Gelding Congress: House Censure would be the Final Cut of the Knife

[babylonsister]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/25494

Gelding Congress: House Censure would be the Final Cut of the Knife
Submitted by dlindorff on Mon, 2007-08-06 22:33. Impeachment

By Dave Lindorff

The do-nothing Democrat-led Congress, fresh from handing President Bush the power to spy on Americans without any judicial oversight, and just weeks after providing full funding for the continuation of the bloody war and occupation in Iraq, is now mounting an all-out campaign to co-opt and bury the growing grass-roots campaign to impeach President Bush and Cheney.

With 19 members of the House now signed on as supporters of Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich’s bill to impeach Cheney (H Res 333), a group which includes six, or more than a quarter of the House Judiciary Committee, and with polls showing clearly that a majority of Americans want impeachment of the president and vice president, it is getting harder and harder for the party leadership to keep a lid on this movement.

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The words are powerful but the remedy for those words is not censure. The remedy for abuses of power and for the high crimes described by Hinchey and by Feingold is impeachment.

In Feingold’s case, a censure motion might make sense, as it would allow Senate critics of Bush’s and Cheney’s clear abuses of power to go on record opposing and condemning the actions. The Senate, after all, has no role in impeachment, only in conviction and removal from office.

But Hinchey is another matter. Hinchey, to date, has not even signed on as a co-sponsor of Kucinich’s much narrower impeachment bill against Cheney.

One has to wonder why not, given his clear awareness of the seriousness of the president’s and vice president’s crimes. Perhaps Hinchey thinks impeachment has no chance because of the opposition to it by Pelosi and other House leaders. But by offering censure as an alternative, he is simply helping them kill off the growing call for impeachment by offering a lesser alternative.

The sad thing is that Hinchey’s censure motion, if it passes, besides giving members of Congress cover for not supporting a genuine impeachment bill, will do absolutely nothing to stop the Bush/Cheney destruction of the Constitution. Besides being laughed off by the White House, it will be viewed by future presidents not as a sign that Congress “stood up” and “formally condemned” the abuses, but rather that they have nothing to fear any more from Congress and the impeachment clause.

Hinchey’s censure motion will be the final cut of the knife in the gelding of Congress.
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DAVE LINDORFF is co-author, with Barbara Olshansky, of “The Case for Impeachment: the Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and available now in paperback). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

[marmar]

1. To be a witness to the destruction of American democracy is downright depressing....

I never thought I'd see anything like this here. K&Red with a heavy heart. :cry:

[mikelgb]

4. the House erupted in applause when the FISA bill passed

:puke:

[Solly Mack]

2. ...

...

...

[DeSwiss]

3. My sentiments precisely. With a heavey heart K&R. n/t

[Fearless]

5. This is how it looks to me

Congress doesn't think it'll keep the majority if they "look weak on terra". However, if they keep doing it, they won't get reelected either. Please help? How about when in doubt, do what's right? Seems a little obvious to me.