President Obama stares down bluff — even after two presidential election victories GOP still in shock and denial
Those on the right who despise, mistrust, or fear President Obama have a dream. They dream of impeaching the man.
They dream of devising a way, some way, the way of removing him from office. They’ve got the fever. Like a fungal infection, the fever is spreading.
Oh, to dream the impossible dream. Some of my Republican friends in high places are desperately searching for a molecule of justification to file articles of impeachment against Mr. Obama. Here are the most notable swings-and-misses from the Grand Old Party: Benghazi; he’s from Kenya; he’s a secret Muslim; he’s a secret Communist; he’s a Socialist (aren’t we all?); because Rush Limbaugh says Mr. Obama should be impeached; and he’s a dictator.
There’s plenty more: Obamacare/ACA; his use of executive action; the current humanitarian crisis at the border; the phony IRS 504 c scandal; the Ukraine/Russia standoff; for pulling all US troops out of Iraq; for winding down all US military operations in Afghanistan; for not sending American troops to Syria; for not sending American troops to Egypt during the Arab Spring; for being elected in 2008; for being re-elected in 2012; for suggesting background checks for Americans who purchase guns; because the Right can’t impeach George W. Bush; because former Vice President Dick Cheney considers him a menace to society; and because of many more reasons to come.
Since Republicans couldn’t defeat him straight up in a national election, they want to impeach the guy. Sue him, too for sound measure.
Sound about right, GOP power brokers?
It’s a matter of public record that the President’s enemies began their secret campaign to deny him any measure of accomplishment, any aspect of legacy, and any legislative victory even before Mr. Obama took the oath of office in January of 2009. When President Obama was still President-Elect Obama, wasn’t it Senator Mitch O’Connell (R-KY) who proudly declared at a press conference that it was his mission in life to ensure that Mr. Obama would be a one-term president? Wasn’t it Rush Limbaugh who proudly proclaimed: “I hope he fails“?
Wasn’t it former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) who boasted in 2009 that Obamacare would be Mr. Obama’s “Waterloo”?
Americans hear the I-word, impeachment all the time as it relates to Barack Obama. We hear it every day, every week, and every month depending on how surly Congress is at any given time. It must be pointed out that this Congress is being paid good money to not work. This is the very same Congress which is by far the laziest, most inept, most gridlocked group of legislators in American history. That’s fact, not an opinion. Look it up.
By now, we all know the formula. If Mr. Obama goes forward, the right: criticizes him incessantly; uniformly opposes him; and demands that he be impeached pronto. Ditto if he stands pat.
I say to Congress: proceed. Go ahead, GOP. Impeach President Obama – if you’ve got the intestinal fortitude. You don’t, by the way. You don’t have the votes to pull it off. You don’t have the unity to pull it off. You don’t have the vision to pull it off. And you have no sense of history.
Have you forgotten the last time you actually tried this journey? You thought you had President Bill Clinton all lined up in 1998. It was a fait accompli, a done deal, until it wasn’t. The Republican Party swung and missed on getting rid of President Clinton. Not only did he survive, he thrived. Mr. Clinton emerged from his impeachment process more powerful than ever. Subsequently, the GOP got their clocks cleaned in the 1998 midterms.
As Yogi Berra once famously stated, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
President Obama isn’t afraid of being impeached by the Republicans. He actually wants to be impeached by them. POTUS knows American history. He’s playing chess. He’s keenly aware that impeachment is the greatest gift the GOP could ever give him. Mr. Obama’s impeachment would rally the Democratic base like never before, relegate the Grand Old Party to certain defeat in both 2014 and 2016, and expose their playbook of deny and defer for all to see.
If members of Congress are truly searching for high crimes and misdemeanors, all they have to do is look in the mirror.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Republicans, learn to love your President. He’s not going anywhere.
