If the People Want Impeachment, Why Can't it
Happen?
A Black Agenda Report radio commentary by executive editor
Glen Ford
"The
corporate media are facilitators of crime."
The latest polls show 54 percent of Americans want Vice
President Dick Cheney impeached, and 46 percent would like to see the same
thing happen to George Bush. There was never such a groundswell of opinion in
favor of impeaching Bill Clinton, when he was president, but the proceedings
went forward, nonetheless. Bill Clinton was, in effect, indicted by the U.S.
House of Representatives, and then cleared by the U.S. Senate - all because of
a dalliance with an intern, that killed nobody. George Bush and his Rasputin,
Dick Cheney, have killed half a million Iraqis and wrecked the U.S. reputation
in the world. They have funneled billions of dollars to their cronies under the
guise of Iraqi "reconstruction," and billions more in the phony
"reconstruction" of New Orleans. They have treated the U.S. Constitution like
toilet paper, and committed more high crimes and misdemeanors than could be
listed in a phone book. And yet, there is no real prospect of Bush and Cheney
being impeached before their terms end in January, 2009. A free pass for world
class criminals.
How did this happen? Why does Democratic leadership - and
remember, these people are supposed to be lawmakers - refuse to enforce
the law? Because they are not in power. And it would not make any difference if
the Democrats had 60 votes in the Senate and a 75-member majority in the House.
They would still not impeach the criminals, Bush and Cheney, because Democrats
answer to a higher power, and that power says there will be no impeachment.
"Every crime of the Bush
administration is directly linked to their service of corporate interests."
It makes no difference that huge blocks of American public
opinion want George Bush and Dick Cheney out. Corporate America, the real
rulers of the nation, do not want the instability that impeachment would bring.
Once the process is started, once the investigations are televised, live, like
the Nixon impeachment proceedings, then the dirt would fall like rain. And it
is all corporate dirt, because this is the quintessential corporate
administration. It exists to serve corporate America. The war in Iraq is a
corporate war. The Katrina boondoggle in the Gulf region of the U.S. is an
ongoing corporate theft. Every crime of the Bush administration is directly
linked to their service of corporate interests, including the draconian
"national security" measures that are simply devices to keep crimes, secret.
Therefore, no daylight must shine on this presidency.
The point people in the conspiracy to make this
administration immune to the rule of law, are the corporate news media. It is a
conspiracy of silence. They pretend every day that no crimes are being
committed, leaving the field wide open for the Bush men and women to concoct
felonies previously unknown to American society. It is imperative that the
people understand that the corporate media are not journalists; they are
facilitators of crime.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
Glen Ford can be contacted
at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
Anne Venhuizen is an attorney in The Bronx Defenders' Impact Litigation Practice.
Christopher Bruce is Policy Director of the Georgia ACLU.
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