A conviction of Dick Cheney and his little toad by the Senate will not happen.
However, it is the Senate's job to decide that -- not ours.
PART ONE
Our job is to influence Congress in the only ways that we can. They are:
- Expressing our opinion through calls and letters, and
- Moving public opinion toward less support for the administration, more support for Congressional investigations and more support for an impeachment process to begin
It's not so important that we take this process as it is all the way through the Senate to an action deposing of officers of this administration. (Although that would be nice.)
What is important is that we recognize our role in the process and fulfill that role to the best of our abilities, according to our responsibility as citizens during a time of deep political crisis.
Now, watching TV news today, you would never know that this country is deep in the doo-doo.
PART TWO
But it is.
And I assert that the peril now is stronger than it has been in many decades, definitely worse than during the Nixon Administration, as John Dean has so often repeated.
We need to be honest with ourselves about the limits here. There is not enough time to remove Cheney and the toad through an impeachment and trial. The number of honest, good members of the Senate is too few. There is not the political will in the House at present to push for an impeachment.
Nevertheless, our obligation as citizens tells us that we must remind Congress that -- for the people -- impeachment is always on the table, regardless of whether the president is a Democrat or Republican.
PART THREE
Our obligation tells us that the course of justice must proceed regardless of whether we believe that "there is enough time to impeach" or whether we believe that the "Senate will ever convict."
Our obligation as Netroots voices is simply to call for the instruments that Congress has at hand to begin and to go forward with steady and resolute force.
We need to call for every criminal allegation against Bush to be investigated. Administration officials who do not testify should be cited for contempt and, if appropriate, punished. Prosecutions, where warranted, must proceed from the investigations.
An imaginary Zen Master that I just invented was once asked:
"Where does this road lead?"
And he answered:
"Nowhere. The road is the destination."
PART FOUR
We tend to be goal-oriented thinkers, but in this case, the process is more important than the goal.
Let's be honest, then:
Removal of Cheney and the toad by action of the Senate will not happen.
But the need for us to be committed to the process of justice is not diminished. In fact, every day, it grows stronger. For this reason, more than any other, we must continue to call for more investigations, prosecutions where required.
We must insist on our right to know where crimes have been committed. Lying to Congress? FISA law-breaking? And we must insist on our right to see these crimes prosecuted. And we must continue to insist that impeachment in a Constitutionally-enshrined option that Congress always has on the table.
Regardless of how practical or realistic that option might seem.