By now it should be apparent that a critical part of the thinking of House Republicans standing in the way of re-opening the government and raising the debt ceiling is the expectation that they will provoke the President into taking action under the Fourteenth Amendment that will provide a pretext for bringing impeachment proceedings and rid themselves of the Obama presidency. After all, from the moment Joe Wilson of South Carolina yelled, "You lie" at the President during one of his early appearances before Congress, the more extreme factions of the party have made clear that they view Obama as a threat and want nothing more than to be rid of him.
Now comes the latest self-made crisis which they believe may finally push Obama to either act or not act and in doing so or failing to do so, again provide the pretext they have thirsted for to charge him with a "high crime" or misdemeanor. I preface what follows by acknowledging that this strategy is driven by some of the stupidest, most-ill-informed creatures ever to troll the halls of Congress. Add to it an extraordinary level of malevolence and a touch of violent rhetoric and you have just the right mix to further bring the country to a standstill while they pursue charges that, in virtually every courthouse and in the court of public opinion should not and would not see the light of day.
So let's talk about the action they are praying for. The Fourteenth Amendment, section 4 reads in part: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned". The intent of the language is eloquently explained in Sean Wilentz' op ed piece which appeared in the New York Times on October 8th and is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the provision. What is clear is that the question of whether the language permits the President to act unilaterally to protect the constitution in circumstances which place the nation's sovereignty at risk remains open to debate. However, what Wilentz (and Bill Clinton, by the way) argues and what I and many others agree with is that it is essential and fundamental to our very existence that the Constitution be protected at all political cost. The nation and now the world must be confident that we can and will stand behind our debt lest the government, as with any common borrower, lose its credit and with it it's ability to function. In my view a failure to act, whether by the Congress or the executive, would place the Constitution and the government at risk and by that standard alone requires that someone...anyone...with the constitutional authority to act to act. If, as it appears, House Republicans are unwilling to act the President must and should. If there be a firestorm of Protestant movement toward impeachment bring it on.
It would, of course, be for the House to commence impeachment proceedings and it will certainly be frustrating and heartbreaking to be subjected to the incredibly stupid and ill-informed hyperbolic rambling a of the Tea Part acolytes conjuring up the "high crimes and misdemeanors" with which to charge the President. Saving the country from default? Now that is certainly a criminal act. Putting his name to legislation that was passed by both house of Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court that provides insurance for millions of Americans? Unquestionably a misdemeanor if not an outright felony according to those who have spent their political lives seeking ways to deprive the poor of even the basic necessities of life because those necessities had to be provided or subsidized by the government.
And let's assume that the Bachmanns, Gohmerts and Kings of that world succeed in convincing their "friends" to go along with such a fiasco (and their track record, predicated on threats of reprisals is actually likely to succeed to gathering enough votes for the passage of an article or two of impeachment). What then? The trial is then conducted before the Senate, not the House, where a Democratic majority would end the charade before it began.
The time to act is now. I am sick at heart of where we have come and frankly frightened of where we are headed. The legal and certainly the moral authority to act has never been more apparent and required. Our future as a nation may very weld depend upon it.
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