Is the Tide Of ‘Impeachment Fear’ Turning?

What has prevented and is preventing the impeachment of Dick Cheney and George Bush? No matter how you dress it up, the answer is fear. The fear takes many forms…these two diaries at Daily Kos illustrate them well. First, the fears of the House Judiciary Committee Chairman…

Conyers wants You to Rebut his 5 Reasons Not to Impeach

And then the fears of ordinary, though politically involved, citizens…

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because…

Now that George Bush is a lame duck President, now that his power is diminished, now that change is on the horizon….have these fears lost enough of the visceral punch of fear to actually allow movement on impeachment? “New” facts are being presented, such as Phase 11 ad McClellans revelations…Congress seems to be getting a tad feistier, and Denis Kucinich spent four hours last night reading charges into the Congressional record. Is this a sign of the reduced power…the reduced fear…of George Bush’s domestic terror machine?

Yesterday I wrote about the fear…the domestic terror… that was inflicted on our country by the Bush Administration. A willful and well thought out propaganda campaign to terrorize American citizens into unquestioning compliance with the program of Bushco. The central aim of that program was to give George Bush and Dick Cheney as much power as possible to carry out there aims for the middle east, energy hegemony and political hegemony at home….a Permanent Republican Majority. But not just a normal political Majority, one with new ad unprecedented powers. Powers it would use in the worst traditions of totalitarian states, not to defeat America’s supposed external enemies….which they have failed miserably at....but to defeat political enemies at home.

Their aim was a form of tyranny previously known only when the US was facing a true existential threat. They tried and succeeded in convincing a huge sector of America not only that there was a true existential threat, but that this threat was permanent….and so their new powers needed to be permanent as well. The power to wage aggressive war on country that wasn’t “with us” vs. “the terrorists,” the power to torture, the power to spy on America citizens at will.

Even though it was obvious to anyone not in the grip of their fear campaign that there was no existential threat to America. Except for the threat that Bush himself has presented and fulfilled. The threat that America would cease to be a free and open democracy due to draconian measures designed to strip the rights and freedoms from American citizens in the name of “security.” In other words….surrendering in the war on terror…by allowing ourselves to be terrorized, not by a bearded man hiding in a cave in Afghanistan, but by a self-confessed would be dictator. The “terrorists” won. Our domestic terrorists have harmed and diminished the United States, not just in the obvious ways, not just in persuading Americas to give up their rights, not just in making us a hated Empire, but but by reducing America to a nation cowering in fear, they have harmed in untold and as yet unrealized ways.

And they won through fear.

Not the baseless fear of America being threatened or invaded by Islamo-Fascists, but by fear of the power of Bush and his propaganda arm, Fox News. And Fox’s ability to shape the debate by smearing all who opposed Bush and twisting and reducing the facts of the matter, the reality of what was occurring, into an attack on the patriotism and motives of ANYONE who opposed George Bush. And of course, this all culminated in the Plame Treason, a clear message that the Administration would literally stop at nothing…….including blowing the cover of an entire CIA counter-terrorism network to destroy an opponent.

To overcome this Reign of Terror, we must strike back, somehow. We must regain our rights and our dignity, restore the Constitution and the Rule of Law, ad become a country where the word justice means something again. Impeachment before their term is up is by far the best way to achieve these ends….even if it is not politically wise. But as the fear fades, it becomes far less politically risky. If the fear fades enough for more people like McClellan to speak up…as the atmosphere and energy of political change increases….who knows what could happen!

As I have said many times…the crimes are clear, the evidence is there. All that is lacking has been the clout to overcome the political muscle, the clout that could only be achieved by the true powers in the Democratic Party lending their weight to the effort. The clout that these leaders could have by bestirring and inspiring the general populace with the hope of justice.

Is this the time? Has the fear diminished enough? So far the canary i the coal mine, Scott McClellan …has survived

Now that enough facts have been exposed, now that the lies about the Global War On Terror have become the Conventional Wisdom….the Dem leaders would have the undeniable political power of The People behind them to tackle actually standing up and pointing out that the Emperor has no clothes. The times have changed, the worm has turned, the hue and cry of those who would defend George Bush has been reduced to murmuring. The evidence is there. Will they do it?

They oh so desperately don’t want to. Not good for ‘business’ you know. The real question is, if the evidence continues to mount and gain exposure as the fear of Bushco fades….will they be able to avoid it!

Cross yer fingers!