A Case for Impeachment
By Norma Sherry
Impeachment is a serious indictment. In our recent history, President Richard M. Nixon resigned before he could be
impeached for lying, covering up and ordering very un-presidential orders. It was a very sad day and for many of us it
was the end of our idealism and trust. Then, there was the act of impeachment of President William H. Clinton, in which
he was later acquitted because his crimes did not rise to the level of "High Crimes and Misdemeanors” as required by our
Constitution. However, he was caught lying and covering up about a distasteful and unprofessional presidential act in
and around his desk in the oval office. Two presidents, two vastly different extremes, but both were caught and both
were duly chastised. One was removed from office; the other remained, but his presidency was forever stained.
Today, we have a president, George W. Bush, who has lied to the American people, caused an unnecessary war and in so
doing has disrupted, ruined, and killed many American service men and women. He has single-handedly destroyed our
reputation around the world, grown our national debt to an astonishing figure that none of us will see repaid in our
lifetimes, and he has, by his actions, killed, maimed, and destroyed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women, and
children. He has, by his negligence and disdain for the clear and evident science, altered our ability to save our
planet from the ravages of global warming. He has undermined and destroyed our natural resources by his wanton neglect
and insistence that he alone is the “decider”. He has allowed his oil rich cronies hold us hostage to obscene fuel
increases while they fill their coffers with even more obscene financial gains. Perhaps even more awful is his following
in his father’s footsteps in allowing and standing silent as we continue to build, sell, and drop munitions with
depleted uranium, which will forever alter all who eat, breathe, or drink in its remains. He has destroyed our
Constitution and Bill Rights; ignored the Geneva Convention perpetrating and blessing torture and unlawful imprisonment.
He’s allowed spying on American citizens with illegal wiretaps.
What does it take folks to get your ire up? It boggles the mind that with all the evidence that this president should be
impeached that in fact, he has remained above the fray. How is it possible? Are political lines so vital that we as
citizens are less concerned for correcting wrongs and punishing wrong-doers than we are for supporting our political
party? We weren’t always so blindsided. Certainly, when President Clinton was brought up on charges, even his most
strident supporters did not defend the indefensible. Compared with the crimes perpetrated upon this nation by this
sitting president and past criminal actions by past presidents it is unconscionable that 40% of American citizens still
stand by and support President George W. Bush. I ask again, how is it possible?
We are living in tenuous times. Some even believe the end times. But then again, storytellers of biblical prophecy have
always warned of impending doom. But one doesn’t have to consult the Bible to see the world around us is in serious
trouble: sadly, much of which is imposed upon the populace by the few and mighty. Pollution threatens our ability to
breathe fresh, clean air. Global Warming is real and a very serious problem. Warmongers bully and hold nuclear weapons
in the balance. The Middle East is in crisis. Starvation, torture, murder, destruction of the human race is happening
every day in Somalia and Darfur. Disease and lack of vital nutrition and drinkable water threaten the lives of millions
around the world. Here at home are homeless families living in cars without gasoline, food banks unable to feed all the
hungry, abused children, beaten down and downtrodden parents no longer able to meet the demands of keeping their
families safe and healthy.
Here we are in the midst of such horrors and yet we sit quietly on the sidelines watching our Reality TV shows and pray
we can make next month’s mortgage payment or fill our gas tank in our car tomorrow. Perhaps this is why too many of us
are ignoring the true state of our existence: the true state of our country. Perhaps the ugly truth is just too ugly to
face. But unless we face it, unless we stand up and make our voices heard loud and shrill we are doomed, yes, doomed to
remain oppressed, controlled by the few, and with less rights than our forefathers had when they left their homelands
for a better place.
We need to begin by finding our dignity again, standing tall and defending those less fortunate than us. We need to
start stifling those who speak for us in a tongue foreign and in words that betray their true meaning. We need to make
our elected representatives responsible to we the people. We need to find our gumption, our strength in numbers, our
fortitude, our sense of righteousness, our keen sense of what’s right and what is certainly wrong. We need to educate
ourselves, read for ourselves, make up our own minds; we need to turn off the television pundits and ignore their
cleverly crafted venom spewed from their bully pulpits and we need to begin a dialogue with our neighbors. We need to
start talking again – even when we don’t agree. What happened to debate and discourse and even healthy disagreement? We
can learn from each other if we can just step out of our own preconceived skins for a moment in time. We need to stop
being afraid that there are eyes and ears everywhere – and that we are no longer free; because, dear friends, if we
allow ourselves to be frightened and docile then we can expect nothing more than to be “the controlled masses”. Is this
what we want for ourselves, for our children? Is this our destiny?
We need to begin by putting this president on notice that we indeed see; that we indeed are unwilling to accept his
vision for us, for our country and that he has to answer to us for the actions, the lies and the laws broken that he has
perpetrated upon this nation and its people in our name. It is time to bring this president up on the very serious
charges of Impeachment. Never before has a sitting president deserved it more. Never before has such egregious acts gone
ignored and unpunished. It is time we exert our rights as citizens of these United States of America and begin the long
road to healing this nation. We must begin by removing this president and this administration from their lofty thrones.
I pray it’s not too late.
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Norma Sherry 2006
Norma Sherry is an award-winning writer/producer. She is the host of The Norma Sherry Show on WQXT-TV. She is also
co-founder of togetherforeverchanging.org, an organization designed to enlighten and encourage citizens to fight for our liberties.