Impeachment
I just finished watching this week's edition of Bill Moyer's Journal on PBS.
This week, the discussion was on the possible impeachment of George Bush AND Dick Cheney.
Please, if you have a chance to see it, please, please, please watch it. It is one of the single most brilliant moments I have ever seen on television. Two constituional lawyers, including Stein,a VERY conservative lawyer, who wrote up the impeachment papers on Bill Clinton were BOTH arguing for the impeachment of both Bush and Cheney, while Bill Moyers was playing devil's advocate and arguing against it.
What a lesson in politics, the law, and the constitution!
I was so moved that I wrote to Bill Moyers as soon as the program was over.
This is my letter:
Hi. I just finished watching your journal this week on the subject of impeachment.
I just have to say that it was one of the most brilliant pieces on politics and government I have ever seen, and probably the best single lesson one can ever get on the constitution and the separation of powers.
I had, up to now, been somewhat ambilvalent over whether it was prudent to consider impeachment. But now I am convinced that impeachment is not only advisable, it is actually necessary. And perhaps it was the conservative, Stein, whose arguments were the most compelling. And that impeachment, while probably being more difficult for Republicans to approach than Democrats, is yet even more necessary for them to embrace.
I have no doubt that it will be a Democrat who wins the White house in 2008, and the idea that another president, even a Democrat could actually "inherit" the powers that Bush and Cheney have amassed for the executive branch, is totally unacceptable to me. It would be even more so for a Republican.
By the way, the most convincing argument of all for me was the idea that impeachment itself is NOT a constitutional crisis. We are already in the constitutional crisis, and impeachment is actually the cure.
Please thank your two guests, especially Mr. Stein. I would probably never agree with his politics, but he has earned my greatest respect for his devotion to the constitution and the rule of law.
This week, the discussion was on the possible impeachment of George Bush AND Dick Cheney.
Please, if you have a chance to see it, please, please, please watch it. It is one of the single most brilliant moments I have ever seen on television. Two constituional lawyers, including Stein,a VERY conservative lawyer, who wrote up the impeachment papers on Bill Clinton were BOTH arguing for the impeachment of both Bush and Cheney, while Bill Moyers was playing devil's advocate and arguing against it.
What a lesson in politics, the law, and the constitution!
I was so moved that I wrote to Bill Moyers as soon as the program was over.
This is my letter:
Hi. I just finished watching your journal this week on the subject of impeachment.
I just have to say that it was one of the most brilliant pieces on politics and government I have ever seen, and probably the best single lesson one can ever get on the constitution and the separation of powers.
I had, up to now, been somewhat ambilvalent over whether it was prudent to consider impeachment. But now I am convinced that impeachment is not only advisable, it is actually necessary. And perhaps it was the conservative, Stein, whose arguments were the most compelling. And that impeachment, while probably being more difficult for Republicans to approach than Democrats, is yet even more necessary for them to embrace.
I have no doubt that it will be a Democrat who wins the White house in 2008, and the idea that another president, even a Democrat could actually "inherit" the powers that Bush and Cheney have amassed for the executive branch, is totally unacceptable to me. It would be even more so for a Republican.
By the way, the most convincing argument of all for me was the idea that impeachment itself is NOT a constitutional crisis. We are already in the constitutional crisis, and impeachment is actually the cure.
Please thank your two guests, especially Mr. Stein. I would probably never agree with his politics, but he has earned my greatest respect for his devotion to the constitution and the rule of law.