Palin's abuse of power is the Bush/Cheney legacy

Guest post by Bob Poris

Does anyone think the news that Palin is guilty of abuse of power by venting her anger at her ex-brother in law, Trooper Wooten, to try get him fired and then eventually canning his superior for resisting her illegal pressure will make a difference?

Palin's abuse of power was investigated by a bi-partisan group and started before she was picked to run for VP. Obviously, McCain did not investigate her very well, as the investigation and story was public knowledge at the time. What a cynical act!! Have we not had enough of a VP ignoring and flaunting the law?

One might say that abuse of power is the real legacy of the eight Bush/ Cheney years! That is obvious when we consider the Bush administration's cavalier disregard of our Constitution, laws, precedents, morals and ethics. Bush/Cheney have changed the way we run our government -- and not for the better!

Congress sat by and voluntarily gave up its rights and obligations. Congress failed to exercise due oversight of the Executive Branch. Congress failed to do its duty, the result of which is an imperial Presidency.

We were lied to and led into an unnecessary and futile war because we were not diligent. We sat by and watched as our financial world crumbled around us. We have alienated the rest of the world. We have lost over 4000, young men and women, and thousands more are permanently disabled. We sat on our hands as Iraq descended into a chaotic and deadly mess, with countless deaths and an uncertain future. We have seen Iran grow in power.

We were led into this morass by leaders who justified their chicanery through false premises. We were given a variety of reasons as to why we must invade a small, non-threatening country and those reasons changed constantly.

Sadly, the effects of the failures of the Bush/Cheney years will be felt by every American and people around the world for decades to come.

And for what? We continued to be threatened by the radical Islamists, emboldened by their successes and excesses. Unfortunately,Israel will remain the pariah of the Middle East, even though it is the only successful democracy in the area. With just a modicum of respect and cooperation from its Arab neighbors, Israel could have helped create a Middle East geared to live in this century and with healthy trade amongst its peoples. Tragically for all involved, the Arab nations chose to waste the past sixty years. Israel, on the other hand, with its strong economy, health care, scientific advances, medical marvels, and strong ties to the progressive nations of the world, is a paradigm of what is possible.

Furthermore, during all these years, the USA, has been weakened, not strengthened! The next administration will be stuck with decisions made by incompetents and short sighted elected and appointed officials who seemed to have little knowledge of our Constitution or history. Our nation is split in half and one half is convinced the other is unpatriotic, and not worthy of consultation in most affairs. United we were strong! We are not strong at the moment and I am worried about our long term future unless we can return to the real values that made us great.

Meanwhile, we remain at war. We need to strengthen our armed forces, yet our leaders are strangely silent with regard to enlisting and serving in our military. We hope our neighbor’s kids will enlist to fight for us, but we do not even ask that we all participate in our wars or our future. No wonder we think our kids are too soft and value play more than duty or responsibility. We show little of the concerns that “The Greatest Generation” took for granted. That generation won, unconditionally, the only "real" war in our time. It's true we've been involved in policing actions, UN mandates, etc., but no real war declared by Congress as our Constitution mandates! If we do not intend to win, we should not risk war and no euphemism makes it right!

Bob Poris