As originally posted in
Daily Speech:
I am not naive. I know all to well that as long as Dennis Hastert and Tom Delay and Bill Frist control the US Congress, President Bush and Vice President Cheney can rest easy that the word impeachment will only exist in the liberal blogosphere and ultra-liberal halls of Congress.
But I must say, I am more and more impressed with the power of the free grassroots blogosphere to influence official public discourse. The Big Brass Alliance this blog belongs to is also a great idea of connecting like-minded blogs on particular issues. It generates cross-readership and encourages focus, thus making our voices louder.
In my humble opinion, the only way impeachment will see the light of day is both the US House and US Senate must change hands and go Democratic in 2006. That is a tall order, not impossible, but improbable. Two things would have to happen for that to happen, Democrats and Democratic allies would have to be more united then ever and present a positive vision for America and things in the country and world will have to be in real sorry shape, especially Iraq, to persuade Americans it's time for a change.
Power corrupts and it corrupts absolutely. So true. Republicans, especially theocratic Republicans are drunk with power, dripping in arrogance and self-righteousness while carrying the water for big business, punishing the very religious working-class suckers who vote for them, shipping good paying jobs overseas, and slowly destroying our natural environment.
Republican theocrats want to tell you how to live. They want to assume control of women's bodies. They want to take away your own right to die in peace and dignity, while happily executing poor black people, often innocent, who cannot afford high-priced attorneys like Michael Jackson can. They want you to remain in constant fear of life and limb from the big bad terrorist bogeyman while stripping more and more of your US Constitutional rights. God help you if you are an American Muslim or too much of an agitator (hopefully I am too small of fries to bother), you may end up in Guantanomo prison.
Arrogance is one thing, but is that an impeachable offence? Frankly, I would abhor seeing America become so polarized that impeachment becomes a regular threat with every American president we elect. We just impeached President Clinton for "lying under oath" (albeit he was acquitted in the US Senate). Would we really want to pursue another impeachment on the president to succeed Clinton?
In this case, sadly, considering the gravity of the situation, I must say yes. When a President sends to their death or maiming thousands of brave patriotic American men and women in a war based on intentional false pretenses, most certainly yes. There could not be a graver offence. When a President lies to the US Congress and the American people and pressures his own intelligence agency to "give him the answer he wants" in order to build a case for war, impeachment is a valid response. When a President accumulates unprecedented power, stripping Americans of basic fundamental US Constitutional rights by whipping up fear and dread over an unseen enemy, impeachment is an imperative!
But once again, it will not see the light of day as long as the US Congress remains Republican. The American people must rise up in righteous indignation (Do I really want to use the word righteous?) in 2006 and "throw the bums out" in a convincing overwhelming manner. Then, only then, can the case against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney be made, because they both deserve to be impeached.
If the US House goes Democratic in 2006, we will have a Democratic Speaker of the House. That person would become President if both President Bush and Vice President Cheney were impeached and convicted (thus thrown out of office).
But our case for impeachment will need to be powerful and overwhelming, similar to when the "smoking gun" tape was revealed against President Nixon and even his closest Republican allies encouraged him to resign. Why? Because the last thing we need is for the American people to think the newly elected Democratic majority is now themselves drunk with power and abusing their power - otherwise that Democratic majority may be short-lived.
But if Democrats can make the case to become the majority in 2006 in the first place, that will go a long way toward politically inoculating them against any impeachment backlash.
Regardless of whether impeachment is a liberal pipedream or not, we must not relent in our criticisms of the Bush regime and the Republican theocracy. We must keep the evidence of their arrogance and abuse of power, of their threat to our rights and danger to our future in the forefront of the American conscious.
When the time comes in 2006, we must present a positive alternative to the American people, not only in the war on terror, which is important, but in economic security, protecting the environment, protecting the hard fought rights Americans cherish, etc. This is a battle for the heart and soul of America and we must not relent. Charge on my friends!