There is now a wave of sentiment among some of the people to impeach Bush and Chaney, which, however, has been said by the Democratic leaders coming into power in the Legislative Branch, that this is something they will not do. What should be done?
One question to be faced is whether the Legislative Branch has the power not to impeach, that is whether this power is discretionary? Here is what the Constitution says:
Article I, Section 2, paragraph 5: The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment
Article I, Section 3, paragraph 6: The Senate shall have sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person all be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.
Article I, Section 3, paragraph 7: Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Article II, Section 4: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
The House has the Power of Impeachment (to bring the President to trial in the Senate), and the Senate is the trier of fact for the Conviction of the causes of Impeachment (Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors), with the Chief Justice presiding. Here, as a very much related matter, is the President's Oath of Office, from Article II, Section 1, paragraph 8: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Please note that the Oath of Office is not to the People or the Nation, but to the Constitution. This is a subtle and most significant fact. What could be a more significant (higher) Crime, than the breaking of the Oath of Office?
Now the main thought that probably inhibits the Legislative Branch from impeaching President Bush is not whether he has committed any crimes, but what this would cost the country to endure. But this will not be the only thought. Many higher officials in the Legislative Branch contemplate the possibility of running for President. They too seek power, and the expansion of presidential power by this president has to be a mighty temptation for those who believe themselves qualified to run for this high office.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that behind the scenes power players from the elites of wealth are well aware that the near future may contain a time of deep economic disorder, such that anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of Americans could become unemployed. Such a time would be one of great unrest, and so these higher powers have encouraged the creation of legislation (The Patriot Act, the Freedom Act, and the Military Commissions Act of 2006),which enables the Executive Branch (with the approval of the Legislative Branch) to exercise extraordinary powers in a time of civil unrest.
This is the situation from the side of the powers who control Washington, but from the side of the People, the matter is otherwise.
The President and the Vice President have violated their Oaths of Office. They have sought for and received (with the blessings of the Legislative Branch) extraordinary extra-constitutional powers over the American People. What higher crimes could there be?
The specific charges, in the sense of lying about the road to War in Iraq; in the sense of authorizing the violation of the laws (national and international) against torture; and, in the sense of the illegal wiretapping of American Citizens, these specific charges would be the easiest to prove in the trial in the Senate, should the House choose to impeach. Yet, the question remains whether the Legislative Branch, even under the rule of the Democrats, has the courage to impeach.
The reason they should impeach is rather simple. Justice requires it.
Crimes have been committed against the American People, the highest kinds of crimes. The People deserve and need Justice, and the future needs for this Justice to be extracted regardless of the immediate costs in strife, for politicians need to know that the People's Branch, the Legislative Branch, will uphold its Duty and its Trust.
If the Democrats fail to exact Justice for the People through the process of Impeachment, than that failure will be one far worse in its costs than anything the Republicans have done so far in their unconscionable excessive exercises of raw political power and corruption.
