DNC Death Wish 2006
By DAVE LINDORFF
Do national and congressional Democrats have a death wish?
In the course of discussing Barbara Olshansky’s and my new book, “The Case for Impeachment,” I’m coming to the conclusion that they must. And that’s even before they do something stupid like support the nomination of General Michael Hayden to head the CIA.
Rank-and-file Democrats want–badly want–to see President Bush get impeached. So do independents. I hear it from everyone I meet. It’s the rare Democrat or progressive or even independent who says she or he doesn’t agree with the idea of impeachment, and even then, it’s because such people are misinformed themselves and think that while they personally would love to see Bush get dragged into a big impeachment investigation, the rest of America wouldn’t like it to happen.
That seems to be the wrong-headed thinking of the Democratic Party leadership. Both House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have vowed that if Democrats retake the House and/or Senate, that there will be no impeachment of the president attempted. Both leaders of the House and Senate election campaigns, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) have actively worked to undermine the primary candidacies of aggressive candidates who favor impeachment. These political cowards and sell-outs claim that what the voters want is for Democrats to press ahead in a positive way with their “agenda,” forgetting that they really don’t have an agenda, and that in any event, whatever bills they pass will simply be cancelled by the president, who will simply issue a “signing statement” invalidating their legislation.
The point, though, is that these sorry leaders are all wrong. The broad mass of the American public wants to be shed of this disastrous administration, and does not want to have to endure two more years of war, deceit, incompetence and politicization of every issue. [more]