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Impeachment or Personal Action for Peace?

Blogs and newscasts are abuzz these days with arguments for and against the impeachment of Vice President Cheney and President Bush, with outcries of insistance for removal in that order!

Like so many Americans, I grieve the disastrous, psuedo-morality of the members of this administration. Even a short list of their crimes is sickening:

  • George Bush’s willingness to sponsor violence 
  • Karl Rove’s coverty manipulations
  • Rumsfeld’s arrogant military disasters
  • The heinous retaliation against Valerie Plame Wilson
  • Cheney’s war profiteering (millions, count them, millions)
  • The despicable circumvention of habeas corpus for detainees
  • Our reversals on nuclear arms agreements
  • Close-minded ignorance on stem cell science
  • Impotence in the face of genocide in Darfur
  • And, worst, the destruction of whole Middle Eastern countries in the name of freedom

While impeachment would give us an outlet for our understandable frustration, I worry that the protracted process would divert our political energies from the more important cause of personally standing up for peace.  If we really believe in democracy, we must be willing to say:

  • I do not believe violence is a reasonable foreign policy.
  • I will not let my money be used to ruin the lives of children.
  • I will not allow human rights to be trampled in my own country.
  • I care deeply about the hungry, the wounded, the sick, the displaced, the imprisoned, the orphaned, the persecuted, the disappeared, the afraid.
  • I want my country to be a force for good in the world.

The time for waiting for someone else to fix things is over. Until –like Cindy Sheehan, whatever you think of her– we interrupt our shopping and tv watching to take courageous action on behalf of democracy, impeachment just lets us blame someone else (however deserving) for America’s sad loss of direction and the terrible price the world has paid for our aggressions.

This is a nation governed by the people. Before we demand the removal of our leaders, we must face our own dereliction of duty. We must be willing to speak our beliefs out loud. We must be willing to call our legislators. We must check the ethical nature of our investments and the amount of our philanthropic giving. We must act with morality in the workplace. We must take care of the needy in our neighborhoods. We must stop whining and start doing; otherwise, impeachment is just a coward’s way out!

InSpiritry calls us to compassion, creativity, collaboration, consilience and celebration, but these days more than ever, it calls us to courage!

Stand up and Be a Blessing!

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2007 at 9:28 am and is filed under InSpiration, Peacework, Politics of Possibility. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Impeachment or Personal Action for Peace?”

  1. mike Says:
    July 20th, 2007 at 9:42 am

    YES!

  2. nytexan Says:
    July 20th, 2007 at 4:15 pm

    There is a lot to be said about impeachment interfering with other duties of Congress. However, Congress is a multi tasking body and they should be up to the task; especially with the large staffs that many of the senior member have. Actually most if not all of the research and papers needed have already been compiled by many Constitutional Scholars.

    Also, by letting Bush and Cheney off the hook this will set a precedent for future president.

    The three branches of government no longer function as they are meant to. Executive powers have far exceeded any other president’s powers. The processes set out in the Constitution have been assaulted by Bush’s signing statement order, executive orders and running of the Department of Justice. The Bill of Rights has been dismantled to the point where the most important habeas corpus does not exist any more.

    So yes impeachment is proper for the restoration and integrity of our country, what it stands for and for future generations to function. Turning the other cheek on this issue will only make the future of America more unrecognizable.

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