We have been having a vigorous and healthy debate lately about the merits of impeaching the current resident of the White House, George W Bush. There are those who favor beginning investigations immediately when the new Congress begins with an eye towards impeachment, others who feel impeachment should be placed on the back burner while using our new found majority to pass important legislation, and still others who feel impeachment should not be brought up at all for fear of a backlash from the public and a loss of seats in Congress. I place myself in the first group, and I'll give you my .02 worth after the flip.
We just won the majority back a month ago and many seem to have forgotten just what rabid and disgusting individuals the republicans truly are. Here's a little history for those with short memories. Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 after 12 years of Republicans controlling the White House. One of the major planks in his platform had been passing some kind of national healthcare, and after he was elected president with democrats still holding the majority in Congress, things looked pretty good for turning the tides on a health care system whose costs were spiralling out of control, and out of reach for the average American. But we never got it. Nada, zilch, a big fat goose egg. Because the republican MINORITY screamed bloody murder at the mere thought of the idea. It was socialism, it was practically communist, why would any American ever want to become a doctor under some kind of communist healthcare system, we have the best health care in the world so why should we change it, and on and on. There was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth from the republicans, but instead of fighting them and taking their case to the American public, the Democrats caved in and the idea was killed, dead in the water. And for the last 15 years our healthcare system has gotten progressively worse, to the point where about 15% of our nation has no coverage at all, and many more receive insufficient care.
We didn't fight them and we lost Congress for 12 long years. And we got triangulation from Democrats. NAFTA was passed, resulting in the loss of millions of good blue collar jobs. And the Republicans loved it. The media industry was deregulated, allowing Clear Channel to go from a small player in the industry to a media giant with tremendous political clout practically overnight. And the Republicans loved it. The financial industry was deregulated, and the firewalls in the insurance, securities, and banking sectors which were in place since the Great Depression were removed . And the Republicans loved it. I could go on, but I think you get the point.
We failed to stand up for our ideals for far too long until the public had no reason to vote for Democrats anymore. And this is precisely why we need to impeach George W Bush. To show the American people once again that the Democrats have got their back.
We have a majority in Congress but it is very slim. The Republicans still control the media wurlitzer and Bush still has his veto pen. We do not have enough Democrats to override a veto. Judging by their actions during the Clinton administration, I wouldn't expect the republicans to change their tactics one bit and we will get no meaningful legislation passed without the threat of impeachment hanging over their heads. And why should they change, since Democrats have shown themselves to be more than willing to cave in when push comes to shove over the last decade or two.
So if meaningful change is going to come, now is the time to take a stand. Impeachment can happen, and here's how. On Democracy Now a couple weeks ago, Amy Goodman was interviewing a former Congresswoman who served during the Nixon era. She mentioned that Nixon was reelected in a landslide and that impeachment wasn't even on the radar for them when the new Congress took session. But whistleblowers came forward, investigations followed, it became clear that Nixon had committed crimes and felt he was above the law, public opinion shifted, and Congress found the will to talk about impeachment. Nixon saw the writing on the wall and served less of his second term than Bush currently has. I believe that by following this example, the same could be accomplished with Bush and perhaps a lot easier since he definitely did not win in a landslide (if he ever really 'won' the election at all) and recent polls show 51% already in favor of impeachment if crimes are proven. Plus we've already got the whistleblowers, all we needed was a Congress who'd listen to them.
One argument against impeachment has been that it will appear to be a power grab by the Democrats. I'm positive that it can be done without this becoming an issue. And please, no arguments that this gives us president Cheney, we can impeach both of them. Investigations will take some time and we're already 2 years into Bush's second term. If he is impeached, he'll end up serving most of his term anyway, and I think this can be used to our advantage. Investigations could be timed so that any conviction of Bush comes right around the time of the 2008 elections. Combined with a promise from Pelosi that she has no interest in running for President, even if she becomes President as a result of impeachment it would only be for a couple months, with a new President and Congress already having been chosen to take the reigns in 2009. She would have practically no power as a short term lame duck President presiding over a lame duck Congress. Then I think it would be clear to the public that impeachment was based on a desire for accountability and not a power grab.
For those who feel that impeachment would be a distraction from getting legislation passed, please reread the paragraphs above. Republicans spent 8 years investigating Clinton, impeached him in the House, and still managed to get their legislation passed and keep the gravy train rolling for their corporate contributors. If you think Democrats can't do both themselves, well you can always join the Connecticut for Lieberman Party. That is where milquetoasts belong.
One other argument is that overriding a veto and convicting Bush in the Senate both require 2/3 majorities, so how can we do either? Well to do either we're going to have to get public opinion on our side. And I feel it will be much easier to convince the public that Bush needs to be impeached for the overall damage he has done to this nation than it would be to sway public opinion against the next arcane bankruptcy bill for example.
For certain the republicans will not take this lying down. They will call us terrorist appeasers, communists, dirty hippies, surrender monkies, and even Frenchmen. So what, they do that now, no matter what we say. We have no reason to fear their insults. We have the truth on our side and we will fight them with that.
But we will get nothing unless We the People are willing to fight for it. And by fight I don't mean getting a few progressives elected and hoping for the best. We need to push our representatives in the right direction ourselves. Write letters, write books, talk to your families,call your congressperson,canvas your neighborhood, cajole, harangue,plead, demand, and hit the streets if you need to and until impeachment of the most incompetent, criminal, and dangerous president this nation has ever seen is accomplished and this current incarnation of the republican party is marginalized for generations as the radicals that they really are.
The American people will thank you for it.