I'm having a bipolar moment. Suddenly there's two "me's" and they're at each other's throat in my head.
The "me" that wants to see the guilty punished rejoiced yesterday when it learned that Democrats, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Rep. Robert Wexler, had introduced articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. (PDF of Kucinich's artles of impeachment)
For seven long years I've watched with heart-sinking amazement as this administration violated the US Constitution, common law, international law, treaties and even the rights of its own citizens -- and got away with it. Not a day has gone by over those years I did not wonder, often out loud, why congress or the judiciary didn't step up to the plate and put a stop to it.
But no one did. Even when Democrats retook the House and Senate, the first thing they did was declare -- almost pridefully -- that "impeachment was off the table." It was like a fire chief announcing that "response to house fires is off the table," or a district attorney declaring that "rape prosecutions are off the table."
Congress -- a Democratic congress nonetheless -- abdicated its central "balance of powers," authority to the executive branch. By so doing congress actually aided and abetted the administration in what historians will likely consider nothing short of an an executive branch coup d’état.
That would have been bad enough if congress had relinquished it's policing powers to a benevolent dictator. But they granted those extraordinary powers to a gang of intellectual, political and imperialistic thugs. History will not be kind to most of those who served in congress during these days of infamy. Congress failed us, failed the nation, failed our founders and failed themselves. And the price we and the rest of the world has paid for that has yet to be fully accounted, as the cost in lives, treasure and credibility mount by the hour.
Yesterday's impeachment news, therefore, was the first glimmer of righteous courage I've seen in seven years out of that bunch. The "me" who knows that O.J. Simpson is guilty of a double homicide, is the "me" that sat up straight yesterday and felt a surge of pride and anticipation that finally the lawbreakers in the White House might indeed see their day in the dock.
That's when the other "me" grabbed the first "me" by the throat shouting, "What the hell are you trying to do you moron, lose the November election in the name of a few revenge jollies?"
The other "me" continued.
"This is the last goddamn thing we need right now. Remember how angry most sane Americans were when the Republicans impeached Bill Clinton? They saw it as a petty political game that tied up congress and the nation's business for months, wasted tens of millions of dollars and, in the end failed to remove Clinton from office. Is that how you want voters to feel about Democrats next November?"
But, the first "me' retorted, "These guys committed certifiable crimes. If we let them leave office scott free we will have set a precedent that will hang, like a Sword of Damocles, over the constitution and nation from that day forth. Is that what you want?"
And so the argument went on back and forth, back and forth, and continues as I write these words. Both sides have entirely defensible positions. If we let the Bushies walk free on January 20, 2009 the world will have to conclude that America is not after all "a land of laws, not men." Men would have trumped the law. And we're not talking about just a narcissistic, washed up athlete getting away with murder, but the most powerful men and women on earth -- America's top leadership.
Then again, if impeachment gains traction it would consume all the media oxygen for the entire summer and fall. It would also upstaging both party conventions and the presidential campaign that follows. Then what? How would voters feel about Democrats if their impeachment efforts tie congress and the nation in knots for the last six months of the administration, while the war lurches on and the economy enters free-fall?
What if voters take out their anger about all that on Democrats, by voting for McCain and returning more Republicans to the House and Senate? That would sure trump the momentary satisfaction impeachment provided. Impeachment would have failed. That precedent I was worried about would still be set, and we'd have at least four more years of the same.
So here I find myself, stuck between doing the right thing and doing the smart thing. But writing all this down seems to have clarified things a bit. I'm now leaning toward doing the smart thing.... though I'm not happy about it.
I guess the bottom line is this; congress had the chance to do the right thing years ago, but didn't. Impeachment should have been on the table the very moment it was learned that the administration lied to justify launching an unprovoked war in Iraq. Or, if not then, then when it was learned that the administration had been illegally spying on its own citizens, or when it was learned it had authorized torture, kidnappings, secret prisons.
Stephen Pizzo has been published everywhere from The New York Times to Mother Jones magazine. His book, Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans, was nominated for a Pulitzer.
When the Wrong thing is actually doing No thing at all...
The choice of Pizzo to play it safe, and focus on the fall elections, is a defensible position, and one that I have at times wanted to advocate. The point that Pizzo does not make, and which swung the balance for me, is the fact that veil of executive privilege cannot be used during impeachment proceedings.
Once the American people get an unvarnished look at the scope and severity of the issues unearthed, voting Republican will seem downright unpatriotic. The Cheney/Bush administration has used executive privilege to conceal crimes petty and monumental, as a matter of regular business.
We do not need to find the administration guilty of impeachable offenses in order to achieve positive gains for our country and at the ballot box. It is the duty of our representatives to investigate the articles presented by Congressman Kucinich. It is also a political winner.
To fail to initiate proceedings will mean that future generations will curse the laxity of our response to the enormity of the abuses, as they will have nothing but appeasement as a precedent. By ‘letting it slide’, we implicitly endorse, to our lasting shame, and with lasting harm to the republic.
The refusal of the house Judiciary to consider the impeachment of Dick Cheney last year makes impeachment now a quixotic affair, to be sure. It assumes that Congress could do the research and make the case in an unreasonably short amount of time. And as the Democratic leadership has failed thus far, it may be safe to assume that they would fail again.
On the other hand, there is a tremendous amount of scholarship and research already in existence which could make light work of demolishing efforts to defend the indefensible, unshielded by executive privilege. With the threat of prosecution for perjury, supporters of administation initiatives will be far more open to telling the truth and exposing the mechanisms used to dismantle the rule of law.
If nothing else, initiating impeachment proceedings will keep the spotlight on the crimes of the administration, whose policies John McCain seems eager to continue, and will remind voters how appealing change can truly be. Furthermore, it will become virtually impossible for the administration to initiate hostilities with Iran. Or meddle unlawfully with electoral systems. Or swindle more taxpayer money from the coffers. Or much of anything else.
For these reasons I would respectfully disagree with Stephen Pizzo’s conclusions, while I appreciate his reasoning and willingness to entertain both sides of this historic debate.
by
christian seppa (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 7:10:22 PM
So, Stephen Pizzo, instead of doing the right thing (removing a tyrant from power), you paralyze yourself with fear. Then you delude yourself into thinking that self-paralysis is "smart". And finally you allow yourself to feel miserable about your decision to do nothing.
You and the millions of other citizens self-paralyzed with fear are a collective impediment to action, and an obstruction of justice. The Bush administration loves spineless chickens like you because you're so easy to manipulate.
"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." [Henry Ford]
by
My Dog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 11:57:47 PM
''When you strike at a king you must kill him.'' Emerson.
If I thought for a second that congress would actually follow through an impeach, I'd be happy to sign on. But it will not. Instead they will strike at the king and leave him standing -- which the king and his men will point to as vindication of their actions and policies. And that would be a crutch you will hand them they will use to obscure history.
by
Stephen Pizzo (91 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 27 comments)
on Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 9:16:38 AM
I am of two minds regarding the impeachment; seeing finally a Dem do his job and firmly oppose a dictator is great, I thought that day would never come, but it's too late. Impeachment is a long, consuming process, the time left before November is too short and it is hardly compatible with a presidential campaign. First priority is too make sure Mccain is not elected, 4 more years of this would lead to extinction.
But accounts should be settled after Bush leaves the WH, a trial before an international court of justice may be a possibility, if only to investigate thoroughly his numerous abuses and crimes.
And of course, one consideration for those who wanted to start the impeachment sooner was that Cheney would become President if Bush was impeached.
Mr. Kuchinich has done and said the right thing; even if this goes nowhere, his words will mark a turning point in American history; He is the voice of Americans finally waking up from a nightmare, and reclaiming democracy before it's too late--hopefully.
by
francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 332 comments)
on Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 7:27:36 AM
I am your First Voice, and you'd be a fool to second-guess it!
There is NOTHING about impeachment that has a down-side.
The more Americans see the true nature of the crimes committed (How can you even compare it to Clinton's impeachment?) the more they will vote these criminals and their enablers out in November.
Impeachment will also take the "Oxygen" out of any more Bush/Cheney propaganda to attack Iran.
This is SUCH a no-brainer!
...but of course, you don't believe anything was amiss with the Official Whitewash Commission report on 9/11, either....
Time will tell all things!
by
Bia Winter (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 325 comments)
on Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 11:42:42 AM
6 comments
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