Okay, Definately Not, Then
Karl Rove is, apparently, not going to be indicted. Liberals are, understandably, dismayed. But as I have tried to explain to the rabidly "Impeach Bush Now!" crowd, we shouldn't get so monomaniacally focused on punishment that we forget the main goal: winning back control of the government. Bush is not going to be impeached, even if the Democrats stumble into control of both Houses of Congress. He's going to leave office January 20, 2009, open a library, ghost-write some whitewashed memoirs and start making money on the rubber-chicken circuit. He will never be punished for the myriad sins of his Administration and he will never ever admit he was wrong. And Karl Rove isn't going to jail. Deal with it. It might even be for the best. Then get out and fight like hell to get Democrats elected in November. Taking back Congress in '06 and the White House in '08 is the best revenge.
Labels: Karl Rove
posted by The Local Crank | 10:40 PM
2 Comments:
Arguments Against Bush Impeachment...
•But won't we then get President Cheney?
Any impeachment process would include Cheney, and probably Rumsfeld and Rice. It would also disgrace the entire Bush Administration.
•We should wait until after Democrats gain majority status after the November elections, or else we'll seem too 'extreme.'
SHEDDING LIGHT ON BUSH'S CRIMES AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY'S COMPLICITY IN THOSE CRIMES IS THE BEST WAY TO GET DEMOCRATS ELECTED. Demanding impeachment is one effective way of doing that. (We need a Democratic majority in Congress in order to get subpoena power. This will allow us to finally investigate the crimes that this administration has been committing, which will lead to impeachment.)
Secondly, demanding that crimes be investigated IS NOT extreme.
Further, waiting until November - in addition to hurting us in the elections - will leave us complicit in any further crimes Bush commits. The Union of Concerned Scientists has estimated that the death toll from a "tactical" nuclear weapon of the kind Bush is contemplating using in Iran would be at minimum 3 million men, women, and children. The path of death would stretch across country boundaries into India.
Also, there's no guarantee Democrats will gain majority status after the November elections. So our strategy shouldn't rely upon it.
•It'll never happen, the republicans will block it.
Today's impossibility is tomorrow's reality. All we need is for a few Republican Congress members to realize that tying their political future to Bush reduces their chances of getting elected. Remember, one way or another, Bush is gone by 2008 — but members of Congress may retain their offices beyond that date. Bush's poll numbers are extremely low, and most Americans support impeachment. This means that if we make the pressure unbearable for Republican members of Congress, they'll turn on him to keep their own seats (like they did with Nixon). It's already starting to happen. While the Republicans have behaved unethically in the last few years, it's important to understand that this is related to their warped view of what's in their self-interest. Let's wake them up to their true self-interest (impeaching the president), by showing them our support for impeachment now!
Finally , making sure you can look back and be proud of your opposition to this tyranny is priceless.
•It hurts the democracy to go through a presidential impeachment.
Holding government officials accountable for their actions strengthens our democracy. Letting lawlessness stand weakens it.
•If we don't support our president, we aid the terrorists.
We support terrorism when we fail to deal with its root causes (poverty, lack of education, support of dictatorships, etc.). We also support it by enabling a president who creates breeding grounds for terrorists — like Iraq has now become, thanks to our invasion and occupation.
Middle Eastern countries upset with the oppressive international policies of the past and current administration might think better of the U.S. if we appeared to learn from our mistakes by impeaching a president who has been so instrumental in that oppression.
Side note:
Some Democratic Members of Congress have indicated that they're not currently pursuing Bush's impeachment. While this is upsetting, they percieve it to be in their (and the Democratic Party's) political best interest. At least until the political pressure builds. There are also other reasons they're waiting. But, one of the things they're waiting for is us. We are part of the process. They're waiting for us to help them out, by legitimizing their support for the process. Having millions of ImpeachForPeace.org's "Do-It-Yourself Impeachment" arrive at their door is how that happens.
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."
Bush, June 18, 2002
"War is Peace"
Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984
While I appreciate your arguments, causal, I must say again: not. gonna. happen. Bush is not going to be impeached, nor Cheney, nor Rumsfeld, nor Rice. It's not going to happen with Republicans running Congress and it's not going to happen with Democrats running Congress (particularly given that Democrats are unlikely to carry both Houses). Investigation is a good idea, though frankly Congress is much more likely to screw up any possible criminal procedings as they did with Iran-Contra, which is why Oliver North is now a millionaire instead of in prison where he belongs. I am much more interested in reversing Bush Administration policies than I am in seeing Bush impeached, Cheney convicted or anything else. To that end, I prefer to see the energy currently being spent on blasting Bush, circulating petitions for his impeachment and so forth directed instead toward electing Democrats. If Bush's disastrous economic, environmental and foreign policies are reversed, I can live with him escaping any punishment.
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