George W. Bush Belongs In Prison
Posted: Saturday, November 29, 2008
by Joel Hirschhorn
http://www.delusionaldemocracy.com
Electing Barack Obama president was the first step in redeeming American democracy. The second step must be indicting ex-president George W. Bush, giving him a fair trial, finding him guilty of many criminal acts and putting him in prison. Forget revenge. Think rule of law and justice.
I want President Obama soon after taking office to go on television and announce the formation of a special group of outstanding jurists and attorneys to make a recommendation whether or not the US Justice Department should bring criminal charges against George W. Bush. Based on earlier analyses, including work by the American Bar Association, I have no doubt they will recommend indictment.
Millions and millions of Americans and people worldwide know that George W. Bush made 9/11 the trigger for initiating an illegal war in Iraq that has killed and maimed so many thousands of people. What Vincent Bugliosi, author of "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" called "the most serious crime ever committed in American history." I say convict Bush of myriad counts of criminally negligent homicide related to both Iraq and the Katrina disaster and put him in prison. A former president in prison would not disgrace the presidency. It would restore honor to the office and the Constitution.
Surely millions more people now understand that George W. Bush bears responsibility for creating the conditions that encouraged greed-driven capitalism to rape and murder the middle class and push us into the current global economic meltdown. By removing government oversight and regulation he committed the greatest acts of fraud in the history of mankind. After he made American democracy delusional he made prosperity delusional.
We the people are paying the price for George W. Bush's criminal acts and so must he. When George W. Bush is sent to prison everyone will see that American democracy has earned the respect of the world. Everyone will better understand that evil comes in many forms and that even an elected president of the United States of America can and must be recognized as a perpetrator of horrendous criminal acts.
Please President-elect Obama, make it so. Be the principled person we want you to be. Make the USA the nation it is supposed to be. Have the courage to do what Congress refused to do when it did not impeach George W. Bush. Change history by showing the world that American justice applies as equally to the president as it does to anyone else. Do not let George W. Bush escape the justice and prison sentence he deserves. Do not let respect for the presidency trump respect for justice. If we do not bring George W. Bush to justice that probably only you can make happen, then surely we do not restore respect for the office that you worked so hard to achieve.
To ensure that no future president behaves like George W. Bush we must punish him. Not merely through the words of historians, but through the physical punishment that he has inflicted on so many millions of people. In previous eras citizens would have demanded "off with his head." Now we must demand "lock him up." How poetic for a pro-torture ex-president. As summed up at www.imprisonbush.com: "Bush must be made accountable to the law, to serve as a lesson to all those who would attempt to destroy the American system of laws and liberty for the sake of their own power." This is a test for both President Obama and American democracy.
If there is any kind of God in the universe, then George W. Bush must go to prison. When he does, then and only then should God bless America .
[Formerly a full professor at the University of Wisconsin , Madison and a senior official at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the National Governors Association, Joel S. Hirschhorn is the author of nonfiction books, including Prosperity Without Pollution, Sprawl Kills and Delusional Democracy.]
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Joel, I fear Obama would certainly be assassinated if he were to take this kind of action against Bush. It would be safer for him to put an end to this war by bringing our troops home as strategically as possible; perhaps with the same history-making type of intelligence his campaign was run and his election was won. That will speak volumes. As far as Bush is concerned, the history books may not be so kind to him but whether we believe it or not, we reap what we sow--good or bad. Bush has been untouchable, I pray Obama doesn't feel he has to be the one to reach out and touch him by doing what you suggested. I'd like for him not to play God. I'm very interested to see what happens over the next four years under his presidency. He has to be alive for that to happen.
Joel before you are so harsh on President Bush you better take a good long look at the congress of this country. They have the power and the authority to stop any President from doing any thing they don't want to happen. If you are going to put Bush in jail they will have to go too.
And so Andrew Yu-Jen Wang did not vote for Barack Obama where Wang strongly suspected that Obama would not really go all out to cause George W. Bush to be incarcerated for his heinous crimes. This omission of action of Obama would be shocking to the conscience. It would be the saddest thing. It would demoralize the American people. It would break the heart of the American people. And so Wang just did not want to make a fool of himself by investing himself in Obama through casting a vote for Obama only then to be mortified and let down by Obama not embarking on a mission to incarcerate the absolutely evil career criminal—George W. Bush.
After George W. Bush leaves office, one of the most important things is for his incarceration to be sought by the American people. If Obama were not prepared to fight diligently for such a thing, then Obama would, in a way, have wasted his time as the President of the United States. Moreover, Obama must be aware of George W. Bush’s various onslaughts against black people. Thus, if Obama does not have the indignation and rage to seek Bush’s incarceration, one must conclude only that Obama lacks the courage to do it. In failing to seek Bush’s incarceration, Obama—a black person—inevitably shames and humiliates and embarrasses himself.
Obama—a black person (a racial minority himself)—should be profoundly sensitive to the racial prejudice and widespread suffering Bush has inflicted against black people.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
hi joel,although your words sound harsh, they are exactly true.my son will be leaving for the air force within the next 2 months. it saddens my heart, although i am also proud of him, but not proud because he is putting himself in jeopardy of a war that should never have happened, but because bush's collapse of the economy is forcing him to listen to the "over zealous" recruiters who made going into the electronics field a lucrative option to home depot, as they also got paid for doing so. i have only seen clips of bush as i channel surfed, i didn't need to get sick to my stomach, but what i heard was disgraceful for the President of the United states. not one word or sentence he said made sense, or was coherent. and i do believe he belongs in prison, but better yet, let him give my son a good paying job, and take his place in the air force.thanks for sharing your thoughts,best regards,sue thom
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