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SUN-TIMES TUESDAY MAY 23, 2006 |
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Rove strategy isn't unimpeachable |
| JESSE JACKSON
There they go again. The
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in the war and other administration misdeeds. She reminded Russert that checks and balances were the essence of the Constitution.) But Democrats were spooked. Their excitable inside-the-Beltway strategists began worrying that the Democratic left would blow the elec- tion by alienating voters in swing districts. Pelosi then had her spokes- person announce that ''impeach- ment wasn't in the cards'' if Democ- rats took back the House. It is hard to sort out which is more pathetic: the RNC for hyping this gambit, the press for falling for it or Democratic leaders for cower- ing at the first sign of a dustup. I'd say let the RNC run the fall election on the issue of saving Bush's neck. ''This election isn't about you,'' Republican candidates would say, ''or your jobs, your sky- rocketing health care and gas costs __________ The right wing has been in attack mode over the last few weeks. or your stagnant incomes. And it's not about the country being mired in a costly occupation of Iraq, sad- dled with record foreign debt, accel- erating outsourcing and a $1 trillion trade deficit this year alone. No, this election is about George Bush. Vote to protect him and Dick Cheney from accountability. Vote Republi- can. We may not do much for you, but we'll keep George Bush and Dick Cheney above the law.'' The doyens of the press fell for the RNC's line that this pap would turn out their base, without a shred of evidence to support it. Ironically, just as the RNC's Conyers-demo- |
nization campaign was winding down, conservatives like Richard Viguerie and James Dobson were threatening that conservatives might stay home in the fall. Defend- ing the president from impeachment was not high on their agenda. Moreover, investigation and im- peachment of the president isn't about election tactics. It is about preserving the Constitution, the Re- public and defending our liberties. This president has made a sweep- ing claim to national security pre- rogatives in a war on terror that has no end. He says he can make war without Congress, surveil you with- out a warrant, lock you up without a lawyer, keep you in jail so long as the unending war goes on without a hearing. The Republican Congress has ut- terly failed to provide even a mini- mum of oversight and accountabil- ity. Their concern has been to protect their party and their presi- dent before protecting the Constitu- tion and its people. A Democratic Congress would have a constitutional duty to investi- gate and challenge the president's claims. Investigating potential high crimes and misdemeanors isn't par- tisan. It isn't about ''settling scores.'' It's about protecting the Constitu- tion and preserving the republic and the rule of law. White House political guru Karl Rove suggests that Republicans run this fall by creating a choice: Democ- rats will raise your taxes, cut and run from Iraq and impeach the pres- ident. Republicans will defend the president's tax cuts and economy, keep troops in Iraq till at least 2009, and keep the president above ac- countability. Let's have Rove's elec- tion. It surely would help Democrats take back the House. |