House Democrats, Impeachment, & Bush '06 Tactics

So here we go. The fine balancing act begins between holding George Bush accountable versus getting accused by Republicans of seeking a witch hunt. It’s the usual GOP tactic of accusing anyone who criticizes Bush of being un-American or divisive or a criminal or simply inhuman. I guess the White House doesn’t like torture after all, and they’re going to do whatever it takes in the 2006 election to stop any effort to destroy their congressional majority.

US News and World Report offered this week in their daily "White House Bulletin" that "GOP strategists are playing up talk in Democratic camps that a switch in power would lead to a wave of ethics investigations and possibly impeachment proceedings against the president in 2007. 'We need to keep both Houses or all that will come back to hit us,' said one strategist."

And it's now clear that any Democrat who asks for accountability will suffer at the hands of the DC political press establishment. (You know, those reporters who need to cozy up to the Republicans so that they can get the right story at the right time. "Like Judy Miller?" Arianna would ask.)

Just last week, former Michigan radio talk show host Tony Trupiano received money from the Democrats.com group, ImpeachPAC, which endorses only Congressional candidates who "support the immediate and simultaneous impeachment of George Bush and [Vice President] Dick Cheney for their Iraq War lies." Trupiano is one of the congressional challengers that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee lists among its "strong candidates for change." He will face-off Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) in a district that gives the average Democrat about 45% of the vote -- meaning it could be a pick-up if the GOP's woes continue.

Trupiano made it clear that his goal is not about impeachment per se, but accountability. "What's the shame in wanting to talk about truth and transparency in government?" Trupiano told one DC newsletter. Indeed.

The good news is that Trupiano is the kind of fighter that Democrats need to wrest power from the House Republicans next year. He won’t back down and he won’t be misrepresented. Let’s hope other Democrats have the same fight in them.

* * *

Donnie Fowler
Silicon Valley