Democratic Deputy Whip Gets a Tongue Lashing on Impeachment

An interesting debate on impeachment sums up the cock-eyed view of the issue from the belt-way Democrats in Congress. In a heated exchange Thursday with liberal radio host Ed Schultz,
Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the deputy Democratic whip, said
the party, which dramatically swept into power last year, was more
focused on "other priorities".

Let’s take a look at Wasserman-Schultz’ excuses:

The American people don’t support it – Simply not true. Well more than half of voters already support it even without hearings to frame the issues for them. Democrats supporting overwhelmingly, and don’t we deserve a little something from our elected representatives now and then?

It is not among the voter’s priorities – If you ask folks what their priorities are, of course they are not going to say impeachment. They want health care, and end to Iraq, jobs, education, opportunity, lower crime rates, etc. That doesn’t mean people don’t want Congress to pull the trigger on impeachment, demonstrated by wide and deep popular support for the action.

It would create too much partisan rancor – Give me a break. Like there’s not plenty of that already. And that’s hardly Democrats’ fault. That like saying you can’t stand up to a bully because there is way too much violence playground already.

It would be viewed like Clinton’s impeachment – No, it wouldn’t. There is actually a good reason, several in fact, to impeach Bush and Cheney. They’ve mangled our Constitution. Comparing that to a partisan witch-hunt over a blow job is just sick; in fact, I want the American people to see the contrast and the Republicans’ hypocrisy when they howl in outrage over an impeachment of their President.

It would tie up precious Congressional resources – It would take some time in the Judiciary committee and it would focus the attention of the nation on this Administration’s abuses, but that is manifestly a price worth paying, and a desirable effect. Frankly, the American people’s opinion of Congress is pretty damn low already. Congress is accomplishing some stuff, but with Bush’s veto pen hovering over them, they aren’t going to be passing the New New Deal anyhow. The biggest splash Congress could make in public opinion and in productive work is to dismantle this Presidency.

It would prevent us from achieving important legislative goals, like healthcare and renewable energy – See above. We can’t even get our SCHIP program through without major concessions. If the Republicans are willing to fuck sick little kids over, what makes anyone think that they are amenable to any sort of bi-partisan progress. No, the only way to move American forward is to hammer the current GOP into electoral oblivion. The best way to do that is to thoroughly discredit their President by exposing him for the lawless tyrant he is before the world.

It would blot out the sun – You will note Wasserman Schultz saying this in the interview. Not really sure what she means, but I have my own interpretation. And I think it may be the only real argument she makes – all the rest are just convenient excuses. The image is frightening, and I think this really just boils down to sheer terror of impeachment. It would certainly become the single most important political fact a mere year out from the Presidential election. You’ll note she seems to say that she would feel a bit differently if it were 30 months to the end of Bush’s term. But this close to the election, it would suck the wind our of the nomination process and force everyone to take a position, even as they are trying to appeal to swing voters. The result is highly unpredictable. The last thing the Democrats want right now is unpredictability because it is highly predictable that we will take the Presidency and increase our Congressional margins significantly. Why take a chance on blowing that? Just the sort of risk-adverse self-interested calculation I would expect from a good professional politician. And that I am also sick to death of.

Unfortunately, this is not a time for politics-as-usual. This Administration is a Constitutional crisis. We need statesmen who take the long view, the principled stand, and let the chips fall where they may. We don’t need careerist idiots like Wasserman Schultz rearranging the deck chairs as the ship of state sinks. We need to impeach Bush and Cheney because I don’t want the next President, even a Democratic one, to think he or she can get away with any of the crap this one has done.

Let the eclipse come.