Wednesday, November 15, 2006

To Impeach Or Not To Impeach, That Is The Question

I have argued on this blog almost from the very first post that we need to impeach George W. Bush.  He has flagrantly violated our constitution, lied to Congress and the American people and has violated international law in the execution of his war of choice.  The only impeachable offense he hasn’t been caught perpetrating is getting a blowjob in the oval office.  The case for impeachment is not based in retribution for impeaching one of ours, it’s about being true to our constitution and proclaiming to the world that the rule of law matters, that we are a civil society and that no one, not even the president, is above the law.  It is also critical to send a message to all future presidents that we have no tolerance for the subversion of our founding documents and principles, and extra-constitutional powers cannot be claimed by the Executive Branch without it meaning the end of your presidency.

When Nancy Pelosi came out before the election and stated firmly that the Democrats, if they took over Congress, would not seek impeachment of this president, I was extremely angry.  How could she take impeachment off of the table?  How could she decide, before ever seeing the evidence, that impeachment is not warranted?  I understand that she made a calculated move to help her fellow Democrats win in tight races across the country, but I think she went farther than she needed to go.

All that said, I am not in a hurry to impeach this President.  I think it was easy to shout from the rooftops that Bush needed to be impeached when there was no hope or possibility that it would actually happen.  Now that it’s possible, we have more than just impeachment to consider.

If the Democrats are to retain control of Congress and set up a win for the Presidency in ’08, they have to have more than impeachment to offer.  Now that the situation isn’t hopeless and there is a chance to really start solving our national problems, I want that effort to be in the forefront.  I want Democrats to start passing legislation that will really help working Americans, that will start solving our healthcare crisis and that will help relieve some of the pressure that most Americans are feeling.  The Democrats must show, clearly, that they are capable of solving problems and by making the President veto good legislation that has the support of the people, they will have the added bonus of exposing the GOP as being callous to the challenges faced by the American people.  That is the perfect setup for the Democrats to take the White House in two years, and that is the only way that we will have even a small chance of repairing the damage the GOP has wrought over the last six years.

Please do not misunderstand me, I am still in favor of getting the impeachment ball rolling.  I want John Conyers to start his investigation and I want the subpoenas to start rolling out.  I want to watch the hearings on CSPAN, I want the truth to make it to the American people and I want the public pressure (and disgust and anger) to swell to the point that Nancy Pelosi’s promise becomes impossible to keep, but there are two tracks and both trains need to keep moving forward.  The current GOP led Congress was unable and unwilling to get any real work done and showed that they were incapable of doing more than one thing at a time (amending our Constitution to protect the flag and marriage being most important of course).  The new Democratic Congress must put them to shame and pursue an agenda that will make our lives better while simultaneously ferreting out the truth.  Once the truth is exposed, the question of impeachment becomes, as the Vice President is fond of saying, a no-brainer.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think he should be charged with breaking the law. Does that mean he has to be impeached? I don't think there are enough votes in the Senate to impeach.

It would be embarrassing to go through another impeachment trial that ends in aquital. And do we really want Cheney to be president?

6:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

BTW ... what's happened to Cheney since his team lost the mid-terms ?

It's like he's dropped off the radar screen. I don't think he's been seen or heard from since November 7.

Probably hiding from the process servers of the International Criminal Court at an undisclosed bunker location. I hear they'd like to talk to him about some war crimes.

8:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You got it. Impeach the bible thumping liar. Not just because he deserves it(and he does) but to make an example to future war mongers.

1:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Watergate.
Iran-contra.
Bush 43

The ideas behind them are the same: an abscess on the body politic. It must be lanced and the foul pus drained so that even the lizard brains can see the poison of the movement conservative philosophy.
We cannot do this again in ten years.
After Katrina it is necessary to rebuild New Orleans. But we must also do more then patch the dikes.
--ml

9:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with you totally.
If Nixon had been impeached, I don't think the Repubs would be half as bold as they have been for the last 6 years.
They demolished the Democrats by doing what they did to Clinton.
Bush's actions have surpassed the requirements for impeachment.
The repubs did what they did becasue they knew they could get away with it.

9:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who knows what the investigations will bring- In time the american public will most likely demand Bush and his croneys be held accountable for their actions- why not wait to see how far they actualy went- I am interested in seeing investigations more focused things that can bring positive action- where did the money go that was spent in Iraq- Who's spying on who & what freedoms have been stolen from us.

7:48 AM  
Blogger The Progressive said...

That is a tough question. I was with you in the hopes that there would be a Democrat takeover of power in the House so we would see articles of impeachment come out of it. There was clearly enough evidence that Bush had committed high crimes, there just weren't enough votes to make Bush accountable for them ... until now. Nonetheless, I'm not too concerned about Pelosi's statement that Democrats would not impeach Bush. They have made it clear that they will investigate, with the Democrats chairing the committees. I'm confident that when they investigate Bush's justification for invading Iraq, they will find that it was a concerted campaign of deceit. When they investigate the scope of Bush's espionage program, they will establish sufficient grounds to demonstrate to the American people that Bush irrefutably committed high crimes. Then the American people will demand that congress impeach Bush.

5:20 PM  

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