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

[Silknspark]

Goodness. I'd like to lift each of you up onto my counter and one by one take your face in my hands, look you straight in your eyes and say, "Enough already. The cows need to be milked and we don't have the luxury of time to find out how you FEEL about the sub zero temp, tornado or blizzard outside. Get your tail down to the barn and get to work. When the work is done, come back in the house and we'll have some hot chocolate and discuss manners."
As Dr. Pete Simpson cautioned me years ago, "Until you stop being so shrill, I'm going to ignore you." I asked, "You mean shrill...as in Pat Schroeder?" He replied, "Yes." I got the point.
Please folks, let's first introduce manners back into our culture... that is only if you're sincere about wanting to affect equitable, healthy change.
For starters, here's a few seriously important matters we need to work on:
Stopping LOST, European Union and North American Union policy making by usurping our legislative process.
Consider a consumption vs income tax.
Stop federal welfare to groups like TNC.
Install fair trade.
Correctly naming the farm bill the Consumer farm bill.

[riozen]

We are witnessing the apex of 20 years of Billary/DLC leadership in the Dem wing of the National Corporate Party. Capitulation is their motto.

[Jey]

Who is going to save us? What choices do we have? Americans don't care enough to educate themselves - other than the few individuals that read this;) We all know this, but how do we get the message across to others who aren't willing to open their minds? Great article.

[Linda]

Reward Kucinich [and Wexler] ... and let the other candidates and congresscritters know you will support ONLY Dems who STAND UP for the Constitution, stand up for health care for all, stand up for PEACE.

And considering we certainly can't count on the Corporate media to cover this story ... take it upon yourselves to post info and the idea about REWARDING Dems with spine to all the groups and blogs you participate in, and discuss with all your offline friends, family and coworkers.

Wouldn't it be GREAT if a couple of days from now the story was about the millions of dollars pouring into Kucinich's campaign from many many many small contributions as a result of his IMPEACHMENT resolution?

Today would be a great day to send your check. Don't forget to copy it and make that note to send others.

[RetMsgt]

This is the most hate and expletive filled rant I ever read. YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE! LET ALONE ME! STOP USING THAT PHRASE. You wrote: "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 what orifice did you pull these numbers from? Thirty thousand American casualties? Is that wishful thinking on your part? That would certainly validate your thinking that the US is responsible for all the evil in the world. It's all this blame Cheney, blame Bush blame the military crap that has Congress' approval ratings in the tank.

[SACVET]

If the Democrats don't move forward on the impeachment of Dick Cheney, they are sending a message to the next administration that it can continue eviscerating the rule of law, established by our Constitution, with impunity.

[gasbomb]

There is only one thing wrong with Bob Cesca'a otherwise splendid article: he exhibits too much hope. Corporatism has won. We were warned many time over (Orwell,et,al)to no avail. Sic Transit Gloria Munoi.

[wingnutslayer]

Don't expect anything out of Steny Hoyer when it comes to bucking the administration on Iraq. I'm someone who Hoyer represents in Congress. A very large piece of Hoyer's congressional pie is Southern Maryland, the fastest growing part of the state who's growth has been centered on the defense contracting industry that has grown around the Patuxent Naval Air Station. That's my home and I'm happy to say that I don't receive my paycheck from a contractor like so many of my neighbors. Hoyer has been elected so many times due in large part because of his championing of the contracting industry. He's no dummy and he understands that to seriously buck the president over the war is political poison for him, this part of the state being a lot more red than the rest of the state. So, my point is, don't expect Hoyer to take a dump on his dinner plate. He'll talk a good game over Iraq but when it comes to actually putting his words into action he's going to side with the very people who benefit the most from this war, his constituents.

[armadillious2002]

Great article. Did the repubs balk at impeaching Clinton when they didn't have shit? Hell no - they hired Ken Starr and spent 60 million and got it done. Now we have cheney who has undoubtedly done a hundred times worse than Clinton and they are afraid to impeach him.

I promise you Dems - If a federal prosecutor wants you guilty - you will be guilty of something.

Impeach - we want it - we deserve it - their guy is a hundred - no make that a thousand times worse than ours was. It's time to kick these school yard bullies out of the playground.

[Political Guy]

We are all in disbelief over the cowardly ways of our Scaredocrats. They have been pimp slapped, beat down and placed in a jerk ring by the Fearocans to entertain themselves while bush and his 27% continue to dominate all congressional business. Cave in after cave in is further evidence that our Scaredocrats are not listening to their voters but are merely engaged in a vagina monologue amongst themselves.

When Bush compares the Scaredocrats to the likes of Nevel Chamberlain in allowing the Nazis to invade Poland, the comparison would better fit our Scaredocrats as they allow him to invade and occupy the congress.

[jcheadsup]

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. What we have here is “extortion’, not government. It’s a perfect example of a “good cop bad cop” scam, being perpetrated on the people of this country, and the sooner we realize that both parties are in on it, (with the exception of Dennis Kucinich). The sooner we’ll be able to unite against it.

[DSPinPW]

Thank you for putting my sentiments into words in a skillful and informed way. Bush and Cheney are criminals and the Democrats are enablers and their pathetic selfserving craven cowardice makes me sick.

[jwod]

Wonderfully written in support of a self-destructive and childish, but warm and fuzzy feeling, tactic.

Yes, we hired the Democratic Congress to undo 13 years of Republican misrule, and hopefully to restore politics to a somewhat productive status. Getting rid of Cheney would feel so good. And he deserves more than mere impeachment. But to what end?

The inability to postpone pleasure shouldn't be a barrier to the higher and more important end: returning the country to its senses and allowing us again to start toward the promise we all believe is there.

Getting rid of this administration is, and should be, the immediate goal. Stopping to play like small children which you would want us to do is counter-productive, and would impede our ability to convince the great center of the electorate and reasonable Republicans that we mean business, and that our goals are not mutually exclusive. Failing to take the steps necessary to achieve that is to become Republicans with Democratic faces, and to lose the high ground, maybe forever.

[jimshady]

They have done it again! Millionaire congress men screwing over JOHNNY LUNCHBOX! Everone wants a 3rd party to save our America? How about 4 parties? This 2 party myth has been shoved down the peoples throats for long enough by dem's and rep's to consolidate their power, because thats what its all about. Its not about doing anything for the American dream. And then there is the practice of allowing foreign countries to influence our congress with their lobbyists'. Lets look at the news media! all owned by people that hold DUAL CITIZENSHIP!! To who do they pledge allegience?? I believe one of our most important declarations starts with "WE THE PEOPLE", not we the corporations, or we the foreign nationalists!

[lovethesinner]

We become our enemies.