"The I-Word is Gaining Ground" (The Nation)

[kpete]

Katrina vanden Heuvel

BLOG | Posted 12/27/2005 @ 10:12am
The I-Word is Gaining Ground

Fast forward to December 2005. Not one official in the entire Bush Administration has been fired or indicted, not to mention impeached, for the shedding of American blood in Iraq or for the shredding of our Constitution at home. As Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter put it--hours after the New York Times reported that Bush had authorized NSA wiretapping of US citizens without judicial warrants--this President has committed a real transgression that "goes beyond sex, corruption and political intrigue to big issues like security versus liberty and the reasonable bounds of presidential power."

In the last months, several organizations, including AfterDowningStreet, Impeach Central and ImpeachPAC.org, have formed to urge Bush's impeachment. But until very recently, their views were virtually absent in the so-called "liberal" MSM, and could only be found on the Internet and in street protests.

But the times they are a' changin'. The I-word has moved from the marginal to the mainstream--although columnists like Charles "torture-is-fine-by-me" Krauthammer would like us to believe that "only the most brazen and reckless and partisan" could support the idea. In fact, as Michelle Goldberg reports in Salon, "in the past few days, impeachment "has become a topic of considered discussion among constitutional scholars and experts (including a few Republicans), former intelligence officers, and even a few politicians." Even a moderately liberal columnist like Newsweek's Alter sounds like The Nation, observing: "We're seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator.


There are many reasons why it is crucial that the Democrats regain control of Congress in '06, but consider this one: If they do, there may be articles of impeachment introduced and the estimable John Conyers, who has led the fight to defend our constitution, would become Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Wouldn't that be a truly just response to the real high crimes and misdemeanors that this lawbreaking president has so clearly committed?

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=45006#comment

[babylonsister]

1. Yes, Katrina! Fitting to start w/a quote from DeLay that

has bitten him on his behind! :applause:

[Xipe Totec]

27. Luke 19:22

"And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant."

[More Than A Feeling]

2. John Conyers as the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee

Lovely thought. No one deserves it more than he.

[New Earth]

18. i would cry

happy tears of course :cry:

[FreedomAngel82]

23. That would be great

He does deserve it. Conyers has been the hardest working man in DC this past year. Thank God for patriots like him and others who have been fighting for us.

[PegDAC]

29. I dream

of John Conyers as Speaker of the House!
:thumbsup: :patriot:

[Vincardog]

3. Take the House and (I) the Chimp. That is the only satisfactory outcome

Edit to add
That includes The vise PRESIDENT Cheney and the whole corrupt cabal.

[Kagemusha]

4. I'm going to make a mistake and get serious for a minute..

Are people seriously proposing here having a SIMULTANEOUS trial to judge articles of impeachment for both the President and Vice-President, and try to make a future Democratic Party Speaker of the House a President from 2006 onward? Is that what you're all arguing here?

Certainly, it's POSSIBLE - it was meant to be possible, in a case of egregious abuse in the open that somehow did not lead to either a suspension of elections or civil war - but actually getting the public, or for that matter, the political establishment, the media, and the military, to accept such a thing, is really stretching credibility...

[meganmonkey]

6. I think the credibility stretch is that

we can imagine that our nation's highest leaders can break laws to this extent and the nation will just sit by and watch. That criminals can get away with something like this.

That is a huge stretch in my mind.

Maybe if we start acting like we have a real democracy with checks & balances it could happen.

:shrug:

[petgoat]

9. Though Cheney and Bush are eminently impeachable, the logistics are

a problem. Unless both are impeached simultaneously and Bush refuses to
appoint a new (and unimpeachable) Veep, the Speaker isn't going to be
President.

IMHO if the public knew the suppressed truth about the 2000 election (Gore won),
about the failure to respond to clear pre-9/11 warnings, about the lies leading us
to Iraq, and about the voting machines, they would be howling for Bush to be sent to
The Hague.

[WLKjr]

5. I have been hearing it more and more

I just keep saying it and saying why the I word is the only way to deal with the snoop gate scandle.

[Cleita]

7. Mike Malloy on Randi Rhodes imagines that

the corporate secret government that put him in the White House are going to take him out because he isn't following orders as closely as he should. Mike actually said that he wasn't keeping the low profile they expected him to.

This doesn't make me feel that good because it means the same cabal still hold the reins.

[PATRICK]

30. Can't

It is too late. The same as for Hitler when he reached a certain point. The road to disaster seems clear as daylight but fear of losing everything and fear personally(don't discount the fact that the Bush cabal will not take kindly to individuals who breathe dissent in important circles) and of course foul complicity and fear of public backlash, make them stride with MacBeth into the oceans of blood in the remaining hope that by completely going into the crime they will be at least protected by its success.

This is not just about war as with the mammoth WWII situation, in the aftermath of which corporations were lovingly treated to rebuild the mess. This time, the bungling business crimes of Bush Inc. can drag down a huge net. A new cabal? Maybe after the people are done bringing La Terreur de Justice to money America.

Oceans of blood don't worry the stock market more than panic or loss of confidence, no matter how dangerously unreal.

Don't underestimate either the culture of blindness and self-blindness among these unindicted co-conspirators. They have been so trained on lapping up the goodies and the feel good ideology that a sudden conversion in any sense(they wouldn't be wildly successful plutocrats without single mindedness) is so rare as to dampen any real chance of "populist plutocracy" coalescing into a counter group. Are we AGAIN expecting the storied elite to ride to the rescue? The people with the least practical sense of common humanity and egos built on greed and materialism?

The military goes along with its own destruction, no Ike now to defend them. The news media lives in triumphant shame and denial. The Dems have been self-trained to not pass the RW invisible fence. The various advocacy groups delegated by members to act specifically on certain issues are compromised and isolated and tested to reveal failures about themselves THEY don't want to see. Lost in the muddle is the salient invisible fact that the majority of Americans have- not yet- actually voted for this downfall. they have just lost everything they delegated upwards for the common good.

[greiner3]

8. Is anyone keeping track;

Of all the media that has come out publicly for impeachment?

[IndyOp]

28. I bet that the groups pushing hardest for impeachment are tracking...

AfterDowningStreet.org/CensureBush.org, Impeach Central, and ImpeachPAC.org

[mia]

10. Story is also gaining ground on Yahoo news - rate it!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20051227/cm_thenation/745006;_ylt=Au3BfZfr7gzVu0kqOXeGm678B2YD;_ylu=X3oDMTA4MzQ0N2p2BHNlYwMxNzA0

As Editor & Publisher recently reported, the idea of impeaching Bush has entered the mainstream media's circulatory system--with each day producing more op-eds and articles on the subject. Joining the chorus on Christmas Eve, conservative business magazine Barron's published a lengthy editorial excoriating the president for committing a potentially impeachable offense. "If we don't discuss the program and lack of authority of it," wrote Barron's editorial page editor Thomas Donlan, "we are meeting the enemy--in the mirror."

Public opinion is also growing more comfortable with the idea of impeaching this president. A Zogby International poll conducted this summer found that 42 percent of Americans felt that impeaching Bush would be justified if it was shown that he had manipulated intelligence in going to war in Iraq. (John Zogby admitted that "it was much higher than I expected.") By November, the number of those who favored impeaching Bush stood at 53 percent--if it was in fact proven that Bush had lied about the basis for invading Iraq. (And these polls were taken before the revelations of Bush's domestic spying.)

[Raydawg1234]

11. Lets be smart here people, Impeachment is only a trial.

I am sick and tired of hearing this word mis-used by the supposedly enlightened people on DU. The house of reps. can vote to begin impeachment proceedings. There is then a trial in the senate, afterwords they vote on whether they REMOVE THE PRESIDENT FROM OFFICE or not. Lets use this term correctly, and say Bush Needs to be Removed from office!

P.S. Clinton was impeached a few years ago, but he remained in office, didn't he? Lets use the correct term.

[oasis]

19. Impeachment is the first step. No second step without the first. The word

is being used properly, not only by "the supposed enlightened people on DU" but the mainstream media as well.

But please feel free to use the terminolgy that you feel comfortable with.:hi:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

22. "Supposedly Enlightened People On Du?" Shame on you for that one.

We all know what it means and what the process is. Those that ARE enlightened know that to get to point B you have to first gain success with point A. Impeachment is point A and is 100% absolutely the right thing to be calling out right now.

I think your knock against the majority of DU is hypocritical and ironic.

[Raydawg1234]

12. self delete (repost)

[Raydawg1234]

13. self delete(repost)

[gordianot]

14. Do the trial, people need to know what they voted for the media will not.

[Hubris Heaver]

15. the I word should be

IMPRISON. We should be calling for a trial, not just articles of impeachment.

Indict.Impeach.Imprison.

These people are criminals and need to not just be slapped politically, but made to pay for their crimes. No-one should be above the law.

[upperleftedge]

16. Peace & Impeachment in '06

Say it loud, say it proud!

Imprisonment only comes after impeachment and thus as a nation of laws, not men, that is our first step. If we were a nation of men we would run the whole lot of them out or DC on a rail. Impeachment leads to imprisonment if done right. I'm in no hurry to avoid the Constitutional process. Thus, I differ from Mr. Bush. Will Mr. Bush have a chance to select a new VP if we indict the current one? Will the Democrats win the House in '06 and appoint Nancy Polosi as Speaker? And after the Senate convicts Mr. Bush will his selected VP be confirmed by the Congress and become President or will Ms. Polosi? And what if Mr. Bush doesn't get to select a new VP? What if the Democrats don't win control of the House? Will the Republicans step up and try to defend the Constitution? We do in fact live in interesting times. I wouldn't have missed this for the world!


Buckle your seat belts it's going to be a bumpy ride.

[texpatriot2004]

17. Impeach the Son of a Bush already! nm

[Higans]

20. We the People

[deacon]

21. They set a standard against clinton, it's their job to impeach immediatley

[sweetheart]

24. "I - Ching" - coming together (massing)

A roll for the current conundrum of the BFEE and impeachment:
6.8 --- ---
5.7 -------
4.7 -------
3.8 --- ---
2.8 --- ---
1.8 --- ---

Tui (lake) over K'un (earth)
45 - gathering together (massing)

"Where men are to be gathered together, religious forces are needed.
But there must be a human leader to serve as a center of the group.
In order to be able to bring others together, this leader must first of all be
collected within himself. Only collective moral force can unite the world.
Such great times of unification will leave great achievements behind them.
This is the significance of the great offerings that are made. In the secular
sphere likewise there is need of great deeds in the time of "gathering together".

The image: over the earth: the lake. The image of gathering together
Thus the superior person renews weapons in order to meet the unforseen.

If the water in the lake gathers unitl it rises above the earth,
there is danger of a break-through. Precautions must be taken to
prevent this. Similarly where men gather together in great numbers,
strife is likely to arise; where possessions are collected, robber is
likely to occur. Thus in the time of "gathering together" we must arm
promptly to ward off the unexpected. Human woes usually come as a result
of unexpected events which we are not forearmed. If we are prepared,
they can be prevented."

I read this hexigram, in this context, that the "leader", is "impeaching
bush" per the question in this thread. The hexagram rolled with coins shows
that this is a fortunitous massing, as at the end of the passage, "impeachemnt"
is what we are "forearmed" with. It is the weapon we are "renewing" by
massing and coming together.

[Nothing Without Hope]

25. K & R. Even if Cheney is removed too, the power would go to someone

unworthy of it - but it would be a start.

If we wait until "elections," complete with the hacking links to the central tabulators, we might as well give up.

And I do expect another 9/11-like attack if impeachment starts picking up more momentum. It may happen anyway to "justify" a desired and planned attack on iran in a few months, before their Euro-based oil bourse gets off the ground.

[muchacho]

26. change the House and let's get busy

[PATRICK]

31. How things gain ground

in the MSM when they don't want to hear it. "Libruls and activists" and "certain quarters" and "whispers in the corridors" are the first baby steps to the media noticing the obvious, bowing to the fact. It is taking a little more life than massive vote fraud issues simply because Bush boldly challenged the country on national TV.

I would like to LEVEL this mountain of obstruction every crying truth is forced to crawl up, under constant fire, on hands and knees with molten lead being poured down by people trying to ignore the whole upsetting thing. Every attempt to get at the truth confronts the same kneejerk demonization of the dissenter, messenger, and the same systematic ignoring or squelching or spinning of the outrage. Lunacy RULES the game which should never have been a game. the board should be tossed and burned, the players, a minority of over-privileged complicit lie-aholics shoved aside into a small corner of social oblivion where they can do no more harm.

[FizzFuzz]

32. Clinton's impeachment was easy because people knew deep down

that it was a joke. No one had to look critically at themselves or think about anything of substance. It was a piece of cake to sneer and harrumph self-rightously at the "sex-scandal".

This is very different. THis is the real deal, a president that is endangering the country, the planet and the people. That's alot harder to accept, and says some pretty horrible things about anyone who supported the RW fascist line.