| The phrase vote impeach , seems to me, is being spoken more and more as we are approaching the halfway point of the second term of George Bush's presidency. It appears people are beginning to realize the commander in chief and his circle of spin doctors have been lying to them. Well I say, duh... what in the heck took you so long?
What do we know now that we didn't know when we elected this guy two years ago? The lies that are being dumped on the American public today are the same lies that were being told two years ago. Lies about al qaeda and its connection to Saddam Hussein, lies about Guantanamo Bay detainees, lies about torture occurring at US detention centres. The list goes on. Impeaching a president is not an easy task. Anyone who remembers the Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinski fiasco of the late 1990's will attest to that. Vote impeach was on the lips of an awful lot of Americans during that time. As a matter of fact the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Clinton in December 1998.
Just two months later though, he was acquitted by the senate when they failed to get the two thirds majority required to convict. The vote was on the charges of “perjury” and “obstruction of justice”. Although there was overwhelming evidence to support both charges, the vote basically followed party lines.
Republicans voted guilty, Democrats voted not guilty. In other words the question wasn't guilty or not guilty but rather are you Republican or Democrat. Ain't that the good old American way?
In George Bush's case the term vote impeach, or not, will never make it to the senate or the House of Representatives but there is a growing movement among the general public for such action, although again it is being fuelled along party lines. The town of Newfane , Vermont in March of this year passed a resolution calling on their member in the House of Representatives to file articles of impeachment against the president.
Subsequent to the action taken by the people of Newfane, at least four other towns in Vermont passed similar resolutions. In the case of the Newfane resolution the voters with vote impeach on their minds listed five charges against George Bush.
Not exactly as listed they stated (1) Misled the nation about Iraq 's weapons of mass destruction. (2) Misled the nation about ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda. (3) Used falsehoods to lead our nation into war not supported by international law. (4) Not told the truth about American policy with respect to the use of torture. And finally (5) has directed the government to engage in domestic spying, in direct contravention of US law. It is tough to argue against any of these charges whatever political stripe you are.
These aren't just charges; they are well known public facts. As was noted in the case of Bill Clinton, things like facts and truth aren't as important as political persuasion. Now, since both the House and the Senate is now controlled by the republicans, it goes without saying these resolutions or articles of impeachment will never take hold. Truth, justice and the American way, I think not. |
