In this corner ...
Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams came from Ireland to Texas to declare that President Bush should be impeached.
In a keynote speech at the International Women's Peace Conference on Wednesday night, Ms. Williams told a crowd of about 1,000 that the Bush administration has been treacherous and wrong and acted unconstitutionally.
"Right now, I could kill George Bush," she said at the Adam's Mark Hotel and Conference Center in Dallas. "No, I don't mean that. How could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that."
And in this corner ...
Still, even as Nixon's lieutenants explored every avenue for defeating Democrat George McGovern and nullifying critics of all stripes — "hit them" was a favorite phrase — the president brooded over his reputation as a hard man whose gentle side was not being seen by the public.
Nixon called that side of him "the whole warmth business."
In 1970, he wrote an 11-page, single-spaced memo detailing his acts of kindness to staff and strangers and expressing regret that he was getting no credit for being "nicey-nice."
I might be wrong, but generally speaking and this precedent notwithstanding, Ms. Williams comments could easily be construed as a threat to the President of the United States, especially given the enthusiastic reception her comments received, and, IIRC, that is a felony. Without bothering to respond to Ms. Williams silliness regarding Muslims and President Bush, it is substantially disconcerting to me that approximately half of a predominantly female audience at a conference held in the United States featuring female Nobel Peace Prize winners would applaud a statement about killing a sitting US president. Where were the boos or even a small number of people who walked out? Conference chairwoman, Carol Donovan, merely noting afterwards that Ms. Williams did not speak for the conference, but only for herself, seems like a rather weak response to me. If she had instead noted that Ms. Williams comments were remarkably disgraceful for someone whose notice, fame, and even appearance before this august body was because of her espousal and commitment to non-violence, as well as being ungracious to the country hosting the conference, not to mention being perhaps illegal, my ever increasing disillusionment with progressives of all stripes might have been lessened somewhat. Alas, it is not to be.
As for Richard Nixon, well, bleh.