Crush, Kill, Destroy

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Why? Because, although most of us hated the whole sordid ordeal, we were confronted every day with the depressing details of Clinton’s dalliances. It demoralized Democrats and caused a lot of people to abandon them. But Bush’s lies and betrayals go much, much deeper than letting a chubby office slut get the better of him. Impeachment proceedings would drag all of his myriad scandals into the light. The TV pundits would have no choice but to acknowledge and discuss them. This, Democrats seem to instinctively fear, would rally the GOP. But they’re wrong. One the main reasons for the loyalty of Republican voters is that they perceive themselves as winners. They are conformists above all. Make losers out of them, and watch how many jump to the winning team, and how quickly.

When the Republicans took over congress, their leadership threw civility in the trash. They ruled ruthlessly and disregarded the impotent complaints of Democrats. The message to Democrats was clear and consistent: we don’t care what you, or the half of the country you represent, do, say, or think. They didn’t negotiate; they didn’t compromise; they wouldn’t even let the Democrats have a room for their mock hearings. They ignored or changed any rules that obstructed their total dominion. It’s imperative that they feel the consequence of those choices now, if we don’t want it to happen again. Instead, like a battered wife, the Democrats can’t wait to make nice again, tripping over each other to take impeachment “off the table.” It’s pitiful.

The reasons given for this congressional Stockholm syndrome don’t stand up to scrutiny. “It would tear the country apart,” many say, as if that hasn’t already happened. It was the Clinton impeachment which accomplished that, and perhaps the nation would benefit psychically from a well justified tit for that brazenly opportunistic tat. But even if it doesn’t, Bush needs to be impeached.

Bush needs to be impeached because Bush worshippers just plain deserve it. It was they that were giddy with self-righteous rage, so desperate to take Clinton down that they didn’t care how pathetic their excuse was. They need to be paid back, and to know they asked for it. They need to be demoralized and dismissed before they take the government back and damage it further. They need, after all, to know their reign was a colossal failure, a blight on the record. They need to know that now and forever, George W. Bush will be to presidents what OJ Simpson is to all-star running backs. These people understand things in terms of winning and losing, and they need to know that, in the end, they lost.

Bush needs to be impeached because the only language these people understand is power. Their hearts will not be touched by forgiveness. Any mercy is a sign of weakness to them. If you want to earn a thug’s respect, you’ve got to kick his ass up and down the block. No negotiation. No compromise. Slash and burn. Teach these assholes a lesson. Leave them broken and gasping in a puddle of their own urine. Don’t ever let them forget the humiliation and the shame of it.

But beyond revenge and humiliation—the reasons that Republicans will actually understand—Bush needs to be impeached because he is a criminal of the highest order, and because tolerating criminals at the seat of power is itself a crime against the nation. The core problem in Washington today is not the president’s lack of respect for the law; it’s that congress has done nothing about it. The first step toward restoring a reasonable government is correcting that.

Bush needs to be impeached for the same reason any conservative will tell you that drug offenders need to go to jail forever. In other words, if a president abuses his power, misleads the nation, flouts the constitution, breaks longstanding international laws and ignores congress—and then, when the opposition takes power, nothing happens—what kind of message does that send to the next power-mad president? Bush—and Cheney—need to be impeached because that’s how this thing works.

Bush needs to be impeached, but it’s not going to happen. Not a chance. Because as wrong as the Republicans are, they’re right about one thing: the Democrats just don’t have the courage to do what’s right.

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