Most of the Democrats in Congress are not advocating impeachment, not because it's unmerited on principle, but because it's unlikely to garner enough votes to remove the bastards; plus we've got more important things to focus on. Many diaries have already expounded on the speciousness of this argument; mainly that the hearings and exposure will very likely garner the votes. And, either way, it's the God*mned principle of the thing.
Obviously such diaries have thus far fallen on deaf ears. Evidently Pelosi et al need to have it explained to them like they're five-year-olds:
THE WHOLE POINT OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION IS ACCOUNTABILITY. HENCE, EVERY CONGRESS PERSON WHO DOES NOT ADVOCATE IMPEACHMENT IS ADVOCATING THAT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE; THEREBY MAKING OUR CONSTITUTION MEANINGLESS, NULL AND VOID.
Mrs. Pelosi, would you dare say that "accountability" is off the table? Because, in effect, you have.
KagroX's earlier diary today really made quite a compelling argument on how America is supposed to be, first and foremost, governed by the rule of law. Yet, as he points out with several black and white examples FROM THIS WEEK ALONE, whenever the breaking of laws by current government officials comes to light, there are no consequences. And, hence, "government by rule of law" has officially become just a theory.
The Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act, which both require that the White House preserve records of its official e-mail traffic. You remember, right? The e-mails that the Congress has been seeking with its "subpoena power," but which the "administration" says it lost? Five million times over? Turns out they just, you know, didn't feel like complying with that law, either. And what's the remedy? The National Security Archive is suing the White House.
In the meantime, Henry Waxman is investigating, but guess what? The White House says it's not it's fault, because the archiving required by law was contracted out. To whom? They won't tell!
The law requires that these things be preserved. But what's the penalty for just not doing it? Nobody knows. In Iran-Contra, we found out that there were no particular penalties described in the Presidential Records Act. And nobody's changed that. It's just... against the law.
In other words, the only remedy is impeachment.
Ms. Pelosi, I read yesterday that you said of Wes Clark's new book, A Time to Lead, that "there are valuable lessons that can be applied to today's dilemmas." I haven't read it yet, but I could point to many speeches of Clark's in which he emphatically asserts that accountability is the most important lesson of our American system, and without it integrity of the entire system is undermined and standards will be completely compromised--hence his repeated assertions that with things like Iraq, Katrina and Abu Graib it's incumbent upon Congress to have full hearings in order to expose who is responsible.
Mr. Reid, you, too, were quite taken with Clark's new book and recognize that Wes Clark is someone who should be deferred to on matters such as these:
"General Clark adeptly employs his autobiography to convey the meaning and importance of leadership. A Time to Lead teaches essential life-long lessons and principles, and provides keen historical insights into the current state of world affairs. As one of the most successful commanding officers in the U.S. Army, no one is more qualified to teach leadership."--Harry Reid, U.S. Senate Majority Leader
So, Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Reid, please, unless you're both planning to co-write A Time to be Feckless, heed your own advice and listen to the leader who knows that a bona fide democracy is predicated on holding its leaders accountable.