Prelude to Impeachment

Hearings were held today before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the powers of the President, and the abuses perpetrated by the Bush Administration. Naturally the process was tainted by partisan bickering.

While the Democrats (and even a couple Republicans) raised many serious issues; most of the Republicans repeatedly whitewashed, obfuscated, and distracted everyone from the troubling conduct of their Republican President. These apologists took every opportunity to try, in vain, to paint George W. Bush as a meek and benevolent figure; all while taking numerous shots at Democrats. It was a ridiculous and very vivid display of how dysfunctional the two-party system really is.

Bruce Fein, a witness and constitutional scholar, was undoubtedly one of the stars of the show. His performance was impressive, and one would have expected him to get the attention of wayward committee Republicans since he took part in Nixon and Reagan administrations. No such luck; their blinders were clearly on, and they were very busy toeing the party line.

Bob Barr; a former Congressman from Georgia, floor manager of the Clinton impeachment, and 2008 Libertarian Party candidate for President; also made a strong showing. It was surprising to see the level of respect afforded him by his former colleagues on the Judiciary Committee; Republican and Democrat alike. Two Democrats asked him direct questions with favorable undertones, and many committee members seemed fond of Barr. One of the aforementioned Democrats asked him, hypothetically, how a Barr Administration would conduct itself in ways significantly different from the current administration; the other Democrat praised him for being one of the only Republicans to stand up for the Constitution when he himself was a member of the Judiciary Committee.

While impeachment seems to have been precluded by leading congressional Democrats; this hearing was an important step toward resolving serious and outstanding abuse of power issues within the current administration, and preventing them in all future administrations.