Kicking Bush when he’s down…

My favorite professor argued last night that George Bush has gotten so far out of hand that something big will happen in the next six months.

Eric Alterman, in his Altercation newsletter from Media Matters for America, brings us the following two quotes:

  1. Harry Reid: “This morning, I’d like to be clear: The President does not have the authority to launch military action in Iran without first seeking Congressional authorization.”
  2. Nancy Pelosi: “The president knows that because the troops are in harm’s way, that we won’t cut off the resources. That’s why he’s moving so quickly to put them in harm’s way.

So it’s finally looking like the Democrats are showing some backbone. But Pelosi is still the one who very loudly proclaimed that “impeachment is off the table.” Democrats have shown no sign of re-evaluating this view even since Bush has removed any doubt that he’s delusional by threatening to take on Iran and Syria even when the United States is already overextended in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is now easy to criticize Bush. Nearly the entire country is doing it. So Democrats can do so without appearing to shift from their claim to “govern from the center.” This criticism is therefore unimpressive.

I am remembering J. Herbert Altschull’s criticism of the credit often given the press for bringing down Nixon. He wrote that Nixon’s fall was really precipitated when congressional Republicans had had enough.

I’m deeply, deeply suspicious that the same will need to happen here. It certainly won’t be the press, and it sure doesn’t look like it will be the Democrats.

My professor thinks the Democrats will tell the Republicans that Bush is their man, and their responsibility. He’s out of hand, and needs to be brought back within a constitutional regime.

My problem with all this is that even if they do impeach Bush, it would be Cheney who succeeds him.

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