When Karl Rove and others in the GOP politbureau survey the grim landscape of their current prospects, they must see very few opportunities to turn their fortunes around:
- A miraculous reversal of fortunes in the war of Iraq
- A devastating new terror attack in the United States
- A solid, indisputable reason to invade Iran
- Democratic over-reaching on impeaching President Bush
If the Republicans can impeach a president because of a sex lie, there is no doubt President Bush deserves to be impeached on several counts, including gross negligence and incompetence in Iraq and during the Katrina aftermath, and illegally spying on Americans.
But you can be sure that up in the aerie reaches of Karl Rove’s rarified perspective, the Republicans are betting that if Democrats make impeaching the president a campaign issue this year, it will create a rally for Mr. Bush at his base that could staunch the bleeding in the polls.
I have my doubts that the Republicans and independents who have been re-thinking their support of President Bush lately will rally back to him under any circumstances short of a direct attack on the United States.
What would tip the balance toward impeachment is incontrovertible evidence, preferably on video, that Mr. Bush lied about something — anything. Until then, he will be able to slither out of any noose his enemies lay down, just as he always has.
Still, talk of impeachment has been seeping into the traditional media of late. Here is William Goodman, co-author of “Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush” discussing a recent debate on MSNBC led by Republican talk show host Joe Scarborough:
Since impeachment rarely receives any consideration on television, I took the opportunity to explain our case, even if it meant going on Joe Scarborough’s turf. Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who opposes impeaching President Bush, said during the show that he was “fascinated” by some arguments for impeachment. He accurately described the groundswell:
There’s a movement out there right now calling for George W. Bush to be impeached. Just take a look at how many cities and towns across America have either drafted resolutions calling for the president’s impeachment or are considering doing so. Not only that, but 11 candidates for the House of Representatives and three for the U.S. Senate are all running on the impeachment platform. Why do they want the president gone? Well, here are the common reasons cited. The war in Iraq, which they say Bush lied to get us into; warrantless eavesdropping, authorized by the president; the torturing of prisoners; and the president`s response to Hurricane Katrina.It is significant that impeachment activists have received Scarborough’s attention. When we debated the topic, Scarborough even conceded that the arguments for impeachment in our book were “intellectually honest.” That’s because it’s easy to make an intellectually honest case for impeachment: President Bush has publicly admitted to breaking the law. Here is how I explained the clearest example of the president’s multifaceted illegal conduct — spying on Americans:
[The] fact is that the law provides a clear-cut way that the president has to do these things. He has to go to the FISA court. He knowingly violated that law. And the law says — there are two laws, in fact, that say that when you do that, you are guilty of a crime. There it is. That is one of the high crimes and misdemeanors.
What would tip the balance toward impeachment is incontrovertible evidence, preferably on video, that Mr. Bush lied about something — anything.
Respectfully disagree — there are PLENTY of videos of chimpy lying about Iraq, the shifting reasons for the war, condi’s statment (repeated by chimperor) that “nobody could have predicted flying planes into buildings,” Katrina, and more.
I don’t have all the answers, but therre is no shortage of videos of the smirking chimp or his administration lying.
IMHO, the key will be to stay on message and avoid the usual distractions, while always being mindful of the next example of lying and corruption that is surely just around the corner.
True, but what I mean is a video like Pres. Clinton saying, “I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.” After that statement was revealed to be a lie, his impeachment became almost inevitable — not because of the substance of what he said but because his enemies now had videotaped “evidence” of lying, ergo the president is a liar, ergo impeach him.
Even the videotape of Bush being briefed pre-Katrina about the anticipated possibility of levees breaching in New Orleans was not sufficiently specific to “prove” Bush was lying four days later when he said, “No one could have anticipated that the levees would be breached.” His supporters say he was warned that the levees might be “topped” not “breached” (the “is-is” defense), etc.
The Bushistas are incompetent at everything but covering their own asses. Right now, I’d say they’re betting the farm that they can keep their various crimes and misdemeanors bottled up until January 2009, when a new president takes office and Bush era wrong-doings become “old news” from which country must “move on.”
MAYBE SO! BUT LYING ABOUT HIS DICK AND SEX LIFE IS A FAR CRY FROM LYING ABOUT THE WAR AND OTHER THINGS THAT IS A LOT MORE IMPEACHABLE THAN HIS AFFAIRS!
HIS DICK OFFENSE HAS NOT TOOK A BITE OUT OF MY BACK POCKET LIKE BUSH HAS WIHT HIS ILLEAGLE ENDEAVORS TO MAKE HALIBURTON, CHENY AND ALL OF THE OTHER REPUGS RICH SUCH AS INVADING IRAG–USELESS and NEEDLESS– JUST A PLOY TO GET GAS AND EVERY THING SKY HIGH!
The Katrina smoking gun videos should suffice – as an advertisement, played continuously on every TV channel, with its title something like, “He lied and thirteen hundred (and still counting) of our best and brightest died in New Orleans.” Where will the money come from? An appeal for moola on the Internet, where else?