Is impeachment the only answer?

Exactly who are the modern-day conservative Republicans and what do they stand for? Please bear with me while we take a look, again, at our freedom documents to review how they apply today.

Our Declaration of Independence (remember it?) tells us, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness… [W]hen a long train of abuses and usurpations… reduce them [the people] under absolute Despotism, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Then the Constitution of the United States, Article II Section 4, further mandates that, "The President, Vice President and all civil officers for the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Surely these are harsh words and should not be taken lightly, but today as our troops die and hundreds of Iraqis are being slaughtered daily, something must be done. Our president has decided to wait until after the first of the year to share his plan with the American people. Again we wait.

Could it be that the unprovoked invasion of another nation, corruption in all levels of the administration and Congress (too many to list here) could be at least misdemeanors if not high crimes? Think of the many major problems and embarrassment that our nation faces as result of the torture of prisoners, open borders, enormous national debt, imbalance of foreign trade (jobs exported and loans from foreign countries), and much, much more including corruption in our government. Let us be reminded that the conservative Republicans have had complete control of Congress and the executive branch for years.

The president and his administration and Congress were given a clear mandate, during the last election, for change by the American people and yet it seems that this president, his administration and the conservative Republicans have turned a deaf ear to them.

It is unbelievable that, after the voters, the generals, and the Iraq Study Group all informed the president to lead us out of Iraq, it appears that he is planning an escalation and will send more troops as soon as next month. Can our nation survive another two years of total disregard for the will of our people and the obvious incompetence in government?

Perhaps the only solution is impeachment at the top and remove more of them in the next election.

Reckin is a resident of Kalispell.