The Los Angeles Times Prints the I Word

[kpete]

The Los Angeles Times Prints the I Word
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2005-12-30 12:36. Impeachment
By ROSA BROOKS, Los Angeles Times

Is Clinton's history in Bush's future?

IT'S HISTORY.

You know, the Clinton impeachment thing. Remember that? It had something to do with an intern, secretly taped conversations and a cigar. But it happened in the late 1990s, and it's getting harder and harder to remember the details of that long-vanished era.

When the Associated Press reported this week that the impeachment of President Clinton had finally made it into the major high school history textbooks, it seemed only fitting. Most adults forgot about the impeachment the instant it was over. Now high school kids can read the story, and as soon as their exams are over, they too can forget it.

So someday, 2005 may be recalled as the year the Clinton impeachment was relegated to the dustbin of history. But it may also be recalled as the year that paved the way for George W. Bush's impeachment.

With the mid-December revelations of a secret Bush administration domestic wiretapping program carried out by the National Security Agency, commentators — including some Republicans — are once more murmuring about "high crimes and misdemeanors." And with good reason. On its face, the president's no-longer-secret wiretapping program violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The president asserts that on Sept. 14, 2001 — when Congress authorized him to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against those connected to the 9/11 attacks — Congress implicitly repealed the act's restrictions on presidential surveillance powers. Besides, he says, as commander in chief, he has the inherent constitutional power to do anything he deems necessary in time of war, Congress be damned.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6165

[realFedUp]

1. of course, this is an editorial....

When someone in Congress files impeachment papers, it will be
on the front page.

[Mark E. Smith]

2. Nice!

A finely reasoned argument that comes to a very logical conclusion.

[Straight Shooter]

3. "Congress be damned."

They damn themselves if they just lie there like doormats with bush's boot on their neck. These are our representatives, the voice of the people, supposedly. What are they so afraid of? Are they whispering amongst themselves, trying to decide if bush and rove have wiretapped their conversations and will use it as political blackmail against them?

[texpatriot2004]

4. Nice to see the word impeachment in print...it's about time! nm