Will They or Won't They? Last Chance for Democrats

By David Swanson
Created Nov 17 2006 - 8:16am

A Tale of Two Conyers

PART I

Congressman John Conyers, "The Constitution in Crisis", December 2005:

"In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President,
the Vice President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration
misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war
with Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the
justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment and other legal violations in Iraq; and permitted
inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration.

"There is a prima facie case that these actions by the President,
Vice-President and other members of the Bush Administration violated a
number of federal laws, including (1) Committing a Fraud against the United
States; (2) Making False Statements to Congress; (3) The War Powers
Resolution; (4) Misuse of Government Funds; (5) federal laws and
international treaties prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading
treatment; (6) federal laws concerning retaliating against witnesses and
other individuals; and (7) federal laws and regulations concerning leaking
and other misuse of intelligence.

"While these charges clearly rise to the level of impeachable misconduct,
because the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress have
blocked the ability of Members to obtain information directly from the
Administration concerning these matters, more investigatory authority is
needed before recommendations can be made regarding specific Articles of
Impeachment. As a result, we recommend that Congress establish a select
committee with subpoena authority to investigate the misconduct of the Bush
Administration with regard to the Iraq war detailed in this Report and
report to the Committee on the Judiciary on possible impeachable offenses."
-- Congressman John Conyers, "The Constitution in Crisis", December 2005

PART II

Congressman John Conyers, November 2006:

"As many of you also know, I have agreed with Speaker-to-be Pelosi that
impeachment is off the table. Instead, we agree that oversight,
accountability and checks and balances - which have been sorely lacking for
the last six years - must occur. I have nothing but respect for those who
might disagree, but that is where I come out.

"Having devoted a considerable amount of time and attention to detailing
the many abuses of the Bush Administration, I firmly believe that we have
brought these matters to the attention of the American people and the
mainstream media, and that their verdict was reflected in the elections on
November 7. I consider the now famous "basement hearings" and the issuance
of my "Constitution in Crisis" Report to be among the watershed achievements
of my more than forty years in Congress."
-- Congressman John Conyers, November 2006

IF THEY DO

The Associated Press / Ipsos recently polled and reported on this question
"How confident are you that President Bush and the Democrats in Congress can
work together to solve the country's problems?"

I'm fully confident that anyone who tries to work with Bush will contribute
to problems for this and many other countries. I get the impression I'm not
alone: Americans just elected dozens of new Democrats and not a single new
Republican. I would not have answered the question, had Ipsos asked it of
me, because my view of the world was "off the table." The AP could teach
Nancy Pelosi a thing or two about removing topics from the table.

Announcing that impeachment is off the table makes it sound like you either
have no use for the rule of law and your "investigations" are predetermined
charades, or like you are engaged in the same impeachable offense Bush is:
lying to the American public (you're taking impeachment off the table, fully
aware that it will climb back on as soon as you investigate any of a dozen
crimes). You've left impeachment ever more prominently on the table.

Reporting a balanced story on those who do and those who do not worry that
the Democrats will fail to work cooperatively with Bush: THAT effectively
takes impeachment off the table. While Newsweek just found that a phenomenal
51 percent of Americans want impeachment, AP simply did not ask the question
or did not report the results. (Support for impeaching Clinton, when the
media and Congress were promoting nothing else, never got above 37 percent.)

The Democrats (and Republicans) can get to impeachment by any of several
paths. They can launch an investigation of anything, send subpoenas to the
White House, and then raise impeachment when the White House refuses the
subpoenas. They can investigate using any number of House and Senate
committees or a bipartisan select committee. Waxman or Kucinich could as
easily take the lead as Conyers. Or another Democrat, perhaps even a newly
elected Democrat, could cut to the chase, introduce articles of impeachment,
and become an international hero.

If the Democrats do stand up to tyranny and restore the rule of law to our
government, they will not only increase the likelihood of reducing global
warming and nuclear proliferation before it's too late, not only bring back
habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights, not only make the next war much more
difficult to launch, but they will also sweep the 2008 elections and see
their leaders admired and loved the world over. Conyers was overwhelmed with
support and adulation and contributions when he merely talked about
preliminary investigations and the media ignored him. The first Congress
Member who supports impeachment will be virtually deified (as well as
attacked and ridiculed by a very vocal minority).

So, if the Democrats are playing games until they have their committee
chairs, if they're convinced that talking impeachment prior to the
"investigations" will lead to fatal attacks from the media, if they're
planning to do their jobs and defend our democracy come February, then there
is hope for them and for us. And if we force them to take action, then there
is hope for us and for them.

IF THEY DON'T

If the Democrats fail to defend the rule of law, if they imagine that we
care nothing for our rights and freedoms and merely want them to pass
domestic legislation that will be vetoed or signing-statemented, they will
do as well in the next elections as they did after they looked the other way
on Iran Contra. Pelosi has taken so many things off the table, including the
idea of cutting off funding for the war, that she gives the impression of
ultimately wanting the stretch out on the table and take a nap. If we allow
her and her colleagues to do this, we will let down our nation and the world
and we will tell future presidents that no law applies to them.

If the Democrats fail to fight for impeachment and peace, I for one will
want nothing further to do with them. Come 2008 I will not vote, or I'll
vote for a third party or write in the names of people I respect. I told a
great many people in recent months to hold their noses and vote for lousy
Democrats so that Conyers could chair Judiciary and the Democrats could
chair every committee, and the subpoenas and articles of impeachment could
be placed on the table. If the Democrats refuse to be the opposition party
that was just elected, they will be as quickly unelected. If the Democrats
and Republicans fail to impeach this President and Vice President, they will
remove impeachment from the U.S. Constitution and any remaining faith in our
government from the minds of Americans.

I don't think it will come to this. I'm optimistic. And I'm optimistic
because the solution to this riddle is not a proper analysis of the
mendacity or corruption of Democrats in Congress. The solution is public
action. The Democrats in Congress will not act without public pressure.
But - unlike the Republican Congress we just rid ourselves of - they will
act if there is public pressure. Let's apply it. Here's how:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org [1]
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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson