Elections better than impeaching

Eight years ago, a Republican House of Representatives returned a bill of impeachment against President Clinton for lying under oath when he denied having an illicit affair with a White House intern. He barely escaped being convicted by the Senate for shamefully covering up a private indiscretion, not for committing “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Today, a sitting president who has literally declared war on essential constitutional protections and who should legitimately be held responsible for intentionally violating constitutional protections will not face impeachment by a Democrat-controlled Congress. President Bush has illegally wiretapped domestic telephone conversations. He has illegally detained and denied habeas corpus to United States citizens. He has approved the creation of detention camps abroad where suspects are tortured in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Exploiting the cloak of national security, he has ordered telephone and Internet companies to divulge customer records. But a Democratic Congress will not seek to impeach Bush. The ludicrous grounds to impeach used eight years ago should not lower the bar for impeachment. Only through a vigilant electorate educated about these abuses and asserting its wisdom at the ballot box can our precious constitutional protections be truly guaranteed. The recent election was a good start. There is a long way to go. Talia Cohen, Linwood - Atlantic City Press, November 30, 2006