And why are we letting the Democratic nominees for president ignore the necessity of impeachment?

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About a month ago, I was talking to my roommate from India about Bush. He looked at me and said, “Why is he still your president?”

Essentially, that’s the question we all have to ask ourselves. It should be the bumper sticker phrase that we see on cars all over America: “Why is Bush Still President?”

The answer is not a simple one. The answer is quite complex. But part of the answer is undoubtedly that he is still president because we allowed him to take power.

We allowed him to take power in 2000. We allowed him to assume it again in 2004. And we are allowing him to leave power in 2008 knowing full well records of his presidency will be kept secret in Washington, D.C. or his presidential library while he retires at Crawford Ranch, a place he has gone repeatedly during his presidency to hide from the public.

The leader of an administration that has demolished the rule of law should not be allowed to retreat and be free from accountability. The time is up on Bush’s presidency is scarcely a good reason to not impeach but rather why it is essential that action be taken now.

Indictment and prosecution should be on the tips of the tongues of all Americans and yet we can barely bring ourselves to push the Democratic candidates to be more daring when it comes to challenging Bush and Cheney.

Obama and Clinton have refused to support impeachment claiming it to be partisan or politics of the past or that it would squander a mandate won in 2006 when Democrats took control of the House and Senate or that not enough crimes have been committed yet to warrant impeachment.

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Leadership, despite their attempts to keep this issue off the table, have not been able to keep it off the table because more and more Americans are recognizing that at this point in history impeachment is required if American democracy wishes to continue.

A group of patriots---people like you who read pieces like this on a daily basis---are keeping the beacon of light that is democracy and freedom lit.

But, how far are you willing to go?

When candidates who provide alternatives to spineless, hapless, gutless Democrats like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton emerge like Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney who in her final days in Congress in 2006 issued Articles of Impeachment for George Bush, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice, like Independent candidate Ralph Nader who has said Bush is a “recidivist war criminal” and Bush and Cheney are “the most impeachable duo in American history”, or Libertarian presidential nominee Mike Gravel who says on his Gravel2008.US website:

“…Without Impeachment before we choose the next Administration, we as a Nation will be setting a legal precedent. We will be saying yes to the systematic destruction of the Constitution and Bill of Rights engineered by Vice President Cheney and President Bush, and will be formally agreeing to the end of American Democracy. We, as Americans, will be giving our approval and consent to the idea that the Vice President and President are indeed above the law, that they are in fact a law unto themselves…”

We who support impeachment fervently dismiss them as impossible candidacies. It is a dismissal that is issued on terribly erroneous grounds.

That Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, or Mike Gravel cannot run for president because Obama/Clinton/McCain have more money, more media support, more public exposure, etc. are not reasons for us to shirk from supporting their intrepid candidacies. On the contrary, those reasons are why we should support all three of their candidacies in any way we can as vigorously as possible.

Impeachment should be the litmus test for those wishing to run this country.

Regardless of how much money, media support, or public exposure a candidate has garnered, not having the utmost respect for the Constitution or the rule of law (whether it be internationally, nationally, statewide, or citywide) should disqualify any candidate who wishes to run this country.

So again, I ask, how far are you willing to go?

Are you willing to acknowledge the tradition of third parties and give them their due? Are you willing to recognize that they must be included in debates that the Democratic nominee and Republican nominee will be in this fall and must be granted the same ballot access as Democrats and Republicans have? Are you willing to organize for debate inclusion and ballot access?

Are you willing to campaign for one of these candidates because they put issues on the table that Democrats and Republicans are refusing to touch? Are you willing to support any of these candidacies which advocate for a visionary approach to improving our democracy and repairing our standing in the world?

Are you willing to admit that you have been ignored and dismissed by a party who is running a candidate you are considering or forcing yourself to vote for in November because of the fear of what the other candidate might do? Are you willing to admit that this party which has ignored and dismissed you is counting on your fear of what the other party might do in order to win? Are you willing to admit that they don’t need your help to win and if they did, they would have accepted your input on issues like impeachment?

Are you willing to admit that the Democratic Party should not own a monopoly on progressive values in America anymore because they have failed to uphold the Constitution and support impeachment?

Consider that Democrats have been preparing a 2008 victory for about two years. Consider that they don’t care about the American people except if caring about the American people means they can achieve victory in 2008. Consider how if they lose in 2008 it will be proof that they are more interested in advancing their own party agenda (which is out of touch with what the American people want) than serving the American people.

And consider how we are once again faced with a lesser of two evils situation.

As you by now know, if you vote for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting evil. This election season the evil that you are considering voting for is an evil that refused and continues to refuse to prosecute high crimes and misdemeanors which have been committed in our nation’s name.

I do not wish to live in a country that continues to run like a mafia racket. Neither should you.

Our toleration of politicians' refusals to uphold impeachment has gone on for far too long. We must refuse to support politicians who still find impeachment to be taboo and that most definitely includes prospective Democratic candidates for president.

How far we are willing to go in 2008's election will determine whether the Bush program continues unrepudiated after January 2009 or not. Our success or failure in refusing to engage in politics as usual like the powers that be hope us to do will also bring out the truth by showing if we Americans have learned anything from seven years of a tyrant-run two-party dictatorship. 

Authors Bio:
Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." He was an editor for OpEdNews.com