By Cheryl Abraham
Despite heroic efforts by
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to bring 35
Articles of Impeachment against Bush, the wildfire of information and
affirmation of these articles in print
and in the blogosphere,
and the efforts of so many within the impeachment movement, the main-stream
media continues to marginalize Kucinich’s effort by either ignoring the story
altogether or publishing simplistic 200
word articles about it. Main-stream
media insists, despite polls
that say otherwise, that impeachment is not popular and because George W. Bush
is a lame duck at this point, impeachment is unnecessary.
Is George W. Bush a lame
duck? Is impeachment at this point unnecessary? What kind of future can we look
forward to if Bush is never impeached?
In order to answer these questions it is important to look at what impeachment
is and what it would do.
- Impeachment would open up investigations by the
judiciary committee into the 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W.
Bush.
- If the judiciary committee finds that these
investigations show that crimes have been committed a resolution will be
issued to the House, which then goes on to a Floor vote, and if voted
through by a majority will lead to a trial in the Senate.
- The trial in the Senate would be run similar to
a court trial, with the full Senate acting as jury with the Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court, (John Roberts), acting as judge. Once the arguments
of the prosecution and defense are heard the Senate would meet in a closed
session to deliberate, the Senate would then vote in open session on each
Article of Impeachment – a two-thirds vote is needed for a conviction. On
conviction the official, (Bush), would be removed from office, if a
two-thirds vote is not reached the official would be acquitted.
If convicted Bush would be
removed from office, but even if Bush was not convicted in the course of the
impeachment spectacle the crimes of the Bush administration would be aired,
debated, and proclaimed to the world. No longer could the media ignore the vast
legacy of criminality that the Bush regime has perpetrated for the last seven
years, and the people of the world would hear all the dark dirty secrets and
crimes that this regime has kept and committed and there would be a resounding
outcry for justice.
Not only would the Bush
regime’s deadly crimes be laid bare, but it is highly probable that an
impeachment trial would completely prevent Bush from attacking Iran. Article
XXI charges Bush with: “Misleading Congress and the American People About
Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the
Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government“. Surely with such a charge
pending trial and with a public challenge on the validity of any action against
Iran being heard in the Senate, no declaration of war could be acted upon
during that time.
The fact that George W. Bush
has pushed and continues to push for war with Iran shows that he is far from a
lame duck. Bush and his administration are continuing their agenda unabated and
virtually unchallenged. Impeachment could be instrumental in preventing Bush
from starting another illegal, pre-emptive, and baseless war.
Not only can impeachment
lay bare the crimes of the Bush regime for the world to see, remove Bush from
office, and at the same time prevent war with Iran, impeachment can also serve
another extremely vital function: the impeachment process can serve as an
example to future leaders of what will happen to them if they decide to subvert
the rule of law.
But what will happen if
Kucinich’s 35 Articles of Impeachment quietly die in judiciary committee and
the crimes of the Bush regime are not investigated? If the Bush regime’s
crimes are not investigated will these crimes then become accepted behavior by
America’s leaders? If no one is held to account for authority over-stepped,
laws undermined, rule of law flouted, and torture codified, what’s to stop the
next president, and the next and the next and the one after that from following
suit?
To allow George W. Bush to
go virtually unchallenged in any significant and legal way now is to allow a
foundation of corruption and despotism to be laid at the feet of every
president after him: an absolutely flawless model for sidestepping
accountability and practicing unchecked and unfettered powers.
Imagine a progression and a
continuation of the agenda of the Bush regime year after year. Imagine the
aftermath that a pre-emptive and deadly bombing of Iran will have on the world,
not only the horrendous death and destruction such an act would immediately
cause, but the worldwide economic fall-out, and the possibility of an increase
in the ferocity of the wars already being waged and the likely increase in
terrorism in retaliation for the actions of George W. Bush. Such a future portends to be a much darker
version of our current reality.
A future without impeachment
paints a frighteningly bleak picture, a picture that at this point many of us
can see but too few of us are acting to prevent. If ever there was a time to
act, now is that time. Congressman Kucinich has promised to re-introduce the 35
Articles of Impeachment against Bush within 30 days of the first
introduction if the judiciary committee does not act. That’s just a few short
weeks from now. It’s time, right now, to promote the necessity of impeachment
as widely as possible. It is imperative that the Bush regime be driven from
office and held accountable for its many crimes – it’s time to act now.
At this point the future in
unwritten, which one we get is up to us.