Reply #51: Really? When did the impeachophobes grow a backbone? [View All]

[pat_k]

Action speaks louder than words. Opposition to the immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney trumps all the tough talk, "educating," and hope mongering -- it is a declaration that Bush is right and/or Democrats are weak political hacks who refuse to fight for the principles they give lip service to.

When principle demands action, the Democratic leadership has stubbornly refused to use of the weapons we gave them. The balance of powers is not "co-equal." With the power to impeach, we gave Congress the ultimate trump card. As things stand today, the next time principle demands action, I see no reason to believe they would use the power that few more seats gives them.

The "professionals" on Capital Hill occupy a looking glass world in which casting a losing "no" vote against a Supreme Court nominee, but refusing to join in a united filibuster, is accepted as "opposition." Where leaving the massive power of the American Presidency in the hands of war criminals is being "high minded." Where embracing torturers is "moving forward."

Beltway "conventional wisdom" (irrational, fear-driven, groupthink) is so intractable because it is so deeply entrenched. It kept Dems from impeaching Reagan and Bush I. It kept them from standing up and rejecting the invalid Florida electors on January 6th, 2001. It drove them to pass the authorization to use military force. It kept them on the sidelines when the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Senator Barbara Boxer stood and objected to the invalid Ohio electors on January 6th 2005. It drove them to pass the War Criminals Protection Act of 2006.

Groupthink in a closed system is a powerful force, but it can be broken with intensive "treatment" (i.e., persistent, direct, in your face challenge from outsiders). More and more outsiders are stepping in challenging the folks on the Hill. There's a growing number of examples that we are "getting through." We've brought about things we were told were absolutely impossible. Tubbs-Jones and Boxer DID stand and object. It was long in coming but Articles against Bush and Cheney WERE been introduced.

We're making inroads, but as far as I can tell, the 111th Congressional leaders remain as deeply in the grips of beltway blindness as the 110th.

We CAN change that by continuing to hammer them on Impeachment. Because the rationalizations for refusing to impeach are the quintessential example of beltway lunacy, this is a fight that's worthwhile, whatever the outcome. As we challenge these quintessential examples -- Can't win; won't fight; Keep our power dry; We'll be destroyed by backlash; Too 'divisive' (as if dividing fascist followers from anti-fascists was a bad thing) -- we are chipping away at a wall that we'll be up against in future battles.

We have twelve weeks. We may not succeed in making impeachment a reality, but for the sake of our future and our self-esteem as Americans, I believe we must try.