(Associated Press, Nov. 8, 2006) The Democrats didn't waste any time after
their landslide victory in Tuesday's midterm election that put them in
charge, with huge margins in both the House and Senate.
The incoming Democratic chairs of the various investigatory committees
announced that subpoenas would be going out immediately to the White House
for all documents relating to when and how the decision to attack Iraq was
made; to how far up the chain of command the authorization for torture went;
and whether Bush and Cheney and/or their subordinates lied to the Congress
and the American People. Congressional committees also will be on the
lookout for evidence of Administration involvement in war crimes, bribery
and election fraud, Democratic officials said.
It is expected that bills of impeachment will be filed shortly thereafter
against both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
If both Bush and Cheney are removed from office, the new Speaker of the
House, Nancy Pelosi, would become the President, as stipulated in the
Presidential Succession Act of 1947; she would nominate a Vice President for
approval by the Senate.
Based on polling of voters before and during the voting, according to
political consultants for both major parties, the electorate clearly was
expressing its revulsion at Bush Administration policies; voters said the
key issues affecting their votes were their anger at the lies undergirding
the Iraq War, now in its fourth year, the condoning of torture as American
policy, and the current economic crisis.
These factors presumably led to the sweeping votes for Democrat (62%), and
Green (8%), candidates around the country. Many of those voters, an
estimated 20%, described themselves as "conservatives" who had
supported Bush in 2004.
THE ROAD TO IMPEACHMENT
The sudden decline of the Republican Party and the likely downfall of the
Bush-Cheney administration follows a cascade of catastrophes and unexpected
reversals of fortune for the White House during the second Bush term.
The Economy: The American economy is in deep recession and, many
economists fear, on the brink of depression. Heedless of warnings by
economists from both parties, Bush and the Republican Congress continued its
policy of deep tax cuts to the wealthy, the dismantling of social services,
and huge deficits with no end in sight. Recognizing at last the
unsustainability of these policies, the international financial community
lost all confidence in the dollar, and, as a result, the value of the dollar
against world currencies plummeted. Then the economic dominoes proceeded to
fall. The price of imported goods skyrocketed and became unaffordable to
ordinary Americans. International banks (primarily Chinese and Japanese)
refused to continue their support of Bush's budget deficit which forced the
US to raise interest rates dramatically. Consequently, debt-ridden US
consumers have lost their homes, disposable family income has shrunk,
businesses have closed, and unemployment is rising to levels not seen since
the Great Depression of the thirties. However, this time the bankrupt US
government can not supply unemployment compensation or other relief. The
suffering public has put the blame for this disaster directly upon the
Republicans and the Bush Administration.
The Media: After the 2004 election, it was widely believed that
Republican-corporate control of the mainstream media had guaranteed a
permanent Republican "lock" on the federal government. Not so.
Soon thereafter, the public finally began to wake up to the fact that it had
been lied to by the media and, just as important, that it had been denied
vital information about the misdeeds of the Congress and the Administration.
As a result, the media audience fell dramatically, creating a crisis in
advertising revenue. In the meantime, the internet became the primary source
of news to the public. Attempts by the Bush-friendly FCC and the Congress to
stifle the internet failed in the face of public outcry. There was then a
re-birth of investigative journalism which immediately received widespread
support, thence advertising revenue. Investigative journalists then
proceeded to uncover a rogue's gallery of "White House Horrors" --
the instigators of the Valerie Plame affair, the suppression of accurate
intelligence information, the sellout of public resources and institutions
to private "investors," unbid "sweetheart" contracts to
firms such as Halliburton, and much more.
Voting Fraud: With the collapsing economy, the loss of media
credibility, the continuing bad news from Iraq, and the re-emergence of
investigative journalism, the public became more receptive to the idea that
the 2000 and 2004 elections were fraudulent and thus that both Bush
administrations were illegitimate. Because elections are administered on the
state and municipal level, state and local governments were able to open
criminal investigations of election fraud, and with these investigation
effectively employed the powers of legal discovery, subpoena and the threat
of perjury. Indictments followed and public demands for election integrity
in 2006 become irresistible. Reliable exit polling became mandatory along
with paper records of touch-screen balloting.
Civil Liberties: Violations of civil liberties under the USA PATRIOT
Act, which were tolerated in the abstract and when suffered at a distance by
"enemy combatant" prisoners and resident Moslems, finally provoked
outrage when applied to dissenting citizens. "Watch lists," the
federal identity card, censorship, arbitrary arrests, blacklisting and the
loss of careers and reputation, and the labeling of legal dissent as
"subversive" or even "treason" -- all this finally bent
the endurance of the public and the newly-liberated media past the breaking
point. Because the PATRIOT Act evoked little protest and resistance during
Bush's first term, the Administration greatly over-estimated the American
public's willingness to accept these abuses. That false assessment of public
opinion backfired spectacularly.
The Theocracy: With the Congressional vote for stem-cell
research in mid-2005 followed by Bush's veto and the subsequent
Congressional over-ride, Bush's support among "Christians" shrank
to die-hard fundamentalists (a minority), as moderate Christians, religious
non-Christians and secularists rebelled against the religious extremism that
had captivated the White House and Congress ever since Bush first took
office in 2000.
The Decline in Scientific and
Technological World-Leadership: Bush's disdain for science and
education began to yield serious economic consequences, as cutting-edge
research and development, primarily in environmental (e.g. global warming),
energy and bio-technology, moved abroad, along with leading American
researchers and graduate students. The usual influx of foreign scientists
and students slowed to a trickle. The public paid little attention at first
to this decline in international prestige, but corporate executives,
industry, the media, and eventually politicians become acutely aware of the
crisis, leading to an abandonment of support by these GOP stalwarts of the
Bush Administration.
Few of these conditions are impeachable offenses as stipulated in the
Constitution (Article 2, Section 4) -- i.e., "treason, bribery, or
other high crimes and misdemeanors." However, together they constitute
a political climate conducive to impeachment. As political scientists have
often remarked, "impeachment is a political act," which means that
it can not go forward unless the Congress is willing. With the stunning
outcome of this week's election, the Congress is apparently willing to
proceed with the impeachment of the President and the Vice President.
Immediately ahead is the task of compiling evidence that Bush and Cheney
are, in fact, guilty of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors."
THE WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS
The first reaction from the White House to Tuesday's election results was
curiously muted.
Said Press Secretary Scott McLellan: "The people have spoken and we
have taken note. We will cooperate with the new Congressional leadership in
all ways we can, consistent with our Constitutional responsibilities to
protect and defend the national interests of the United States."
When asked directly whether this last phrase left wiggle room for the
Administration to deny Congress the information it was seeking, McLellan
gave a more ambiguous answer: "Of course, we will supply what it is
necessary for the Congress to know. But we will not be party to a fishing
expedition that might do injury to U.S. interests in the world or compromise
our troops and covert operatives in the field."
When reminded by a journalist that two "senior White House"
officials had revealed the CIA affiliation of covert agent Valerie Plame,
thus endangering her and her contacts abroad, McLellan verbally attacked the
reporter as "coming close to providing aid and comfort to the
enemy" by questioning the Administration. He added: "Though the
Democrat Party tends to forget it, our country is engaged in a war against
terrorism, and all Americans should watch carefully what they say and do.
Raising questions about the Administration's veracity and war-policies might
make the terrorists think that the American government is weak and unable to
confront them. This could make our country more vulnerable to attacks."
THE DEMOCRATS SPEAK OUT
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Ma.) replied with unusually frank language.
"That response is simply scare-tactics bullbleep. If anyone is
endangering America's national security, it is the Bush Administration with
its arrogant, bullying behavior around the world, taking us into wars based
on lies and deceptions; the fact is that since the U.S. invaded Iraq, and
the tortures were revealed, more and more terrorists seem to have joined in
attacking the United States."
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) added: "Midterm
elections are referenda on the sitting Administration. The November 2006
election results make perfectly clear that the good citizens of America have
had quite enough of the lies, deception, corruption and dirty tricks of the
Bush Administration. It would behoove the White House to accept the judgment
of the people. The election was a clear No-Confidence Vote in their
leadership.
"One would have thought that the Bush Administration would have seen
the handwriting on the wall as early as five months into their second term,
with embarrassing legislative defeats, secret Iraq-war memos revealed in
London, and the strains and open warfare amid their own coalition -- and
thus would have chosen to govern more from the center. But, in their
arrogance and hubris, they instead moved further to the right to please
their neo-con, corporate and fundamentalist base. In the end, however, even
segments of those constituencies deserted them, so much had the
Administration botched their programs and policies, especially in
economic areas where everyone's pocketbooks are affected.
"For the good of the country, and for
what little is left of their reputations, Bush and Cheney should resign. If
they do not, they can anticipate being dragged through the trauma of
impeachment. My guess is that if they resign, they might be able to
'plea-bargain,' as it were, and the country would go easier on them for
their crimes."
THE ROAD AHEAD
Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative
think-tank, said: "Normally, one would think that a defeat of this
magnitude -- especially with so many conservatives withdrawing their support
-- would lead Bush and Cheney to think seriously about resigning, rather
than have to face impeachment. My guess is that eventually a group of
prestigious Republicans in the Congress and from the corporate world will be
forced to make the inevitable march to the White House to urge them, for the
good of the party and the economy and the country, to step down.
"But Bush and Cheney and Rove and the rest of their posse -- Rumsfeld,
Rice, Gonzales, Chertoff, Negroponte, et al. -- are also thinking about
possible jail terms, and perhaps even having to appear before international
courts, and so I don't see Bush and Cheney resigning. Karl Rove will work
overtime to create a defense, and go to a massive frontal attack against the
Administration's Democrat opponents."
"As long as the Bush Administration remains in power," said
Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe, "they maintain control of the
Justice Department, which, with Bush loyalist Alberto Gonzales [ as Attorney
General, could give them some leverage in the various court cases that may
arise.
"My guess as to their political strategy is that they will fight
impeachment with everything they have, and, if necessary, create a
Constitutional crisis between the Executive and Legislative branches and
hope that the Judiciary, which over the years they've packed with their
appointees, will somehow bail them out at the last minute.
"But I don't think even that cynical strategy will work. Judges read
election returns and there's no way they would want to be connected, even
inferentially, with an Administration that is going down for the count.
"But this extremist crew will not go easily into their dark night. If
they're going to go down, they probably are willing to take the country down
with them."
"There is no way we would let them endanger America further," said
incoming House Speaker Pelosi. "Rest assured" she said,
"that we in the Congress, with the firm backing of the American people,
will do everything in our power to get this reckless gang out of the White
House as quickly as possible. If they start playing dirty tricks, the anger
of the citizenry will grow against them even more. In short, after six
years, we finally are seeing the end of their illegitimate rule, and the
shining of a new era of hope and progress."
Well, friends, if you want to make something happen like the possible
landslide defeat of the Bush Administration described above, it's time to
crank up your activism NOW in preparation for the all-important 2006 midterm
election. Just wishing for it, or starting to think about it a few months
before the voting, won't make it happen. The time for political pressure and
coalition-building -- and demanding honest vote-counting with hand-counted
paper ballots -- is today. Organize, organize, organize!
