Loving Your Country

To paraphrase Gore Vidal, "A 2-year-old could enumerate the articles of the Constitution. But I doubt you could find a 2-year-old with the patience of explaining them to George Bush." Vidal gets it, but despite the continually mounting evidence of the Bush administration's incompetence, tragically few others do. It has been noted—yet somehow not seriously explored—that lying to Congress is, in fact, a very, very impeachable offense. Getting lucky in the Oval Office? Very much not. Not to betray my political leanings, but come on,people. Osama bin Laden is nowhere near the country of Iraq, and if we're really going after all the evildoers, then why the hell aren't we doing anything about Darfur? Exactly.

Now, I'm no debate expert, but American revolutionary Patrick Henry was. Today there's a group called the Patrick Henry Democratic Club of America, a family-friendly national organization for progressive Democrats. Remember when being "progressive" was a value toward which our country strived? The Patrick Henry Club is hosting an impeachment forum this Tuesday with special-guest speaker Assemblyman Paul Koretz, author of the CA Impeachment Resolution. While the club is geared toward Democrats, the forum is invitingly nonpartisan, and now that George Bush suffers an approval rate lower than any president in history, it seems truly time when even partisans can agree—this has been the worst administration our country has known. Come on, admit it, Republicans: You know this president doesn't respect you enough to let the governing members of his own party in on the minor details of—oh, you know, launching a war on an autonomous country, not to mention his general contempt for the electorate as evidenced by his unwillingness to answer many of the American public's basic questions. Patrick Henry said it best: "Give me liberty, or give me death." And our current political situation seems to be conflating the two. Impeachment may be a pipe dream at this point, but at least someone's talking about it (yeah, you heard me, New York Times).

The Patrick Henry Club's Impeachment Forum meets at Marie Callender's, 1821 N. Grand Ave., Santa Ana. Tues., 7 p.m. Free. All ages encouraged.