Letter: President goes too far
Chico Enterprise-Record
Until now I have not supported the impeachment movement against Bush and Cheney. My reasons were: It would be too distracting from the serious international and domestic issues we are facing. It wouldn’t be effective because they would be out of office before the process was finished. It might be viewed as a Democratic vengeful retaliation for the Republican impeachment of Clinton.
However, after reading the transcript of Bill Moyers’ interview with Bruce Fein and John Nichols on PBS July 13, I have changed my mind. Fein is a constitutional scholar affiliated with conservative think tanks who wrote the first article of impeachment against Clinton. Nichols is the Washington correspondent for The Nation and author of a recent book “The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders’ Cure for Royalism.”
Their comments showed me that the founding fathers put the impeachment articles in the Constitution, not for punishment but as a cure for the overreaching of presidential power (impeachment would not remove the president and vice president from office). They put it in the legislative branch to ensure the balance of power in our government (see www.billmoyers.com).
Both Bush and Cheney have put themselves above the law in a number of instances, citing “executive privilege” as their reason. The danger of this is that they are setting a precedent for future administrations, either Democrat or Republican, to follow. They have flouted the Constitution which they took an oath to uphold.
Congress should use its constitutional power to stop this.
“” Georgianna Summers, Chico
(Original Source)