"It's the Impeachment, stupid!" -- (A Cindy Sheehan Comment)

[Senator]

I imagine everybody knows this, but I thought I'd just say it out loud.

Cindy talked about several things in her letter, but it was her thoughts on impeachment that were her final words of separation to us:

George Bush will never be impeached because if the Democrats dig too deeply, they may unearth a few skeletons in their own graves and the system will perpetuate itself in perpetuity.

I am going to take whatever I have left and go home.

She makes a strong charge of corruption in that statement -- pretty much a culture of corruption -- one far stronger than many of us who also see the need for impeachment would go. But even if she hadn't spelled it out, I think it's clear that the personal attacks, turf battles, and burn-out are merely contributory.

And I know that some of you are thinking (and itching to post) that it's not at all about impeachment, that it's "All About Iraq" (please stop a sec and take note of how many times you heard that exact phrase in the run-up to the last election). You will point out that Cindy wanted to Stop The War (by whatever means), that she was primarily a Peace Activist. You will claim that it is perfectly reasonable to be Anti-War AND Anti-Impeachment (or "I'm pro-impeachment ... but").

But is it really? Are we not all fully aware of the lawful veto and the unlawful signing statements (one of which was used to "negate" even McCain's Anti-Torture Law)? Are not most of us aware of the many convert ways (e.g., Iran/contra) that a lawless regime can persist in their military madness?

Honestly, can any of us even imagine an end to the senseless killing while this mafia remains -- unaccused -- as interlopers in the (Stolen) House of the People? I think we can all agree about that.

Cindy came to terms with that reality. She concluded that impeachment was not going to happen. Therefore, no progress could or would be made toward stopping the war -- or toward holding bushcheney accountable for anything. She lost hope. Or rather, she had her hope taken away -- not by circumstances, not by the neofascists, but by her allies, friends, and "leaders."

It's the same fragile hope we all have. The hope that "our party" would be the party of truth-telling, of defending principles, of selfless action, and of fearless determination. It's not a hope for "how things will be," but rather one of how we and our fellows will ACT.

Cindy Sheehan is a person who ACTED. Her simple act grew to much, much more.

But on impeachment there is a failure to ACT on the part of those who have that duty.

That failure is a black hole of hope.

---

[PDJane]

1. If you don't impeach Bush

Then you might as well take away those articles, along with freedom of the press.

The whole thing is about corruption and greed and usurpation of power........and the stealing of elections is right in there.

I support Cindy. She's a thoughtful and clear-sighted voice, and those are increasingly rare.

[az chela]

2. The truth and nothing but the truth!!!!!Thanks for this

[Pharaoh]

3. woot!

k&r

[lvx35]

4. This has been bothering me.

I have to say something about Cindy Sheehan.

I have been meditating all day trying to see God in everything and everyone, and she sticks in my craw. There's something about that letter she wrote that is so...us. We do that, we just say "fuck it", and behind it there are all these pent up tears and aggressions. And the thing is that we need to learn...All of us...from this about just letting lose and crying and screaming on the path. We need to accept the tears and pain and fear and rage let it flow through us and then keep putting one foot in front of the other. And she needs to know she's loved as do all of us. We are all part of the same unit. We put one front in front of the other not for ourselves but for each other. Its the most important thing I've ever known.

Its all so very important.

[Senator]

8. Don't be too bothered.

Because we can also just sit down. And after a time, perhaps get up and walk again.

---

[pat_k]

5. K&R

[Cults4Bush]

Im sure the fact that the Dem party leaders are actively crushing impeachment

movements by sending in big names to strongarm it at local levels was as much a blow to her as the vote.

I tried my best to get DU'ers attention about it but.. well threads have been flying at a pretty quick clip lately.

I want dems to get pissed and stay pissed at our leaders who are doing this most disgusting thing. Impeachment is off the table? thats no reason to use the power of authority to crush such a strong movement at the grassroot activist base level or do we put up with suppression within the party of the left as well just like those others we're supoosed to be different from?


Im sure many anti impeachment types think its just fine because they believe in the triangulation of no impeachment and underestimate the persuasiveness of guilt by association. I think a lot of it has to do with dehumanizing the "enemy" as well, much like with soldiers in combat. I cant believe people actually think impeachment proceedings and investigations are a waste of time and that its somehow going to not effect the government
for generations... then again maybe they do and dont care. I dont know anymore.. all I know is that I trust Cindy more than most of the yahoos in office when it comes to the war and yes when it comes to impeachment.

The war was illegal and so is the occupation (not to mention election fraud and wire tapping and and ignoring protocols and conventions etc...), by beggining the proceedings and investigations we will prove who the criminals are and if some of them are us then so fucking be it and yes I would happily eat our own if that were the case. It is also the clearest route to restoring what little of moral authority we had a right to begin with in the international community. None of that seems to matter to the anti impeachment crowd.

[Senator]

7. Yes, "for generations" are the stakes here

And our grandchildren are not going to accept the excuses and rationalizations offered thus far. They will rightly conclude that there was no real opposition -- to war crimes, to treason, to fascism.

A few, like Cindy, will be able to say "I did what I could."

Many will not be able to meet their horrified gaze.

--

[Cults4Bush]

6. self delete nm double

[pat_k]

9. "some don't see an impeachable offense in what Bush has done"

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/17292119.htm">Democrats in Washington want to keep impeachment off the table
By Steven Thomma
McClatchy Newspapers
May. 28, 2007
. . .
There are both policy and political reasons that Democratic leaders are risking the anger of their base.

One is that some don't see an impeachable offense in what Bush has done, what the Constitution calls "high crimes and misdemeanors." They might find such evidence in any of the many congressional investigations, but they haven't yet. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/washington/30interrogate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print">Advisers Fault Harsh Methods in Interrogation
By SCOTT SHANE and MARK MAZZETTI
New York Times
May 30, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 29 — As the Bush administration completes secret new rules governing interrogations, a group of experts advising the intelligence agencies. . .

. . .the experts say, interrogation methods — possibly the most important source of information on groups like Al Qaeda — are a hodgepodge that date from the 1950s, or are modeled on old Soviet practices.

It's enough to make any sane person turn away in disgust and dispair.

James W. Poloing would be proud. The USA is no longer a "backward nation" when it comes to "the realm of torture."

http://www.boomerbible.com/CourtesyReview.php3?chp=BrotherlyLove.inc&ChT=Brotherly%20Love">Brotherly Love
James W. Poling

http://www.instapunk.com/archives/InstaPunkArchive.php3?a=122">Per RFLaird this essay originally appeared in Esquire, November 1936

. . .it is encouraging to find this isolated proof that there still exist in those countries people who are endeavoring to restore torture to the dignified and artistic position it once occupied.

In turning to the land of the free I am forced to admit, unpatriotic though it may sound, that we in America have not taken advantage of our opportunities. In the realm of torture we are a backward nation, more notably for our vim and vigor than for our finesse. . .

In the beginning there was Lenin, who said, "Do you think we can remain in power without having recourse to the most brutal methods?" There was a man who clearly understood how to retain office.

Lenin's attitude led, indirectly, to the formation of "The Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Sabotage, and the Dereliction of Duty," more commonly known as the Cheka and unquestionably the most murderous and bloodthirsty organization in the history of the modem world. With its informers, secret police, torturers, executioners, and charnel-houses located in every district of Russia the Cheka was a marvel of efficiency, as any organization which can torture and execute 1,761,065 people in the course of eight years must be. The Cheka never missed a bet. It had an executive known as the Director of Corpse Transportation and never threw away a body before making sure that the gold teeth had been extracted. . .

[Oak2004]

10. It's much worse than that

It (and similar shortages of spine) among our political leaders are creating political instability in this country.

I doubt Beltway Dems understand how very volatile this country is becoming, and how they are contributing to the volatility. People often look for external signs of "political instability" -- revolutionary organizations, protests in the streets, perhaps violence -- failing to understand that such outward signs are at most the consequences of instability, and frequently have nothing to do with genuine political instability. To see instability, one needs to look at the mood of the populace. Anger, often coupled with a sense of backs-against-the-wall desperation, coupled with loss of faith in political institutions is (more or less) the formula for political instability. That we have right now, in spades.

Political instability is not a good thing, not even if one feels (as I and many Americans do) that drastic changes are necessary to get this country back on track. Revolutions are crapshoots: the good guys don't always win, often the very much worse guys do. And revolutions have a bad habit of breaking out into bloody civil war. If revolution is inevitable, fine, count me among those on the pro-democracy barricades, but we'd all be better off if change can come through preexisting political processes.

So Beltway Dems, please wake up before your actions are the death knell of the 1776 experiment.