Impeachment
July 31, 2007
According to Think Progress, Washington State representative Jay Inslee intends to have the Congress look into impeaching Alberto Gonzales. It’s a step.
I’ve been more or less ambivalent on the impeachment issue for several years; I’ve been concerned that it’s not politically feasible. Or that it would be a distraction. But there have to be criminal consequences for what this administration has done. If we let them off with mere censure — or less — then how can anyone take us seriously?
There are so many reasons to impeach Bush and Cheney. If Congress had been doing its oversight job instead of its lapdog impersonation, Bush and Cheney would have been impeached in the first term. They should have been impeached the instant they put an American citizen out of reach of the judicial system. Then we probably wouldn’t have had to debate torture, the suspension of habeas corpus, warrantless wiretapping, or any of the other nonsense this unitary executive theory has spawned. This administration demonstrated long ago that it didn’t think it was answerable to anyone, and now it’s time to force these spoiled brats to realize that yes, indeed, they are.
Impeaching Gonzales might help. It’s clear that the only reason he’s still in charge at the Justice Department is he can use the Justice Department to interfere with Congressional investigations and obstruct — not dispense — justice. But we can’t let it stop at him.
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July 31st, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I just can’t see this Congress doing anything productive and certainly not anything against anyone involved with this administration. They can’t even get the people from the White House to show up that they’ve served with a subpoena.
July 31st, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Ultimately, our politicians respond to public pressure. If there’s no public pressure — because we’re not paying attention or we think it’s hopeless — then they won’t respond. We have to do something productive before they do something productive.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Public pressure or not, nothing will happen to this administration. Our only hope, at the end of the day, is that history judges fairly.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:48 pm
I’d rather work to get Gonzales impeached and fail than do nothing so that, when things are worse twenty or thirty years from now, I can sit back and say, “Told you so.”
Even if impeachment does fail, it can’t help but bring increased attention to issues I’m sure the administration would be happy to see just go away. And that’s a good thing.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:00 am
I admit I’m suffering from disillusionment and political burnout. It’s made worse by the fact that up here in Maine Olympia Snowe appears to have the same magical protection as the Bush administration — no matter how she Republican votes, she is amazingly well loved. I’ve never heard someone say “I held my nose while voting” so many times.
And at least she responds when I contact her office with something other than form letters. She always seems to have put thought into her replies, even if it’s doublespeak.
Susan Collins always sends me form letters.