Don't just get mad -- impeach

By Libby

George McGovern comes forward today in the WaPo to make a good case for impeachment. It should be read in full but here's a couple of meaty grafs.

Impeachment is unlikely, of course. But we must still urge Congress to act. Impeachment, quite simply, is the procedure written into the Constitution to deal with presidents who violate the Constitution and the laws of the land. It is also a way to signal to the American people and the world that some of us feel strongly enough about the present drift of our country to support the impeachment of the false prophets who have led us astray. This, I believe, is the rightful course for an American patriot.

As former representative Elizabeth Holtzman, who played a key role in the Nixon impeachment proceedings, wrote two years ago, "it wasn't until the most recent revelations that President Bush directed the wiretapping of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- and argued that, as Commander in Chief, he had the right in the interests of national security to override our country's laws -- that I felt the same sinking feeling in my stomach as I did during Watergate. . . . A President, any President, who maintains that he is above the law -- and repeatedly violates the law -- thereby commits high crimes and misdemeanors."

Never has any president so blatantly and successfully thumbed his nose at the rule of law. If we're going to restore our standing in the eyes of the international community, the people must demand that we hold them accountable and impeachment is the mechanism kindly provided by our Founding Fathers for this purpose. The process is more important than the outcome. Even if it doesn't succeed before the end of the term, we will have demonstrated that we don't condone the horrible thuggery and shameless criminality of this administration and send a very clear message to the next administration that we want the executive overreach to be reversed and forever nullified.

The White House has made clear that they will push as far as they can until they are challenged. As they sprint to the door, stuffing their pockets with our tax dollars as they go, they can still do much damage beyond our most horrible imaginings and with nothing left to lose, they will. We have much to gain and nothing to lose by pushing for impeachment, even at this late date.

The Democrats fear a voter backlash and won't act unless we insist they do so. Wexler has given us an opportunity to be heard but so far only 181,079 citizens have signed on to his petition. We need a million and more. If we pass the link on to our email lists and ask our family and friends to sign, we could get there.

Surely, it's worth a few minutes of our time to save our republic. If you're hungry for justice, help put impeachment back on the table. If you haven't signed, please do. If you have signed, pass it on.