Abuse of Power and Dereliction of Duty

[Coexist]

pow·er (pou'ər) n. - The ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority.

Power is not always great and terrible; it can make good men Great.

We all know those who have power.

- Some like it because they need to control, they derive a heady pleasure out of forcing their will.
- Some need it because it enables them to hide the scared child they were.
- Some take it due to a void, because they have what it takes to do it right, and will not settle for less. (This is the category reserved for people like Martin Luther King, Jr., John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and FDR.)

When you accept power, it is merged with an equal ratio of responsibility.

- When you wield power, and things go awry, you are then accountable.
- When you use your power to dominate and silence your detractors, you alone accept the consequences of your unilateral actions.
- When you acquire power, and time proves you are not equal to the gift – you accept your defeat with grace and make amends by seeking out those who are, and supporting them with humility.

To choose to retain your power in the face of your unprecedented failure is shameful.

- If you fail on the world stage, you do NOT blame those who came before you.
- If you fail your people, you do NOT get to shrug it off and promise to fix it for the next crisis.
- If you fail your Country, you do NOT continue on as if it were not your fault for not doing your job.
- If you fail to heed to voice of experience and instead listen only to like-minded sycophants, you are then considered derelict.

George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice – They have concentrated and abused the power of this great nation. They have refused to accept responsibility for the outcomes of their decisions and actions. Are they guilty of Dereliction of Duty?

The UCMJ defines this as;

(c) Derelict. A person is derelict in the performance of duties when that person willfully or negligently fails to perform that person’s duties or when that person performs them in a culpably inefficient manner. “Willfully” means intentionally. I t refers to the doing of an act knowingly and purposely, specifically intending the natural and probable consequences of the act. “Negligently” means an act or omission of a person who is under a duty to use due care which exhibits a lack of that degree of care which a reasonably prudent person would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances. “Culpable inefficiency” is inefficiency for which there is no reasonable or just excuse.

The punishment for this is:

(3) Dereliction in the performance of duties.
(A) Through neglect or culpable inefficiency. Forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 3 months and confinement for 3 months.
(B) Willful. Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 6 months.

3(a) sounds right to me. If the guilty parties have any sense of decency at all, they will write the check and pack their bags. Guantanamo offers confinement, lemon chicken and two types of fruit. And I hear the top brass has given the staff there lots of power.

When you live in reaction, you give your power away. Then you get to experience what you gave your power to. – N Smith

[Coexist]

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