I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because...

Summary: Yesterday, Kossack Elishastephens wrote a diary about Dennis Kucinich's attempt to impeach George W. Bush.  The reaction to this measure was mixed.  For posterity's sake, I intend to list the reasons given by my fellow Kossacks for why we should ignore the Constitution and let Mr. Bush get away with breaking the law.

For the sake of courtesy, I will neither print the names of the commenters nor their precise language, so that nobody will know exactly whom I'm talking about.

  I am not here to question the morality or patriotism of my fellow Kossacks.  I do not believe that any Kossack intended to argue in favor of ignoring the Constitution's words on impeachment.  I do not believe that any Kossack intended to argue in favor of letting George Bush get away with breaking the law (though there were some who said they weren't sure he had...three words: NSA wiretapping program).  But they fell into a mental trap whereby they became so focused on their arguments that they forgot the conclusions those arguments were being used to advocate.  It's a common mistake, but it has historic ramifications.
  So what I'm going to do is show you what their arguments look like when you keep the conclusion in mind.  I do this because I feel that future generations are going to want to know why we did our part to support letting this man get away with two full terms in office (we the non-legislators can't impeach him, but we can at least support it).  Obviously, I don't expect this diary to be carved into a metallic monument in Washington, DC.  But at least I'm doing my little part to keep a record of these days.
  And now to the arguments...

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable has unscrupulous motivations.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable diverts people's much-needed attention to getting a Democrat in the White House.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable should have been made long ago, and since it wasn't, it's now most likely useless.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable will play into the media's desire to not focus on things that matter, which impeaching Bush doesn't qualify as.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable means nothing unless you go after other people first.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable isn't realistic.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable won't get enough Republican supporters.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable is being led by someone that people like to make fun of.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable is about dwelling on the past.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable would upset a sizeable portion of Americans who'd rather talk about the bad economy.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable would upset a sizeable portion of Americans who wouldn't like that a President they (allegedly) elected and then (allegedly) re-elected is now facing impeachment.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable wouldn't be as useful as waiting for Barack Obama to maybe become President so he could maybe investigate Bush then.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable would make the Republicans want to illegitimately impeach a future Democratic President, and the warfare between the parties would never end.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable would suck up money that, without a doubt, our Legislative Branch would use to fix our broken infrastructure.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable would suck up time that, without a doubt, our Legislative Branch would use to deal with other issues of importance...time that also can't be split between holding Bush accountable and tackling these issues.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable is only supported by leftwing extremists.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable is really pointless since he's leaving anyway, and what matters is that he's not around to commit any more crimes, not whether or not he committed crimes in the past.

I believe we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law because the attempt to hold him accountable would be used to the advantage of the pro-Bush media.

  And that, future generations, is one part of the complex explanation for why George W. Bush was allowed to serve out two full terms...regardless of what he did.

Update [2008-6-10 10:35:48 by Kevin Holsinger]: Amber6541 informs me that MSNBC has an impeachment poll.

Update [2008-6-10 12:6:33 by Kevin Holsinger]:...but there's no guarantee as to whether it's recent or not.  Oh well, vote away.

Update [2008-6-10 14:45:9 by Kevin Holsinger]: H'okay.  Now Forgore's notifying me to an AOL poll.  Not as direct as the MSNBC one, but this one has a date on it.

Update [2008-6-10 11:26:9 by Kevin Holsinger]: Given some of the valid criticism I've received, I feel I should address it.

First, I've seen at least two people say that they'd be willing to support legal action against Bush, just not impeachment, and that my framing this as "no impeachment = no interest in the law" unfair.  I can accept that perspective on my words.  So here's my take.

If you think the Republicans and Democrats have no interest in dealing with Bush now, what guarantee is there that this will change in December?  I don't dislike Barack Obama, but I don't place complete faith in him not letting this country "just move on".  Nor do I place complete faith in an even larger number of Democrats in DC (a likely possibility) to do it.  So my approach is, if they really believe in taking on Bush, they should be for doing it now.

Second point: if you support impeachment, but don't think it'll accomplish anything, I'm not talking about you.  I'm talking about the people who won't even try, not the ones who don't think they'll succeed.

Update [2008-6-10 14:45:9 by Kevin Holsinger]: Third point: I am not saying I agree with the above rationales for not impeaching.  I support impeachment, doomed or not.  I'm criticizing the above rationales, but it seems I improperly mistated my case, thus making it look like I'm caving on the matter.  Sorry for the confusion.