Open Letter to Sen. Eric Oemig on Impeachment Resolution Proposal

Just a bit of background on this posting, I worked with (now State Senator) Eric Oemig at Microsoft and I enjoyed very much working with him. He was a software developer and I was a software tester on three versions of Outlook.

However, I think that he's forsaken the priorities of Washingtonians by proffering this impotent bill to call for the impeachment of President Bush over intelligence failures that led to the war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. This bill would do absolutely nothing except show the rest of America that Washington State has a bunch of rabid liberals running the three-ring circus (House, Senate and Governor) and have nothing better to do than chip in our two cents worth.

This was my comment to my friend Eric/State Senator Oemig on this foolish proposed resolution. To my utter amazement I, Ken Schram, Nancy Pelosi and several Democrats in the legislature actually agree on something for a change. I think that should give him the wake-up call to get the business of Washington done before getting on his soapbox to appease his MoveOn.org supporters.

Hi Eric,

I am pretty disappointed that you've seen fit to chime in on national politics before addressing the needs of Washingtonians (and I know you'll say "blah, blah, blah democracy"), but if I'm not mistaken, the Congress did vote on giving the president authorization to use force if he felt it was necessary and it was overwhelmingly passed.

As you know, the Clinton administration also thought Saddam (may he rest in pieces) had WMDs as well as the much heralded (on the Left) United Nations. So, could it be that President Bush was also surprised that we did not find massive stockpiles of WMDs in Iraq (indeed some were found, but not nearly in the quantities that were expected)?

I guess I'm not sure what you expect to see happen from this idiotic stunt (sorry, I call them like I see them - and I still count you among my friends), but I think that we really should be working on things that will benefit Washingtonians and less on trying to punish the federal government/administration for intelligence failures that it could not have foreseen.

Do you really think that a resolution passed out of the Soviet of Washington is going to carry much weight with Congress (even though it's now controlled by Democrats)? Speaker Pelosi has already said that Impeachment will not be considered, so how exactly is this helpful to anyone?

Yours,

David Carson
Redmond, WA
Former 45th Legislative District constituent

Herr Bundeskanzler, wie schlafen Sie nachts?

On today's Opinion Journal page (link here) is a story that just makes me furious that I ever visited the Republik of Austria and spent even a single, solitary Schilling in the shops of Vienna or Salzburg. As wonderful as those cities (rich in history, music and the arts) are, I question my love for the close cousin of Germany because of the actions of their former Chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel.

The so-called right-leaning former-Chancellor of Austria made a fatal blunder. Not one that he paid for, but for which American soldiers and Marines have paid the ultimate price. How does a conservative (by European standards) decide that selling 800 sniper rifles to Iran is in any way a positive thing? What the hell does he think they're going to do with them, use them to shoot crows at landfills?

The sale of Steyr-Mannlicher sniper rifles in 2004 was vigorously opposed by the Bush Administration (rightfully so) and was obviously after we were fully engaged in warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq (both Iran's neighbors). Good grief, what was this moron thinking (apparently that because Austria wasn't sending any troops to Iraq, what could ever be the problem?)?

Damn it, damn it, damn it! Good Americans have paid the price in blood for Schüssel's idiocy, gluttony and malfeasance! What do you want to bet that somehow S-M has made sure that Schüssel has been remunerated for his counter-intuitive position on the sale? This goes way beyond interest in seeing your country's commercial interests succeed. This goes to the issue of arming an enemy not just of your – supposedly close – ally, but of all civilized nations.

Wie schlafen Sie nachts oder schauen sich im Spiegel, Herr Bundeskanzler?

(Translation: "How do you sleep at night or look yourself in the mirror, Mr. Federal Chancellor?")