Impeachment Good for Republicans and Democrats

Impeachment Good for Republicans and Democrats

A debate is raging as to whether the U.S. should impeach George W. Bush, but it’s not a partisan debate. Democrats and Republicans fall on both sides of the issue. Members of both parties opposing impeachment seem to be worried that pursuing impeachment will hurt their chances in the 2008 presidential elections and beyond. Given that the argument seems to be turning on whether impeachment is good for winning elections, it seems odd that so many members of both parties are in agreement about opposing it. Obviously, one of the parties will get a political bump.

While few reasonable people can doubt that Bush has done more than enough to warrant impeachment from a constitutional perspective, it looks like some Democrats and Republicans won’t be motivated to impeach until they can see why it’s good for their political futures. Therefore I'm going to put aside the fact that holding Bush accountable for his numerous crimes is the ethical thing to do. I’m also going to put aside the way impeachment massively increases the chance of Congress undoing his rubberstamped legislative damage, and that impeachment is the only way to deter future presidents from continuing from where Bush leaves off. That’s right — even ignoring all this, impeachment is still a good idea, and for both parties.

Democrats, up until now, you've had a Republican majority in the Congress. When people criticized the government, you could claim with some credibility that there was nothing you could do about it. But now you have both houses of Congress. The people voted to put you in office in good measure not because your party expressed a coherent and positive vision for America’s future, but because they were concerned about the overwhelming amount of government corruption that’s been going on under Republican control. If you fail to hold this president accountable now, you're out of excuses. People will look back and say that both parties were complicit, corrupt, and opportunistic — and they'll be right. You only maintain the moral high ground if you defend the Constitution in contrast to the Republican controlled Congress. Members of Congress, it might be good to remember that this was the oath you swore to when you took office. If you fail in this, the public will see you as no different from those you replaced, and you will lose your precious elections. Ten years from now, when your child asks you what you did to stop Bush's systematic destruction of the foundations of our democracy, you'll have to say, "Well, nothing, honey. We had an election to win." Actually, you may want to make sure you tell them in person, to avoid the wiretap surveillance.

And Republicans, you're like the football coach who pridefully refuses to pull a player off the field after everyone else can plainly see the need. The sooner you pull the man, the more highly respected you'll be. The longer you wait, the more you tie your party's future to the corruption and incompetence that has already been attributed to this administration.

If we look to history, we find that elections subsequent to presidential impeachment have consistently favored parties that have pursued impeachment. So whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, it’s time to join together on impeachment. All who do will reap the spoils. Those who do not will be subject to the judgment of history.

Jodin Morey
D. Larkin Corvin
ImpeachForPeace.org