Oh, Our Hopes Were High ...

Cheney, Gonzales Indicted in Texas

Oh, how our hearts raced last evening, when that headline was espied.

I let out a roaring "Finally!"

Finally someone picked up on The Garlic's offer, and went out and nailed these suckers.

Back on July 4th, 2007, we posted a Garlictorial, calling on a, seemingly, last option, of putting The Commander Guy and Darth Vader under "Citizen's Arrest".

Since Congress wasn't going to do anything about their lawlessness, it was time for a good, ol' average American citizen to pick up the ball and run with it.

And there were (still are), some mighty impressive benefits for corralling this less-than-dynamic duo;

There must be some tiny hamlet, some Main Street USA berg that would be willing to put themselves on the map, become the saviors of our nation. A Sheriff with balls, a U.S. Attorney ready to swing back for justice.

Think Truth or Consequences, New Mexico... You can change your name to Citizen's Arrest and really cash in on it.

Leave history for a moment. For starters, think of the economic boon it would be.

The MSM media camped out for weeks, eating in your diners, sleeping in your motels (if you have a hotel, even better), shopping in your stores. Same for the protesters that will show up.

We're talking millions here.

Anderson Cooper will likely become your best friend ... Morning interviews on the Today Show (and, if the timing is right, perhaps you'll make it into a "Where In The World Is Matt Lauer" segment) ... Diane Sawyer ... Larry King ... Weeks-and-weeks of MSNBC Doc-Blocks ... 24/7 baby, all the way.

Yeah, Bill O'Reilly and Fox Noise might launch a jihad against you, but we can get Keith Olbermann to handle them.

And there's other revenue streams.

Bush and Cheney in orange jumpsuits - Priceless!

But, alas, it probably will not come to be this time around.

It seems that the local D.A. down there in Texas, that brought these charges against the deadly VP, and his sidekick, the former Crony General, doesn't have all his oars in the water, not to mention, in the recent elections, got voted out-of-office.

And, it still needs to be looked into if he is related to that Brewster family, from "Arsenic and Old Lace".

From Steve Benen;

The prosecutor in question is Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, who's apparently developed a reputation for being something of a ... how do I put this gently ... legal eccentric. A lawyer for Democratic state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., who is also charged in the Cheney/Gonzales indictment, called Guerra a "one man circus."

The description seems to fit. David Kurtz noted that Guerra even got himself arrested not too long ago.

As it happens, Guerra sought re-election as a district attorney, but lost (badly) in a Democratic primary back in March. With his term nearly complete, it appears that he's scurrying to get some 11th-hour indictments against his enemies off his to-do list.

Sigh!

That means the sands are running through the hour glass on our call for a Citizen's Arrest, and we won't, most likely, not see a prep walk of Bush and Cheney, in those prison-orange jumpsuits.

Citizen's Arrest USA ... That could be your town ... Booming economy for months-to-come, possible longer ...

Don't let the World Court, in The Hague, grab all the glory ...


Bonus "Almost" Riffs

Emma Perez-Trevino, The Brownsville Herald: Vice President Cheney indicted by Willacy County grand jury

The Raw Story: Cheney, Gonzales indicted

Attytood: UPDATED: DICK CHENEY INDICTED!!!!!!

Bush To Change Legal Landscape - White House Primed To Replace "Miranda" With New, "Cheney Decision"; Says Still Tough On Crime; Won't Be Applicable For Rounded-Up Terror Suspects - "That's What Patriot Act Is For"

White House To Manage Media - New White House Press Strategy On VP Shooting Deemed "Smashing Success"; Expect More Reports From Average Citizens, Local Papers Breaking News; President May Board Up Press Room

Special Sing-Along: Dick, The Magic Vice Prez

Libby Trial Update - The Scooter and Cheney Show Theme Song

Round Up The Usual Suspects ...

John Bolton to be target of citizen's arrest at Hay Festival

George Monbiot, the journalist and activist, is planning the action because he believes Mr Bolton is a "war criminal".

It's a start ...


Bonus Bolton

Bolton: Card Had White House In Coma; White House Shake-Up Causes Bolton Snafu; Fiery UN Ambassador Thought Bush Reaching Out To Him; Lambastes Card and “that little bean-counting pansy”

Breaking News! Zidane Signals New Era of “Hooligan Diplomacy”; Have Head-Butt, Will Travel - Mr. Zizou Goes To Washington;
World Cup Golden Ball Winner Wooed By Bush Team; Likely Will Be Assigned To Bolton at U.N.

Top Ten Cloves: Ways White House Will Try To Keep John Bolton At The U.N.


Update

Boo Hiss!

John Bolton escapes citizen's arrest at Hay Festival

"He is Iraq's Katrina itself"

Just as New Orleans's Ninth War will still be a moonscape when Bush goes out of office, so will Iraq.

Sadly, it's looking less, and less, likely that we will see him exit the White House, handcuffed, in a perp walk - as he so richly deserves.

Mostly due to a brain-dead, Constitution-blinders-firmly-affixed-Congress (How big an outcry from our elected representatives have you heard about the bombshell news the other day, that the torture program was choreographed directly out of the Bush Grindhouse?), he gets to wear his real, and proverbial, flightsuit and play "The Commander Guy" for a number of dwindling months.

And inhabiting the Unreality Bubble he has ensconced himself in, Lord knows what further havoc he will reek.

Especially when he's running his policy speeches up the Neocon flagpole, before he gives them.

Wants to make sure, I suppose, there's enough warmongering in it.

Juan Cole writes/reports one of the best blogs on what's happening in Iraq (and the policies behind it; Another good one is Abu Aardvark).

Cole nails the Bush Legacy;

War turns Republics into dictatorships. The logic is actually quite simple. The Constitution says that the Congress is responsible for declaring war. But in 2002 Congress turned that responsibility over to Bush, gutting the constitution and allowing the American Right to start referring to him not as president but as 'commander in chief' (that is a function of the civilian presidency, not a title.)

So Congress abdicated to Bush. Bush has abdicated to the generals in the field.

That is not a Republic. That is a military dictatorship achieved not by coup but by moral laziness.

And, as Gene Robinson notes today, the Bush Grindhouse, cluelessly, is going through the motions, to pass this mess on to the next president.

Of course, Bush long ago lost any credibility with Congress and the American people on Iraq. It's understandable that he hides behind Petraeus's breastplate of medals and Crocker's thatch of gray hair, sending these loyal and able public servants to explicate the inexplicable: What realistic goal is the United States trying to achieve in Iraq? And in what parallel universe is this open-ended occupation making our nation safer?

Even the most basic question of any war is undefined: Who is the enemy? It was almost painful listening to Petraeus as he faced reporters yesterday and was asked whether Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army were friend or foe. His tortured answer, translated into English, was yes.

But thanks to Cole today, the Legacy Shopping is over.

Ironically, what officers like Petraeus need from Bush is not deference but vigorous leadership in the political realm. Bush needs to intervene to work for political reconciliation in Iraq if Petraeus's military achievements are to bear fruit. But Bush seems incapable of actually conducting policy, as opposed to starting wars. Bush happened to Iraq just as he happened to New Orleans. He cannot do the hard work of patiently addressing disasters and ameliorating them. He just wants to set people to fighting. Crush the Sadr Movement, perhaps the most popular political movement in Iraq? He's all for it. Risk provoking a wider conflagration in the Middle East by worsening relations with Iran? Sounds like a great idea to him. Bush campaigned on being a 'uniter not a divider' in 2000. In fact, he is the ultimate Divider, and leaves burning buildings, millions of refugees, and hundreds of thousands of cadavers in his wake. He is not Iraq's Brownie. He is Iraq's Katrina itself.

Just as New Orleans's Ninth War will still be a moonscape when Bush goes out of office, so will Iraq.

Phew!

That's a nutshell, alright ... A pretty, darned good nutshell I would say.

Last summer, The Garlic put forth a proposal - and it's still open and viable - that could end this madness.

Please, someone, step up and go for it!

Bonus Links

Amy Goodman: “Iraq Does Not Exist Anymore”: Journalist Nir Rosen on How the U.S. Invasion of Iraq Has Led to Ethnic Cleansing, a Worsening Refugee Crisis and the Destabilization of the Middle East

Bob Herbert: The $2 Trillion Nightmare

12 Former Army Captains: The Real Iraq We Knew

Wanted Dead Or ... Ahh, The Hell With It .. I'll Let The Next President Get'em ...

New Bush Export - Preemptive Horseshit!

Oh, Please, Please, Please! ... Make The Citizen's Arrest, Al ... Make The Citizen's Arrest!

This could be a watershed, primo, apex of history, moment today.

This won't be one-for-the-record-books, it will shatter them.

The air of anticipation is so thick, it's like 200 Christmas Eves packed into one, raising the pulse, almost taking your breath away.

We speak of later today, when the Oscar-winning, Nobel Prize-gathering former Vice President Al Gore pays a visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where our Court-Appointed President (h/t Barry Crimmins) will greet the American winners of Nobel Prizes in the customary and perfunctory photo-op session (hmmm, I wonder if Rush Limbaugh will attempt to crash it?)

And wouldn't it be so wonderful, so incredible, for Gore, recognizing the moment, understanding the magnitude of the crises we are in, picks up The Garlic's call from earlier this summer, and makes a Citizen's Arrest of The Greeter Guy.

We laid out all the benefits that can come of this, most of all, restoring the integrity and creditability to the White House.

Gore has the time, the connections and, likely, the cred, that will have others in the room - Secret Service, Capital Police, et all supporting him.

Just recently, a poll offered that 55% of voters believe Commander Codpiece has committed crimes and abuses worthy of Impeachment.

So the country is behind you, Mr. Gore.

And since NancyOffTheTable (along with Stagnant Hoyer) and Harry "Give'em What They Want" Reid won't move forward on this, won't undertake their constitutional responsibilities, we have to do it for them

They, along with every other Congressmen and Senator, go to work every day, as unprotected as the citizenship, due to their voting to suspend Habeas Corpus, at the behest of the Bush Grindhouse.

That, alone, setting aside the mountain of other high crimes and misdemeanors, should have them, along with the country, absolutely outraged.

The Garlic, as we wrote, fears a Citizen's Arrest is the only option left.

And Big Al has the incredible opportunity today to make things right.

Seven-years ago, Gore walked away from the fight, leaving us with Bushville.

He may have lost the fight, but with undertaking the Citizen's Arrest, he can win the war.

So, put some good vibes out there for Al Gore today. He has a big task on his plate, the hopes of a nation rest of his broad shoulders.

Let's change what today is, instead of Cyber Monday (more of that media-led phony cheerleading to go shopping), and let it become, for future generations, V-B Day!

I'll be dealing with the anticipation and anxiety by cutting up the forest of advertising flyers that came with the Sunday paper, waiting to throw out the window, the multi-colored confetti, as soon as the news crosses the wire, and the Breaking News bulletins begin bursting out of the television.

That today, Al Gore made a Citizen's Arrest that saved a country.

Bonus Links

Linda Boyd: Impeachment: If not now, when?; Lawmakers need to stand up for the Constitution and support impeachment

Douglas Brinkley: What Will History Say?; Move Over, Hoover

Garlictorial: The Blank Check Club

Of Lawrence Welk and Disappointments ... We Yield To Others This Evening ...

The Lawrence Welk Part

As the friends, and regular readers know, we have some cumbersome tasks that we deal with everyday on this end, and Saturday's always seem to add a bit more to it ...

For one, there's the unpredictability of energy - and the dementia - of my Aunt ... It can be smooth sailing, or, you hear every second of the clock tick off, in slow-motion ... Today was somewhere in-between ...

And, being Saturday means it's a "Lawrence Welk Evening" ... Having added over a year ago, a baby monitor to keep closer track of what is going on downstairs, the Champagne Music Man is the only thing that disrupts the endless blathering of TVLand ...

And tonight was a 2-hour Welk ... Including a retrospective on the entire band, and how they came into it (and every week, it makes me think of Lenny Bruce's bit, "The Sound").





The Disappointment Part

It's been 10-days now, and I haven't seen one report yet of the Citizen's Arrest The Garlic called for.

I mean, is it interrupting your summer vacation?

Allowing Bush and Cheney to roam, unindicted and unincarcerated, is just too much. They are both still dangerous, very dangerous, and the country is in peril.

Chiefly do to the above-mentioned Lawrence Welk part, I couldn't get enough time to finish writing a piece on what still needs to be done to clean up the Bush Grindhouse, and get this country back on track.

Look for it in the next day, or two.

Yielding To Others

Just one from the menu of items to take out Bush & Co. Think Progress has a wonderful post today;

The Ever Changing Definition of ‘Mission’ In Iraq

Over on The Reaction, two posts of note to look at.

First is Michael Stickings' pointing out Iraq's PM Nouri Maliki' charge of "international interference" as his excuse for the lack of that big wave of democracy that is supposed to sweep over the country ... Check out "Maliki's progress" ...

And there's Edward Copeland's "Everything may be held against them", talking about The Commander Guy's "executive privilege frenzy"


Salon's Joan Walsh sums up "Bush's worst day ever?" ...


While a Nobel Laureate adds her voice in calling for the Impeachment of the President.


Lastly, to end on a high note, podcasting will soon be coming from Barry Crimmins, which you can read about in "Two, two... two posts in one" (that includes a fine riff about "Uncle Phil and Dad - Wars Never End").