless the opposition party is. It is a Constitutional obligation for Congressmen to start an impeachment after the president launches an illegal war or starts torturing people.
Once Bush and Cheney are faced with an investigation of torture policies and no-bid contracts for their cronies, they should be sufficiently put on the defensive so that they won’t be able to start any more wars.