To Impeach or Not To Impeachby
Tom Chartier and Elizabeth
Gyllensvard Could the Democrats in the House be slithering out of a primeval slime to evolve from a pusillanimous sea slug (native to the Sea of Hypocrisy), into something that breathes air, walks upright and as a rule does not eat its own young? Since September 11th, the Democrats in Congress have been on a downward evolutionary spiral; could that trend have been thrown into reverse by the doings of an even more degenerate species? To be sure, some members of Congress have been doing their duty to uphold the Constitution. John Conyers has been actively pushing impeachment of Bush and Cheney since 2005. And Rep. Robert Wexler has his campaign. Last November, Rep. Dennis Kucinich led the charge to "send a resolution considering the impeachment of Vice President Cheney to the Judiciary Committee." Republican Texan, Rep. Ron Paul has condemned the White House "demented philosophy of conquest." Recently, this bravery was followed up by Congressional issuance of contempt citations to that disgraceful duo Joshua B. Bolton and Harriet E. Miers. What’s more, on the same day, Democrats in Congress refused to make permanent the temporary Protect (George W. Bush from) America Act. Words fail me. Imagine that. Joined by three Republicans, including Rep. Ron Paul, House Democrats finally did their job by protecting Americans from Bush. Who will protect George W. Bush and his friends from the anger of Americans? What’s Bush’s overall job rating? Latest polls show that only 20% of Americans support Bush. Who would have guessed it was that high? It isn’t; we rounded up. Only Pervez Musharraf has such bad numbers. Looks like the tar is boiling and the feathers are ready; all we need is the rail. Condemning the Democratic refusal to obey Bush, GOP Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia, said "They're just playing with fire on this." Does this means the GOP Congressmen and women are so full of hot air they’re going to blow? How dare the Democrats put the best interests of the country above those of King George? In response to the blatant audacity of the Democrats, the bulk of Republican members of Congress rose to their feet and walked out of the building. As if drawn by the magnet of microphones and the siren call of TV cameras, the GOP Congressmen marched down the Capitol steps… laughing that "they got the right message!" I think it’s often a joke but do Republican members of Congress agree with my assessment that what they do for a living is a laughing matter? Republican Minority leader John Boehner couldn’t even get it right. The fact is FISA will still be in effect even if the Protect America Act is tossed out with the fish heads where it belongs. Maybe if it was correctly titled the "Spy on Americans Act" we’d feel better about it. Contrary to Bush’s claims, without renewal of the Act, Americans will still be as safe as ever… more so actually, if someone remembered to lock the Congressional door behind those huffy, departing GOP members. Last week’s act of defiance by the Democrats was long overdue. The fact is this Democratic-led congress was elected with… you guess it… a clear mandate to end the war in Iraq and to stop the Runaway Shrub. Maybe the Democrats have read Glenn Hurowitz’s opus Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party? Which brings up the big I word… Impeachment. To impeach or not to impeach, that is the question. If the esteemed members of the House of Representatives all had the same courage as John Conyers and Robert Wexler and Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, that answer would be an unequivocal yes! Way back in June, 2003, on the subject of the missing WMD in Iraq, former Nixon counsel John W. Dean wrote: "To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the Constitution's impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony ‘to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose.’" So… When do we start cooking?! It’s time to fire up the old Weber BBQ! People are starving. We got us some Texas Pachyderm to roast! The list of "controversies" set off by George and Dick is longer than War and Peace and it just keeps growing. And "those two" are still busy. Iran is next. So little time, so much to ruin. What has been holding back the Democrats in Congress? You’ve got to ask yourself: Just what is Congress afraid of? That’s the million-dollar question. Are they afraid to be carried aloft triumphantly by a cheering American Citizenry…not to mention being honored by the rest of the world? Makes you wonder if the US voter is being two-timed. Does some other entity come first in the affections of Congress? Is there an entity so seductive and powerful that it can override the will of the US voter? Who or what is this powerful entity? Who or what would think it’s in their best interests to have "those two" considering other preemptive schemes despite the Bush regime’s obvious incompetence and corruption? When asking what this entity might be, I think we can safely rule out most Americans. This powerful entity must have a whole heap of influence over congress and the press as well. Can you think of any country with a powerful lobby in the U.S. that is powerful enough to get "those two" to destroy Iraq, contemplate the obliteration of Iran with nukes and start WW III… or is that WW IV? Mum’s the word. These days in polite society one does not name the entity that must not be named or question its actions. That’s too bad because a thorough-going debate would be in everybody’s best interest. No, we must not name it even when everybody knows exactly what it is. As long as Bush and Congress are in the thrall of the entity that must not be named, America will continue to rattle sabers at Iran. Congress will continue to be intimidated by something more influential than the American Public or the U.S. Constitution. There will be no withdrawal from Iraq, Bush and Cheney will not be impeached and the era of endless war will not end. One wonders if the rhetoric of fear is a ploy by "those two" to avoid a war crimes tribunal? This cannot be allowed to continue. What is at stake is not American security from terrorists. "Those two" have provided us with plenty of terror. What is at stake is our freedom.
Do you want to give up your freedom? Use it or lose it. If ever there was a time for impeachment it is now. Without impeachment, the precedent set by Bush and Cheney will enable the next president to continue what "those two" have begun. And the Power of the People will be gone forever. February 26, 2008 Tom Chartier [send him mail] played lead guitar in legendary Los Angeles punk band The Rotters for 26 years until their final appearance in January of 2004. He has lived in Tokyo and Los Angeles. Currently he resides somewhere in the Caribbean. Elizabeth Gyllensvard [send her mail] no longer lives in Washington D.C., and spends her time reading British history. Copyright © 2008 LewRockwell.com |
And
the last remaining tool to restore our freedom may be the U.S. Constitution’s
trump card of impeachment provided by this little clause (