Concerning The Impeachment Of President Bush

By James Donahue

During his seven-year tenure U.S. President George W. Bush has generated a growing chorus of people calling for his impeachment. Whole Internet websites are dedicated to getting people to sign petitions, and more and more newspapers, political organizations and even legislators are talking about the possibility.

Is impeachment probable?

The Constitution allows for the removal of the President, the Vice-President and even members of the US Supreme Court for such crimes as treason, bribery and "other high crimes and misdemeanors." Certainly something can be pinned on Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney that fits some of these categories. That they used false information involving non-existent weapons of mass destruction to justify an invasion of Iraq is a serious enough offense to call for impeachment hearings.

That these two men have used the power of high office to invade our privacy, dismantle environmental protection laws, dodge the national Kyoto Treaty calling for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and consequently help stuff the pockets of big business interests suggests that they have been bribed and committed serious crimes against the Mother Earth.

The list of alleged and recorded offenses is quite long. That Mr. Bush is ignoring the recommendations of his own special study committee on Iraq, the recommendations of his generals, and the mandate of American voters to bring the Iraq conflict to a quick conclusion, has brought his approval ratings to an all-time low. Bush now registers about the same level of unpopularity that former President Richard M. Nixon did during the height of the Watergate scandal. That issue forced his resignation.

So should, or will Mr. Bush resign? Or will Congress get the courage to launch impeachment proceedings? Probably not. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi clearly states that impeachment will not be "on the table." We don't understand why she is taking such a stance.

Actually it would be a problem if either event happened. Consider, for a moment, Dick "sure-shot" Cheney replacing Mr. Bush as America's commander-in-chief. Nothing would probably change. If anything, Mr. Cheney might use his power, as the late President Lyndon B. Johnson did in Vietnam, to escalate the war even farther. Cheney has had troublesome ties to Halliburton and has openly supported the Bush Administration's policies in Iraq. He also has demonstrated a coarseness to his personality that should exclude him as a world diplomat for peace. The thought of Cheney in that Oval Office sends shudders up this writer's spine.

If we are going to impeach Bush, we should include Vice President Dick Cheney in the mix, or forget the whole thing. Some want to impeach Mr. Cheney first, just to make sure he never gets the chance to succeed Bush.

That probably won't happen either. With both Bush and Cheney gone, federal Constitutional law then would move the Speaker of the House into the White House. And that would be Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat and the first woman to ever hold that position.

While it is a very entertaining idea, we really doubt if our legislators have the spine to do such a wonderful thing.

--January 25, 2007