by Deck Deckert
(Swans - November 21, 2005) A friend sent me a gag photo of a church sign that proclaims "Will someone please give him a blow job so we can impeach him?"
While the photo is undoubtedly the work of Photoshop, the ribald sentiment for the impeachment of President Bush is an all too rare expression of what should by now be a groundswell -- and what could have been a groundswell except for the dereliction of the media, and the cowardice of the Democrats, and even progressives.
All movements begin with an idea, but the idea of impeachment was strangled at birth.
When a handful of us suggested it was time to begin thinking about impeachment during the drive toward war a few years ago, we were treated as though we were lunatics.
Bush supporters led the way:
"Bush is a great leader."
"Are you a communist?"
"Speaking like that gives aid and comfort to our enemies!"
"Anyone who opposes the president in a time of war is a traitor."
Bush opponents said portentously:
"Now is not the time."
"We must move cautiously; the president is enormously popular right now."
"It's politically impossible."
At least the latter point was true -- as far as it went. With all three branches of the government in the hands of the Republicans and reactionaries, a suggestion for impeachment would have gotten nowhere. But the idea could have been introduced, the suggestion made, arguments put forth.
When the radical right began suggesting that President Clinton should be impeached on the ludicrous grounds that he had been given a blowjob by a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky -- oh, no, excuse me, because he lied about it, by god -- the average citizen wasn't ready to buy it. In the end, the public reluctantly acquiesced in impeachment proceedings only because of the relentless campaign of vilification by the right wing and their stooges in the mainstream media. (A case for impeaching President Clinton could have been made, but it wasn't for his sexual peccadilloes, or even his lying about them.)
By any measure, the crimes of President Bush are far more important, and he merits impeachment if ever any president has because of the way he lied us into a war with Iraq.
His other sins and crimes, as ugly and dangerous as they are, aren't the stuff of impeachment. But we shouldn't lose track of them -- his tax cuts for the obscenely rich, his attempt to privatize Social Security, his embrace of torture, his parceling out billions of dollars of no-bid contracts to his oil buddies, the corruption of the media with fake news videos and bought and paid for "journalists," his encouragement of homophobia, the devastation of public schools with the deceptive No Child Left Behind program and his encouragement of anti-evolution education, his alienating virtually the whole world by his repudiation of the treaties and obligations, and the tyrannical Patriot Act.
The possibility of impeachment is still highly unlikely. There is no way a Republican controlled House and Senate is going to impeach Bush right now. Even if the impossible happened, Dick Cheney would become president, a scenario straight out of a horror movie. Cheney is a dangerous man and he has been involved in -- or the architect of -- all of the administration's crimes and failures.
But the rationale for impeachment should be explored, given voice. If we truly love our country, we cannot do otherwise. His presidency has a dangerously long way to run.
My wife just gave me the perfect gift -- a little device on a key chain with a picture of Bush and a clock that is counting backwards, showing how much time we still have to endure him...
...IN TENTHS OF A SECOND!
At the moment I am writing this, Bush still has 1,161 days, five hours, 32 minutes and 44.8 seconds, er 43.3 secs, 40.1, 38.9....... Well, it is in tenths of a second and I can't type that fast.
Check the clock yourself and think about it.
If Bush is allowed to serve out his term, we will have to put up with him for -- check that clock -- days. Can the country survive?