DEMOCRATS FIGHT OFF REPUBLICAN VOTE TO IMPEACH CHENEY

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE, SR.

DEMOCRATS FIGHT OFF REPUBLICAN VOTE TO IMPEACH CHENEY

If there's anyone left who doesn't realize that the people of this country have become totally irrelevant to our alleged "representatives", the recent Democratic maneuver in congress NOT to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney should be an eye opener.

In spite of the frontal attack on our constitution and the dangerous state of global instability created by the incompetence of the Bush/Cheney administration, not only are Democrats in congress ignoring their constituent's clamor for the removal of George Bush, but actually fought off a Republican supported vote for a debate on the impeachment of Dick Cheney.

After a vote of 251-162 favoring Rep. Dennis Kucinich's resolution for a debate on Cheney's impeachment, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) moved to have the resolution sent to the House Judiciary Committee where the issue is expected to languish and die. The parliamentary maneuver was initiated by the Democrats for the expressed purpose of avoiding a debate on the impeachment of Dick Cheney. After the vote, Hoyer was quoted by Paul Kane, of Capitol Briefing, as saying, "The speaker and I have both said impeachment, either of the president or the vice president, is not on our agenda."

Not on OUR agenda? Next to President Nixon's statement that "If the president does it, that makes it legal," that's one of the most arrogant statements I've ever heard a politician make. What about the people's agenda? Who does Hoyer think he and Pelosi are to totally ignore the will of the people of this country? They are in direct violation of their oath of office to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC" (emphasis added). The oath says absolutely nothing about if it happens to be convenient, or, whether or not it's on your agenda.

Another volume has to be added to the encyclopedia just to list all of the laws this administration has trampled on, yet, Speaker Pelosi says "impeachment is a waste of time." Is it really a waste of time to protect and defend the United States Constitution, Madame Speaker, or do you really mean it's inconvenient, and you're afraid you may hurt your chances of being re-elected?

Pelosi goes on to lists all the issues that's more important than "wasting our time on impeachment"--being careful to list all the things that the polls indicate that the people are most interested in. But nothing is more important than impeaching Bush and Cheney.

The primary reason that both Bush and Cheney needs to be impeached is to draw a line in the sand. If President Ford would have allowed Nixon to go to jail during Watergate, and we would have impeached Reagan for treason after selling arms to Iran, we wouldn't be where we are today. When we allowed those politicians to walk away from their crimes with impunity, we set the stage for Bush to take government corruption to the next level.

Now, as a direct result of our failure to act decisively in those matters, the Bush administration has been allowed to pushed this country closer to a dictatorship than it's ever come before--spying on private citizens without warrants, signing statements that essentially tell congress they'll follow the law only when it's convenient, the suspension of habeas corpus, etc.

We are closer than most of us are willing to admit to having to worry about being dragged out of our homes in the middle of the night. If Bush decided to cancel the next election in response to a "national emergency" , one third of this country would support him--and don't forget, Giuliani already floated the idea in New York after 9-11. So if we let them get away with this, the next demagogue is going to take things a little farther--and the only place left to go at this point, is to turn America into a full blown fascist republic.

Bush and Cheney should also be impeached in order to restore the dignity and respect that the United States once enjoyed in the world community. By allowing these two to get away scot-free with all of the death, destruction, and mayhem that they've unleashed on the world, we're, in effect, ratifying their behavior. We'd be telling the world that we approve of what they've done in our name. If we do that, America is through as a leader of justice and democracy in this world.

Therefore, if the United States ever want to regain its former stature in the world, the people of this country must not only distance themselves from these monsters, but impeach them, then arrest them, and then offer them up to the world community for war crimes. And thereafter, we should extend our most sincere apology to the people of this planet for all of the destruction we've allowed the Bush administration to commit in or name. That is the one and only way that the United States will ever again be safe from terrorism, and the only way it will ever regain its former stature in the world community. And If Speaker Pelosi doesn't recognize the truth of that assessment, she's not only much too naive to be Speaker of the House, but much too dumb to be in congress at all.

This is a bizarre situation. The checks and balances in this country have been thrown completely out of kilter. Have you ever wondered how Bush could be so arrogant, while at the same time, so vulnerable to impeachment? Have you ever wondered how no atrocity, act of stupidity, or indignity against the American people seems to have political legs against him? The reason for that is due to the total selfish irresponsibility of our politicians, the concept of the loyal opposition has been completely corrupted.

When General Ricardo Sanchez came out against Bush and said, "In my profession these types of leaders would be immediately relieved or court-martialed", I thought Bush was through--but there he was, like he was at 98% in the polls, vetoing healthcare for poor children, with our congress obediently caving in.

At first, I thought it was the fault of the news media that these issue were not kept before the American people, but now I see the light--Bush is allowed to get away with all these things because Pelosi and this Democratic congress aren't pursuing these matters. They've become Bush and Cheney's Blackwater--they're determined to protect him from impeachment at any cost. No wonder Karl Rove was allowed to retire--Bush doesn't need him anymore--Pelosi has replaced Rove as Bush's most valuable asset, and if her constituents aren't lemmings, she should pay for it with her political career.

It's time for the American people to take this country back--it may be our last chance. It has become abundantly clear that we've moved into a new era. Current events clearly demonstrate that it's no longer about Black against White, or Jew against Gentile--it's about the rich and powerful, against the less rich and powerless. That's the only way that you can explain what's going on in Washington. It's about power protecting power.

Now, I'm not predisposed to embracing conspiracy theories, but I do have faith in my "lying eyes." How can the loyal opposition justify refusing to impeach the most unpopular, incompetent, and corrupt president and Vice president in the history of this country? They can't--it defies all logic. Pelosi can try to justify it anyway she likes, but it just doesn't pass the sniff test. I could (almost) see it if Bush and Cheney were popular politicians like Bill Clinton at the time of his impeachment, but according to the polls, Cheney couldn't even gather up two-thirds of his immediate family's support. So what's going on here?

If Pelosi is willing to be dragged through the mud for bucking the will of the American people to protect Bush and Cheney, whose agenda is she conforming to? One might say she's afraid of a possible backlash as a result of pursuing impeachment. But shouldn't she be even more afraid of angering her constituents? So if she doesn't fear the wrath of her constituents, the most liberal constituency in the country, whose wrath does she fear more?

Think about that.

Eric L. Wattree, Sr.

Los Angeles Sentinel

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