Democrats also won control of both houses in congress, but the DLC immediately "took impeachment off the table." Since then things have gotten much, much worse. So a couple of days ago I wrote to all my representatives asking them to impeach Bush and Cheney.
Obama was the only one who responded. Here is his response:
Dear Joe:
Thank you for contacting me to voice your frustration that a number of high ranking Bush Administration officials seem to act as if they are above the law. The Scooter Libby trial is a case in point.
Mr. Libby, Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff, was recently convicted on four felony counts of perjury and obstruction of justice for his involvement in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name, and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. I appreciate the point that Mr. Libby "did not act alone," and I expect most observers of his trial would agree. The fact that this case ended with so many unanswered questions and only this one conviction is troubling.
The testimony of Administration officials and members of the press in the Libby trial suggest the leak of Ms. Plame's name was part of a concentrated effort to discredit an individual critical of Administration policy. The determination to settle political scores at the risk of national security considerations should not be tolerated.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald - one of the nation's toughest and most independent U.S. Attorneys - maintained that he could not file additional charges in the "leak case" because of Mr. Libby's obstruction. I understand why this frustrates so many Americans. In our system of government, all parties responsible for any wrongdoing should be held accountable for their actions. President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby only compounds this frustration.
While I know many Americans share your strong feelings, I do not think that, in this closely divided Congress, options like calling for impeachment of the President or the Vice President serve our ultimate objective, which is getting the country back on the right track. The Democratic Party, by vote of the people, took back the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the November elections. That result has provided Democrats in Congress with more than just subpoena powers or the Speaker's gavel. For the first time in over a decade, we have the opportunity to set the agenda and lead the policy debate, and we have a responsibility to do something constructive with that opportunity.
I fully support the Senate Judiciary Committee's ongoing efforts to conduct intensive, bipartisan oversight of the executive branch, particularly in light of recent testimony about illegal wiretapping programs and the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. This testimony continues to raise deeply troubling questions about political undermining of the rule of law, and I commend the Judiciary Committee for demanding lawfulness and accountability.
In this last election, we saw people from Montana to Rhode Island respond to a message of common purpose and progress. On the campaign trail last fall, I saw people respond to a shared desire to educate our kids, grow our economy, care for the vulnerable and expand a culture of tolerance and diversity. I heard a call for progress, not partisanship or political gamesmanship. Americans are ready for a more civil and responsible style of leadership than the kind we have seen on Capitol Hill in recent years. Americans expect and deserve leaders who will focus on meeting the needs of their constituents and working together to solve the most pressing problems we face as a nation.
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address climate change, reform our health care system, and end a war in Iraq that should not have been waged. I hope this Congress continues to make a priority of moving beyond the confrontational tactics that have stymied progress on so many important issues. Americans are ready for progress -- and they deserve nothing less.
Thank you again for writing. Please stay in touch in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
United States Senator
Obama's position has not changed one iota in spite of the appalling revelations and provocations by the Bush administration just this week. So I wrote him back:
With all due respect, our democracy and the rule of law itself is at stake if we allow the Bush administration's illegal war and election-rigging to stand. They are criminals and it is the congress's responsibility to impeach Bush and Cheney. Given that over 50% of Americans support impeaching Cheney, I think it is irrelevant how "partisan" such a move appears inside the beltway. People will die if we continue to allow this administration to prosecute its illegal war, and it's hard to imagine anything more divisive than allowing these crimes to continue against the will of the American people and in defiance of the constitution we all believe should be upheld.
There is no room for compromise with criminals. They must be accountable to the rule of law, and it is your responsibility as a member of the legislature to ensure that this happens. I don't care if you're running for president and want to appease moderates and conservatives. This is no time for that kind of politics. It's time for you to do your job. After all, you took the same oath to uphold the same constitution.
--
Joe Futrelle
Person
This time I got no response. So I hatched a plan to write Obama every day about impeachment, until he changes his mind. This is not because I expect him to--I plan to support Green Party candidates in 2008, and I am considering running for local office as a Green (I ran for Champaign County Board in 2006 and got 25% of the vote)--but rather to show Obama supporters that until Obama supports impeachment he is an accomplice to the Bush administration's destruction of our constitutional democracy.
Whether or not I succeed in writing a letter a day, I hope the ones I do write will be useful to people for understanding why impeachment being "off the table" should be off the table, and destroying the myth that Obama is a visionary leader. At the moment, he's taking orders from Pelosi on this issue, and ignoring the people he claims to represent.
If Obama responds, I'll post his response. But I don't expect him to.
Peace.
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