I sent an email to Pelosi, using an excerpt from C.Mosby's post at the above Salon article (kudos, Mosby). I would like to repeat that comment here for my own posterity's sake (I'd probably forget where I heard it, read it, saw it at some future date):
Where’s Barbara Jordan, now that we REALLY need her?
This shouldn’t be about vote counts in the Senate or concerns about being perceived as politically motivated whining Democrats. Any acceptance of that rationale by this congress, regardless of party affiliation, suggests that witnessing the current relentless dismantling of the Constitution and the erosion of balance crucial to effective government presumed in the theory of separation of powers is secondary to party control of the runaway dictatorship that’s left in place.
What good is control of any constitutional leg of this government if the Constitution is eventually rendered irrelevant? It’s incredible that no one in congress seems to see that. But perhaps they all do. The cynical side of me acknowledges that the appeal of the Rovian philosophy of single party control and de facto, eventually de ju-re, dictatorship may be tempting to venal politicians of either stripe. After all, governing is hard work (to quote a folksy prominent politician). Why not make it easy?
That, in fact, may be what we are all witnessing here. There is little doubt that the degree to which corporations, big money lobbyists and other special interests control “The Honorable (fill in the blank)” of either party is the only meaningful variable about their allegiances. What may be left is simply jockeying and political maneuvering for who gets the reins on this horse Mr. Rove has been creating. Certainly, the MSM and a distracted, brainwashed or disinterested “electorate” represent no credible deterrents.
No one knows what Harry Reid is thinking; but the problem is not with Harry Reid or the Senate. Impeachment is initiated in the House. The power to impeach is reserved explicitly by the constitution (temporarily, it now seems), for the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, right after the election of November 2006, for political expediency and perhaps, wishful thinking, Nancy Pelosi said: “I have said it before and I will say it again: Impeachment is off the table,” Democrats “are not about getting even” with Republicans. In the context of those statements, she also said:
“Democrats pledge civility and bipartisanship in the conduct of the work here and we pledge partnerships with Congress and the Republicans in Congress, and the president — not partisanship.”
How’s that working out for you, Madame speaker?
There are so many grounds for impeachment of these people that there is no need to enumerate them here. What is desperately needed now, is more people like former Texas congressional representative Barbara Jordan in the house.
Quoting the late Ms. Jordan during the Nixon years….
B.J.: "If the impeachment provision in the Constitution of the United States will not reach the offenses charged here, then perhaps that 18th-century Constitution should be abandoned to a 20th-century paper shredder."
That statement is, at the very least, equally relevant today.
B.J.: "My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution."
Therein lies the problem with this congress, more specifically, the problem in this House of Representatives.
Do Ms. Jordan’s sentiments ring any bells, Madame speaker? You may think you were elected primarily to be “civil” and partner up with noble Republicans; but you should be reminded that your oath is to the constitution.
A truly responsible congress would recognize that this case MUST be brought, regardless of the outcome. At least, an intervention process would have been attempted and presented to the American people. It may be hopeless; but at least they would have had the opportunity to see what is happening to their government as it is transcending to a new American “ism” that their forebears would not recognize and, surely, could not support.
If presented properly, they may even be persuaded to put enough pressure on their elected representatives to overcome the influence of their true owners. Otherwise, it is truly hopeless.
Somebody has to step up, or recognize they are simply plugging in the shredder while pretending not to marvel at its efficiency of operation.
-- C. Mosby
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