Impeach Bush, Already

I agree with this essay in the Nation. Seems like so many Americans either embrace an ideological view of democracy, like America(tm) -- that is, that America is inherently democratic (a very, very dangerous sentiment, very easily manipulated), or else an uninformed, apathetic view (very postmodern, no?) that those in power won't listen to us. But sovereignty lies not with the representatives, or the parties, but with the people. And if the people are unhappy with what's going on, they can do something about it.

I suspect an honest, bottom-up drive for impeachment would find the various power brokers in America(tm) getting very pissed off. Of course the White House would object, but Congress, and certainly the Media and perhaps Lobbyists would all close ranks. Given how tainted the Supreme Court has been by Federalist Society judicial hacks, I doubt they'd get behind any kind of impeachment move.

So, there'd be the people, with whom sovereignty resides, and all the insitutions of governance and power factions that have benefited from the status quo. An interesting fight, if an uphill battle for the people. We may see fights like that increasingly over time, as the disconnect between the political class and the populace it rules grows ever wider.

As much as economic class is overlooked in American society, the existence of a political class (which is inextricably tied to economic class) -- anyway, that makes people uncomfortable. We're moving past a time when the two-party duopoly can honestly be expected to cover all political opinions. The two parties basically ignore what they can't co-opt or embrace. The liberals are taken for granted by the Democrats, just as much as the fundamentalists are taken for granted by the GOP. If those groups still stay within the existing parties and expect change, they're largely fooling themselves.

Anyway, I think any impeachment effort against Bush will be doomed, but it's just another example of the sickness of our system-as-is, versus health -- more so that people think that impeachment somehow threatens this country, when it's exactly the other way around. If somebody's not following the Constitution that they swore to uphold, it's time to impeach them, already.