Thoughts from a friend (emailed after election)

[katty]

Friends,


To impeach or not to impeach?...is not really the question.

How will justice best be served?... is the better question.


Democrats have several options as the 110th Congress comes to power:



1. Rush into Washington with hair on fire and immediately launch into

impeachment proceedings. This option is exceptionally partisan in approach and

clearly retaliatory in spirit and design. We should deeply ponder the real

distinction between justice and retaliation.



2. Take hold -- with a calm, wise and firm grasp--of the full mandate given to them by the

voters, who included Democrats, Republicans, Independents and, yes, Evangelicals.

A deliberate and comprehensive investigation of what has happened to our country,

from energy policy to 9-11 and beyond, can reveal down to the bedrock how far our

country has strayed from its original design. Most Americans can be moved by our true

national and constitutional values, if led to that conclusion with a spirit that embraces

the legitimate interests of all stakeholders.



A spirit of partisan emotionalism, expediency and vindictiveness will close the doors of

opportunity that have so gloriously swung open with this election. We should not forget

that the first cause of this electoral victory was abhorrence of corruption that crossed

party lines and cut deeply into the American soul. There is so much more to reveal than

merely impeachable offenses. We have the opportunity to dissolve a wholesale moral

nightmare that very nearly cost us our country. Deep, thorough, measured and

relentless investigations into everything in the clear light of day will result, I believe, in truth, justice and reconciliation.



3. Do nothing to address the outrages of the past six years and pursue business as

usual. This option is clearly a non-starter.



Option number 1 will provide instant, though short-lived, gratification to some Democrats who have agonized for six long years over the maelstrom of corruption, secrecy and anti-constitutional power-brokering that has sucked our political landscape into the abyss. Then what? First, an even deeper polarization of our nation will result. Factions will bolt back into the barricades and we may have another devastating decade of gridlock and power struggles, by which time our country may collapse under the weight of an endless war in Iraq, economic breakdown and runaway climate change.



Impeachment proceedings launched straight out of the starting gate by a temporary Democratic majority will probably not succeed. True, Democrats have a majority, but not a super-majority. Even if they succeed with impeachment prior to the 2008 presidential election, this exercise will galvanize the Republican base and a future Republican president may simply pardon GW Bush, just as Ford pardoned Nixon. Or, a Democrat may squeak into the White House with a deeply divided country on his or her hands, with no consensual moral mandate from the people.



Democrats will be viewed as no more accomplished in political maturity, than the Republicans were when they impeached Bill Clinton. Impeachment will be seen as a quid pro quo for Clinton’s impeachment, even though the magnitude of the Bush administration’s wrongdoing is geometric in proportion. The all-important magnitude of wrongdoing will be made irrelevant, because it will be framed as a petty, political tit for tat. We cannot allow the magnitude of wrongdoing to be framed as “simply partisan political bickering.” This is how neo-conservatives have always framed -- and then summarily dismissed -- our concerns about the actions of the current administration.



Option 2 will require a degree of wisdom and humble acceptance of an historical opportunity perhaps not seen since the framers of our Constitution first met in Philadelphia. There, they addressed all the abuses of King George in the most comprehensive manner imaginable. They achieved – not mere retribution or a temporary victory in battle – but an entirely new vision, combined with an ultra-practical framework that carried this incipient nation of ours, as well as Great Britain, into a new dawn of democracy.



The 110th Congress faces an equally historic sea change, which must be managed with wisdom equal to or exceeding that of our Founding Fathers. They must perform a nearly super-human feat of multi-tasking:

¨ they must embrace those voters who fled their corrupt mega-churches in a supreme act of faith to vote Democratic;

¨ they must embrace and answer the human needs of all Americans, with workable strategies for jobs, education and health care;

¨ they must impartially and comprehensively investigate everything that has occurred behind the veil of secrecy and deceit, giving the gift of face-saving and honorable collaboration to those true conservatives who were equally wounded by neo-cons;

¨ they must restore public confidence in our Constitution without resorting to witch-hunts;

¨ they must restore the integrity of our voting system immediately;

¨ they must bring a viable end to the war in Iraq;

¨ they must bring our spiraling deficit under control;

¨ they must rescue our environment from complete degradation

¨ and they must signal to our citizens and to the world that the neo-conservative movement -- and America’s abdication to it -- has resoundingly and permanently collapsed.



This they must do with power, poise and equanimity. The 110th Congress must couple the painful revelations of corruption and abuse of power with the healing balm of practical measures that knit our country back together with a spirit of care and inclusiveness for all our citizens. This Congress should patiently educate the people so they are capable of embracing their own best interests politically. Only then, when an enlightened citizenry understands the common core values that have been so severely corrupted, will it be appropriate to consider the demand for impeachment by all the people, if such a demand is voiced. Meanwhile, this Congress must work doggedly toward the above objectives without attachment to a pre-determined outcome, such as impeachment.

[peacebird]

1. your friend is wise, let's hope our washington dems choose option 2.

k&r

[katty]

2. yup, I will go for Opt #2

[gratuitous]

3. An old joke my college chaplain told me

Two bulls are standing on a hill, overlooking a pasture full of cows. The younger bull is practically dancing with delight at the sight, and says to the older bull, "Let's run down there and get us one of those cows!" The older bull looks at the younger bull, shifts his cud from one side of his mouth to the other and says laconically, "Son, let's walk down there . . . and get 'em all."

[katty]

5. good one!

[Lexingtonian]

4. well...sorta typical, unfortunately

There's the Republican-ish projection that Democrats would do what Republicans would do- excessive retaliation. There's the wishful thinking and guessing, from an outside look at liberalism and thinking that we're hierarchists, that All Is Forgiven if Republicans give enough contrite lip service and fealty. And we're imputed to be soft in a Mommie way that enough Republican nice-ness will mean our side gives them a generous amount of power back and doesn't puncture their vanity (their sense of their own virtue) badly. Oh, and after the Other Team f-cked things up with their classless adamant and often fanatical consent, we're now supposed to play the role of classy Saviors or Superheroes!!! who rescue people...so that they can escape the consequences of their own stupidity and continue to live their lives in unregenerate conservative selfdelusions.

Oh, and after the Civil War ended, in their version of the world the Union said "Hey, it's okay, you Confederates just carry on with slavery and imperialism. Just keep it away from where we have to see it. We didn't really care about that, the war was merely an ego trip for us."

I don't see what relevance this person's questions and 'solutions' have. We're a pretty exhausted side too, and we're going to have to let most of this Right wing absurdity and 'conservative' nonsense just collapse on its own and let it take down whatever Republican power it props up with it. Sure, we'll give dying and decrepit things a last push over the cliff, but it's projection that we take it all as some intolerable challenge to our egos. For the personal level abuses inside the Beltway people will retaliate in a commensurate way, that's the way it works out in every workplace in America and it can't be stopped. Nor do Right wingers respect charity or generosity- they very much demand to be beaten to their knees and onto their bellies, but that constitutes the proof to them that they respect. (They believe power ultimately concentrates to its full force only behind truth; dispersed/ineffectual power is to them a sign of ambiguity, which they are unable to respect as truthful.)

But the basic assumption of this person's letter is that the country will remain solidly center-Right for the next few years. He's in denial that the Right is imploding and the center simply will not remain pegged to it and share its demise. Sure, the center won't peg itself to the Left rapidly, but without a viable Right the status quo that is assumed simply by this person is a delusion.