Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The wrong view of impeachment from Pelosi
Representative Dennis Kucinich has introduced articles of impeachment for Vice President Dick Cheney.
Believe it or not, I do not approve of the way in which Kucinich has approached this issue. He is a bottom tier Presidential candidate, which makes this appear to be a political ploy by a relatively minor player in an election season. Kucinich appears to be a political Don Quixote, tilting at windmills by himself as the rest of the world looks on in bemusement.
The pity is that I absolutely agree with Kucinich that the Vice President should be impeached. But impeachment is made more difficult if it is perceived as being an entirely partisan effort on the part of a struggling Presidential candidate.
It is necessary to build the case for impeachment by appealing to Republicans as well. The case to be made is that the lawlessness of this administration must not be allowed to go unpunished lest future leaders be allowed to behave in like manner with impunity. This is a bipartisan issue. If Hillary Clinton of Barack Obama wins, and decides to continue in Bush style, it will be too late for Republicans to discover their error. I realize it may seem silly for me to want to appeal to Republicans in making a case for impeachment, but there MUST be sanity left on the other side of the aisle. Enough common sense to see the danger to this nation and try to stop it. It should be made clear that impeachment is not because the Vice President (and President) is conservative... it's because they have broken the law in several respects, defiantly proclaimed their intention to continue the practice, and that is unacceptable regardless of the administrations political leanings.
I fear the Republican approach to impeachment under President Clinton has caused the process to become so cast in a political light that impeachment will never be used, except as political retribution. It is a vital tool given us by the founding fathers and must not be surrendered on the altar of the crass political warfare of any generation, especially ours. There are times when it must be used, and the case of an administration defiantly breaking the law even after being caught doing so, using deception to take the nation to war, breaking international treaties, and allowing the torture of detainees which casts a dark stain on our nations honor are just such examples.
Nancy Pelosi was asked her views on impeachment and had this to say:
Please don't think that I'm calling for what in effect would be a political coup leading to Pelosi ascending to the Presidency. Under optimal circumstances in my point of view, the Vice President should be impeached first, allowing the President to appoint a successor before his own impeachment. We would then finish the current term with the person appointed by Bush.
I am left to wonder if current Democratic leadership is considering the implications for the next President, who is nearly certain to be a Democrat without some sort of electoral shift on a grand scale. Is Pelosi in effect planning on giving the next President a Democratic Congress, and a blank check. Republicans would sound pretty silly howling about whatever happens then, and they would do well to think of that possibility.
In fact if the President sinks to even lower levels of public approval, and even higher levels of disconnect with reality, it may behoove Congressional Republicans to see the light and cut their ties by moving impeachment on their own hook.
Believe it or not, I do not approve of the way in which Kucinich has approached this issue. He is a bottom tier Presidential candidate, which makes this appear to be a political ploy by a relatively minor player in an election season. Kucinich appears to be a political Don Quixote, tilting at windmills by himself as the rest of the world looks on in bemusement.
The pity is that I absolutely agree with Kucinich that the Vice President should be impeached. But impeachment is made more difficult if it is perceived as being an entirely partisan effort on the part of a struggling Presidential candidate.
It is necessary to build the case for impeachment by appealing to Republicans as well. The case to be made is that the lawlessness of this administration must not be allowed to go unpunished lest future leaders be allowed to behave in like manner with impunity. This is a bipartisan issue. If Hillary Clinton of Barack Obama wins, and decides to continue in Bush style, it will be too late for Republicans to discover their error. I realize it may seem silly for me to want to appeal to Republicans in making a case for impeachment, but there MUST be sanity left on the other side of the aisle. Enough common sense to see the danger to this nation and try to stop it. It should be made clear that impeachment is not because the Vice President (and President) is conservative... it's because they have broken the law in several respects, defiantly proclaimed their intention to continue the practice, and that is unacceptable regardless of the administrations political leanings.
I fear the Republican approach to impeachment under President Clinton has caused the process to become so cast in a political light that impeachment will never be used, except as political retribution. It is a vital tool given us by the founding fathers and must not be surrendered on the altar of the crass political warfare of any generation, especially ours. There are times when it must be used, and the case of an administration defiantly breaking the law even after being caught doing so, using deception to take the nation to war, breaking international treaties, and allowing the torture of detainees which casts a dark stain on our nations honor are just such examples.
Nancy Pelosi was asked her views on impeachment and had this to say:
"And frankly, for impeachment, George W. Bush is just not worth it. We have great work to do for the American people."I've found myself pleased with many aspects of Congress under Democratic rule. But on the aspect of impeachment I must say that I believe Pelosi is 180 degrees off course. It is precisely because of the great work to be done for the American people that this congress must build the case and then take the constitutional remedy of impeachment. What greater cause could there possibly be for the American people than to send the message to history. This President ruled in a way that was not acceptable, and the ultimate remedy provided by our founding fathers was used in order to halt that.
Please don't think that I'm calling for what in effect would be a political coup leading to Pelosi ascending to the Presidency. Under optimal circumstances in my point of view, the Vice President should be impeached first, allowing the President to appoint a successor before his own impeachment. We would then finish the current term with the person appointed by Bush.
I am left to wonder if current Democratic leadership is considering the implications for the next President, who is nearly certain to be a Democrat without some sort of electoral shift on a grand scale. Is Pelosi in effect planning on giving the next President a Democratic Congress, and a blank check. Republicans would sound pretty silly howling about whatever happens then, and they would do well to think of that possibility.
In fact if the President sinks to even lower levels of public approval, and even higher levels of disconnect with reality, it may behoove Congressional Republicans to see the light and cut their ties by moving impeachment on their own hook.
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