In Washington, D.C., impeachment talk has been quashed by Democratic leaders. They are worried that a Republican backlash would derail upcoming votes on key issues, and that the fallout could hurt Democrats in next year’s elections. [Portland Democrat Earl] Blumenauer, a Democrat who is one of the more liberal members of Congress, says flatly that “impeachment is not going to happen.”… In Oregon, however, the movement to bounce President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney before their terms end next year continues to pick up steam. Just ask Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who faced hostile questions from pro-impeachment forces at a recent town hall meeting. Blumenauer endured even rougher treatment at his town hall gathering late last week.
Whether or not you believe that impeaching Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © is a workable or positive thing, there is a large constituency here in Oregon who believe that the time to impeach has long since come. Unfortunately, it seems as if this constituency is destined to be ignored. These days, it seems as if the Left is divided into two camps: first, those who abhor Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © and everything has stands for and would move Heaven and Earth to impeach the bastard, and second, pragmatists who don’t exactly love The Worst President EVER © , but are more focused on the potential fallout from a successful impeachment.
This isn’t to deny that impeachment is something that should only be undertaken with the recognition of the seriousness of removing a sitting President. There is a part of me that wonders about the precendent and the possibility that as time goes forward it will become ever easier to impeach a President. Even so, from where I sit, if employing lies and wanton propaganda in order to secure American involvement in a pointless and immoral war in Iraq isn’t grounds for impeachment, than what is? Republicans have already attempted to impeach a sitting President for engaging in an illicit sexual affair, so it’s not as if the bar has been set very high. After all, which is the more serious crime: staining a blue dress, or being responsible for the wasted lives of thousands of young Americans who will never be able to grow old with their families and loved ones?
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have already stated that impeachment is off the table, and from a pragmatic standpoint perhaps that’s the sensible approach. But what does it say about our political leaders when they demonstrate a willingness to tolerate and condone lies, propaganda, and the wholesale loss of American lives in pursuit of a failed political agenda? When does accountablity become part of the picture?
Putting together an iron-clad case against King George the Worst © would not be an easy task. Nonetheless, in the name of accountability and setting a precednt for future generations, how does this sort of malfeasance NOT rise to the level of impeachable misconduct? If we are to refuse to hold a sitting President accountable for dragging this country into war under false pretenses, what WILL we hold that leader accountable for?
It seems a sad commentary on the state of our political leadership that impeachment is not even a topic of serious discussion in a Democratic-controlled Congress. So much for moral courage and demanding accountability….
