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CHINA'S GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS
Peter Kwong
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to one
of the most savagely repressed working class and peasantry on
the planet. How China's
leaders swapped Marx and Mao for Milton Friedman. Alexander Cockburn
on What's wrong with the U.S. left.
They're sitting in darkened rooms weaving conspiracy fantasies
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a movement; they're not doing enough to stop the war in Iraq.
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If George Bush were to be impeached,
would it make any difference? Whenever I receive emails or mass
mailings that bring up the topic of Bush's impeachment, that
is the question I asked. So, it was with some curiosity that
I began reading the book A
Case for Impeachment, by Dave Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky
(Thomas Dunne Books 2006). The process of impeachment has always
interested me, at least when it comes to our nation's presidents
and, if any president deserved to face some kind of consequences
for what he and his cronies have done to this country, George
Bush is certainly first in line.
As the title clearly states,
the authors of this text want to see Bush impeached. Do they
believe it will happen? To be honest, they have much more faith
in seeing an impeachment trial than I do. In fact, Lindorff
and Olshansky go on record declaring that if a Democratic majority
is elected to the House of Representatives in the November 2006
elections, we will see an impeachment resolution introduced.
I hope they are right on this (I would love to see Bush and
Cheney slowly twisting in the wind, to borrow Richard Nixon's
phrase), but I have my doubts about the fortitude of the current
crop of Democrats in power.
Either way, this book is written
with the intention of stirring up the pot, so to speak. The
authors want to see the impeachment process go beyond sign waving
at antiwar demonstrations and emails in liberal lefties mailboxes.
Indeed, they want the public's growing desire for impeachment
to go from the streets and hearths of this nation into a building
where those sentiments can make a difference. Where they can
result in impeachment and (one hopes) at least one conviction.
To this end, the bulk of the book proposes five articles of
impeachment with supporting documents. The articles address
the lies told by the Bush administration to lead the US into
the war in Iraq; domestic spying and eavesdropping; a charge
relating to the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame; the administration's
ignoring of warnings
prior to the attacks of 9-11 and subsequent stonewalling and
possible lying before Congress during investigations of the events
of that day; his knowledge of torture and other war crimes; and
abuses of power by his use of signing statements that essentially
deny the applicability of any law to him.
It is important to remember
that Bush needs to be convicted of only one charge.
The book begins with a discussion
of impeachment--its history, origins, context and uses over time.
Bill Clinton's experience with the process is discussed, but
Lindorff and Olshansky's focus is more on the impeachments of
Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon. The primary message that comes
through in this discussion is that impeachable offenses are not
necessarily indictable offenses. However, given the nature of
public officials' responsibility to the people whom they serve,
this is not an extraordinary expectation. Impeachable offenses
are those that destroy the trust of the populace and violate
the constitution.
Like every US president. George
Bush took an oath at his inauguration. That oath speaks of a
supreme being and the law. Most importantly, the person taking
that oath swears to "preserve, protect and defend"
the nations fundamental law-- the constitution. The articles
of impeachment presented here present a convincing argument that
Mr. Bush did not uphold that oath. this in itself, is the most
impeachable offense of all.
Like many US residents, I am
familiar with the abuses, lies and questionably legal actions
of the Bush administration. To see them arranged as Articles
of Impeachment in this text accompanied with arguments for such
a trial only makes the magnitude of these charges frightfully
clear. This is the greatest strength of this book. It makes
it abundantly clear in a concise and coherent manner, that George
Bush and his administration deserve to be impeached. In fact,
the authors even suggest that the impeachment hearings might
be better served if such hearing began with Mr. Cheney or another
subordinate. In this way, argue the authors, facts might appear
that would provide a clear avenue to Mr. Bush's impeachment and
conviction.
It is the process involved
in impeachment that the authors place their trust. Any individual
that remembers the series of hearings in 1973 and 1974 around
the crimes of Richard Nixon should understand why this is so.
The process of congressional hearings that impeachment entails
rips apart the lies and deceptions; the duplicities and deceit;
the coverups and crimes of the officials being investigated.
Indeed, the high crimes and misdemeanors that the impeached
official is charged with become apparent during this process.
Let us hope that those in the Bush administration that this
book charges with said offenses will face such a fate.
In 1973 and 1974, as the Nixon
administration circled its wagons, there was a fear that the
fragile freedoms and structures defined in the US constitution
would become history unless Richard Nixon was removed from office.
It is Lindorff and Olshansky's contention that this is an even
more likely--and frightening--possibility if George Bush is not
impeached. Indeed, as I write this, the Supreme Court just overturned
the White House's decision to hold so-called military tribunals
of the captives in Guantanamo Bay Prison. In response, the Congress
is already looking for ways to void this decision and make such
trials legal, despite their seeming unconstitutionality. This
decision and an earlier one that allows non-citizens to be held
without charges have already changed the intentional meaning
of the Bill of Rights--from guaranteeing these rights to citizens
only instead of to all persons, as written.
The complicity of the Congress
and the courts proves that the attack on the Constitution is
being waged from all three divisions of the US government. Impeaching
Bush and Cheney would not end the assault, but it would strike
a mighty blow. Like the Hydra of Herculean legend, the beast
of despotism has but one essential head and, when that head is
destroyed, the Hydra will be, too. The White House is that essential
head.
Impeachment will not solve
the many problems besetting this too-comfortable nation, but
it can begin the cure. For those who consider this to be a worthy
project, Lindorff and Olshansky's book is a necessary read.
CounterPunch
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CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
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