Impeachment: The Rule of Law

Agree or disagree, the subject of whether to impeach President George W. Bush will be a major issue in the weeks and months to come. Legally, the case for it is incredibly solid. The main obstacle to it, besides the apathy of Americans and the short attention span of the mainstream media, will be the Republican-controlled Congress. Still, their power has dwindled and recent victories, such as that with the Patriot Act, that involved top Republicans working with Democrats, give me hope. The failures of the Bush Presidency are numerous- failing to prevent 9/11, not capturing Osama bin Laden, waging an unjustified war against Iraq that has resulted in a government sympathetic to our enemies, torturing prisoners which hurt our image and is making it harder to prosecute terrorists, failing to respond to the Gulf Coast disaster, and more- but now the unconstitutional actions of an imperial President spying on Americans has sealed the deal for many.

When President Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 (but then exonerated by the Senate) because of perjury and obstruction of justice relating to his affair with Monica Lewinsky, critics decried the act as a political stunt. No way, the Republicans insisted, the case was simply about the rule of law and making sure the villainous President Clinton was not above it. Fair enough.

However, they then must accept that is the standard and it must be followed.

The Republicans are likely fuming over the possibility that the President they saw as a successor to Reagan (but not in the Iran-Contra way, in the battling evil way) may be impeached, but they have no one to blame but themselves. By impeaching Bill Clinton, a President whose administration (according to his official White House bio) "enjoyed more peace and economic well being than at any time in [U.S.] history [and] could point to the lowest unemployment rate in modern times, the lowest inflation in 30 years, the highest home ownership in the country's history, dropping crime rates in many places, and reduced welfare roles, [and] the first balanced budget in decades and achieved a budget surplus.", over issues relating to an investigation of his sexcapades, they set the bar incredibly low over what justifies an impeachment.

To review, President Bush personally authorized the NSA to spy on American citizens without a court order. This is in direct contrast to assurances he made last year, which are now revealed to be lies. His actions were also unnecessary. The President claims he did what was necessary to track down terrorists and protect Americans. However, the secret FISA court (set up specifically to facilitate these actions) accomodates for this. The President can set up surveillance as long as he has a court order (and the FISA court has almost never rejected a warrant). If it is an emergency situation, the President can set up immediate surveillance without the warrant, as long as a retroactive one is approved within 72 hours. So there was no legal or logical reason to bypass the FISA system, unless the President was engaged in unjustified spying activities (such as those against his political enemies).

One excuse they have used is that they simply didn't want to be bothered with the paperwork the warrants required. But that is not their choice to make. The President, even if engaged in anti-terror activities, must follow the legal procedures. Despite the claims of the Attorney General (himself a known liar), a state of war does not nullify the President's requirements in this regard. Yet that is what is happening- the President has admitted to these activities and has stated that, as Commander-in-Chief, he is above the law.

So now that we know that President Bush has been spying on Americans for dubious reasons and has committed crimes that not only are more severe than the Lewinsky business, but Watergate as well, surely the Republicans will agree that (at a time when our Constitution and democracy are more important than ever) impeachment is absolutely necessary.

After all, this is not about politics, but simply the rule of law.