The Issue of Impeachment

Someone asked today after class why the Democrats have given up on impeachment proceedings of Bush & Co. (I felt my ears twitch a little.) When someone in the back of the room quickly replied that it was because “the Democrats want to win the election, and they can't turn off the moderates...it’s as simple as that - that's why!” there was a precipitous silence over everyone in the room – a room filled mostly, may I add, with those of the argumentative Poli Sci Type-A genotype. This tactic, of course, has been used by centrist Democrats for decades. Yet it must be queried how the hell this ultra-pragmatic affectation has been able to so successfully shut everyone up and get us in line? I mean, it was incredible! No one could even muster a peep about the recidivist “high crime and misdemeanor” violations and blatant disregard for the law! I mean, absolutely powerless!

So how has it come to this? Have we all gone out of our fucking heads?

The silence was too deafening, at least for me, (7 seconds, I swear!) so I politely asked whether the response was actually a reason at all, or “perhaps” an excuse, “presuming of course,” that it was highly unlikely that any political party would ever take up the issue after the election, you know, after all the votes are counted. I also managed to work in a final tweaker: that the new administration “may very easily want to take advantage of the unprecedented growth in executive power.” And so the student smirked and took the last word, “well, then it will be irrelevant.”

Unfortunately many Democrats are blind to the fact that if Obama “has to do” such and such “to get elected” he will probably have to do the same – and a whole lot worse – to be able to govern because voting season will be over. No more speeches, no more interviews, no more horserace, no more elections. What will people think then? What will the crowd do?