The REAL Reason Bush and Cheney Will Not Face Impeachment by Bruce Allen Morris

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bruce_mo_070721_the_real_reason_bush.htm

July 22, 2007

The REAL Reason Bush and Cheney Will Not Face Impeachment

By Bruce Allen Morris

Its driving so many of us completely nuts. Bush and Cheney (I no longer have enough respect to use their titles, breaking a life-long habit even with officials I have despised) are now openly moving to make the United States an effective autocracy. They have been asserting extraordinary and unprecedented claims and acts of executive overreach all along. But their two most recent executive proclamations have moved their somewhat stealthy efforts to the point of open provocation. In Executive Order 51, Bush appears to be claiming the power to essentially summarily take the property of anyone his Treasury Department deems to be harming the war effort. This is a direct violation of the Due Process Clauses of our Constitution, not to mention the Declaration of Independence and even the flippin’ Magna Carte for that matter.

In another breathtaking and shocking move (no satire intended), Bush declared that Congress cannot pursue contempt proceedings through the Justice Department (a Congressional creation, by the way) against subpoenaed witnesses who refuse to testify in the US Attorney firings investigation because the President has declared executive privilege.* Take a moment to understand what that means. Bush is declaring executive privilege and then declaring that Congress cannot have his declaration challenged in court because the Justice Department cannot prosecute Congressional contempt citations. In other words, the President’s mere command rules supreme over Congress and the Courts, shielding his behavior and his handling of a Department of government created by and subject to the supervision of the Congress. That, my friends is autocracy and autocracy announced boldly and openly. Kinda like, “Bring it on.”

*“Broader Privilege Claimed In Firings”, Washington Post, july 20, 2007 (http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/20/2649/

So why, why under such a threat of literally breaking our Constitution; why when polls show half of Americans and large majorities of Democrats and Independents support impeachment proceedings, why when even staunch conservatives such as Paul Craig Roberts and Bruce Fein and Goldwater conservative John Dean are all screaming for impeachment, why when the President is wildly unpopular and the Vice even more so. Oh why oh why. . .

Why won’t Congress impeach?

One work, baby, one word.

To understand why Bush and Cheney will never face the type of serious impeachment hearings Clinton suffered, you need to first look back at the 2004 Presidential “election” (further if you like, but 2004 is a particularly pointed illustration.) Our “choices” were between (1) a 60-something multi-millionaire white male graduate of elite Yale University, member of an established Eastern seaboard politically and financially elite family and member of the ultra elitist, ultra secret ethnocentric Skull and Bones Society at Yale and (2) a 60-something multi-millionaire white male graduate of elite Yale University, member of an established Eastern seaboard politically and financially elite family and member of the ultra elitist, ultra secret ethnocentric Skull and Bones Society at Yale.

They were presented as nearly caricature opposites – a Massachusetts liberal and a Texas conservative. But, it was nothing more than a charade that they belonged to different parties and occupied opposite poles of the policy spectrum. They agreed on the one thing that matters to our true masters: preserving essentially unfettered capitalism (Kerrey would have only nibbled a few edges) and protecting and enabling the wealthy in getting wealthier no matter what. (This is not a conspiracy-theory piece, by the way. I am not arguing collusion. This is just the way it actually is.)

Now, think about the “revolutionary” election of 2006, a mass uprising of populist fury sweeping out a tide of stale, elitist Republicans and sweeping into a position to counter balance President 60-something multi-millionaire white male graduate of elite Yale University, privileged son of an established Eastern seaboard politically and financially elite family and member of the Skull and Bones Society at Yale, who?

A 60-something multi-millionaire graduate of private Trinity College in D.C.* daughter of an established, politically and financially elite Eastern Seaboard family who was driven to elementary school in limousine. And guess how she and Bush are portrayed? As nearly caricature opposites: a San Francisco liberal and Texas conservative. You already know the one thing they agree on. *(Currently 27K/year with room and board, not outrageous by today’s inflated standards, to be fair).

Whatever mythology you may have heard about Pelosi, and however much you (like me) agree with many of her positions and think she and her genius daughter Alexandra generally rock, she rose to prominence in the Democratic Party in California and then nationally by raising more money for Democrats than just about anyone else. Money is why she is successful in politics. She is a multi-millionaire heir married to a multi-millionaire and she raises multi-millions for people to win elections that cost multi-millions.

You may argue, but what about Harry Reid!? He is not one of these elitists. And to an extent, he is not. But Reid is the Senator from Nevada, probably the most purely capitalistic State in the nation. He also happens to own land and gold claims valued at up to 1.39 Million Dollars* and is anti-abortion, anti-gun control and anti-gay marriage. So he’s a millionaire social conservative – hardly a strong counterbalance to the millionaire social conservative President.

*http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/14/politics/main2929234.shtml

Congressional Millionaires

But let’s keep going. In the last Congress, at least 123 of 435 Representatives and 1 in 3 Senators were millionaires.* I say at least, because some believe the number is more like 45 Senators or even higher.** Just to make the top 50 richest in Congress in 2006, one needed a personal fortune of 4.67 Million.*** Numbers are not digested yet for this Congress, but one can only assume overall wealth went up.

*See, e.g., http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0630-05.htm; http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11104.htm

** http://www.cipa-apex.org/toomuch/Weeklies2005/June202005.html, citing “Millionaire Club Grows in Senate”, Roll Call (June 15, 2005)

***http://kasusa.squarespace.com/interest/2006/9/11/the-50-richest-members-of-congress-roll-call.html

Bush is President Because of Money

You know this, but it bears repeating. George W. Bush is President because the wealthiest people in this country decided to make him president. They then gave him, and only him, the outlandish amounts of money that made him the early prohibitive favorite to win the 2000 Republican primary and then gave him all the money he needed to actually win. Repeat for the 2000 general election (without all the cash, that assist from the Republicans on the Supreme Court would have never been invoked).

More Money Means Electoral Victory

Perhaps the most memorable moment for me in the media coverage on the eve of the 2004 elections was a comment by Jeff Greenfield, then of CNN. When asked what he believed was the most significant development in that election, Greenfield pointed to the fact that John Kerrey had surprisingly been able to raise enough money from various sources to remain competitive with Bush when most analysts had believed Bush’s financial advantage would bury Kerrey and put the election wholly out of reach by Summer.

Think about that for a minute. For the mainstream media, Greenfield is a pretty sharp political analyst with more than 25 years of experience, including reporting deeply respected by Ted Koppel when Greenfield appeared on Nightline in the 80’s and 90’s. In such an important election, with such incredibly high stakes of war and peace and global warming and a rapidly segregating economy, the most single most significant factor to a long-experienced observer and analyst was . . .

MONEY! MONEY!

NOT ISSUES.

NOT CHARACTER.

NOT THE WAR(S)

NOT THE ECONOMY

NOT EVEN “VALUES VOTERS”

MONEY.

IT WAS FUCKING MONEY!!!!





Additionally, consider this from New Jersey Public Interest Research Group



According to FEC data, major party congressional candidates who raised the most money won 92% of their primary races in 2006. Candidates who spent the most won 91% of the time. Winning candidates out-raised their opponents by a margin of 3.5-to-1, with the winners raising an average of $1.06 million and losers raising $304,000. This pattern held true for open seat races as well. The biggest fundraiser won 82% of the contests without an incumbent running for re-election in the district.



http://www.njpirg.org/home/reports/voting--civic-participation/voting--civic-participation/the-wealth-primary-the-role-of-big-money-in-the-2006-congressional-primaries.

That same article also states:

Without personal wealth or the ability to raise large sums of money from well-heeled contributors, many aspiring officeholders are locked out of the process before the first vote is cast. Those voters who wish to express views that are not supported by wealthy donors are left without an outlet.

In that revolutionary general election of 2006 that was all about the war and the unpopular President and about big new ideas, the candidate who spent the most won in 93 percent of House races, and 2/3 of Senate races.* Even though those numbers were down from 2004, money was still more decisive than anything else. Finally, a title from a March 11, 2007 article in the Washington Post says it all about our auction . . . er . . . election system: “Money’s Going to Talk in 2008”.

*Incumbents Linked to Corruption Lose, But Money Still Wins http://www.opensecrets.org/pressreleases/2006/PostElection.11.8.asp



Money Talks For 2008 Indeed

Look at the current front-runners for President:

* Hillary Clinton is worth somewhere in the range of 20-40 Million Dollars and has raised well over 50 million. And she is one of the leading recipients of health care industry campaign money!! See CBS link above.

* Barack Obama has raised at least as much as Hillary and has become a multi-millionaire through book sales occurring primarily because he holds public office. (Not enough space to examine the frequent connection between getting elected and THEN getting rich and then getting elected to higher and higher positions and THEN getting REALLY rich.)

* John Edwards is a multi-millionaire who has raised multi-millions. He is the only Democrat really talking and acting like a true progressive in the Robert Kennedy mold. His main problem in keeping up with Clinton and Obama is SHORTAGE OF MONEY!!

* Rudi Giuliani is a multi-millionaire, corporate chamber-maid raising tens of millions dollars to use to hide the truth about him: he is nothing but a crass, selfish, corporate-chamber maid who shorted the New York fire-fighters and police the equipment they really needed on 911, then by some miracle managed to have freezing under pressure afterwards portrayed as being cool and tough and reassuring.

* “Goodhair” (luv ya Molly Ivins) Romney is a viable candidate solely because he is rich and can raise lots of money. Lest you argue he is viable because he was governor of Massachusetts, remember he got elected to that office mainly because he was rich and could raise a ton of money.

* “I’m not a leader, but I play one on TV” is viable solely because he is a wealthy celebrity and long-time corporate lobbyist shill who could raise barrels of cash if he ran. (Look, there are plenty of strong social conservatives with talent and credentials that make TV boy look like a bumpkin; he’s viable cuz’a money and its cousin celebrity.)

* John McCain, his recent sad pandering to the hard right and Republican party label notwithstanding, has the most admirable record of service to his country of anyone currently running, but he is considered toast today. The first word in most summations of his demise: “Broke”. He is running out of money, and therefore, out of chances. Six years in the Hanoi Hilton and a long, distinguished Senate career mean nothing without the $$$$$$$$$ behind you. Yes, his war stance is hurting him, but Giuliani and Romney (and Gingrich) are pro-war and still popular.

Bottom line




OK, I’ve gone on long enough. The bottom line follows.



Bill Clinton could be impeached because, despite his moderate economic conservatism reflected in welfare reduction and deregulation, he was considered a mild threat because he raised taxes, attempted universal health care and had a populist streak that could have borne fruit for the lower classes at the expense of the upper had he been able to sell that part of his vision undistracted by impeachment. In short, impeachment served the interests of great wealth.



George Bush is the elitist, capitalist, big corporate, gilded-age, Robber-Barron, uber-class’s wet dream. He really is. Everything he does that makes absolutely no sense at all to most people, makes perfect sense to great, vested wealth. Everything Bush does is designed to protect and enable that wealth and to allow it to grow and grow at any and all cost. Anyone who tries to end the wet dream will be treated quite nastily by this extremely powerful and ruthless class of people.



We cannot expect people like Nancy Pelosi, John Kerrey and the other multi-millionaires to rock the boat of unfettered capitalism that has been so good to them and their families for so long.



We can’t expect elected officials who are wholly dependent on donations from big corporations and wealthy individuals to take on the direct vested interests of those on whom their careers depend. John Edwards is perhaps an exception, if only because he got wealthy taking on big corporations as a trial lawyer on behalf of injured people and does not fear the corporations or believe his future is as tied to theirs as others apparently feel.



No, sadly, just like the 2004 Presidential election, the 2004 and 2006 Congressional elections, and just like run-up to the 2008 primaries are currently going, the most significant factor in impeachment of Bush and Cheney is MONEY.



MONEY says no, and we all know,



MONEY TALKS



Oh, and the one thing that every political organizer knows is this: the only way to beat organized money is with organized people. (Hope)






Authors Website: http://madnessofdivinity.blogspot.com

Authors Bio: Bruce is 46 year-old father of one, stepfather of three and grandfather of two, who left a lucrative law practice at a large national law firm to work, advocate and write for social justice and equality and find a way to incorporate a spiritual life into the material world. He now struggles along to make a decent living while holding true to his deepest principles in Portland Oregon.