Should we impeach the President?
Posted by Raznor
The short answer is "not yet".
Look, if anyone deserves to be impeached it's Bush. Bush makes Richard Nixon look like - I dunno - some good, law abiding guy. But simply stated, we can't impeach him right now. You need a 2/3 majority to impeach a president, and since the entire Moderate Senate Republican Committee (sometimes known as "Lincoln Chafee") was defeated, raise your hand if you think one Republican lawmaker will vote to impeach this President? Okay, everyone raising your hands, have you just not been paying attention for the last 6 years?
But what the Democrats can do is vigorously investigate the President. And as Glenn Greenwald writes, it looks like they will do just that.
So what do we do? We let the investigations go on. You think this Administration looks bad now? Just wait until a Democratic Congress actually investigates them. Eventually, and I'd optimistically say before 2007, Republicans are going to have to make the choice, stand by this President, or hope to salvage their party. Because unwaivering support of a President whom the public overwhelmingly view as critical is enough to kill a political party - just take a look at what happened to the Federalist party after 1800, and John Adams and his Alien and Sedition Act got nothing on the current Administration.
At this point, Democrats should seek to impeach not just George W Bush, but Dick Cheney. (Do you really believe that Cheney isn't responsible for the crimes of this Administration?) Then with a President Pelosi, we can get out of Iraq and begin the crucial and difficult work of restoring America's international reputation.
Maybe overly optimistic (we've come to a point in this country where "optimistic" is hoping for the destruction of a Presidential Administration - wow we're fucked up), but it is a distinct possibility. Step one was last Tuesday. Step two will be Democrats actually acting like Democrats now that they have control of Congress.
The short answer is "not yet".
Look, if anyone deserves to be impeached it's Bush. Bush makes Richard Nixon look like - I dunno - some good, law abiding guy. But simply stated, we can't impeach him right now. You need a 2/3 majority to impeach a president, and since the entire Moderate Senate Republican Committee (sometimes known as "Lincoln Chafee") was defeated, raise your hand if you think one Republican lawmaker will vote to impeach this President? Okay, everyone raising your hands, have you just not been paying attention for the last 6 years?
But what the Democrats can do is vigorously investigate the President. And as Glenn Greenwald writes, it looks like they will do just that.
So what do we do? We let the investigations go on. You think this Administration looks bad now? Just wait until a Democratic Congress actually investigates them. Eventually, and I'd optimistically say before 2007, Republicans are going to have to make the choice, stand by this President, or hope to salvage their party. Because unwaivering support of a President whom the public overwhelmingly view as critical is enough to kill a political party - just take a look at what happened to the Federalist party after 1800, and John Adams and his Alien and Sedition Act got nothing on the current Administration.
At this point, Democrats should seek to impeach not just George W Bush, but Dick Cheney. (Do you really believe that Cheney isn't responsible for the crimes of this Administration?) Then with a President Pelosi, we can get out of Iraq and begin the crucial and difficult work of restoring America's international reputation.
Maybe overly optimistic (we've come to a point in this country where "optimistic" is hoping for the destruction of a Presidential Administration - wow we're fucked up), but it is a distinct possibility. Step one was last Tuesday. Step two will be Democrats actually acting like Democrats now that they have control of Congress.
1 Comments:
2/3rds vote in the Senate to Impeach will happen once the evidence gets aired on CSPAN during the trial.
http://impeachforpeace.org/evidence/
All we need is for a few Republican Congress members to realize that tying their political future to Bush reduces their chances of getting elected. Remember, one way or another, Bush is gone by 2009— but members of Congress may retain their offices beyond that date. Bush's poll numbers are extremely low, and most Americans support impeachment. This is a bipartisan movement. This means that if we make the pressure unbearable for Members of Congress, they'll turn on him to keep their own seats (like they did with Nixon). It's already starting to happen.
And even if we only impeach, and the Senate fails to do their duty and remove him from office. It will only implicate the Senators who fail to do their sworn Constitutional duty.
Impeach Bush Yourself...
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