This is one of those Blogs that needed to be written because of the urgency of the hour and the times in which we are now living.
Republican politicians and right wing radio and television hosts are now talking about impeaching President Obama over Benghazi. These are the same people who supported the Bush administration starting a war with information they knew was at best suspect and worse, plainly wrong; the same people who supported Bush’s Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, when he fired U. S. attorneys around the country because they refused to prosecute cases they knew to be politically motivated; the same people who supported our nation engaging in the torture of prisoners that was not only an international war crime, but a crime according to U.S. law as well; the same people who even now support the Patriot Act that has done more to infringe upon personal freedom and the right to privacy than any piece of legislation in the history of our nation.
The sheer political motivation behind such talk is so absurd and transparent that you wonder how in the world anybody could be dumb enough to think reasonable people will take them seriously. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. Whenever I hear Senator James Inhofe say anything I cringe. This is the man who called global warming the greatest hoax ever pulled on the American people. This is the same man who puts holds on President Obama’s judicial nominees for weeks on end, then finally joins the overwhelming majority in approving the person’s appointment. Inhofe has no credibility with anyone except right wing nuts who are as character challenged as he is. Yet here he is suggesting impeachment may be in the works.
The same can be said of the talking heads on Fix News (that’s what they do – “fix” the news) who are talking impeachment, people like Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Ann Coulter, Megan Kelly and the Fix News morning show hosts. These people are not serious about reporting. They are Republican Party shills who have no interest in truth or facts.
Let’s be clear about what impeachment talk is really about. It is another example of just how far right wing extremists will go in rejecting our form of government. This is about their efforts to undo last fall’s election, just as they tried with Bill Clinton. These people are not patriotic. They are traitors to their country in the sense that they don’t believe in accepting election results. When things don’t go their way they resort to attacking the people voters put in office in the hope that their relentless assault will eventually bring them down. They want to win at any cost, including undermining the very political process that makes this country what it is. They claim to love America, but in truth they love the America that is for their kind only. The simple truth is this. If Republicans controlled the House and the Senate right now, President Obama would be facing impeachment, not because there would be any basis for it, but because everything Republicans do is motivated by their hatred of him.
It’s time for all of us to be honest. What is going on here is rooted in a deep seated racism right wingers mask with their unsubstantiated claims. They cannot stand the fact that a black man holds the highest political office in the nation. What they have to say is not legitimate criticism of his policies. I am a legitimate critic, and have offered my share of this president. That is not what these people are doing.
What they are doing is too important for any person of good will to ignore any longer. There is a cynicism at the heart of the right wing movement in this country that is willing to destroy anyone and anything to get its way. It is led by people we once considered too extreme to be mainstream. They are petty and mean spirited. But now they control the Republican Party, and that is why Republicans can no longer be trusted to play by the rules and do what they believe is right for the country. So this is not about people having a right to their opinions. This is about all of us recognizing that we are facing a real and present danger to our way of life, and silence in the face of it is moral acquiescence.
