Don’t Demean Almost Half the Country on Impeachment

This is my reply to A.B. Stoddard:

You write that all the Congress has done is have Iraq votes and investigate, which, BTW, happens to be the Republican talking point.

First, the reason Democrats have not been able to “muster the votes” to change Iraq policy is not because of Democrats, but because of Republicans.

The House has passed legislation to change the policy. Democrats nearly unanimously vote to change the policy. Some Republicans now vote to change the policy and a majority of the Senate has voted to change the policy. 

The reason it has not changed is Republican obstruction and filibuster, which thwart the will of the majority of the House, the Senate and the country. If Republicans and their friends in the media want to campaign for filibusters to continue the Iraq escalation, be my guest.

Next: Congress has done nothing except Iraq votes and investigations?

First, the reason for investigations is that the Democrats, like an overwhelming majority of Americans, believe the Republican Congress abdicated its responsibility for oversight.

If Republicans want to run as the party of perjury, pardons, privilege and abuse of power, that is certainly their right.

If Republicans want to run as the party that believes that oversight should be ended and corruption should not be investigated, that, too, is certainly their right and the right of their friends in the media. Be my guest.

Secondly, the reason more legislation has not been passed is, again, Republican filibuster and obstruction.

The Democratic House passed a series of major bills early in the year. That is a fact.

One of them, minimum wage, was enacted only after the application of great Democratic pressure. That is
a fact.

The other bills have near-unanimous support among Democratic senators, and have majority support in the Senate, including a number of Republicans. That is a fact.

Those bills are held hostage by Republican obstruction and filibusters. That is a fact.

Those Americans concerned about the lack of action will direct their ire at the do-nothing, obstructionist Senate Republicans who launch filibuster after filibuster. I predict there will soon be major television ads to this effect.

The Democrats in the House have moved; the House as an institution has moved; Democrats in the Senate are ready; a majority of senators are ready; overwhelming majorities of the public are ready; it is the Senate Republican minority that blockades changes that Americans want.

If Republicans and their friends in the media want to travel the country and advocate filibuster and obstruction against the vast changes that Americans want, which the House has passed, which almost all Democrats want passed, which a majority of the Senate wants passed: Be my guest.

Here is a little punditry: When some polls now show that impeachment is supported by close to 45 percent of the entire nation, that is not only an extraordinary situation, it is a leading indicator of huge voter turnout among those who favor change. It is a current indicator of one major reason that Democrats have a dominant lead in fundraising for 2008.

I am neither advocating nor opposing impeachment in this post, but making a larger point.

With all due respect, when you repeat the Republican talking point and return to the demeaning of Bill Clinton, who was attacked on grounds that were trivial compared to the grounds involving Bush, you insult and you demean almost half the nation.

Set aside the fact that compared to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton and Al Gore deserve Mount Rushmore; and set aside that cheap and partisan attacks on Bill Clinton are the last refuge of desperate Republicans and their friends in the media.

When you suggest that the proposed reason for impeachment is that Bush did not prepare for Iraq, you are again insulting and again demeaning the nearly 45 percent of Americans who have clearly, repeatedly and
very publicly asserted far more grave and serious grounds than that.

You can certainly disagree with them, but give them the respect and intellectual honesty of accurately portraying what they are saying.

To misstate what they are suggesting, and then ridicule and demean the opinion of close to half of America is exactly what brings politics and journalism into widespread disrepute.

This is why Democrats won an overwhelming victory in 2006 including a surprise takeover of the Senate. This is why Democrats have such an overwhelming advantage in campaign fundraising for 2008. This is why Republicans in Congress are now experiencing mortal dread about their fears of what the voters will do in 2008.

Americans want change, and that change is being blockaded by obstructionist, do-nothing Republican senators abusing the filibuster to thwart the will of the majority of the House, the majority of the Senate and the vast majority of the country.

The day of reckoning is coming.