Impeachment shouldn’t be thrown out

You’d never know it based on mainstream press coverage, but Dennis Kucinich on June 9,… You’d never know it based on mainstream press coverage, but Dennis Kucinich on June 9, introduced articles of impeachment to the floor of Congress. Even though Democratic Party leaders would like to pretend this didn’t happen, it’s still a significant and needed motion.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House, responded through her press secretary: “[Pelosi] believes that impeachment would create a divisive battle.”

A divisive battle between whom? Democrats and Republicans? As it stands now, Congress has been unable to overcome the smallest of issues to pass legislation, and nearly every bill must sludge through heavy opposition from either party. Pelosi makes it seem as though Congress has overcome the partisan stranglehold in Washington, and an impeachment effort would be the tipping point back to old ways.

Besides, her argument is completely irrelevant. Never before in U.S. history has there been an impeachment motion supported unanimously in Congress.

With presidential approval ratings at historic lows and reports that Republicans are expected to be demolished in the upcoming election, why not move forward with the impeachment?

Pelosi went on to call the impeachment a “distraction from Congress’s efforts to chart a new course for America’s working families and would ultimately fail.” What a better course for American working families than one without a president who violates the Constitution and has ravished the economy?

Somehow performing the duty of Congress, to remove a president who has acted improperly, is a distraction.

Hundreds of bills are presented in Congress that have little hope of being passed into law. Congress has even passed bills knowing the president will eventually veto them. Yet, Pelosi feels that the impeachment will ultimately fail and is thus not worth pursuing.

In an era where everyone seems to be try to distance himself from the president, what a better way to do it than support his impeachment? Granted, it is unlikely that the measure will ultimately pass, but to not pursue it establishes a dangerous precedent.

Just 10 years ago, President Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton was accused of lying about his relationships with Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones. Kucinich’s recent 35 articles for impeachment include the warrantless wiretapping program, the constitutionality of the invasion of Iraq, the extraordinary rendition practice and the commutation of Scooter Libby.

If none of the charges Kucinich has made against Bush are grounds for impeachment proceedings, what does that mean for the future of the presidency?

If impeachment is not pursued in earnest, then it is implied that the president may act above the law. In this particular situation, the president should be held accountable for actions that have resulted in the death of thousands of people as well as countless violations of the Constitution.

If lying about your sexual relationship is enough for partisan impeachment fanfare, then shouldn’t the same attention and scrutiny be paid to a president who is responsible for the most destructive war since Vietnam and blatant transgressions against the fundamental ideals that America is built on?

According to a June 10 Rasmussen poll, Bush has an unbelievably low approval rating of just 31 percent. Perhaps the Democratic leadership in Congress miscalculated how divisive it would be to remove the most unpopular president since Richard Nixon.

It’s time for our representatives to actually represent public opinion and hold accountable a president who has broken our laws and made a mockery of the Founding Fathers’ experiment in a government accountable only to its citizens. The Supreme Court’s decision on the rights of foreign detainees signals the return of the United States to its constitutional roots and an end of an era rife with shady, if not illegal, misdeeds and actions.

With or without media coverage, the Democratic Party needs to step up to the plate and restore dignity and accountability to the White House.

E-mail Dan at dpc22@pitt.edu.