Thursday, December 29, 2005
The "I" word gaining traction
Impeachment, that is.
It'd be easy for middle-of-the-road Americans to write off Chris Floyd off as a left-wing wacko:
Molly Ivins is, of course, a well-known member of the ancient and hermetic order of the shrill:
But when Barron's - Dow Effing Jones his own self - starts talking about the ultimate legal remedy to an out-of-control president you know there's something afoot:
And even the American Enterprise Institute? Norm Ornstein?:
I think we got ourselves a convoy.
via The Sideshow, Shrillblog
It'd be easy for middle-of-the-road Americans to write off Chris Floyd off as a left-wing wacko:
So now, at last, the crisis is upon us. Now the cards are finally on the table, laid out so starkly that even the Big Media sycophants and Beltway bootlickers can no longer ignore them. Now the choice for the American Establishment is clear, and inescapable: do you hold for the Republic, or for autocracy?
There is no third way here, no other option, no wiggle room, no ambiguity. The much-belated exposure of George W. Bush's warrantless spy program has forced the Bush-Cheney Regime to openly declare what they have long implied -- and enacted -- in secret: that the president is above the law, a military autocrat with unlimited powers, beyond the restraint or supervision of any other institution or branch of government. Outed as rank deceivers, perverters of the law and rapists of the Constitution, the Bush gang has decided that their best defense -- their only defense, really -- is a belligerent offense. "Yeah, we broke the law," they now say; "so what? We'll break it again whenever we want to, because law don't stick to our Big Boss Man. What are you going to do about it, chump?"
Molly Ivins is, of course, a well-known member of the ancient and hermetic order of the shrill:
This could scarcely be clearer. Either the president of the U.S. is going to have to understand and admit he has done something very wrong, or he will have to be impeached. The first time this happened, the institutional response was magnificent. The courts, the press, the Congress all functioned superbly. Anyone think we're up to that again? Then whom do we blame when we lose the republic?
But when Barron's - Dow Effing Jones his own self - starts talking about the ultimate legal remedy to an out-of-control president you know there's something afoot:
Willful disregard of a law is potentially an impeachable offense. It is at least as impeachable as having a sexual escapade under the Oval Office desk and lying about it later. The members of the House Judiciary Committee who staged the impeachment of President Clinton ought to be as outraged at this situation. They ought to investigate it, consider it carefully and report either a bill that would change the wiretap laws to suit the president or a bill of impeachment.
And even the American Enterprise Institute? Norm Ornstein?:
I think if we’re going to be intellectually honest here, this really is the kind of thing that Alexander Hamilton was referring to when impeachment was discussed.
I think we got ourselves a convoy.
via The Sideshow, Shrillblog
