Palace Revolt

Almost since he was elected in 2000, liberals have been calling for the impeachment of President Bush. The vast majority of the "impeachable offenses" they cite—intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq war, claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay, the targeted NSA surveillance of suspected terrorist communications intercepted as they enter or leave the United States, etc—have been groundless.

The Administration's on-going failure to ensure American sovereignty and secure America's borders, however, has raised the specter of impeachment from an unlikely source: conservatives.

News yesterday that the U.S. Border Patrol was spying on the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and reporting their findings to the Mexican government was the last straw for many conservatives who had been, until this point, Bush Administration defenders.

Not only was the Border Patrol alerting the Mexican government of the location of Minutemen on the border to apparently thwart their attempts to slow illegal immigration and drug smuggling; they were also providing information upon individual chapters of the Minutemen in the Midwest. A spokesperson for the Minuteman Corps stated speculated that this information could only have been collected by the Department of Homeland Security. The fact that DHS does not even make serious attempt to rebut the charges, quite frankly, leaves me stunned. If this can be believed, Americans are spying on Americans to benefit a foreign power with the blessing of the White House.

La Shawn Barber brings forth something I never though I'd find myself seriously contemplating: a draft of possible Articles of Impeachment for President George W. Bush.

RESOLVED that George Walker Bush, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Article I: Abuse of Power: Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, George Walker Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, failing to impart the due and proper administration of justice by protecting citizens against foreign invasions, contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch (Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service, for example) and the purposes of these agencies. This conduct has included one or more of the following:

(1) Complicit with foreign governments in breaching U.S. sovereignty. America's founders codified the notion that “We the People” would govern the country by a representative democracy. The government remains legitimate only through consent of the governed, and “We the People” retain the inalienable right to alter the government, abolish it, or amend the Constitution.

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I've supported the Administration on most issues, but as far back as the second week of this blog in November of 2004, I've been warning Bush about his approach to illegal immigration and border security. I wrote then, "Bush's current lackadaisical attitude on the subject may have fatal consequences that could not only cripple his second term, but replicate or exceed the human tragedy of that day in September three years ago."

Now that I find that the Bush Administration is not just lackadaisical, but apparently engaged in the active and deliberate undermining of efforts by civilians groups to do the job he refuses to do, I think I may have reached my limit. If President Bush cannot see fit to uphold his oath of office, perhaps it is time to give that opportunity to President Cheney.