OK. Seriously, this has now gone far enough. A few days after the President of the United States announced that our last prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, had been rescued from his five years of captivity by the Taliban, Republicans are now seriously calling for the President to be impeached for his actions in securing Bergdahl’s release. Instead of congratulating the President for doing whatever was necessary to make sure an American soldier was no longer a prisoner in a strange land and making sure we ‘left no soldier behind,’ conservatives have grown louder in their calls that President Obama broke the law by releasing five detainees from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl.
However, do you want to know the real reason why they are upset? Obama Derangement Syndrome, pure and simple. The President is in his sixth year occupying the White House, and ODS has now reached critical state. They weren’t able to make him a one-term President, despite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s promises. Even though they threw every possible obstacle they could at it, Obamacare ended up becoming a raging success, as millions of Americans utilized the marketplaces to get health coverage. Somehow, Obama is still POTUS in the face of multiple Republican made ‘scandals’ hyped up by a compliant media, all for the sake of creating public backlash against Obama and find some inroad towards impeachment.
Therefore, Republicans, completely infected with ODS, have been, per the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, ”quick to jump on the train to crazytown” when it comes to this particular situation. Which is why we have not only conservative pundits calling for Obama to be impeached, but Republican lawmakers in Washington claiming the President broke the law by authorizing the prisoner exchange that freed Bergdahl. Obviously, when you have GOPers in D.C. yelling that Obama “broke the law,” it will eventually lead to them whispering, then shouting, impeachment.
Now, per Republicans, their main beef with this is that the Obama Administration did not consult with Congress prior to the prisoner exchange, and that Congress was not given the necessary 30 day notice. The administration has stated that Bergdahl’s health was a major concern and that it was deemed necessary to get him as soon as possible. Also, the White House had regularly consulted with members of Congress on the possibility of exchanging Gitmo detainees for Sgt. Bergdahl since 2011. On top of that, Republican Senators and Representatives had recently called on the President to do whatever possible to bring Bergdahl back home. Of course, these same Congressional Republicans changed their tune the moment Obama took action and secured Bergdahl’s release.
Per the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein and Amanda Terkel, Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Rich Nugent (R-FL) have all been extremely critical of the President since the Bergdahl announcement was made. However, each of them made statements earlier this year calling for the administration to do all it can to free Bergdahl. McCain, while on a Sunday show (natch), even spoke approvingly of exchanging prisoners to bring Bergdahl home. Also, in April, Senate Republicans, led by McConnell, pushed forth a resolution declaring that no soldier shall be left behind.
Yet, now that the President has kept the promise that America makes to all of its soldiers, ALL OF ITS SOLDIERS, Republicans have decided that this is their moment to strike and finally nail Obama. Former one-term Republican Congressman, and current conservative talking head, Allen West took to his blog on Tuesday to make the case for President Obama’s impeachment. On Fox News, Andrew Napolitano, a former judge, claimed that the President not only violated the law by not adhering to the 30 day notice, but that he provided material assistance to a terrorist organization, thus violating a federal statute and opening himself up for impeachment. Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy stated that by returning enemy combatants to the field, Obama has created a high crime that could lead to him being removed from office.
All of this discussion surrounding the release of Gitmo detainees is just one angle of attack to make this rescue of an American POW appear criminal and unseemly. A former operative for Mitt Romney’s 2012 Presidential campaign, Richard Grennell, has been organizing interviews between soldiers critical of Bergdahl’s military service and major media outlets. Essentially, Grennell, who also worked for President George W. Bush, is running a campaign to ensure that Bergdahl is held up to as much scrutiny as possible in order to sully his reputation and make the rescue operation dirty in the eyes of the public. At the same end, Bergdahl’s father has been slandered by the right-wing media regarding his appearance (he has a long beard which he started growing to commemorate when his son was captured) and some comments he’s made.
All of this is a concerted effort in order to create a scandal that might finally get the President out of office and cure the Republicans’ deadly strain of ODS. Even though Obama can’t be re-elected in 2016, it is still way too long to make Republicans wait for him to finally leave the White House. Therefore, they will do anything to get out of the ICU that Obama Derangement Syndrome has placed them in. That means telling America that only good soldiers that everyone liked deserve to come home if they are captured. And the President shouldn’t use detainees in Gitmo to secure a captured soldier’s release, even though international law states all of those prisoners there will need to be released very soon anyway.
When you have a bad case of ODS, you don’t have time to think. You only have time to act.
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