Impeachment? Not for a generation....

[whalerider55]

Just a few thoughts as the bonfire once known as the Bush Administration burns ever brighter on the horizon.


Regardless of how egregious, how traitorous the behavior of the Bush administration and its thugs has been; regardless of how much more will yet be revealed between no and 2008, I don't believe that the option of impeaching Bush and Cheney will ever gain any traction.

You could catch George Bush in a circle jerk with a group of visiting cub scouts, and it wouldn't happen.

Dick Cheney could be discovered naked, drunk and bound in front of the pentagon, on a Monday morning, and the impeachment chorus wouldn't rise above a whisper.

Here's why, in my estimation.

The Republicans shot the wad in impeaching Clinton for what amounted to no reason at all worth triggering that limited, but endgame solution to criminal rogue presidentry. It will be a generation before we have the stomach as a country to go through that again. It won't be considered as an option. They have degraded and devalued the option, wasted it.

There is precious little time left; the clock is ticking on what we can only hope is the final public existence of a Bush holding public office. By the time a round of impeachment hearings began to organize (after the increasingly riveting investigations by Conyers, Waxman, etc. reveal just how corrupt the management of the government has become), we will be into primary season; hope springs eternal that we can put our "long, national daydream" to bed.

The votes don't exist; the Republican party and the Blue Dog dems would block any effort to impeach.

Removing both Cheney and Bush leaves Pelosi as President; such a cross party shift is still unthinkable in this day and age of bitter partisanship; (it has nothing to do with her gender and geography, I don't think i'm going out on a limb to say that 2008 will produce the first woman or minority on a winning presidential ticket- i expect both parties to produce rainbow tickets, as well)

The present course of hearings will serve as a blueprint for the future; it will demonstrate the critical need form a balanced and moderate approach to government, it will remind us that the constitution is a living document, not to be picked apart like a thanksgiving turkey to feed ravenous corporate interests and neo-fascist leanings. It will prove to us that republicans cannot effectively manage government when they are in the thrall of corporations and fundamentalists and choose leadership from a shallow gene pool of ambitious men and woman who have no moral compass beyond self-interest.

I think impeachment would simply pre-occupy the nation, if it were even to get to the level of serious discussion, and obscure the more critical work of congress right now- create a record of how close we came to falling off the tracks as a nation; and why we must vote democratic in 2008 to save our national soul.

To wit; I abhor the present administration, and believe that history will show that its record of incompetence was obscured by its contempt for democracy, disrespect for civil rights, and its disregard for the constitution; but impeaching them procedurally is a waste of time. Impeaching them through relentless exposure of the venality and arrogance is the way to go. Henry Waxman and John Conyers are doing far more right now than any motion to impeach they could make in the next two years.

I would rather have historians look back on this time and question how could we have not known what was going on, and answer that question by noting the lengths to which the sitting administration went to subvert public awareness of what it was doing- that the lesson should be engaging the dialog of governing at all times in all ways, and not simply throwing the bums out for their final 18 months when they have been screwing us for 6.5 years, and had congressional complicity to do so.

whalerider

[Zhade]

1. "the Blue Dog dems would block any effort to impeach" - rightwingers do tend to stick together.

Conservative "Dems" are too cowardly to face the truth and act against this criminal administration.

Or maybe too stupid.

Either way, they have blood on their hands.

[demigoddess]

2. I agree but I often feel the Clinton impeachment was done on such a

minor flaw as to innoculate us against any future impeachment. Such as a republican president as we now have, could not be impeached because they would characterize it as 'payback' and also because they gave it an aura of triviality and partisanship.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

3. Plus, impeachment would be viewed as vengeance for Clinton's

No matter how justified it may be, that's how it will play in the public mind. Most people don't pay as much attention as we do to the doings of our elected officials. Outed CIA agents, Downing Street Memos, fired attorneys, etcetera ad infinitum do not resonate like a blowjob, I'm sad to say. People will view it as the Democrats getting the Republicans back. I've heard this opinion expressed among politically unaware acquaintances of mine. Not sure how that would effect the upcoming elections, though, so I'm not saying yea or nay to proceeding with it based on that.

[AshevilleGuy]

4. The WH would celebrate a failed impeachment attempt

as AFFIRMATION of their policies. You know what Machiavelli said about striking at a prince...

[loyalsister]

5. Very good point

Hopefully getting through this will reestablish the intent of it.
That it should be used for just such an instance. And, history will hopefully remember that it likely would have been had it not been abused in such recent history.
I think that a some dems have hoped to impeach Bush from early on because of the stolen election.
It would look like revenge for that and for Clinton. It would destroy the credibility of the dems with many people who are basically neutral.
I am not sure how long it will be before another one, but hope it the very consideration will be unnecessary for a very very very long time.