After gazing into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and declaring his soul was good, George Bush invaded the sovereign country of Iraq, killed thousands upon thousands of innocents, created havoc in the already unstable Middle East, made plans for ballistic missiles to be placed on the Russian border, trained Georgian fighters and provided military assistance to them, and encouraged them to stand up to Mr. Putin.

While he played the fool with the American bikini-clad volleyball team at the repressive Chinese Olympic Games and made chit-chat with Putin at the opening ceremonies, people were being killed because of his inadequate response. Did he do the right thing and return immediately to Washington? Did he tell Secretary Rice that she must return from her vacation and head right over there to help quell this newest war? No.

When I look into Putin’s eyes I always see a cold-blooded KGB killer intent on playing this president for a fool. And so he has. He has played us all for fools. Impeach this imperial president now and restore America’s constitutional checks and balances. We have no moral high ground now. The hypocrisy in Washington is overwhelming and tragic. The world must stand up to Bush because we Americans do not seem able or willing to do it. We prefer to sit on our couches and watch the Olympics.

Sofia Wilder

Orono