Bush: Will He Go?

Late last year I said that there were elements inside the beltway who may try and remove Bush from office. The disgust with the war, its incompetent handling of it, the torture, the serious rift with our allies in Europe were leading some very powerful persons with large and seemingly inexhaustible bank accounts to begin to take action to remove the President from office. What was needed was a serious jolt to GOP rank-and-file office holders and stalwarts to get things moving. Since the first of the year, slowly but surely, the façade of ‘trust’ has been removed from Bush and increasingly people are beginning to see him and his closest associates for what they are. This has been a long process but one that should have started before the last Federal elections. Sadly these interests needed Bush to fulfill several legislative feats for him, not least of which was the landmark ‘Bankruptcy Bill’. Another possible delay was almost certainly the death of Renquist and the retirement of O’Connor. Those with deep pockets need and deeply desire ‘corporate friendly’ judges to sit on the Supreme bench to render decisions in their favor. Especially in light of upcoming corporate disputes with labor and more corporate bankruptcies on the way. Accommodating these powers often requires that jurists ignore both the spirit and letter of the Constitution. These appointments were and are essential to continue on with and agenda to render a free and equal society null and void. In addition, these appointments to the court will change the nation for the worse for the next 25 years. The new Chief Justice and the new candidate are known for their corporate friendly approach. But perhaps more ominously each has demonstrated a strong tendency to increase Presidential power and will certainly move to reduce Congress to a rubber stamp ‘check signing’ entity, reduce personal freedom, make it nearly impossible for the ordinary person to seek redress in courts for wrongs suffered by the rich and powerful and compel a serf-like subservience to America's leaders in the years ahead. Each of these appointees appears to have had a role to play in formulating Bush’s torture policy and the Chief Justice was instrumental in Bush’ 2000 election theft. There are many who are concerned that Bush's recent court appointments have far less to do with what is best for the nation than to stack the court in his favor in the event of legal proceedings against him.

The struggles of workers and minorities will take a back seat to corporate power and profits now. As our war has been a naked power and oil grab you can expect any decision rendered to assist in exonerating any official engaged in criminal acts that support the war, undermine free speech especially if it is anti-war or anti-corporate power, uphold laws that work against workers in negotiations with management and weaken laws that allow for collective bargaining. They, in all likelihood, will assist in turning our Republic into a military style dictatorship in all but name.

These things are key to what Bush wants, but the establishment is becoming a little concerned with the concentration of power in Bush’s hands. He has misused it and made a terrible mess of things. While America's establishment has always sided with the idea of giving the executive branch of government as much power as possible while maintaining the appearance of a republic, the Bush experience has caused many to step back and pause. This pause is also taking place in the GOP. They have lost their base, the only real support they have is among a small group of religious dupes who worship Bush in a blasphemous display of religious harlotry. There are a few contractors as well who will vote for Bush because the continuation of this war means a continuation of gravy train they are riding. This kind of support does not win elections and next year a great many of them stand in their own districts for elections. In light of this growing antipathy towards Bush, felt in the heartland, where many a GI has returned missing arms, legs and some with horrible brain injuries, the question is being asked loudly and often. Why? This is all happening while Bush has been steadily cutting benefits for our soldiers.

People no longer buy the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ lie, they do not buy the terror hype. They want to know why they are being asked to die. This is the fundamental question being asked by voters in the GOP. No one has answered their question honestly and with each new lie told by Bush, the greater the antipathy grows towards him and his policy makers. They want to know where all of these mythical jobs are that Bush says he is creating. The outsourcing of jobs is something that many in our establishment see as a long term threat to America’s economic health and technological abilities and even political stability.

These policies perpetuated by Bush are not only causing some consternation on main-street, but Wall Street and others who belong to the “have’s” (as opposed to the have-not’s) in America are very concerned with Bush and the general direction he is taking that nation.

This is why there is now real pressure on Bush now and the moves being made by the special prosecutor should be watched with great care. It smells of more than your normal scandal. It looks like this could really be the beginning of the end for Bush. This much can be certain, the Senate and the House GOP leaders cannot afford to be seen as too close to Bush now. His polls rating are bad and dropping. His credibility is shot and this is one of the most important commodities a Chief Executive needs to govern in America. By a margin of 2-1 Americans believe that Bush’ impact on US politics and the government has been negative. Now the establishment may be looking for a way to get rid of Bush. The CIA leak scandal is a perfect choice. There are a hundred other scandals that could be used, but those would tend to bring down other elements in the government. One could go from Enron and why Ken Lay has not been charged, the falsification of intelligence and lying to Congress, but this CIA leak scandal will only hit Bush administration officials. That is probably why this investigation is being allowed to make the progress it has. Powerful folks who once put up with Bush, now what to send him an unequivocal message, either he changes direction or he goes. Bush is far too stubborn a man to listen to reason. So my guess is that he will go.

But first, those in power will have to deal with succession. Unlike the kings of old where the son always took over, here it is the Vice President who takes over if the President is removed. Cheney, in the minds of many, is the real problem of this administration. It may be that the investigation into the CIA leak will first focus on him in order to remove him from office first. Once this happens, the Senate will chose a successor to him. The Watergate scandal is very instructive in sorting how the establishment removes a President. Nixon’s VP was Spiro T. Agnew. A politician whose corruption, according to many a researcher, was extreme. Before Nixon was removed, Agnew found himself suddenly engulfed in scandals that eventually had him pleading ‘no contest’ to a tax evasion charge and removed from office. The GOP at the time would not allow him to sit as President, so powerful political forces maneuvered to have him removed. Interestingly one person who wanted to be Vice President at the time was Nelson Rockefeller. He was not chosen at the time but was interestingly chosen by Gerald Ford (who was appointed Vice President after Agnew resigned) to be Vice President.

If this CIA leak investigation spends a great deal of time on Cheney and leaves Bush’s name out of the headlines for a few months, look for a repeat of 1973-1974.

Look for the real possibility of Cheney to be eventually indicted. If the CIA leak scandal does not do him in politically, look for his ties to Halliburton to sink him. Bush may be forced to dump him if the party elders insist. Once that happens the GOP will appoint someone to fill the VP role (they control the House and Senate). This is a most important point; If this happens regardless of if Bush remains in office or not, look for that VP to be the 2008 GOP Presidential candidate. This is how I see things possibly shaking out over this investigation.

Cold Feet

Yet it could be that cold-feet will prevail. The Presidents flagrant disregard for our constitutional provisions may make him prone to reckless actions. Have you noticed how the President seems to be doing everything he can to institute some kind of military rule? Quietly attempting to repeal Posse Comitatus and Northern Command endorsing putting it under ‘constant review’. In short, Posse Comitatus is the most enduring check against military rule in America. Engineered domestic emergencies may be a way around the law. A most interesting article cautioning on this issue can be found here.

Remember Bush’s response to the Bird Flu supposed pandemic? It was for a military response. These facts and events surrounding the President and the indictment of Officials close to Bush are not unrelated. Bush is slowly being neutralized and his administration is under attack from various forces. This is as much for the war in Iraq, his mishandling of a sundry of domestic issues as it is for his extremely controversial stand on the Gaza strip. There are some powerful elements in America who saw Bush’s pressure on Israel as a direct assault on the sovereignty and continued existence of Israel. These forces are very powerful and some of them have decided it is time to teach Bush a lesson. There is, once again, no coincidence that AIPAC, the powerful Jewish lobby is now under investigation. It is no secret that Israel spies on the US. While Washington will deny it, of course we spy on Israel as well. Espionage is nothing new, even between allies. The problem now is that there is a serious policy rift between powerful elements in each government over Gaza, future Israeli pullouts and how Israel is commanded to react to terrorism by Washington. Will Israel be allowed to survive as it is, in the New World Order being built by elites in Europe and America? This is the ultimate question. Elements who are against disengagement and any further cessation of land to the Palestinians are making a lot of trouble for Bush and are giving him what can only be described as a ‘death by a thousand cuts’.

Will these elements get cold feet if they feel Bush will play the military card here at home? It stands to reason that many military leaders here in the US would find such action by Bush odious enough to refuse to obey orders, though it is possible, perhaps probable that Rumsfeld would support the Presidents actions. Folks I know this all sounds like idle speculation. But consider how much America has already changed since Bush took office. Today there are American Citizens who are being detained unconstitutionally without charges, without access to a court, they just sit in jail. This is evil. We torture people who have not been charged with any crime, including children. This is what tyrannies are made of. This is the kind of thing Saddam was known for. If these are the kinds of things that we are doing now one must wonder what we really had against Saddam that we removed him from power. Bush has ushered us into a 1939-era of fascism, racism and fear. He, like his 1939 counterpart, has plunged the world into a global war, with racial undertones. While many in our establishment were willing to go along with the war in order to maintain US economic dominance, Bush's abysmal military stewardship has brought enormous forces to bear against him. In my estimation he is not likely to survive politically and even if he does, he will be the lamest duck President we have had in a very long time.

Keep this in mind in closing. The federal debts in America are outrageous we are nearing critical mass this may also have bearing on the President's possible removal by these political forces.

Mark S. Watson

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