This is my opinion and not necessarily that of any other member of our local party. I am posting here for the purpose of generating discussion.
Last night we heard two presentations and, to my amazement, there was much more comfort with the discussion of the issue of the "Protection of Marriage Amendment" (the latest Republican Scam to drive the faithful to the polls in droves in November) than there was
with the subject of "Impeachment".One of our members stood at the end of the presentation (and virtually the end of the meeting) and asked, "Aren't we going to do something? Are we going to stand on principles or....what?" He seemed genuinely bewildered that we, as a party organization, were going to simply let the meeting end without taking any kind of formal action. This party member's outrage at the Bush Administration was very heart-felt; very passionate and I felt his dismay when we left the meeting without taking a stand on the issue.
The Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson
The questions he raised, knawed at me all the way home. It's not just the Democratic Party leadership at the National and State levels who are afraid to take a public stand on the subject of impeachment, it's us...it's almost all of us. Among ourselves we talk about impeaching Bush and Cheney and Gonzales and Rumsfeld but when it comes down to taking it "to the streets" as an official party platform, we can't quite bring ourselves to do it.
Why?
I have carefully examined my own beliefs and there is truly nothing I would enjoy more than seeing George W. Bush standing trial before the Senate on Articles of Impeachment drawn up by the House of Representatives. I also would like to see Cheney and Rumsfeld standing trial for war crimes and atrocities which I believe they have authored. But I still can't bring myself to "take it to the streets" and I don't know why.
I have tried out and dismissed a dozen or so rationales for why I can't but I understand that they are bogus. All I know at the moment is that if I were to start marching up and down the streets with impeachment petitions, I would be pretty much alone at the moment and, I would not be taken seriously by the people I wanted to influence. I would be branded "lunatic fringe" not just by Republicans but also by common, everyday people. In other words: it would do no good.
It occurs to me that the real problem is that the subject is not yet RIPE.
Here's what I mean by RIPE. The public is not yet angry enough. Impeachment is a DRASTIC, DRASTIC measure and the public has to be sufficiently angry....outraged really...in order to demand that we as a country travel that path. The Republicans know this and they knew how to manufacture a facade of public outrage in order to push forward with the Clinton Impeachment farce.
Our nature as Democrats is to let the truth be our shield, that is, let the crimes of George W. Bush be made known to the public and the public will then be as outraged as we are. That public outrage will naturally and rightly lead to impeachment proceedings.
Wrong.
I think we need to manufacture our own public consent. We need to build the movement from the ground up and THEN AND ONLY THEN can we expect the Impeachment ball to start rolling.
What do you think?
Can you bring yourself to say the "I-word"?
comments?
1 comment:
What a thoughtful post on the "I" Word! As someone who has chosen her issue but also speaks out at times in favor of impeachment, I will humbly offer my assessment. Asking people to vote "no" on an amendment which would affect huge numbers of WI people in a negative manner is a far narrower and much more positive issue than asking for impeachment at the national level for a vast number of crimes and misdemeanors. It is easy for me to say that voting "no" on a badly written ban on civil rights and marriage amendment would be a POSITIVE step toward keeping one state, WI, progressive. The feedback, in general, has also been amazingly friendly and supportive on the marriage issue. On the other hand, I run into a brick wall (and am lucky not to have actual bricks aimed at my liberal head) whenever I mention impeachment to my mostly liberal friends. Why? I think most see it as a NEGATIVE move. People want to see progress and positive ideas from our government. They also see Republicans as highly negative and don't want to follow their lead. I sympathize with these feelings. I resist following Rep. campaign tactics even though they are effective precisely because they are "down and dirty" and we should be above all that. In addition, people have just been dragged through the slings and arrows cast against Bill Clinton and probably don't want to go through all of that mud-slinging again. Finally, we are dealing with a vast and complex problem when it comes to impeachment. Folks tend to see all the right moves when invading Afghanistan, for example, even though many are against our preemptive strike in Iraq. The WI amendment proposal, after all, is only one badly written proposal on the ballot in only our state. It is a narrow issue with an end date (Nov. 7) and an issue which would directly affect family members of most people I have talked to. The impeachment question, however, raises VARIOUS issues--several wars, wiretapping, hurricane rescue and relief, rendition, detention, brutality toward prisoners, and other topics too numerous to mention. Several of these sub-topics are seen in the abstract, mainly because Americans have been kept so insulated from making any real sacrifices in these wars or even seeing most of the bloodshed and the coffins coming home.
I want to make it clear that I am in favor of impeachment (as long as we include VP, AG, etc), and will sign any such pledges that come my way. In fact, I already have done so. Will I go out and pound the pavement? No way; not now. Will I discourage others from doing so? No way. In fact, I talked to the Pary member after the meeting and told him that I fully understand how it is to be so committed to a stand that you feel compelled to take action. I answered some practical questions which the gentleman asked and told him to "go for it". I wish him great success and will offer behind the scenes support and any information and resources within my power. Sadly, although I personally would like to, I will not be making calls or knocking on doors for him. If the impeachment issue ever becomes "ripe", however, you can guess that I might be glimpsed with a phone to my ear or on the sidewalk with a clipboard in my hand.
Post a Comment