Is it too late to impeach? That question can reasonably be reframed as asking “is it too late to enforce the system of checks and balances? Is it too late to support, uphold and defend the Constitution?” Of course it is not the intention to undermine the Constitution, of those good-hearted citizens who offer the argument that it‘s too late. But the fact remains that if our current President and Vice President are not impeached, then future Presidents will get the message that they, too, can literally get away with murder. Impeachment is not about partisan issues: It’s about protecting the Constitution and the People. No small matter of importance.
A public opinion poll taken by the American Research Group on November 13, 2007, in which a cross-sector of Democrats, Republicans and Independents were interviewed, shows that 43% of those polled want to see Cheney impeached, even this late into the game, and 34% favor impeaching Bush, currently. More than 70% agreed that Bush and Cheney had abused their powers. http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/
It’s just amazing how politicians are saying that they can’t impeach because of this, that or the other reason. Let’s have a look at what those reasons are:
“We can’t divide the country” writes Senator Diane Feinstein in her auto-reply to emailed impeachment inquiries.
“The causes for impeachment have to be provable” states Senator Joe Biden on the campaign trail.
“Impeachment would suck air out of the room but get nothing accomplished” says Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-CA.
And here some background facts with a very poignant statement from Nancy Pelosi:
http://impeacher.blogspot.com/2007/07/pelosi-do-nothing-get-elected.html
“In an interview with bloggers on June 28, 2007, Pelosi revealed the true motives of the Democratic leadership. It is not about protecting and defending the Constitution. It is not about restoring the delicate checks and balances that keep America from turning into a dictatorship. It is all about getting elected in 2008. Apparently their strategy is to investigate and catalog all of the crimes by Bush and Cheney and then do absolutely nothing about them. Then in 2008 they can say "Look how bad they are. Vote for us!".
In the interview, Pelosi spoke about the many impeachable offenses that Bush has committed and said "The American people really don’t even know the half of it..." She described assaults by Bush on judicial review and habeas corpus. But rather than following the Constitutional remedy of impeachment Pelosi summed up their strategy as follows: "So again, build the record, make it known to the public, understand that this flies in the face of everything our country stands for, and use it in the campaign and then do it right when we are in power, which I am absolutely certain we will be – I’m certain we will win the White House." [Pelosi 6/28/07]
Let’s address and rebut the various “concerns” of the politicians above:
a) Bush and Cheney already are dividing the country, by virtue of their own presence in office.
b) Causes for impeachment have been publicly confessed, such as the declared intention to continue wiretapping without probable cause or warrant, and not least of all calling the Constitution “Only a goddamned piece of paper”. This is a broad confession of intent to continue disregarding the rule of law, as backed by continued and open defiance of that law not merely on a verbal, but on a dangerously active level.
c) Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-CA,’s is one of the golden few who takes the faithfully concerned position about “doing the moral thing: Let’s consider the will of the people first” (quoted from a KPFA radio interview). And her voting record unequivocally proves her standing behind that statement. If Lynn Woolsey says “impeachment would suck air out of the room and get nothing accomplished”, her concerns are probably real. Congress would oppose it, and she knows it. And that’s where We, the People need to step up to the plate and help. More about this later.
d) As for Democrats winning the White House based on doing nothing to oversee the system of checks and balances, that’s a no-brainer: It is a virtual guarantee that the Democrats will NOT win back the house if they allow the criminal ransacking of our Constitution, and the needless deaths of others to warS based on lies.
e) Given the Bush Administration’s track record of going to war based on lies, plus going over the heads of Congress on a routine basis, it is only a matter of when the war on Iran is started by unilateral decree, not a matter of if. Plus, that crime has already been committed. So why does Senator Biden wish to stall impeachment, ie. Wait until Bush strikes Iran unilaterally? How does that protect innocent lives?
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
