The I-Word is Being Uttered in Congress

03/26/2007

Paul Munnis

Speaking on TV yesterday, Senator Chuck Hagel provided insight into just how disgusted GOP Moderates are with Mr. Bush, his Administration, and the Iraqi war policies administered by the White House.

Hagel stopped just short of calling for Bush's impeachment. But he made clear that some lawmakers viewed that as an option if Bush decides to push ahead despite public sentiment against the war.

"Any president who says, I don't care, or I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else, or I don't care what the Congress does, I am going to proceed - if a president really believes that, then there are - what I was pointing out, there are ways to deal with that,"

We have been predicting that the GOP would soon approach Mr. Bush and ask him to resign along with members of his cabinet. So far there is no public knowledge of such an approach. But that will occur prior to any impeachment trial and since the I-word is now on the table then it may not be too far off. Bush would be ahead to resign but he has shown no such amount of common-sense and so impeachment may happen although few really want the spectacle on the record sheet of American government.

Congress is working on isolating Mr. Bush by retiring his worst performing cabinet members one at a time over maladministration. Rumsfeld is gone and it is likely that this week, Mr. Gonzales will be gone too. Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State is operating at all but a stand-still pace. Karl Rove and other aides are now under investigation and the Bush Administration is teetering at the tipping point of collapse as a call for the resignation of the Vice-president is also being heard.

People like Rep. John Sunnu, R, NH, who are also on the 2008 ticket are in a sweat. Everyday that the GOP delays Party rebuilding is yet another day that voters turn against the GOP. They cannot rebuild their Party while Mr. Bush is on the scene. Republicans know that Mr. Bush and Mr. Chaney have to go. They doubt they will resign although Chaney is pretty pragmatic and he can use his health as an excuse to save face.

As for the White House they seem to be playing their last face card right now as Dick Chaney once again trumpets a speech accusing Democrats of non-support of our troops. This is a tired argument as many Americans now believe that leaving our troops in the midst of a civil-war is a poor approach to support. It seems more like abandonment. Yet it is the only card that the Bush Administration has left to play. A minor card also is that they need time for the surge to work but Congress has given that time to them by setting the withdrawal date some eighteen months up the road.

There is one other ploy that will work for the Bush Administration and that is to declare a pseudo-victory in Iraq and then redirect the troops to Afghanistan to wrap that war up. Mr. Bush may well pull that maneuver and if he does I think it will be okay with the American people who are pretty pragmatic when it comes to getting out of Iraq. They might be okay with leaving Mr. Bush some room to keep an image of having won in Iraq and giving him credit for some of the war items like an election and a Constitutional formation, and the toppling of Saddam.

What is the effect that this will have with Iran? Simply put – none.

The danger with Iran is to leave a Lame Duck president in a position to act like a loose cannon ratting about of the deck of a pitching ship as history writes him off. Unsecured he can do more damage to our ship of state unless he is lashed down. In fact about the only card left for Iran to play is to invoke anti-Bush sentiment. They are now trying to play a card over the incident with British sailors and another of intransigence right now but both are doomed to fail. In fact Iran has a weak poker hand and they have lost their case. The whole world has turned against Iran over its nuclear position, its support for nuking Israel, and its warlike behavior in the mid-East. Iran is little more than a sputter now.

Are the Republican Moderates just Democrats in disguise? No, I think not – they are just pragmatic politicians who realize that their Party is on the brink of extinction if they don’t stop the propaganda ploys and really deal with the issues in a substantial way. Even the GOP neo-cons now accept this is a working premise. Mr. Bush is being closed in on by his own Party.