Friday, July 06, 2007

Constitutional Grounds for Impeachment

They're not as limited as you might think. Here's a link to Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment, Provisions in the Constitution that are Relevant to Impeachment and Past Impeachment Inquiries -- It's a bit long, but well worth reading.

It's also important to note that George Mason, one of our revered "founding fathers", felt strongly about impeachment: "No point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued. Shall any man be above Justice? Above all shall that man be above it, who can commit the most extensive injustice?"

It is worth noting also that Mason himself refused to sign the constitution because he felt that the provisions for impeachment were not sufficient to remove a president who was guilty of suborning treason by issuing a pardon for individuals who committed it.

Mason also felt that individual rights were not adequately protected under the constitution, a fact which was corrected with the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791, a full two years after the adoption of the Constitution.

And Gouvernor Morris, another of the founding fathers, also felt that the president ought not to be able to pardon someone convicted of treason (hear that, Scooter? Hear that, Darth Cheney? Baby Doc? Anybody?).

Of course, Morris also had some definitely anti-democratic views -- the poor should not be allowed to vote since they would be tempted to sell their votes to the rich, the "common man" was basically incapable of self-government, and voting should be restricted only to property owners, but regardless of that, he still had at least one good idea.

So, given all that, the short answer to all this remains: Hell yes! Impeach the motherfuckers!

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