Saturday, June 30, 2007

On Impeachment

One of my kinda-sorta relatives sent me this email the other day:

There goes all respect I HAD for Obama..... He was a lecturer in constitutional law, and says impeachment should be reserved for grave breaches of presidential powers. Sounds pretty hypocritical to me.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/28/america/NA-POL-US-Obama-No-Impeachment.php

To which I responded thusly:

I wouldn't be too hard on him.

I KNOW W's a criminal, and really should be impeached/jailed/executed for treason/etc, but I've also heard several people/sources say that during an impeachment, NOTHING else gets done in Congress. Plus, when it comes down to voting to throw him out, I really doubt that they could muster enough repugnican votes to do it since it takes a 2/3s majority to declare a guilty verdict. Even if they did get him out (and they'd have to get rid of Cheney simultaneously), he's got so many incompetent cronies in place, it would take his remaining term and then some, to root them all out and replace them, so still nothing (or very little) would get done. So it seems like any way you look at it, we're fucked.

Sure, I'd much rather have Obama be more blunt and say something about how much he wishes he could impeach the bastard but can't because the republicans are just going to continue stand in the way of anything good for the country, but I suppose he has to worry about any little thing he says being twisted by Rove and his minions. Maybe he's being cautious for naught, since Rove will twist this anyway.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris -

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Regards,

Tengrain

Dale said...

Ok, so you have a point. Maybe I still respect him a little. I guess I can't hate him, not after hearing his "bus in the ditch" analogy.

Dr. Zaius said...

I totally agree! You point out the dilemma for the Democrats very eloquently. In the article, Obama says:

"I believe if we began impeachment proceedings we will be engulfed in more of the politics that has made Washington dysfunction," he added. "We would once again, rather than attending to the people's business, be engaged in a tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, nonstop circus."

Your post rocks!

Chris in Seattle said...

Wow. My first comments. Ten, Dr Z, Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to make suggestions as to how I can improve this thing. Meet Dale, part relative, part friend; relafriend I guess. He stopped by and found that I didn't have my comments opened up. Don't think I'd get too many hits if only I could comment.

enigma4ever said...

very heartbreaking...I respect Obama...but this can not happen...the Criminals in the WH do need to face JUSTICE.....PERIOD....nice blog...keep blogging it...

Anonymous said...

Again, good points made in your post.

I'm with enigma4ever, though. This isn't just about doing The People's Business for the next sixteen months; it's about the precedent which is being set re: the Rule of Law, the Unitary Executive concept and our long-term standing in the world.

If we don't repudiate Bush and his minions in the STRONGEST TERMS POSSIBLE we will continue to deserve the scorn and hatred of the rest of the world for a long, long time. And I for one don't want my kids to have to carry that cross.

Chris in Seattle said...

Mr Runt, I checked you out and I gotta say, you're post on the First Amendment is impressive. A couple of points/concepts I especially like:

the First Amendment wasn’t just about “freedom of speech” or “freedom of religion;” it was about defending DIALOG as a prerequisite for the existence of democracy itself!

and:

"...The First Amendment, safeguard(s) the free exchange of ideas and information so that We The People might make smart decisions regarding our collective destinies, and (is) predicated on the belief that reasonable people will draw logical conclusions from reliable information.

Do you write Civics textbooks?

Enigma... I heard about you on Pottersville and checked you out as well. The chemical dumping case... Is this the cause of the death of the Hood Canal? David Horsey makes reference to Cheney and a fish kill in today's Seattle PI.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the kind words, Chris.

No, I don't write textbooks, or anything else for that matter. I'm just a brown-collar poor boy who doesn't have a television. Gives me time to think, ya know?

I had the good fortune to stumble across Blue Gal a couple of months ago as my introduction to blogging, and she had the poor judgment to encourage me to start blogging myself! With 'Gal as my muse and her company of friends as my mentors I'm learning how to pass my half-formed brainstones.

I have a feeling you're gonna contribute mightily to the mix; again, welcome, and thanks for caring enough to contribute!

Chris in Seattle said...

Runt (if it's OK to call you that...?) It was an accident that got me here. I first started reading blogs about a year ago, when I was out of work for 3 months with a herniated disk. I've had some encouragement to do a blog myself, from other bloggers and from family, although in the latter case I think it was only in the hope it would give me an outlet and shut me up at get-to-gethers.

Blue Gal seems cool... a real champion of the little blogger. I've noticed her announce it before when commentators start their own blogs, just as she's done with me. Hopefully, I can get to know her well enough that she'll bring her herd over some time this summer for a barbecue. Actually, that's a sentiment I'll extend to her friends as well. (the wife's going to kill me when she reads this)

If I contribute at all, I'll be happy; the mightily part..? I'm not counting on it.