I've been involved in an email dialogue during the past week or so with a network of interested activists and it has been good to hear the perspectives shared -- locally and abroad -- relating to the elections and holding our president and his administration accountable. For myself, that's really what it is all about -- accountability -- and in the process, restoring the credibility of our constitution and the rule of law.
I've always held that, as my friend Jonathan mentioned in our discussion, an investigation into the many lies and misrepresentations of the Bush administration must be launched and seen through to its eventual conclusion, come what may. Whether it takes place while Bush is still in office, or afterward doesn't matter -- though I prefer the former. Just so long as they are held accountable and a clear message is sent to the world that we do truly respect democracy in our country and will not let undemocratic elements overtake our government and not be held accountable.
I believe that if we allow ourselves to be lulled into a centrist position of forgive-and-forget, we will ultimately come to regret it in the long run. In our brief history as a nation, we have never seen a president and an administration as tyrannically-inclined as Bush and his neocon puppetmasters. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but for the tired and somewhat more faint-of-heart among you, how much closer do we want to get? We've seen all the warning signs, and all the infrastructure for abuse of power is already in place.
You all know that we're really just at the start of a long process to clean up the mess. In a holistic-health sense, to heal a body one must get rid of the toxins first and make changes in one's life so that the toxins don't come back. So in the life of the nation -- from my perspective -- exposing, eradicating and removing the sources of the toxins that are toxic to democracy is a necessary and crucial course. If we don't show the world that it's not okay to act as they did, then we've only our selves to blame if it happens again.
Here is a link to an article called, Ten Reasons Congress Must Investigate Bush Administration.
Regarding Pelosi's stance against impeachment, I hope that it is merely an act of misdirection to aid in her smoothing over the fears of conservative republicans, and not her true intent. A means of making her seem like an ally that other republican senators can work with. In the end, I feel that impeachment is a matter of constitutional law -- not of the personal discretion of an individual lawmaker. If the people want it, so be it. No matter how we frame it, let's get to an investigation.