Madisonian Compromise
I'm still hearing people talk about how Madison said in 1789 that we should impeach a President who fired a "meritorious officer," used as a defense of impeaching Bush today.
Back in 1790, Madison and Hamilton met for a dinner hosted by Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton agreed to place the nation's capital on the Potomac River, if Madison agreed to help pass assumption of the debt. (Madison could not vote for assumption, given his leading the opposition of it, but he basically dropped his opposition and helped get votes for it.)
So I propose another compromise, in that spirit. Let's go ahead and impeach the President, as Madison said. And let's do everything else Madison said in 1789, too. We will abolish all federal funding of and control over education and teachers and all federal welfare for the poor (including Social Security and Medicare). We will return as much power as possible to the states and absolutely forbid federal encroachments. No first responder funding, no enviromental controls, no building projects.
It's hilarious to me that the left is acting like Madison in 1789 was gospel, when if we actually followed all he said back then, it would totally destroy their social welfare state (which would be fine with me).
[ NB: I want to make clear that I agree entirely that the President can legally be impeached for any reason. I've never claimed otherwise. I've always believed, for decades, as long as I can remember, and long before Clinton's impeachment, that the Congress could, legally, impeach for any reason, without exception. When I've said Bush can't be impeached for something, I've spoken in the context of politics: that is, that the Congress would never impeach the President for exercising his legitimate authority, and so on. They legally could, but they wouldn't. ]
Back in 1790, Madison and Hamilton met for a dinner hosted by Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton agreed to place the nation's capital on the Potomac River, if Madison agreed to help pass assumption of the debt. (Madison could not vote for assumption, given his leading the opposition of it, but he basically dropped his opposition and helped get votes for it.)
So I propose another compromise, in that spirit. Let's go ahead and impeach the President, as Madison said. And let's do everything else Madison said in 1789, too. We will abolish all federal funding of and control over education and teachers and all federal welfare for the poor (including Social Security and Medicare). We will return as much power as possible to the states and absolutely forbid federal encroachments. No first responder funding, no enviromental controls, no building projects.
It's hilarious to me that the left is acting like Madison in 1789 was gospel, when if we actually followed all he said back then, it would totally destroy their social welfare state (which would be fine with me).
[ NB: I want to make clear that I agree entirely that the President can legally be impeached for any reason. I've never claimed otherwise. I've always believed, for decades, as long as I can remember, and long before Clinton's impeachment, that the Congress could, legally, impeach for any reason, without exception. When I've said Bush can't be impeached for something, I've spoken in the context of politics: that is, that the Congress would never impeach the President for exercising his legitimate authority, and so on. They legally could, but they wouldn't. ]
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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