Political Apartheid

A thumb on the scale of justice?



By all measures, if any administration EVER deserved to be impeached, it's the current one.

Twice presidents have been impeached. Both times, the effort was initiated by Republicans*, and for political reasons. (The impeachment of Andrew Johnson was instigated by his own party. The "Radical Republican" wing disagreed with his policy of reunification and punishment only of the leadership of the confederacy; they wanted to treat the South as an occupied nation, and not not allow southerners to vote or to participate in our democracy.)

At least in Johnson's case, the Republicans pretended that it was about actual malfeasance — a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. In Clinton's case, not so. In order to impeach him, Republicans lowered the bar for impeachment — for Democrats. It's a bit like Bush v. Gore, a Supreme Court decision which was to be applied, but was not to be considered a precedent (read it — that's actually what the decision said). In other words, one set of rules for Democrats, another for Republicans.

We must not dare question the actions of "God's Own Party"!



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* Nixon resigned before he could be impeached. The effort to impeach him was a bipartisan one.