Impeach him now
Yesterday's pardon - and yes, it was for all practical intents and purposes exactly that - of Scooter Libby by George Bush is a clear and flagrant abuse of power, intended to thwart an ongoing investigation and to undermine the proper administration of justice.
That is Nixon territory. Hence, George Bush must be impeached by the U.S. House and brought to trial in the Senate.
The New York Times lays out the case here:
Presidents have the power to grant clemency and pardons. But in this case, Mr. Bush did not sound like a leader making tough decisions about justice. He sounded like a man worried about what a former loyalist might say when actually staring into a prison cell.
The literature on the Presidential power of pardon is extensive, and it is clear: this power exists as a means to temper justice with mercy.
It is not intended to save Presidents from undue scrutiny, nor to shut up loyal retainers under investigation for acts committed in the service of the White House. This, however, is the effect of this pardon; not to put too fine a point on it, Bush issued it on the same day that a Federal court informed Scooter Libby that he would have to wait out his current appeal in jail.
That's what raises this from a question of Presidential privilege to an abuse of power: clemency is a last resort of mercy when all other options have been exhausted. George Bush's pardon interfered with the ongoing administration of justice in a case in which he, and his Vice President, have cause to be interested. If we are going to be a nation of laws, we can't tolerate that. And since there is no corrective, no check or balance, to the quasi-monarchical power of pardon, the only means of redress left to the people and their elected representatives is that of impeachment.
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Impeachment | George W. Bush
Please do.
Submitted by Margaret Bassett on 28 July 2007 - 2:58pm.
You will notice that mole333 has the popular one about what Congressional Democrats are doing, or not doing. My "Impeachment on the table" thing is more background information. We are trying to get more people to write their own thoughts. So, I for one, look forward to yours.
Right On! Michael!
Except, let's make it Let's Impeach THEM Now. If you saw the Moyers Journal program (PBS on Fri the 13th at my house) with Bruce Fein and John Nichols, you know how serious those with academic credentials see the issue. I had an awakening, thinking that impeachment was an act of (almost) revenge. The interviewees set Moyers and audience straight. Impeachment is in place for the people to set the ship of state on course when the executive takes on kingly powers. One of the tragedies, said Nichols, of the Nixon standoff was that Nixon never apologized to the citizenship. It took a while, but Clinton finally told us he was sorry for what he put the country through. And that is what should be happening with Bush and Cheney. They should be told (by articles of impeachment) where they erred and it they understand that, things could be settled. I realize that is not the way a conflicted society reacts. But it is the way conflicts are settled satisfactorily.
My view on finding guilt in criminal cases follows what these men outlined for a national reconciliation. Just as putting the guilty in jail does not give them tools to become law abiding again, so ostracizing political leaders without setting up a paradigm of proper stewardship does not produce better government. In the last analysis, Fein and Nichols want the impeachment, because the next president will be saddled with bad problems and perhaps poor solutions if the people don't play their role now.
John Dean was counsel to Nixon just as Miers was counsel to Bush. It will be instructive what she will say to Conyers when his deadline expires.