Cross-posted at www.DailyKos.com
I’ve been reading, both with bemusement and a little frustration, several recent articles urging restraint or denouncing the proposed censure and potential impeachment of George W. Bush. And to this Vermonter, it looks like a microcosm of the troubles of the Democratic party. Simply, if you oppose bringing impeachment or censure into the national discussion, no matter the reason, then don’t complain about the Appeasement Democrats. You are one.
Because making this an election issue is the right thing to do.
Way more on the flip
Before I go any further, a little background; I’m no politico, I never had a job where even finding Washington DC on a map was necessary, never ran for office, and until 2004, had never donated money to a political campaign. But I gave my time going door to door for Robert Drinan in the seventies, was present (at the tender age of 5) when the National Guard rolled through the streets of Chicago, and have never missed a voting day since my eighteenth birthday. I was also scared shitless of Bush before he stole the Oval Office. So I’m what you might call aware, but certainly no expert.
More to the point, I have been a New Englander all my life, and a Vermonter for the last sixteen years. Our small population and grassroots style helps keep it simple. Helps me see the forest through the trees, while so many better heads than mine are lost in the multitude of details. Details that obscure the larger truth. Wonks tell me it’s a matter of political calculus. I never took calculus, but I got a chainsaw. So let me get it started…
The rationales I’ve seen for opposing impeachment/censure discussions are as follows:
1) It will never happen with the Republican Congress.
2) It will put Cheney/Condi/Freddy Kreuger in the #1 spot.
3) It will be compared to the Clinton impeachment
4) It will mobilize the Troglodyte base
5) Bush is a lame duck, so it’s moot.
6) It will backfire on the Democrats in `08
7) It’s a distraction. Win the `06 election first.
These are excellent Republican talking points, folks. And like all Republican talking points, they are easily cut down, even with my little chainsaw.
To all of these, I offer one simple response: It’s the right thing to do for America.
I knew this for sure when my Repub nemesis from college came up for a ski trip. I tried to avoid politics, but he must’ve seen my “Impeach” car window signs. He amazed me by agreeing, “`cuz it’s the right thing for America.” If the Democratic Party still cannot embrace the idea of stopping this administration’s assault on its people, and force the issue with all the ferocity of the anti-Clinton Republicans, because it is the right thing for America, it truly has no courage, no message, no hope of victory in this or future “elections”.
So let’s cut some wood.
Reason #1 above would be far more accurate if it said “it will never happen with a Republican Congress that is not held accountable for their dereliction of duty over the last five years.” Then I would agree. There is a solid repub majority in both houses of Congress, and the media has spun all accountability away from their total lack of oversight of a blatantly criminal administration.
And this line of argument essentially says “don’t rock the boat.”
How’s that approach working for us so far? An opposition party is supposed to oppose. Does that mean offering amendments to appropriations bills that get whitewashed in Republican committees? Making bold statements in their fundraising emails to me, then running from Feingold’s and Conyers’ resolutions? No. Never did. Really doesn’t in the GOP golden age of homicidal politics. Opposing this conspiracy means spitting in the face of the traitors. It means calling them out. It’s the right thing to do. Playing by the rules of public decorum and observing parliamentary good manners went out the window when the sitting vice president told Senator Leahy to go fuck himself. And was lauded on Faux News for his forthrightness.
I can’t recall any (D) national officeholder even calling Bush a liar, much less a criminal.
But. He. Is. Make impeachment/censure an election issue.
ALL democratic candidates should issue a joint statement declaring their support for robust and timely investigations of the myriad mischief of the last five years. Focus on the discussion, not horseracing it with polls and pundits. It’s a strong stand, and it’s the right thing to do.
#2 is the most obvious straw man of all. Cheney is way more guilty on all counts than Bushie. And the conspiracies behind covering up the NSA business and Iraq weapons intel hits just about everybody else. Hastert would sit impotent in office until removed with the rest of the cabal at the newly scrutinized ballot box.
I must admit I was stunned and disappointed to hear this bogus argument being proferred by Bernie Sanders in response to my letter to him urging investigation and impeachment. But Bernie is Bernie, and for now I will reluctantly cut him some slack during this campaign. But not much. Vermont is perfectly situated to be ground zero for State Based Impeachment.
#3 is put forth as a negative, but is in my view a positive. Dig this: The impeachment of two presidents in a row would be a wake up call to Americans that something has gone terribly wrong in our government, in a way that affects them. This can only serve to increase citizen involvement in politics. That has never been a bad thing for the Left. Never. Witness GOP voter suppression, swift boat, and myriad other ways the peddlers of the failed ideology of the Right have tried to pare down public involvement and awareness.
Furthermore, Clinton was never a media darling. From Hillarycare to Filegate, every manufactured “scandal” was given weight by the manure-spreaders on TV and in Congress, whereas every violation of law under this beast has been tempered with “supposed” or “some say”. The media hasn’t given any of this fair play, but swearing witnesses has a way of cutting through spin. I welcome the comparison. Hell, I DEMAND the comparison, and so should every American who thinks a) Clinton got shafted by the GOP’s abuse of impeachment power, and/or b) Bushco deserves to be tried for these crimes.
In short, BRING IT ON, because it’s the right thing to do.
#4 is another positive. By all means, trot that troglodyte base right out for everyone to see. They now represent less than one third of America, and are growing more shrill with every self-inflicted embarrassment of the GOP. This, in my view, is the best way to tie the GOP to Bushco. Put Dobson, Robertson, Mehlman, and DeLay on TV 24/7 defending King George in their usual way, by smearing an ever-growing number of Americans. Hell, throw McCain and Frist on, too. Pandering to their base is NOT going to result in a groundswell of support for their criminality. That bandwagon swerved to avoid Terry Shiavo, broke down during Katrina, and got totaled by Dubai Ports World.
#5; King George is a lame duck. More like a duck with mutated bird flu. Somebody show me how he’s been stopped. They’re fixin to go after Iran, fer cryin’ out loud. Those fuckers are nothing if not tireless. Political hacks are STILL driving career experts out of federal agencies from the CIA to NASA to the Forest Service. Halliburton is STILL getting no-bid contracts and is immune from investigation. New Orleans is STILL waiting for help. Bushco is STILL raising the debt limit (think this was the last time? puh-leeze). Oh, and we’re STILL in Iraq with no exit plan. Basically, he’s STILL running amok in our country and the world, and must be stopped. It’s the right thing for America.
#6; “It will backfire”. Yeah. Like the BS impeachment of Clinton backfired. Or the pending impeachment of Nixon backfired. Poor GOP. After that `98 fishing expedition (not to mention petulantly shutting down the government), how they paid for it at the polls. Sure taught them restraint, huh?…It was an early abuse of power that, unchecked, has since become SOP in the GOP. Or how about the Democrats back in `74. Too bad they stood up to Nixon. Voters punished them by electing one of only two Democratic presidents in the last thirty years. Mainly `cuz he kept it simple. Yup. It’s surely political suicide to take a strong stand. Never works. Except every time it’s done.
And finally, my favorite; “it’s a distraction”.
Without a discussion of censure and/or impeachment, none of the crimes of the GOP will enter the national discussion surrounding the `06 elections. We will once again allow the GOP to frame the issues and maximize their smear potential. The Republican Party is the default choice of millions of Americans because it successfully lies to them. And the entire GOP power structure is involved in a conspiracy to hide vital truth from the American people. Pretending that it is not is to be complicit.
If Americans never hear the charges and the evidence, will they have any reason to doubt their electronic paperless votes have been counted correctly? Will they believe that torture is policy if they never see the evidence of its ongoing and widespread use? Will they believe 9/11 could have been prevented if there is no investigation into why the warning signs were ignored? Will they be skeptical of claims about Iran and Syria without investigation into intelligence manipulation, past and present? Will they have reason to wonder if it’s their phone or email being watched, if nobody checks on the watchers? Will the further amassing and abuse of power stop at some point all on its own? Will we ever be anything but a cowed minority if we play the same strategy that has lost us three very important elections in a row?
Distraction? No. It’s the focusing lens of the comeback of law and sanity.
Unrealistic? Not if you shift stategies from DLC-inspired Repub-lite to true opposition.
None of the naysayers I’ve been reading can base their positions on anything other than political tea leaf reading, and recent history shows that Democrats suck at tea leaf reading. Leave the supernatural crap to the other side. We all know impeachment is the Constitutional option, the right thing to do. Hell, most of us feel it’s necessary to save our country from dictatorship, but we dither. And fret. About even bringing it up. It’s not exactly inspiring.
Triangulation and politesse are DEAD. It didn’t work with King George III or the Confederacy and it will not work against the neofascists. They made great strides powerwise by shouting and screaming about every little thing, even many made-up things. They have been so successful at it they’ve managed to sweep all three branches of government and dominate national discourse with an agenda that actually hurts the vast majority of those who back it.
We can take back power by taking it to the opposition. Adopt their tactics, but not their philosophy. We have the truth and the law (what’s left of it) on our side. Imagine what we can do. We can do what’s right.
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