Things are bad. The Washington Post spent yesterday’s op-ed space debating whether George W. Bush it the worst President ever, or only the fifth worst President ever. Wanker extraordinaraire Joe Klein admitted a timetable for Iraq might be the right idea, but said it was irresponsible to utter such a truth out loud. The New York Times reveals that Jose Padilla, an American citizen, has been so traumatized by the circumstances of his detention and the methods of his interrogation that he is not mentally competent to assist in his own defense. The LA Times says that our Middle East allies are in a state of panic. The Iraqi troops that we are training and hanging all our hopes on, are incompetent and have no fire discipline. Bush’s best buddy Hugo Chavez has just won another six year term and claims his victory is Bush’s defeat. Lebanon is on the verge of a civil war.
It’s time to get serious about impeachment. Some people will argue that impeachment is a moral imperative. I believe it is a national security imperative. It’s not a rule of law thing. It’s a protecting the national interests thing. So, what should we do?
First of all, impeaching Cheney (or forcing his resignation) is the first priority. Under no circumstances can we allow Dick Cheney to become President. Secondly, we would prefer not to have to give the advantages of incumbency to any of the Republicans (or Democrats) that are seeking the Presidency in 2008. Yet, no impeachment can be successful without at least the votes of 18 members of the GOP’s Senate caucus. So, we must strike a deal that is attractive to at least 18 Republican Senators. Making Nancy Pelosi (third in succession) the President is not a viable option and I don’t think she would even want the job at this point. So, we also need to find a constitutional solution for getting a replacement President.
Here is what we do. We find a mature, grown-up, retired Republican. Someone that is trusted by both sides, is not seeking the Presidency, and that is willing to be a place holder for the next eighteen months or so. Fmr. Sen. John Danforth comes to mind, so I’ll use him as an example.
First we find a Missourian Representative to resign. Then the Governor assigns Danforth as the replacement. The House elects Danforth the Speaker. After Bush and Cheney resign or are impeached and convicted, Danforth becomes President through the constitutional rules of succession. Then the House reconvenes and reelects Pelosi as Speaker. The Missourian representative is re-installed in their seat.
But, you are obviously asking, ‘why would the Republicans go along with it’? There are many reasons. When the Washington Post begins devoting its Sundays to debating how historically awful the President is, you know that the wheels have come off the bus. None of the GOP Presidential wannabes are closely aligned with Bush and Cheney, and none of them stand to benefit from their continuation in office. William Kristol recently remarked that George W. Bush is the last neo-con in office (and with Bolton resigning, that is getting closer to the truth). The bottom line is that the Iraq Study Group is Washington’s last ditch effort to rescue the Bush administration, and it looks like the Bush administration is going to look that gift-horse in the mouth. In short, the Establishment is done with this administration and the sooner they can get rid of them the better the Republicans chances are in 2008. So, it makes sense politically. It also makes sense from a national security point of view. We are crippled at the moment and without new leadership we don’t have the credibility to restore alliances and begin to set things on a better path. Every serious person knows this. But, even with all these considerations weighing in favor of impeachment, the GOP Senate still is unlikely to toss Bush/Cheney out unless they get something better than John Danforth as a caretaker President. They will probably need a little extra incentive. So…this is gonna hurt, but…
As part of the deal, we get Danforth to agree to nominate John McCain as his Vice-President. The Dems will agree to promptly confirm him. This will give the GOP frontrunner some advantages of incumbency, but also some risks, as he will have to run on an actual record in the White House. McCain should be able to muster a caucus of 18 for conviction.
With all the pieces in place, Pelosi will unleash Conyers, Waxman, Dingell, etc., in a full bore assault on Bush and Cheney’s criminality and corruption and incompetence, exposing lie after lie after lie. Building an unassailable case for impeachment will not be difficult, especially with the Press already exasperated and the GOP already in on the deal.
This is how real grown-ups would act, if there enough of them in Washington DC. At the end of the day we would have rid ourselves of the last of the neo-cons and could begin the healing process.
There are other solutions, and Danforth isn’t the only acceptable option. But something like this should be attempted. The world needs it to happen.
