A debate is raging as to whether the U.S. should impeach George W. Bush, but it’s not a partisan debate. Democrats and Republicans fall on both sides of the issue. Members of both parties opposing impeachment seem to be worried that pursuing impeachment will hurt their chances in the 2008 presidential elections and beyond. Given that the argument seems to be turning on whether impeachment is good for winning elections, it seems odd that so many members of both parties are in agreement about opposing it. Obviously, one of the parties will get a political bump.
While few reasonable people can doubt that Bush has done more than enough to warrant impeachment from a constitutional perspective, it looks like some Democrats and Republicans won’t be motivated to impeach until they can see why it’s good for their political futures. Therefore I’m going to put aside the fact that holding Bush accountable for his numerous crimes is the ethical thing to do. I’m also going to put aside the way impeachment massively increases the chance of Congress undoing his rubberstamped legislative damage, and that impeachment is the only way to deter future presidents from continuing from where Bush leaves off. That’s right — even ignoring all this, impeachment is still a good idea, and for both parties.
Democrats, up until now, you’ve had a Republican majority in the Congress. When people criticized the government, you could claim with some credibility that there was nothing you could do about it. But now you have both houses of Congress. The people voted to put you in office in good measure not because your party expressed a coherent and positive vision for America’s future, but because they were concerned about the overwhelming amount of government corruption that’s been going on under Republican control. If you fail to hold this president accountable now, you’re out of excuses. People will look back and say that both parties were complicit, corrupt, and opportunistic — and they’ll be right. You only maintain the moral high ground if you defend the Constitution in contrast to the Republican controlled Congress. Members of Congress, it might be good to remember that this was the oath you swore to when you took office. If you fail in this, the public will see you as no different from those you replaced, and you will lose your precious elections. Ten years from now, when your child asks you what you did to stop Bush’s systematic destruction of the foundations of our democracy, you’ll have to say, “Well, nothing, honey. We had an election to win.” Actually, you may want to make sure you tell them in person, to avoid the wiretap surveillance.
And Republicans, you’re like the football coach who pridefully refuses to pull a player off the field after everyone else can plainly see the need. The sooner you pull the man, the more highly respected you’ll be. The longer you wait, the more you tie your party’s future to the corruption and incompetence that has already been attributed to this administration.
If we look to history, we find that elections subsequent to presidential impeachment have consistently favored parties that have pursued impeachment. So whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, it’s time to join together on impeachment. All who do will reap the spoils. Those who do not will be subject to the judgment of history.
Jodin Morey
D. L. Corvin
http://ImpeachForPeace.org
Actually, it seems to me that the logical thing to do is not to focus on Bush at this time. Although I agree that impeaching Cheney and Bush is extremely important, my position is that there is something much more important that we can do that will have a much longer-lasting impact. We need to impeach the 5 members of the Supreme Court who have proven themselves incapable of making intelligent decisions regarding basic constitutional issues.
The Republican court-packing has achieved what legislation never could – the de facto repeal of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. From the moment Bush was ‘selected’, it has been clear that there is a problem with our highest court. It has only become a larger problem with the appointments of Roberts and Alito. Today, none of the rights guaranteed to citizens of the United States of America are safe from these zealots. Bush is small potatoes compared to the Court.
Sure – impeach Bush and Cheney – but don’t forget to impeach Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Roberts and Kennedy while you are at it.
As it says in our FAQs:
“The most recent impeachment resolution introduced by McKinney included Bush, Cheney, and Rice. Although, even if we only initially pursue Bush, initiating the impeachment process will lead to an investigation that will implicate lots of people in the Bush administration who are guilty of committing crimes, including Cheney.
As a popular movement, we believe that the strategy of going after both of them right off the bat would bring nay-sayers to the table asking for the evidence against Cheney. Not that there isn’t evidence, but the evidence is less known, and more of it is hidden. This would only make our case less clear, and cause less people to be approving of it. More people agree about the need to impeach Bush, than about the need to impeach both of them. And, since the evidence against Cheney would come out in any trial against Bush, we find it strategically unnecessary to include him initially.
In addition, no matter who we get to replace Bush, we’ll be showing those in power that anyone who breaks the law will be held accountable.
We continue to talk about impeaching only Bush: this has created an impediment. We need to be pushing for simultaneous impeachment of both Bush and Cheney together. We also should push for impeachment of secretarial level and other politically appointed positions. Nancy P needs to understand that unless this Nation demonstrates unequivocably our committment to a new dawn in our relationship to the world, things will not substantiably improve. Hearings will be going on anyway, so why not impeachment hearings? I really believe this should be pursued. Please spread this idea if you agree.