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Dennis
Kucinich has filed articles of impeachment against Vice
President Cheney. In an earlier commentary I
called this a half-hearted attempt at defending our
Constitution. http://www.gpln.com/halfheartedattempts.htm
Here are my reasons for saying that:
- While
the President is actively acting as President, the
Vice President has only one job to do under the
Constitution: He is President of the
Senate. He does not need the
President's permission to do the job he was elected to do
and he doesn't need to follow the President's agenda when
doing his job. He doesn't work for the
President unless the President asks him to do something in
addition to his official duties and he accepts. If he is
asked to do a something outside the scope of his
official duties or if he convinces the President to
delegate him any additional authority whatsoever, he is acting as the President's
agent. All of his authority comes directly
from the President. It is the President who is
responsible for what Cheney does or does not do and
it is the President who has silently or not so silently
stood behind Cheney and affirmed
his behavior.
Do I have to say it again: In any government activity
that Cheney engages in, outside of his role as President
of the Senate, he as acting as an agent of the President.
- The
list of crimes for which the Vice President might legitimately
be charged is a long one ( http://www.gpln.com/livethedream.htm
) and it is negligent and irresponsible of Kucinich to
leave those charges out of his impeachment articles, for by doing so, he limits his own
prerogative to bring those issues before the American
People in order to expose the crimes for which the
President, the Vice President, and their co-conspirators are responsible.
- By
not including the President in his articles, I assume
Kucinich is afraid of the political fallout. I
see it as a missed opportunity and his unwillingness to
press the case to its fullest degree is unfortunate at
best.
Now
let me say in his defense, that Kucinich has more courage
than most of his colleagues, for at least he did
something. But this effort is doomed to
fail for it is timid and doesn't open the space for the full
disclosure of the much longer list of crimes for which this
administration should be held accountable and in contempt.
I give Kucinich an "E" for effort. I
give the rest of the members of the House an "F" for failing to
uphold their oath of office. And I give the Senate
an "F" for the same thing (no one in the Senate is
asking members of the House for a more full, fair and complete
list of articles).
I
believe that in not filing articles against Bush, it would
have been better for him not to have filed these articles at all, for it gives
the impression that maybe Kucinich, and/or anyone else who
signs on with him, do not also believe that Bush is a
co-conspirator with Cheney. Anyone who would believe
that shouldn't be in public office. The implication is, indeed, an
unfortunate footnote to the historical record.
I
also believe that with a population of 300,000,000 citizens to
choose from, we ought to be able to find One President, One
Vice President, and 535 Congressmen who have enough courage,
honor, and wisdom to keep their word, love their country, and
defend the Constitution.
Obviously, if you look at the
job we've done in hiring people to run our government... we
deserve an "F" too.
http://www.gpln.com/howiseeit.htm
http://www.counterpunch.org/cohn05062008.html
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