Good for John Conyers!
Just saw on the Washington Post website is an oped by none other than John Conyers about the latest Rove/Joe Klein/Tim Russert smear. I think it is brilliant reframing of this issue. Rove and Russert want to act like Conyers and others don't have any real agenda and that investigations, meaning the truth and accountability, are bad things. Good for Conyers knocking down both points.
First, he gets rid of the red herring:
"As Republicans have become increasingly nervous about whether they will be able to maintain control of the House in the midterm elections, they have resorted to the straw-man strategy of identifying a parade of horrors to come if Democrats gain the majority. Among these is the assertion that I, as the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, would immediately begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush.
I will not do that."
But, he is for an investigation, right?
"The administration's stonewalling, and the lack of oversight by Congress, have left us to guess whether we are dealing with isolated wrongdoing, or mistakes, or something worse. In my view, the American people deserve answers, not guesses. I have proposed that we obtain these answers in a responsible and bipartisan manner."
Then, he gets a shot in at the hypocrisy of the Republicans making those accusations. I mean, really, How is Tom DeLay - who led the drive to impeach Clinton - allowed to even raise this shit:
"It was House Republicans who took power in 1995 with immediate plans to undermine President Bill Clinton by any means necessary, and they did so in the most autocratic, partisan and destructive ways imaginable. If there is any lesson from those "revolutionaries," it is that partisan vendettas ultimately provoke a public backlash and are never viewed as legitimate."
Then, the positive agenda. My favorite part - election reform:
"Most important, before we have another presidential election, I believe we need to pass laws protecting the integrity of our electoral system -- the very foundation of our democracy."