The Impeachment Of Dick Cheney

Public perception can beat the shit out of political nuance. The Bush Republicans know this and they have abused it for their own nefarious ends. The Democrats, on the other hand, have somehow overlooked this very basic rule of 21st Century American politics, which is a shame since they would more often than not use it for the betterment of the nation.

After all, one year ago yesterday, we elected the Democrats in overwhelming numbers to amplify our screaming voices to a decibel loud enough to penetrate the unchecked corridors of power in Washington -- we hired this party to speak for us and to use this expressed authority to end the war and to hold this historically unpopular executive regime accountable.

To date and with the exception of some admirable investigations by a few standout lawmakers, the Democrats have done nothing to make good on their mandate from you and me.

It was yesterday, on the one year anniversary of the collapse of Karl Rove's thousand-year Reich, when the Democrats subjected themselves to both public embarrassment and public disgrace, and each within a few hours of the other.

The public disgrace was naturally Senator Schumer's and Senator Feinstein's votes to endorse the Bush administration's pro-torture policy. Make no mistake, despite their wet-bread excuses, that's what they did, say nothing of their endorsement of the regime's unitary executive theory. The reality of the committee vote -- the Democrats' failure to hold their voter-mandated high ground -- is what history will remember. Not the excuses.

As for the public embarrassment, I'm referring of course to the floor vote on whether to bury a resolution calling for the impeachment of Vice President Cheney. It was a one act tragic-comedy about how fucked up and bizarre our nation has become this decade -- all of it concentrated into a single hour of legislative insanity on C-SPAN.

Vice President Dick Cheney: the most subversive political villain of our time was let off the hook yesterday and the Democrats did all of the heavy lifting to make it happen. Dick Cheney: a man who has proudly committed innumerable high crimes, among them a trillion dollar fraud perpetrated upon the American people and the world -- a fraud which has resulted in nearly 30,000 American casualties and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casualties. And now he's trying it again with Iran.

Yet there was Steny Hoyer desperately trying to bury this thing; the Republicans, meantime, overwhelmingly voting in favor of the resolution -- daring the Democrats to make it real.

Sure, you and I understand the backwards strategy behind the political theater. The Republicans thought that a debate on the impeachment of Dick Cheney would embarrass the Democrats. Run away! Run away! They said it'll embarrass us, so I guess it will! Run away!

But this begs the question, what made them believe they'd be embarrassed by the clown-car party of Brownie, Mark Foley, Larry Craig and Alberto Gonzales? Easy. Congressman Boehner made them believe it when he strategically rallied enough GOP votes to force a debate. They literally and brazenly dared the Democrats to allow an impeachment debate on the House floor. See, the Republicans still hold a collection of Democratic balls inside a cryogenic flask hidden somewhere on the Mall.

If only the Democrats were attentive enough to the people to realize that a majority of Americans, including a majority of independent voters, support the impeachment of Dick Cheney, they would've treated the resolution with a little more respect. If they acknowledged their mandate and discarded their predictably impotent political habits, they would have had the mettle to at least debate the resolution and entered into the record their collective objections to the vice president's malfeasance, as well as forced into the record the Republican Party's inexplicable support for the man's attempt to undermine their authority. History demands this.

Instead, by engaging in such an awkwardly amateurish fire drill on the floor of the House, Hoyer managed to inject his misguided capitulation into the national debate. He might not know this, but there exists cable news and internet blogs, both thirsting for material. Now, millions of people know that the House Democrats dropped their short pants and stumbled away from the task of holding the vice president accountable -- their trousers bunched around their ankles restricting normal locomotion -- simply because the Republicans dared them to act.

And so in trying to avoid a so-called public embarrassment, they publicly embarrassed themselves anyway.

The average voter doesn't have the time or the patience to analyze the bullshit parliamentary chess match -- the twisted Möbius Loop Beltway routine of asinus asinum fricat. What people know is that Congressman Kucinich introduced a resolution, symbolic or not, to impeach Dick Cheney, and the Democratic leadership crumbled under the weight of a Republican dare -- the House majority leader barely mustering the hand-eye coordination to kill it.

This is what you get when you acquiesce to the Bush Republicans. Under the new rules of American politics, Bush Republicans don't compromise. They don't meet anyone halfway on the important issues. They push back even harder. Popularity doesn't matter. Polls don't matter. To the neocons and Bush Republicans, logic, compassion, reason and rationality are the stuff of the "faggy" left wing.

When the Democrats acquiesce on torture or impeachment or anything that might reunite them with their balls, they're only succeeding in begging the right's aggression. There won't be any favors returned from the Bush/Cheney right wing. I don't think the Democrats fully understand who they're dealing with. And if they do, well then, how dare they play along. How dare they patronize us with I'm against this but I'm voting for it because I'm smart and important and you wouldn't understand anyway.

You stand up and vote NO on torture, Senator Schumer. You allow a debate about impeaching the vice president, Congressman Hoyer. And you sure as shit don't vote to support the administration's Iran policy, Senator Clinton.

In other words, compromising with the White House won't make the president go all limp and soupy -- it will in fact make him louder and more petulant next time around (more from Kos and AmericaBlog here). So please -- by the power of Grayskull -- stop him! We're begging now. I will be satisfied if I never hear his little-man voice and crackly fake twang ever again -- unless, of course, he's saying, "I will resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow."

Beyond that, and in the awesome words of Han Solo, "Shut him up or shut him down!"

That's what the American people are expecting. Any failure on that score leaves the Democrats in this pathetic ass-up submissive posture. When it comes down to choice of nuance versus aggression, the answer has to be aggression. Take on those bastards with the fury and tenacity these historically imperative issues demand.

We don't expect hand-holding and mutual masturbation between the Bush Republican White House and the Democratic Congress. No-one has ever assumed the president would compromise on anything anyway. But we assumed -- perhaps wrongly -- that the Democrats would stick him. We expected a fight, and that's why we voted for Democrats a year ago yesterday. And if they should ever decide to collectively stand up and fight, we will gladly elect more of them a year from now.

Comments

[Jako]

Not a mention of Kucinich's courage to lead the call to impeachment in this article or on Huffpo. It seems obvious that Huffpo is part of the propoganda to keep the wheels of big money turning and making sure they keep their piece of the pie. Extremely disappointing.

[gernger]

The Democrats have backed down so much, it's seems like we have one party system. I have to believe in the possibility that they're being threatened. Bush and Cheney have blackwater at their beck and call. Blackwater was in New Orleans after Katrina. They were fully armed,drove around in unregistered vehicles, and operated as if they were above the law. They seem to be Bush and Cheney.s private army. The Republicans,in congress, also seem to respond as if they are under orders. I have never seen a political party throw their princples away, and just block vote for everything the President wants. Maybe we are in the begginings of a police state.

[Hansharriet]

Bob Cesca, I agree with you 100%. You said what had to be said to those treacherous so- called Democrats.
As I read your message, I got a call from the Congressional Campaign Committee for money. I told them, they won't see a penny from me until Shumer, Hoyer, Feinstein and Pelosi develop a spine and start impeachment proceeding in the House against Cheney and get Water boarding listed as Torture.
As a Holocaust survivor I know what Torture is and I know that Cheney learned his tactics and actions from Hitler's regime.

[Balzac]

Impeach them, put them on trial for treason, then let them be tried at the Hague for war crimes, then if the will of the people favors it, let them be hanged.

[chel]

Okay...
I guess I am stupid, stupid, stupid.
I thought the purpose of "impeachment" was to determine whether or not a crime had been committed.
As I understand it, there have been essentially three allegations of 'high crimes and misdemeanors' against Cheney. These were identified in H. Res. 333. The bill was introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). It accuses the Vice President of promoting false intelligence about the danger of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs as well as the relationship between the Saddam Hussein regime and al Qaida terrorists. It also accuses the Vice President of saber-rattling against Iran. Was this all a fiction of someone's imagination? If so....let'­s punish them for abuse of legal process!
It seems that we have twisted our legal system to require proof of a crime before the right to hold a trial. We have spent trillions of dollars on fighting a war. We can't find a couple hundred thousand to determine if a VP committed these crimes? How much did we spend trying to find out about Clinton's sex life?
I do not understand it at all.
As an American citizen, I WANT MY TAXPAYER DOLLARS SPENT TO DETERMINE THE TRUTH. If we have money for this war, we have money to keep the American people informed.
But, I am stupid, stupid, stupid....­.like a fox.
Are there any other concerned citizens out there interested in facts instead of rhetoric?

[bjneider]

The people are not speaking, they are screaming for the Democrats to hear but they remind me of the three monkeys. They do not see, hear or speak to the outrageous behavior of this administration. If they want to win back the White House, they better become the 800 lb. gorilla in the room instead.

[Sundialsvc4]

Today, law-enforcement in this country is still a politician's idle game. They toyed with it with Clinton, to distract the public, and studiously avoid it today, to protect their own transgression.

But it matters enormously, to this world and to the people of this country, that the laws of the land ARE enforced and respected; otherwise it is meaningless to talk about "equal protection under the law."

Although politicians have a tremendous capacity to pretend that "all is well," that their crimes can go unnoticed as long as they go unpunished, the predictions of past leaders who clearly saw their future - our present - are coming true.

"It is written, 'those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.'" That phrase can be interpreted in many ways and still remain universal. It applies to nations just as it applies to men, because nations, too, are composed of men, and ruled by human nature.

Abraham Lincoln said that the nation was then being tested to see if it "could long endure," and we are once again likewise being tested, although in a very different way.

What will be the answer now?

Do we, the people, care enough about this country to force its leaders, who care for no one but themselves and for no thing but money, to do what must be done that it WILL "long endure?"

This is one of those questions that will be answered RESOUNDINGLY if the answer that is given is merely silence, and indifference.

The other members of the world community have their own lives to lead, and they will surely turn their back on this country if it has become unworthy of their respect -- or deserving of their fear and their retribution. This world does NOT revolve around The United States of America, and it will not look-away from this nation's behavior.

[jackstraw005]

did you really expect the dems to stand up to bush? really? are you that gullible. i can tell you i had no expectations. none. at all. never will. they dont get it and neither do half the people reading this. america is over. what we know and hope for is done forever. and its not the fault of the dems, or the repubs. its us, the people, we let it happen. so take a deep breath of the polluted air, a sip of polluted water, and head of to one of the 2 jobs required to get by in this country and say hello to the rest of your life. IT AINT NEVER GONNA GET ANY BETTER THAN IT IS RIGHT NOW. believe me. unless you make me the king. and i will put paid to things once and for all, by exercising the kings perogative, and saying in a loud, clear voice "off with his head" thats how things will get done

[cruzecon]

Man, I love this article! Lets find that cryogenic flask and see if there is any potency left and reattach these kidnapped balls to Pelosi or better yet give a few extra sets to Rep. John Murtha and Sen. Webb to swing around.
I am tired of "trying to be proud" to be a Democrat. I want some real leadership demonstrated by someone other than the Roveites.

[ghostsofamerica]

November 7, 2007 -- Bush regime expanding old FEMA database

On July 9, 2007, WMR reported on the expansion of an old Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) database containing the names of American citizens who would be rounded up and incarcerated in the event of a national emergency declaration.

WMR reported: "After 9/11, the Bush White House used FEMA's secret and illegal database of American citizens, code-named Main Core, to target American citizens with electronic and other surveillance. FEMA's database had increased in size with the addition of raw telecommunications intercept data on American citizens obtained from the National Security Agency (NSA)."

Main Core has its roots in a smaller database developed by FEMA during the Reagan administration. ..."


waynemadsenreport.com



these Vichy Democrats vote along with the Fascist GOP all the time......


My point is that the Murder Club of Congress will gladly sell us all out. MONEY$$$$ and power corrupts, and they will destroy our sacred constitution, and the bill of rights, they will allow Bushco. to torture to get "confessions" to use as false reasons to go to war to steal oil, and then murder a million people for their oil, and let all the fascist collect money on our taxes for their resource war, where they don't pay taxes, but outsource our jobs, and have their companies in Dubai, and offshore. Vichy Dems like Feinstein get richer and richer, while her husband Richard Blum makes hundreds of millions of dollars,and the Israelisfirsters like Mukasey and Schmumer get happier and happier with the coming destruction of our rights.

[DoctorDoctor]

Anyone who's dealt with Bubbas in Texas knows you've got to get 'em backing up before they'll even listen to what you're saying. Speaking respectfully loses them RIGHT NOW. In fact, that's how they knows they's gonna win thisun. Worse, humility is taken as fact. Anyone who starts by saying "I could be wrong, but ---" IS wrong and becomes a target.

Worse --- way worse --- is the fact that they never seem to have so much to do they have to prioritize the things that aren't exactly right in their lives. They always have time to cogitate over how they've been insulted. And that leads to rage. And rage leads to (eventual) retaliation.

Dubya's nothing but a not-very-b­right-and-­certainly-­not-well-e­ducated bubba. His cronies (the ones he appoints to head up vast sections of the federal beaurocracy)are the same. His handlers are too, but they're smarter. What the dems have to do is attack, be nasty and never look back. The republican bubbas think they've got things pretty much the way they want them, and they do, but only because the dems insist on being "gentlemen".

The dems need to get into the slime with the republican pigs and pop 'em in the snout with a 2X4. that'll get their attention. And only that.

[LoriAnn]

Thank you once again for a great piece!! With the amount of comment I could safely say you have hit it out of the ball park!! If the media would pick up the gauntlet and do their jobs not only would they be single handedly the greatest instigator of change and recovery for the country but have greater influence on this government. As they regain their 'street cred' that theyve sold away, the American public would repay them ten fold. The old adage "all for one and one for all" would be a nice thing to see put into practice instead of the politics of division, ignorance and hatred that is so ingrained in certain parts of this society!

[vishvarnay]

The only proper thing that we can do as responsible citizens is to vote out every so called dumbocrat that betrayed us.
Vote for a shaved monkey before you allow any one of these traitors to foul our halls of congress. After this ball-less act we have nothing to lose by doing so.
Dennis Kucinich is a man of the people, those who undermined his 333 are maggot brain corporate butt-puppets!

[current]

With due respect to all bloggers, I feel that we have lost more than what anybody thinks.

Our country, as our grandparents knew it, is gone forever. Sad reality but we can't hide behind the propaganda and the wishful thinking that we live in the best country of the World. First of all, you are all intelligent and inquisitive people so go and look up the national DEBT and who owns this debt.
And while we debate, nothing gets done. We need action, not words. Let's find out what we can do and take action.

[Cole]

A nine year old, heck a five year old knows what 'torture' is--and the A.G cannot know without a 5 mil dollar investigation? He's a man of "integrity"?
Nope, he's a man of stupidity and so are Schumer and Feinstein?-!

Let's make a parlementary move. If the Kucinich move fails--------bring it up again!
Change the name if necessary, 22 times if necessary!

In the mean time, Pelosi Must Go!