Letters to the Editor
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Commander in Chief
The Democrats don't dare impeach Bush because during the Clinton impeachment, they kept saying that it was wrong to impeach the Commander in Chief while the country was at war.
Of course, there was also the nonsensical "we can't overturn an election" argument (Yeah? Then why is impeachment provided for in the Constitution?), but perhaps that would actually resonate this time around.
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It's Just a Bad Idea
In order to accomplish a "double impeachment", our government would essentially be shut-down for the duration of two impeachment trials. Assumming a double conviction, consider the turmoil and time required for the executive branch to switch from Republican to Democrat.
However disfunction our government is now, we still have opportunities for cooperation and progress (imigration reform, for instance). Once congress begins contemplating a double impeachment, does anyone believe that anything useful could be accomplished until the next term begins (if even then)?
The presidential compaign would become fixed on a single-issue: the impeachments - right or wrong?. All other issues would be after-thoughts, and would have little bearing on how anyone votes. I have to wonder how that will affect who we choose as our next president.
Bush and Cheney become more marginalized each day. In a way, impeaching them now would give them more power over our future than they would otherwise hold. I hate to say this, but we're just going to have to run out the clock on this adminstration.
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Playing the Ref
While I disagree with Kamiya's argument -- too precious, too enamored of the royal "we," what strikes me is that the Republicans and the media have made impeachment a non-starter up until this point. Pelosi took that option off the table after the last election in part so she could look less partisan. Why? Because the media and some Republicans made it clear that was the price if she wanted to look non-vindictive and moderate. The opposition portrayed her as a wild-eyed liberal incapable of leading the House.
If people are hot to impeach, the first place to start is with the facts. The NSA spying, in particular, is the best issue because the law is very clear and, more importantly, Bush chose to spy in secret with minimal or no consultation with Congress (compared to other Presidents in similar situations) for the first few years. There was no balance of power and the FISA law is pretty clear. Worse for Bush, a Republican Congress passed changes to FISA to accommodate their needs and Bush touted those changes. Bush is left with the unitary executive argument which is specious and a non-starter (it negates the Constitution's balance of power arrangments).
But you don't get to impeachment by pointing out just these facts. You get there through fair hearings that lay out the facts for the American people, the media be damned. You create the weather. If your facts are solid, enough Republicans will come over to impeachment, in part because the public would agree.
That said, personally, at this late date, I would settle for a full airing of the facts for the NSA spying, torture, the Iraq war, and all the rest. We need to set a clear precedent that future Presidents will be compelled to work in the open with power balanced. Bush's secret approach cannot stand if we want to be a democracy.
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A republic if you can keep it
There is much to be said for Kamiya's view that people like a strongman -- the warrior chief to protect them. But I think, having lived through every president's term since Hoover, I can say pretty authoritatively that Americans have never really wanted a republic. They want help when they desperately need it as they did during the depression and WWII. Their gratitude lasted long enough to see Truman reelected. Then Korea and all eyes were on bigchief Eisenhower who would GO TO KOREA and relieve us of that burden.
Kennedy rekindled a love of country for a time. He seemed so strong and wise. We believed in him. Above all we believed he was the strongman who would see us through all our troubles.
We had no trouble ditching Lyndon Johnson as soon as Vietnam became a burden. And then with Vietnam a burden we were able to see that Nixon had gone too far and must be removed, So Carter came to power, really by accident. Notice how quickly we fled him into the strong, comforting arms of Ronald Reagan. The only thing that got Clinton elected was the perceived weakness of bush I.
Through all this it has become clear that the Constitution is a readily expendable document. What provisions does it have that Americans would not gladly give up when they become inconvenient? Free press? Habeus corpus? Treaties which are the law of the land like the Geneva Conventions? Private mail and email? Even freedom of religion is a moot matter.
Since the failure of Lyndon Johnson, it has become increasingly apparent that Republican philosophy suits Americans better than the Democratic with its calls for sharing and sacrifice. They like the prefessional army that relieves them of their duty as citizens. Times are not good, but tell that to the rich and upper middle class. Even I cannot complain -- yet. It's all so easy. The decline of a republic is EASY. You just sit back and let events take their course.
Right now we have Mr. Kamiya's list in front of us. Are we rising up in alarm? Are the newspapers on the warpath? We have GIVEN UP MANY OF OUR FREEDOMS and we are more concerned with Anna Nichol and the American Idol than we are with our losses.
Chalmers Johnson says we will have a dictatorship soon,military or otherwise. His Nemesis is a frightening picture of what is and what it leads to. Every American citizen should be required to read it.
Please give it a chance.
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The media
The only reason that Bush has not been impeached is because of the mainstream media. Today, MSNBC has an online poll that 88% of the viewers have said "yes" to impeachment. These polls are seldom given and they are never reported on. When President Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, there was talk of impeachment day after day after day on the television media. You could not get any other news. The mainstream media is complicit in the war in Iraq, causing 3400 American lives and 650,000 Iraqi lives. The mainstream media is complicit in many many things. For instance, I could find out in a heartbeat by watching television, the status of Paris Hilton's jail sentence. But, only by watching Keith Olbermann can I find out that Alberto Gonzales on orders from George W. Bush tried to get then Attorney General Ashcroft to sign off on them breaking the law with warrantless wiretaps. None of the other networks have yet to report this. Yet, it was in a public hearing in Congress with then Assistant Attorney General Comey, just last week. Which do you find more newsworthy, sir? The lack of reporting is the only reason that Bush has not been impeached, in fact, it's the only reason that the entire administration is not behind bars.