<And by the way the meaning of "high crimes and misdemeanors" is whatever the Congress says it is - the founders intentionally wrote it to be both a political and legal process.>
The statement is inaccurate on the face of it and EXTREMELY dangerous territory to venture into. If you have read the history of the creation of the constitution and the debates surrounding it you will not find any references to your support statement. Its just plain false. The whole discussion was about what kind of remedy there was for a chief executive who was a danger to the democracy and/or the integrity of the operation of the government.
In fact, the only other impeachment in our history, of Andrew Johnson, involved much the same warped logic that your statement implies. He was impeached because the radical republicans of the time did not feel that he was executing their reconstruction plans for the south as they intended and desired. In essence, they were saying that they could define what impeachment was and why it could be invoked.
If your statement is were accurate it would mean that the Congress had ultimate power over the Executive branch of the government. Since they could define, by their own standards, if a chief executive should be removed or not. This is TOTALLY and completely contrary to the basic premise of the constitution which was that all three branches were equal and that the powers of each branch could not interfere with the operation of any other, baring circumstances where the fate of the democracy, the integrity of the constitution or the life of the nation were at stake.
I know its hard for people who hate Clinton to think about this issue in any terms except seeing this as justification of their feelings. But, its much, much more than that. The intent of the framers was very clear, impeachment was a last resort to save the Republic from ruin or destruction at the hands of someone who was a danger to its continued existence or to that of the constitution.
What is occurring now is starting to border on exactly the opposite of that. The Congress is on the verge of endangering one of the most fundamental notions in the constitution, that all three branches are equal and cannot interfere with each others operations unless dire and extreme circumstances exist.
People think this really isn't a big deal. Clinton is a sleaze and throwing him out is not that bad. In the little sense they're right. His fate is not of much consequence. However, asserting the supremacy of the Congress over the Executive in this fashion will surely come back again. Remember, someday there will be a Republican president and a democratic congress(the country seems to like to have power split up).
You and other Clinton haters may rue the day that they said "high crimes and misdemeanors are whatever the Congress says they are". They're not...beware. All things that go around come around... |
