WE THE PEOPLE: Tag! You’re It!

Columns

February 24, 2009

By Clyde Ussery / Chronicle contributor The Crossville Chronicle Tue Feb 24, 2009, 05:14 PM CST

As George Bush prepared to go his merry way, leaving the country in shambles, some asked whether or not we can afford the distraction of holding him and his wrecking crew accountable for what they have done to our country. Faced with the gigantic task of repairing the damage, would it not be wiser to forget him? Easier perhaps, but not wiser. Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman put it this way, "...if we don't have an inquest into what happened during the Bush years...this means that those who hold power are indeed above the law because they don't face any consequences if they abuse their power."

Giving his farewell speech, Bush stood there on his clay feet and attempted to convince us that his presidency was not a colossal disaster. Listening to him list his accomplishments was a jaw-dropping experience, Mission Accomplished without the banner. After admitting he did have some regrets, he said, "But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions." Tough decisions like wasting hundreds of thousands of lives, torture, illegal wiretapping? His boasting of making the "tough decisions" is, as some wag said, on par with Jeffrey Dahmer saying, "You have to give me credit for having the fortitude to actually eat someone."

I would like to say that George Bush is totally responsible for the harm and disgrace his administration brought to this country. But, of course, he was aided and abetted by a Congress that abdicated its authority as an equal branch of government. Can we then place all the blame on Bush and the Congress? Not quite. We the people were complicit in the debacle, too. There is a document, the Constitution of the United States, whose bold theme is that all power derives from the People. Not from corporations, not from wannabe Napoleons, but from the People. Yet we ceded that power and stood by while those who care more about corporate interests than people’s problems steered our canoe straight toward the waterfall. While we were engrossed in the antics of the bimbo-of-the-week, we ignored the destruction that our elected officials were wreaking in our name.

An acquaintance argues that the only thing we can do is vote. Wrong. Voting is not our only responsibility as citizens, and it is not our only weapon. It is our responsibility to stay informed and stay involved. We must make our voices heard. The President and Congress work for us, the People. It is imperative for us to understand this relationship, and to understand that our elected officials are not above the law. Our representatives should know that there will be consequences if they abuse their power. It is our job, mine and yours, to deliver that message loud and clear. We cannot wait for someone else to take care of our country. Trusting someone else to do our job is what brought us so dangerously close to the waterfall.

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Columns

GARY'S WORLD: Thank our veterans this weekend A tremendous opportunity presents itself in our community this weekend — an opportunity to honor those who served in the Vietnam War. Personally, after attending last year's first Welcome Home celebration, I wouldn't want to miss this. It was an emotional event for both Vietnam veterans and ordinary citizens. It was a great way to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day in Tennessee, March 29.
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LION AND THE LAMB: An open letter to Sharon Baier I was happy to read your well-written article, printed in last week's Chronicle. It makes a strong case, in the story of Al and Jennifer, that "To make money, you have to spend money." That misguided couple thought that they ought to cut down on their purchase of supplies, to save money. They did so, week after week, until they lost their business.
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WE THE PEOPLE: Veterans storm the Hill When young men and women risk their lives and sacrifice both physical and mental health for their country, a grateful country should at least provide them with shelter, food, and health care. But there is a lot of hypocrisy between what some windbag says on Veterans Day and what the country actually does for veterans.
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STUMPTALK: Stimulating a war on prosperity and freedom Near Bush’s sunset, Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed chairman Bernanke terrified the nation with “the sky’s falling and America is doomed” unless the government steps in with new regulations, institutional takeovers and massive lending.
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WE THE PEOPLE: Thoughts on bringing a recession to heel Responding to the recent full-throated baying of conservative “economic watchdogs,” I slogged into the swamp of their icon Adam Smith’s murky tome, “The Wealth of Nations,” to see if they had finally treed anything of value.
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