Daily Press
Andy Heller
FLINT – OK, here goes.
Once again, I have a solution, this time to the nettlesome question of what to do with Bush, or at least future presidents like him.
Some people want to impeach W. In fact, there is a growing movement to do just that. (Read more at www.votetoimpeach.org.)
The problem is, it’ll never happen.
Oh, he might be impeached, which means the House of Representatives, by a simple majority, passing articles of impeachment.
An impeachable offense, by the way, is widely considered to be, as then-Rep. Gerald R. Ford said in 1970, “whatever a majority of the House considers it to be at a given moment in history.” Bill Clinton, for instance, was impeached for, in part, lying about dilly-dallying with an intern.
He wasn’t, however, thrown out of office. That’s because impeachment is a two-step process, the second being a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict a president of charges brought against him.
Two-thirds is a tough standard to meet, which is why no president has been removed from office, which is the automatic penalty for conviction. (Nixon, by the way, wasn’t impeached. He resigned.)
But then it should be hard to give a duly-elected president the boot, even Bush, although many still question that “duly-elected” part when it comes to his first “victory.” (I’ll let it go. Some day.)
But have we made it too hard to get rid of someone who clearly is taking the country down bad paths?
For instance, Bush’s approval rating is down to 28 percent, according to a recent Newsweek poll. That’s a remarkable number for a war-time president, especially given the highly charged, lefty-righty times in which we live.
Many others also disagree strongly with many of his nonwar policies.
So why can’t we get rid of him if we want to? It’s our country, right?
What we need is a tool in the Constitution that allows the American public to do what American companies have always had the right to do — fire employees for incompetence. Or for … whatever. (See aformentioned House standards.)
This is negotiable, but I’d say that if 75 percent of us agree that a president isn’t up to snuff, out he or she goes.
Such firing power would give us a level of protection against bad presidents who haven’t necessarily committed crimes in office (debatable in this instance), but who clearly have underperformed.
So don’t impeach Bush. Fire him!
No need to be cruel, though. Like most employers, we still should give him a good recommendation.
You know, in case he wants to hook on elsewhere.
(Original Article)