Investigate, impeach, indict, convict and sentence
GreyHawk over at Daily Kos current has a diary at the top of the recommended list on impeachment. I've asked his permission to post it over here, and he has graciously consented.
Investigate, impeach, indict, convict and sentence
by GreyHawkSun Oct 22, 2006 at 04:27:41 AM EDT
The diary "Newsweek: 51% of Americans support impeachment" by MarcTGFG contains some great back-and-forth discussion of the necessity and possibly utility (or futility) of impeaching Bush and Cheney with only two years left in their
reign of terrorterms of office.We're approaching a potential landmark election. The topic is one currently reserved to bloggers, the media and the pundits; the Democrats haven't been pressing it of late. While it does, indeed, cloud the issues that must be addressed and risk deferring thought and concentration on winning the upcoming elections, it's a topic that should not be avoided. Here are my thoughts on it.
I'm going to reference MarcTGFG's diary and comments for part of this, so keep the link handy.
One point raised centered around whether the investigations are even necessary, given Bush's own admission that he has broken, and will continue to break, the law. (Read the linked comment, and the two below.)
Another poster doubted that impeachment could make it through the Senate.
Still others believed that the whole process -- impeachment, indictment and conviction -- was necessary, to properly restore our nation's integrity and to stop the train wreck that is BushCo before it can jump the tracks and avoid prosectution.
The question that hit me the hardest, however, wasn't "whether" or "should" -- it was "why bother" if we get a Dem majority back into Congress. It wasn't a question posed by a commenter; rather, it was postulated as a rather small piece within a larger comment:
"the American public may consider it petty of us to try to remove him with only two years left in his term"It's a great thought -- I was glad that the poster, PhoenixWoman, brought it up. It left me thinking of what an adequate response would be -- could be -- to such ambivalence by even a small minority of the populace. I posted a reply, which I've reproduced below.
It's the reply that constitutes my reason for this diary tonight; please read it, and comment below on your take regarding both it, and the question of investigations and impeachment of Bush/Cheney.These are items that I feel we must put some preparatory thought into, even as we press forward with the drive to win the impending elections. If we are not already thinking about our answers to future questions such as this, and we await the last possible moment to reflect upon them, we could very likely lose the opportunity or upper hand at playing a deciding role in the outcome.
:: :: My reply... :: ::
Pithy or not, they could do untold damage if left (0 / 0)
where they are for two years.
Every day, every signing statement, every wiretap, every time someone is whisked away in darkness for rendition and secret tribunal and every opportunity that the current Republican majority has to push through "protective" measures, a little more is chipped away at the foundations of freedom and accountability, and the light of liberty and truth shines a little less brightly.
The self-serving corruption is blatant. The arrogance and contempt for the "quaint" principles of law, of equality, of accountability and for the need for oversight within the framework of checks and balances is unbridled.
The moral and social outrage should be palpable; it grows daily.
Not a minute longer than absolutely necessary as dictated by proper procedure and observance to the process of responsible government should these people remain in office.
The "petty" principle pales in comparison to realities on the ground. Any cries of outrage at an attempt to impeach, to try, to convict and imprison these criminals should be met with the scorn and contempt for our nation that has been foisted upon us for these many years, times three.
Times ten.
...but, then again -- you, and I, and we already know this. It will be incumbent upon the new Congress to take this charge of realigning our government with our founding principles, and to do so with expedience and efficiency that belie the paramount importance of the task. For if we do not find it within the next Congress to right the wrongs of the past six years, and if these clowns of ultimate buffoonery are permitted to complete their terms unchallenged, unchecked and undeterred, then we will have well and truly lost that which our forefathers bequeathed to us; the "American Dream" will be lost, replaced by a cheap imitation born of marketing genius and built by cheap offshore labor.
And most likely stamped "Made in China" somewhere on the bottom.
