November 11, 2006
by Steve Osborn

WE the People of the United States in order to form a more perfect union... is the first sentence of the preamble to the Constitution of the United States. At first sight, it would seem that We the People have won a great victory. We have elected a Democratic majority to the house and the Senate, though if Lieberman is the sole independent, then we haven't made it yet, for he is just a Bush Republican in sheep's clothing.

Before the euphoria gets too high, we have to remember one thing. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have long belonged to the same exclusive club. This club has learned to surfeit its greed for power and wealth by largess from the rich and powerful. This largess is spread, like manuring the fields, to create better crops. In this case, the crops are legislation benefitting these wealthy and powerful corporations, banks and cartels, usually at the expense of We the People, whom they are supposed to represent.

I am sure that, even now, in the back rooms, the balance of cash is now shifting from Republicans to key Democrats, as the Democrats are already gathering money and influence for the 2008 elections. If you look at the statistics available on the net, Democrats as well as Republicans have received enormous grants of cash from oil companies, land and forest interests, mining interests, chemical cartels, and banking and money groups.

We the People are going to have to watch the "new" leaders in Washing ton D.C. to see that they don't quickly return to business as usual.

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Until We the People can form a Populist Party that is strong enough to level the playing field, we cannot let our guard down for an instant. We have heard the representative of the President announce last night that the foreign policy of the United States is set by the President and it will not change. That the occupation will go on in Iraq. The threat of still further expansion of war in the Middle East is implied in that statement. As far as Bush is concerned, We the People have no say in how the United States is governed and neither does the Congress. So far, Bush and his gang have managed to bully and cow the legislature into letting him have his way. It is going to take an enormous effort on our part to change that. Hopefully through impeachment. Pelosi said impeachment is not on the table for the Democrats. We the People are going to have to change her mind about that.

According to the aforementioned Constitution, the one unpardonable crime is that causing an impeachment. Nixon knew that when he resigned, with the agreement that if he did so, he would be pardoned by Ford and get off scot free. What that did to the Presidency was tell any two-bit crook that if he could get into the highest office in the land, he could lie, cheat, steal to his heart's content with no worries about retribution. We have seen what has happened since then.

The argument at the time was that impeachment and trial of Nixon would denigrate the Office of the President, so we should pardon Nixon and move on.

Nothing could denigrate the office more than letting crooks, thieves and butchers walk away free from their crimes.

The healthiest thing that could happen to our nation would be to impeach, try and convict the entire Bush Gang for their high crimes and misdemeanors, then turn them over to the Hague for war crimes trials. This might put the United States back amongst the ranks of the civilized nations and remove us from the alternate list going back through Hitler, to Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun.

It would also serve notice to the self-seeking and self-serving that the Office of the President was no longer a rich picking ground.

So, to summarize, if We the People of the United States want to once again reestablish a more perfect union, we must either form a third party, dedicated to governing us by the Constitution and Bill of Rights this nation was founded upon, or we must turn the Democratic Party back into that mold then watch them closely to see that they do not return to "business as usual," financed by the connections to the "Old Boy Network.."

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Stephen M. Osborn [send him email] is a freelance writer living on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest. He is an "Atomic Vet." (Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll 1956, ) who has been very active working and writing for nuclear disarmament and world peace. He is a retired Fire Battalion Chief, lifelong sailor, writer, poet, philosopher, historian and former newspaper columnist.