A number of venerable Kossacks have laid bare the moral and legal basis for impeachment. Few here would argue that the Bush-Cheney administration has committed multiple impeachable offenses. Indeed, the only argument is likely to be just which offenses to include in articles of impeachment, space and time being at a premium.
Similarly, much has been made of the "pragmatic perspective". Can we impeach operationally? Can we convict? If not, why not. Etc. Frequently this takes the form of asking where we are going to find 17 senators or whether or not there truly is universal support for impeaching the second President in as many administrations.
In contrast, precious little has been made of the politics of impeachment. Don't get me wrong. The house should impeach because it is the right thing to do. Because they took an oath on all that they hold holy to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. Because they have a duty to those who do not have a voice to be our voice. But they are politicians, and as politicians they will be concerned with, what else, politics. Take the jump and find out why impeachment is not just good for the country, it's good for Democrats!
Glad you made it! In the wake of the Libby commutation it has become clear that the Bush administration will not allow any measure of oversight, any form of accountability, and will acquiesce to no authority. Thus I believe that the days of discussing whether or not impeachment is warranted are long gone. Rather, I'd prefer that this diary be a discussion about how to make impeachment a political reality. That is, how do we get the horse-fucking bastards out of office, into a court room on the way to a life-time of solitary confinement. That means we need to make it palatable to a bunch of people who have nearly universally acted cautiously and always thought of political expedience if not first, then certainly not last. How will impeachment affect Democratic fortunes in the coming elections? The answer: we win and win big.
Already polling puts support for the president at historic lows. However, this has not translated into blood-thirsty cries for his political head. Why? Primarily because the average voter is not a political junky who stays up to 2:00am wailing and gnashing teeth over Scooter Libby (okay, I didn't wail, it was late). Here at DKos we are continually amazed and disturbed by the apparent apathy of the American voter. But we shouldn't be.
A cowed and pliant press refuses to tell the people what the hell the Bush-Cheney administration is doing. When something slips out it does so in spite of the press, not because of it (yay blogs!). So, when you see those bumper stickers:
If you're not enraged / outraged / mad as hell / really fucking pissed off, you're not paying attention!
they've got it right. Most of the country isn't paying attention. Most can't. They've got work in the morning, or kids to feed, or bills to pay, and their just too damn tired to tease a nugget of truth out from the middle of all that bullshit on the nightly news. But impeachment changes all that.
The first thing impeachment does is give Democrats the stage that they've needed for a decade. A platform that the media has no choice but to cover, and cover it they will, in primetime, on which to expound upon the laundry list of outrageous abuses and offenses committed by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and cohorts. The media might try to spin it, or if they see the way the wind is shifting maybe even actually report faithfully. But once all of these crimes hit primetime, the American voters will finally, for the first time, have the chance to hear the truth. And that is an important thing. That transforms low approval and high disapproval ratings to rabid hatred and cries for justice. That is how we make the case to the base.
But that's not all! Impeachment is the gift that keeps on giving. Even if the public never really comes around, never rushes the gates at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., never calls en mass for the prosecution of the worst criminals in US history, it still is a Win-Win proposition! That is because both the vote to impeach in the House (which we had better win!) and the vote to convict in the Senate are by definition a Lose-Lose proposition for Republicans. And in the zero-sum game that is two-party politics, that's a win for us. It doesn't matter what the vote outcome is, the Republicans are done as soon as we initiate proceedings.
How does that work? In each vote, each Republican has a choice to make. They either:
- Publicly, under the searing camera lights of a stoked press corp ('cause nothing's quite as sexy as impeachment), in front of all of their constituents, voice their political support for the president who presently has the lowest approval ratings in more than 30 years (and is rapidly surging for the gold!). This ties them unequivocally to a pair of coattails that are only heading towards political retirement, if not incarceration. There is no future here.
or
- Publicly, under the searing camera lights of a stoked press corp admit that their president is a criminal and a traitor. That they enabled this scourge for six long years knowing full well what he had done. That they had a chance to provide meaningful oversight and chose political expedience and raw power instead. That they are part and parcel of a failed and bankrupt ideology that is rapidly becoming irrelevant.
Neither case translates into Republican success at the voting booth, both translate into large pickups by Democrats. For Democratic electoral fortunes in 2008, it doesn't even matter if we convict, only that we used the Rule of Law as a wedge issue against the Republican party.
Think about that. We can use the Rule of Law as a wedge issue. That's what impeachment gives us. And I didn't even have to talk about the electoral payoff from showing a little backbone.
Now, like I said above, don't get me wrong. I want these bastards to be convicted, then prosecuted, then convicted, then incarcerated or worse. I firmly believe that failure to do this will signal the demise of the Union as it will serve as an invitation to anyone who would seek raw power to run for office. But remember, that wasn't the point here. Impeachment is good for the Country and Democratic political fortunes alike. And that's the message we need to send to our Senators and Representatives this week.
Contact your Senators!
Contact your Representatives!
Contact the House Judiciary Committee!
Details on H. Res. 333!
Update Already!
Nancy Pelosi Contact info:
Washington Office:
Phone: (202) 225-4965
Fax: (202) 225-8259
Main District Office:
Phone: (415) 556-4862
Fax: (415) 861-1670
IMPEACH!