Monday, April 14, 2008

Impeachment was conceived for such a time as this

i'm struggling to know how to write this post. Let me instead quote Ron Russell's comment regarding this story about President Bush's confession that he was aware of his advisors' drafting of torture guidelines, because it comes closest to my sentiment:

"...I always wondered how the average German could have allowed Nazi war crimes to happen. Sadly and shamefully, I now know. The sickening part is that I can’t do a damn thing about it. I’ve posted, I’ve voted, I’ve donated, I’ve marched in protest, I’ve called my lawmakers and it still happens and will continue to do so. Someday, someone will ask us how we could have allowed it and I will still be hanging my head in shame. Being powerless, does not absolve any of us of these crimes."


If Clinton's perjury in a civil case was grounds for impeachment, certainly drafting unconstitutional (that's not even to mention immoral and unethical!) quidelines for the Federal government to torture is all the more so. But even the media conveniently sleeps now.

7 comments:

Steph said...

That's sickening.

ScrewGoogle said...

Just to put myself out there; this torture issue doesn't speak to me as much as it seems to others. I think torture is terrible, but should be weighed against it's cause.

Now, on your post:
I think your point is valid, and while it may be the most concrete grounds for impeachment, it's "a match on the fire" of reasons he should have been impeached time and again.

My only caveat is that if impeachment were to ensue, Cheney would have go too. I would much rather ride out the next 8 months than to have him take over!

Matt said...

I have a gut feeling that 10 or 20 years from now we'll come to know of more shady things that went down in the Bush administration. Of course they probably wont be discussed in the main stream, but most likely in documentaries and conspiracy web sites.

I'm more shocked at the fact that I didn't hear anything about this in the "news". I guess the full idea of civil liberties and human rights hasn't really sunk into the majority of Americans.... taking security over liberties.

shannon said...

@Jake - what issues speak to you more than the torture issues, and what do you mean by weighing torture against its cause?

Cheney's more involved than Bush according to the ABC investigation, and chances are he'd be impeached before Bush ever would.

Question- why, since ABC broke this story, hasn't anyone else picked it up? Not even the Post, the Times - i mean, what's going on here?

jb said...

Maybe they are no longer 'the press' and are now 'the state media'.

shannon said...

Here's some followup to flesh this out- check out Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Powell, Tenet, Rice, and Yoo Have All Committed War Crimes Punishable by Life in Prison, Death Or Impeachment. Apparently there is US law that makes violation of the Geneva Conventions highly punishable. i didn't realise there was US law reinforcing those conventions.

shannon said...

Another post. ARREST BUSH is a bit inflammatory and a touch irrational but i thought i'd throw it out there anyway. Ashcroft is right- "History will not judge this kindly."