Changed My Mind

There is an important article on Truthdig.com about retired General Odom's position on Bush, and by extension, Cheney.

He recommends Impeachment.

I had not wanted to support that because:

A. I thought that it would be seen by the voters as just a tit-for-tat, retaliatory move by Democrats,wanting to get back at Republicans for impeaching Bill Clinton.

B. As much as I despise the hubris and arrogance of Bush/Cheney and company, and the damage they have done to our spirit, pride and faith in who we are as a people, I was not sanguine about the prospects for Impeachment. The requirements for bringing this action are so specific, even narrow, that the Bush crowd could not only fend them off, but turn them against their opponents as being frivolous and without merit.

C. However one might feel about the actions of one's government, pro or con, whether based on principal, faith or opinion, it is not admissible as cause for dismissal of that government.

Based on our Constitution, designed and established for our protection against the tyranny and excesses of monarchy, we were given, and have come to rely on , the vote to express our opinions; to trust that, on balance, the will of the people, as expressed in the outcome of their vote, is a valid expression of the people as a whole, a nation.

That requires patience to wait for the next election. Being a human being can include a wish, if not need for, immediate satisfaction; as in I'm hungry and need food. In the parliamentary system one gets, by proxy. a more immediate chance for satisfaction than in our system.

But, I have come to believe that there is a need to bring into play the Impeachment process provided by our Founders to protect us from those who want more to rule, than to govern.

Those who want to rule are clever but not wise. They are careful to cover their legal bases so as not to be found vulnerable to challenge on a strictly legal basis. They rely on the literal view of the law as opposed to the spirit of the law.

Those who ascribe to this approach have recently become more confident that they can have their way in view of the shift to the right of the Supreme Court, based on the apparent and recently obvious partisan votes of that so-called august and independent body.

Looking at this from the 40 thousand foot view, trying to see the forest for the trees, it seems to me that the Bush crowd is feeling its oats in their challenges with Congress over legal matters, in view of the Supreme's recent rulings, which obviously have been biased toward supporting Conservative agendas. The Bush crowd knows that this is their chance to get what they want done. Even if the Legistlative branch of government, Congress, stands up against them, they are feeling cocky enough to stonewall Congress and assume that they can count on the Supreme Court, as currently constituted, to rule in their favor.

General Odum expresses confidence in the moral power of the commonweal. I have come to back this idea, though not especially sanguine that it can work. But it should.

Leanderthal
Lighthouse Keeper