Dems are Pushing when they should be Pulling
Jul 23rd, 2007 by C. Todd Williamson, III
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) along with other Democrats are proposing censuring President Bush over the Iraq War and what Feingold calls an “assault on the Constitution.” The first of his censure resolutions accuses the president of leading the U.S. into war without proper military preparation.
The second resolution accuses the president of “assaulting” the Rule of Law with his spy program, which Democrats have claimed is unconstitutional. Vice President Dick Cheney, who many are calling for impeachment, as well as other officials are in Feingold’s radar as well.
In this crucial time, the Democrats should not be proposing censures and impeachments, which will push away the many Republicans that have become disenchanted by President Bush’s Iraq policy. Instead they should try unifying with Republican leaders like Sen. John Warner (R-VA) and demand change in Iraq. That’s probably what Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson would have done. Had Eisenhower never ended Korea, Johnson and House Speaker Sam Rayburn would’ve been on the phone with Republican Senator Everett Dirksen within minutes and knocked some sense into the White House. The Democratic majority is pushing their Republican counterparts away at the exact moment that they have begun pulling away from the White House for the first time in 5 years.
The current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has supported censuring the president. He should be reaching out across the aisle along with Feingold to form a bipartisan movement in Congress. Speaking of LBJ, when he led America deeper and deeper into Vietnam, the wide support in Congress that helped him pass the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act in 1964 and 1965 respectively, had all but disappeared after the 1966 midterms. The majority of the new Congress took away support for the war and Johnson’s domestic programs suffered deeply. This experience left Johnson tired and waned by the time he left office in January 1969. The scary thing is that if a unified Congress did react negatively to Bush’s Iraq plan and his spy program, Bush may still walk away in January 2009 feeling as though he was right and the rest of the world was wrong.
Technorati Tags: Russ Feingold, Harry Reid, censure, President Bush, Iraq plan, John Warner, Sam Rayburn, Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, 110th Congress
Todd,
I enjoyed reading your blog and certainly appreciated your point of view while using the anecdote about Lyndon Johnson as a back-drop.
I totally agree with you that Democrats and Republicans should be working towards a bipartisan solution to Iraq, and now that leaders from both party’s have publicly expressed a need for a change in course, now is indeed the time especially with the body count continuing to rise…
However, I personally do not feel that censures or impeachment should be taken off the table just to attract Republicans to the anti-war cause. If there is sufficient evidence to make a case against any member of Federal government, not excluding the President or Vice President.
If indeed there is adequate evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Bush administration acted not only recklessly but illegally, violating the Constitution-partisan politics should be put on hold for a second.
Now, I know that anyone reading this can turn the argument around on me and say that talk of censurwa and impeachment is in itself a partisan scheme, but I think most the American public now agrees that the Bush administration has acted irresponsibly with in regards to it’s execution of the war in Iraq-is it really that hard to believe that laws may have been broken and the constitution violated?
I would encourage Club Relaford’s readers to at least hear guys like Feingold and Kucinich out. You don’t have to agree with them, but why should censures and impeachment be taken off the table?
Feingold and Kucinich should keep the ashes warm, whether they actually get censure or impeachment on the floor or not for the next 18-months. The more Republican Congresspersons support the Bush Administration’s 30% approval rated policies, they will only further solidify their minority status in 2008. 70% of the American public are against the Democratic majority Congress…wimping out…which is a bad sign for Republicans.
I love the current debate because for the past six-years there has been absolute silence. Just think about all of the highly questionable actions the Bush administration has admitted to since Democrats have been in the majority. Remember the illegal wiretapping…Yeah, we did it, but the law should be changed!!! Yeah, we outed a CIA agent, but she was in the U.S. at the time that we did. Yeah, we promised Congress we would get permission from the U.N. before we would invade Iraq. So what that somebody fired USAG’s, without the knowledge of the President.