The Wake

Monday night I flipped on CSPAN and saw Ohio Rep. and former Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich presenting a 35-count impeachment bill against President George W. Bush. As you can note from the various times Speaker Nancy Pelosi has to bring the House under order during Kucinch’s reading of his bill (Kucinich: “The House is not under order!” Pelosi: grueling sigh followed by annoyed taps “Please proceed”), the rest of the House doesn’t seem to give two shits about “the Gentleman from Ohio’s” plans.

So what’s the point of impeaching a President who has only half a year left in office?

Perhaps it’s because the Bush administration is in the process of committing the US military to Iraq for the next administration - unconstitutionally and without congressional approval, of course - in a treaty that bleeds an all too real resemblance of the Platt Amendment - which passed in 1901 and gave our government the “right” to intervene in Cuban affairs at any given moment and establish military bases in Cuban soil (with all that the Cuban government has accomplished to reverse this law, Guantanamo Bay is still a vivid legacy of its lasting effect on Cuban affairs). Or maybe it’s because of statements he’s made in regard to the War in Iraq like, “I don’t care if I created more enemies.”

Either way, Kucinich is acting on what he thinks is best for protecting the Constitution. It’s too bad his Democratic peers - Barack Obama included - are sticking it out for the remainder of Bush’s term and focusing all their attention on January 2009. Although so many of them are in favor of ending the War in Iraq, they seem to forget that it’s difficult to stop an invasion when the last administration just forged a treaty that locks Iraq as our responsibility for the years to come.

*sniff* *sniff* Smells like another forced puppet government is here to stay.

It must be noted that this isn’t the first time Kucinich has tried to impeach the Bush administration. Last year he introduced a bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, but his fellow majority Democrats weren’t having any of it.

*Update* - According to CSPAN, the House just voted to send Kucinich’s bill to their Judiciary Committee. We’ll have to just wait and see how they define “constitutional justice.”

Tags: Democratic Party, Dennis Kucinich, impeach Bush, Nancy Pelosi