Many of us have been urging MoveOn.org for a very long time to call for impeachment--or at the very least ask their members if they would support it. Until today, however, they seemed more interested in giving the Democratic Party leadership a free pass on the issue than in rocking the boat by demanding accountability for the Bush administration.
It seems this is finally changing.
I just receive an e-mail from MoveOn about the commutation of Libby's sentence that contained the following:
It's time for Congress to re-assert its constitutional authority and stop the administration's obstruction of justice...Congress can start by demanding answers from the Bush administration about the Iraq war and their illegal spying program, and not backing down until they get them. Cheney won't testify? Subpoena him. He won't come? Hold him in contempt of Congress and send over the police. And if that doesn't work, impeach the guy. We just can't let President Bush and his administration dismantle our Constitution.
Right on! But this Administration has already laughed at Congressional subpoenas. Indeed, as MoveOn itself points out:
When their illegal program of warrantless wiretapping was revealed, the Bush administration refused to answer subpoenas from Congress to testify about what, precisely, they were doing. When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales—the nation's highest law-enforcement officer—testified in front of Congress under oath, he lied and said the program didn't exist.
It's time to cut the kabuki and skip ahead to the main event: impeachment. It's our trump card, our ace in the hole, and we need to use it now. I salute MoveOn for finally stating the obvious--that this Administration must be held accountable--and I urge them to go ahead and call for impeachment rather than wasting even another minute on subpoenas.