"We have a duty to repair real damage done to our system of government over the last few years," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in outlining his panel's agenda for the 110th, Democratic-led Congress, which is set to convene on January 4.
"Americans' privacy is a price the Bush administration is willing to pay for the cavalier way it is spawning new databanks. But privacy rights belong to the people, not to the government,"
"We are way overdue in catching up to the erosion of privacy," Leahy said. "This will be one of our highest priorities."
Needless to say, I applaud Leahy's efforts and support this initiative whole-heartedly. I am very glad that the Democrats are going to start to questioning those involved in the creation of these policies and perhaps subpoenas officials who have led us down this path.
I am also currently in agreement with incoming Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who has said that impeachment is not going to be a high priority in the Democratically controlled House come January. Even though I believe that the system of misinformation that was put out by this administration and the apparent abuse of power are without a doubt impeachable offenses (much more so than anything Slick Willie ever did). At this point in time, impeachment proceedings will achieve very little and only add more division between the parties. The Democrats should focus on making Congress a productive legislative body again, a true representation of the people.
However, if investigations like the one that Leahy is proposing begin to uncover serious wrong doings, then Congress has a responsibility to open up impeachment proceedings. If they do find evidence of high Crimes and Misdemeanors and do nothing, then the entire impeachment clause ought to be removed from the constitution. That would be a real travesty.
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