What
You're Missing in our subscriber-only CounterPunch newsletter
WHO RULES: THE ISRAEL LOBBY
OR UNCLE SAM?
The answer
at last! Uri Avnery, former Knesset member, assesses the Lobby's
power. "If the Israeli government wanted a law tomorrow
annulling the 10 Commandments, 95 U.S. Senators (at least) would
sign the bill forthwith." But, yes, in the end the dog wags
the tail.Fifty
years ago Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" blew the cobwebs
out of millions of young minds and drove a stake through the
heart of Eisenhower's America. Lenni Brenner remembers Ginsberg
in the East Village.Dr Mengele died in exile, in disguise. Dr Ishii
died rich and recognized, in his own Tokyo home. Christopher
Reed on Japanese WW2 medical tortures and how the U.S. covered
them up.CounterPunch
Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember,
we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition
of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription
to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find
anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition.
Remember contributions are tax-deductible.Click
here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please:Subscribe
Now!
There's talk of impeachment making the
rounds these days ... and it's not just partisan hyperbole.
As Dave Lindorff and Barbara
Olshansky explain in their new book, "The
Case for Impeachment," the legal argument for removing
George W. Bush from office is clear, present, and urgent.
However, for those seeking
peace and justice, there are two reasons why impeachment should
only be judged as a means to an end:
1. Impeachment is too good
for him Sure, the planet would breathe a sigh of relief should
Dubya get the boot, but why let him off the hook so easily? As
Lindorff and Olshansky state: "The evidence of ... constitutional
transgressions, violations of federal and international law,
abuse of power, and criminal negligence as chief executive ...
are so blatant one might think conviction would be a foregone
conclusion."
Well then, why stop there?
"The call for impeachment trivializes the crimes,"
declares journalist Rosemarie Jackowski. "Where is the demand
for war crimes trials?"
Good question.
Holding President Bush accountable
for his actions is crucial to the health of the state but to
stop at impeachment is to maintain the American tradition of
Oval Office wrist slapping. After all, Nixon was brought down
for his role in the Watergate cover-up-not for, say, his role
in bombing Cambodia or overthrowing a democratically elected
leader in Chile. Then, of course, there was the case of Bill
Clinton, which brings us to reason #2.
2. Impeachment plays into the
hands of the Democrats "If a Democratic majority is elected
to the House in November 2006," write Lindorff and Olshansky,
"we are confident a bill of impeachment will be introduced
early in the next Congress." This, the authors say, is the
road to choose if we want to "take back our country, our
government, and our rights."
I wonder, when exactly did
we "own" our country, our government, and our rights
and why would anyone expect the Democrats (especially those who
supported Bush's crimes) to make that happen? Bill Clinton may
have faced impeachment for lying about his adulterous liaisons,
but his actions-both global and domestic-over the course of eight
years could easily fill a book or two.
What does it mean to "take
back our country" if the next president will exploit the
position of following Bush to write his (or her) own book of
impeachment? Those who chose the Anybody-but-Bush path in 2004
appear lined up and ready to once again embrace the Democrats,
e.g. the left wing of America's one corporate party. If so, the
cycle continues unabated.
This is not to suggest George
W. Bush shouldn't face impeachment and certainly Lindorff and
Olshansky have done their homework in explaining this to the
31 percent who still approve of the president's performance.
However, for Bush's impeachment to serve as more than a high-profile
partisan lynching, it must be seen as a baby step toward justice.
The myriad problems we face
today are not of George W. Bush's making alone. He is but the
current face on a system that needs a complete overhaul. Giving
the Democrats freedom to exploit Bush's unpopularity to insure
that the next face is not Republican is what Stephen Colbert
might call, "rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg."
Mickey Z. is the author of
several books, most recently "50 American Revolutions You're
Not Supposed to Know" (Disinformation Books). He can be
found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
Now
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
Speakers Bureau Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid?
CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues,
as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call
CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.