"Americans can't handle another impeachment." So say the supporters of George W. Bush in their anti-impeachment propaganda.
The truth is Americans CAN handle another impeachment. They CAN handle the truth. In fact, if Americans don't bring Bush and Cheney to justice after the atrocities they've committed, this nation will never reclaim its moral authority. And the people of this nation will be despised for unleashing these dangerous men on the world.
"Americans can't handle another impeachment" isn't a truth. It's a device. Like 'weapons of mass destruction.' 'A mushroom cloud.' 'Gassed his own people.' 'Sought significant quantities of uranium from A-f-r-i-c-a.' These are the sound bytes, the parroted propaganda, which brought us to war. Each is a proven lie, told time and again by well-rehearsed pundits. Verbatim delivery. Robotic form. Repeated ad nauseam by grown-up children of the damned. It sounded good for Nicholson in "A Few Good Men," but rings pretty hollow here. Americans CAN handle and probe for the truth.
As soon as the midterm elections were settled and
Democrats took back control, the Republican parrots flew onto the
scene. The first to land was smooth talking Connecticut Congressman
Christopher Shays, who perched on cspan the morning of November 9th.
Within minutes Shays proclaimed the pitfalls of impeachment, responding
to an oped by former Republican House Majority Leader, Dick Armey. In
his article, Armey advised Republicans to "demonstrate an ability to be
good stewards of the taxpayers' hard-earned money. If Republicans do
these things, they will also restore the public's faith in our
standards of personal conduct."
Shays' conditioned response: "He's totally right, but we didn't lose
that [the public's faith] in the last week or two or month. We lost it
when we decided to go after the President [Clinton] and impeach him.
The moment we did that Republicans thought this is how we gain the
absolute majority. The irony is after trying to impeach the President
in the sixth year of President Clinton's term in office we should have
picked up seats. We lost seats. You would have thought right then and
there that we would have woken up. We never got back to our agenda
after impeachment."
Observe Shays' specific reference to the sixth year of the President's
term. The message from Shays to Democrats: Impeaching George Bush will
cost you in 2008.
The message from Democrats to Shays: We won't succumb to your sound bytes. We won't listen to your lies.
A Constitutional Duty: IMPEACH IN 2007
An analysis by John Nichols, written that same day in The Capital
Times, proves historically that impeachment is not a political
liability. Nichols says, "There have been nine attempts since the
founding of the republic to move articles of impeachment against a
sitting president. In the cases in which impeachment was proposed by
members of an opposition party, that party either maintained or
improved its position in Congress at the next general election. In
seven instances the party that proposed impeachment secured the
presidency in the next election."
Thus quashing Shays' Republican propaganda.
If America and Americans are to be resurrected in the eyes of the
world, proper investigation of the Bush administration is a Democratic
mandate. If, as I believe, incontrovertible evidence of Bush and
Cheney's high crimes and misdemeanors is uncovered, impeachment
proceedings should go forth. Already, prior to any Congressional
investigations taking place, volumes have been written delineating the
impeachable crimes of Bush and Cheney. High level symposiums have been
held. Dozens of Constitutional scholars have spoken, all convinced of
their guilt.
Conversely, prior to Bill Clinton's impeachment, just one principal
volume detailing his "crime" was prepared. A scandalous and shameful
project, salaciously compiled by Special Prosecutor Ken Starr in a
political witch hunt that was obvious to the world. The impeachment of
Bill Clinton was an international embarrassment. To most of the world,
Clinton was a beloved and respected leader, guilty of a personal
indiscretion. Not of high crimes and misdemeanors. Not of lying the
nation into war. Not of bypassing and ignoring the Constitution. Not of
reversing a Constitutionally prescribed centuries old law.
What shocked the world most about Bill Clinton's impeachment was that
he was ever impeached at all. It made a farce of our political system,
and our values. Americans appeared petty and juvenile. Unable to
distinguish between what was crucial to good governance and what was
not. Impeaching Bill Clinton was a black mark on our history. Not
against him. Against us.
But impeaching George W. Bush will be constructive for America and
Americans. It will be educational. Americans will watch the proceedings
and learn about the Constitution. They'll receive a long overdo lesson
on the Constitutional responsibilities of their President, the balance
of powers, and gain a clearer understanding of their own rights and
freedoms. Americans will acquire an insight into proper governance to
make them better stewards of their democracy.
America, the nation, will regain some of the moral authority diminished
by Bush and Cheney. The rest of the world will know that America can
distinguish between insignificant and substantial. Clinton was
impeached for matters insignificant to his leadership of the nation.
Bush will be impeached for matters so substantial that they caused the
deaths of thousands and endangered the whole world.
Americans needn't worry that Impeachment proceedings and investigative
hearings will detract from Congress' time to attend to its legislative
responsibilities. I have the utmost confidence in the organizational
skills of Speaker Pelosi. I'm certain she will institute a process
which permits Congress to fulfill its legislative duties while
addressing the Executive's dereliction of duty. Unlike prior Speaker
Hastert, Speaker Pelosi has made clear her edict to put an end to the
House as a part-time Institution and return it to a full-time, fully
functioning place of governance. We will hold her to that promise.
Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid were voted a mandate to probe
for the truth. Though Pelosi contends "Impeachment is off the table,"
we patriots contend that it is not. When Pelosi says "Democrats don't
get even," we say, Madame Speaker, we're not impeaching to get even.
We're impeaching to make even... the Branches of government that have
gotten out of line.
Hearings on administration conduct must be thorough. Perjurers should be prosecuted. This is the only way America can return to the international community and adjust its status as an outlaw nation.
As a practical matter, impeachment would have to take down Cheney as well. Pelosi can't be seen as leading the charge in a movement that would place her in the White House by Constitutional succession. Forget the 30% of the electorate who are Rove-bots. The Clintonistas and partisans of other Dem 2008 candidates as well as many independent voters would not accept this.
Impeach Cheney first. There's enough dirt sticking to his filthy carcass that any honest, hard-working prosecutor could take him down easily. It should be done, emphatically and at once. But don't settle for his removal from office: Send the bastard to prison. And don't send him to Club Fed: Send him to San Quentin or Ft. Leavenworth, or someplace nice like that.
Bush would then have to appoint a replacement, who, in turn, would have to be squeaky clean. Once the new Veep is in place, Congress can get to work on sending Bush to jail. That, too, should not be difficult. He's already confessed publicly to a felony and is clearly guilty of several more.
Milazzo is right when she says America can handle this thing. What America CAN'T handle is to let these bastards go free. The rule of law has to be restored, and the only way to do that is to apply the law against the traitors who betrayed America when they broke the law. There's a hell of a big difference between a common thug who killed a cop during a drug bust and a thuggish, white-collar maniac like Dick Cheney, who killed thousands of people and stole millions of dollars in his attempt to destroy constitutional government.
I differ with Milazzo because I do NOT have the least bit of trust in Nancy Pelosi. She lacks the talent, the panache, the gravitas, the will and the sense to do what needs to be done at this moment in history. If she can find a way to schmooze her way through this crisis without taking any serious career hits, she will do it. She's a trimmer, she's not a fighter, and America is going to suffer for it.
2
November 25, 2006
neworld: Oneworld
Yes. There is no doubt that this is the the right way for America to proceed to redeem its values and credibilty in the eyes of the rest of the world. Unfortunately it will never come to pass. The Neocons would never allow this to happen as it would expose their complicity in the madness of these crimes.
3
November 26, 2006
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"Americans can't handle another impeachment." So say the supporters of George W. Bush in their anti-impeachment propaganda.
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