What if the bipartisan foreign policy establishment decided that we cannot afford to have Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld running our foreign policy for another two and a half years? What would they do?
Wake up, folks, because we are seeing the gears in motion. Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher writes, in a column called A Crisis Almost Without Equal:
Our president, in a time of war, terrorism and nuclear intrigue, will likely remain in office for another 33 months, with crushingly low approval ratings that are still inching lower…
…The alarm should be bi-partisan.
…many are starting to look for a way to shorten or short-circuit the extended crisis period.
Mitchell goes on to cite Tom Friedman:
“I look at the Bush national security officials much the way I look at drunken drivers. I just want to take away their foreign policy driver’s licenses for the next three years. Sorry, boys and girls, you have to stay home now — or take a taxi. … You will not be driving alone. Not with my car.”
“If ours were a parliamentary democracy, the entire Bush team would be out of office by now, and deservedly so. … But ours is not a parliamentary system, and while some may feel as if this administration’s over, it isn’t. So what to do? We can’t just take a foreign policy timeout.”
The problem is unusual. The crisis has been brought about through the influence and policies of the Vice-President and his allies in various government agencies. So, removing the President from office would make matters worse, unless the Vice-President is also removed.
George W. Bush
Any strategy to take away the foreign policy car keys must first eliminate Cheney and Rumsfeld. Only then can the President be challenged. The Generals revolt is only one front in this campaign. The revolt aims to take down Rumsfeld, but the implications are much more far-reaching. The intelligence agencies have been leaking like seives. Nearly a dozen members of the National Security Agency came forward to leak about illegal domestic surveillance. Other members, coalescing around Joe Wilson, have been waging a three year campaign to expose the Vice-President’s role in manipulating the pre-war intelligence. CIA officers leaked evidence of secret detention centers to Dana Priest of the Washington Post. The FBI leaked evidence of CIA torture at Guantanamo.
Now columnists like Tom Friedman are raising questions. Friedman doesn’t call for impeachment, but there can be no other solution to the problems he discusses. Firing Rumsfeld would only be a partial measure.
So far, the revolt against this administration has been limited to factions within the military and intelligence agencies. Republicans on the Hill have acted as a heat shield, covering up or explaining away all evidence of malfeasance. But, should they crack, the strategy is clear. They merely need to open up an investigation of the Office of the Vice-President, expose clear evidence of criminal acts, declare it unacceptable, and force Cheney out. Rummy would be swept out in the same investigation. At that point, Bush would be given a choice. Either he accept a new Vice-President and Secretary of Defense and change his policies, or the investigation will escalate into his office and result in his impeachment.
Should it come to that, the House of Representatives would be able to manipulate the succession. If, for example, the Congress could agree on a replacement (such as John McCain) they could take a number of steps. An Arizona congressperson could step down. John McCain could resign from the Senate. The Governor of Arizona could appoint McCain to the vacant House seat. The House could have a new vote for Speaker. McCain would be elected. And then Bush and Cheney would resign, leading to McCain’s swearing in as President. The Senate would then confirm a Vice-President. The Congress would then restore Hastert to the Speakership.
The country is nearing the point where such far-fetched ponzi schemes are becoming plausible and appealing. If Rove gets indicted, the pressure will ramp up significantly.
Meanwhile, Illinois is debating submitting Article of Impeachment to the House of Representatives.
