[img]583|left|Eric L. Wattree||no_popup[/img]I undoubtedly do not have the information or the wisdom to question the vast majority of your presidential decisions.
But it takes neither to question your decision to “move forward and not look back” regarding the Bush administration's actions leading this nation into the Iraq War, and the alleged war crimes committed thereafter.
At your inauguration, you swore to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Yet, your decision to circumvent the rule of law in response to the Bush administration's actions does everything but that. Your position is diametrically opposed to one of the fundamental principles of this nation: No one is above the law.
This is not a partisan issue, Mr. President. The concept of equal rights under the law (which also means equal consequences) is central to the Constitution, and a cornerstone of the American ideal.
America’s Character Will Change
Without that concept, America is no longer America. By ignoring that ideal, you are in violation of your oath of office, and you are striking a much more devastating blow against America than Al Qaeda could manage.
I am not speculating. We've already seen the negative consequences of such precedent. Hundreds of thousands have died because we failed to hold Richard Nixon accountable for Watergate.
Had he, chances are Ronald Reagan wouldn't have embarked upon Iran/Contra. If Reagan had been impeached then imprisoned for his actions during the Iran/Contra episode, including flooding the inner cities of this nation with drugs (an action the Black community is still suffering from), Bush and his cohorts would have been placed on notice that anyone who circumvents the laws of this land will face heavy consequences.
Thus, had Bush and Cheney known that America stood united, the war in Iraq probably never would have happened. In turn, that would have saved the lives of thousands of American troops, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens.
One would think, Mr. President, that you would be sensitive to adhering to the rule of law. While I'm in total agreement with your position that you were elected to be the president of all the people, there was no way you could avoid bringing the experience of the African American collective into the White House. That experience should inform you, in a personal way, of the negative consequences of ignoring the rule of law.
I'm not one who subscribes to the belief that because you're a Black president that you owe Black people any more than you owe any other American. My article immediately prior to this one is in direct opposition to Tavis Smiley's position in that regard. I view Tavis Smiley's position as self-serving and shortsighted, because the corollary of his position is that all of the White presidents who follow you owe a special allegiance to White people. That is the position the civil rights movement was established to oppose.
But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't bring the knowledge and wisdom of the Black experience to bear. Part of that experience should be the wisdom to understand that this nation's failure to adhere to the rule of law led directly to the lynching of Black people and the bombing of Black churches in the South. It also led to Jim Crow, rules that distorted the law of the land that were specifically designed to circumvent the law's intent.
I sincerely hope you will consider the historic symbolism of your position. After the hardships Black people have gone through, to ignore the rule of law “for the better good,” regardless of what you accomplish as president, future historians will look back upon you not taking a position as a dark mark upon your presidency.
You Must Act Immediately
Even if you can live with that, current events demonstrate that the slippery slope over the past 30 years is becoming steeper.
Who would have thought 30 years ago that the validity of war crimes, torture, and the blatant invasion of privacy of the American people would even be a subject for debate in this country? Who would have thought that a Vice President of the United States would be under a cloud for revealing the identity of a CIA agent? Or that a corporation he formerly headed would be guilty of providing American troops with contaminated water for profit?
Who would have thought American troops would be sent into an unnecessary war without the equipment to sustain their lives, then when wounded, be made to pay for the equipment that had to be cut from their body and left on the field of battle?
Who would believe that this nation would force those brave troops to pay for their own meals while lying in the hospital recuperating from their wounds in the nation's defense?
Yet you say let us, “not look back”? Oh, no, I don't think so.
Once the American people come out of the shock of the past ten years, they won’t let that fly. They already sense something is terribly wrong with our government. They are just in shocked disbelief. Around the 2012 election, they will be emerging from that state.
In my opinion you're one of the best presidents that we've ever had in many ways, but there's only one chink in your armor.
You seem unwilling to confront the GOP in an aggressive manner. Ordinarily that might be less than important. But in the current environment, it is as serious as if you were reluctant to confront Al Qaeda.
The GOP leadership is a more serious threat to the American way than Al Qaeda can ever be. While Al Qaeda is a physical threat to the American people, the GOP is attacking America's soul. They're attempting to alter what America is as a nation.
Your failure to address this is counter-intuitive to your political base. Many are beginning to wonder if you're not part of the problem. Mr. President, we don't give a damn about the appearance of bipartisanship. In this case, to be bipartisan means, “Okay, let's comprise and destroy America a little bit.”
Your political base is not interested in that. We're looking to you to defend the American way of life, by any means.
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree@verizon.net
You may learn more about Mr. Wattree at wattree.blogspot.com
Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everybody who doesn’t look, think and act like me. It’s just that God does.
