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United States Impeachment, Accountability and the Battle of DemocracyOn December 18, the House of Representatives, where the Democratic Party representatives form a majority, voted to impeach President Donald Trump by passing two motions: one charges Trump with abuse of power and the other with obstruction of Congress. Under Senate rules, a Senate impeachment trial starts the day after the House provides it with the articles of impeachment, unless that day is a Sunday. To start the process the Senate must first vote on rules for its own impeachment trial and what witnesses will be invited/permitted. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and 67 votes are required to convict a president.
What is nonetheless clear from the on-going spectacle in the House of Representatives is that impeachment does not in fact hold the president accountable for his actions and the entire thing serves to deprive the American people of a vantage point which favours their striving for empowerment. Pelosi has emphasized that "The president must be held accountable, and no one is above the law." Impeachment is presented as a mechanism for accountability, and more generally the effort is supposed to send the message to the public that the "system works" when it comes to this problem. They do not need to fight for new arrangements. In fact the current arrangements are not sorting out the fighting between the factions of the ruling class. The civil war scenario between the ruling factions in the U.S., as well as the very limited articles of impeachment being presented -- for abuse of power, but only concerning the Ukraine/Biden affair, and obstruction of justice -- create doubt that impeachment will hold President Trump accountable. This is clearly true for the crimes of greatest concern to the people, completely absent from the articles of impeachment even though there is far more evidence. These include the crimes of family separation and detention camps of children, even babies. They include the war crimes, such as those against Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, through use of drones and chemical weapons and more. They include collective punishment of whole populations using sanctions, such as against Venezuela, Cuba, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran and many others. Voice of Revolution, newspaper of the U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization, notes that people across the country, joined by many abroad have persisted in waging battles for rights and demanding change on these matters.[1] It writes: "Impeachment provides no accountability for government refusal to do so. The many actions included thousands more worldwide actions to defend Mother Earth, November 29, and continuing weekly demonstrations across the country in many places; continuing united actions both sides of the southern border defending migrants as well as the recent not guilty verdict of an activist who aided two young migrants crossing the desert in Arizona; anti-war actions, including those against NATO in London, New York City and elsewhere; strikes by teachers taking social responsibility for problems like homelessness and lack of counselors and nurses in their schools; and many more.
"U.S.-style democracy ensures a small minority rules over the majority, a problem impeachment does not solve. Nor does it solve the problem of accountability. The Constitution and existing law provide no mechanism for the people to hold the president accountable for crimes. The Justice Department has long said it is unconstitutional to charge a sitting president and has not done so. Nor can a citizen's arrest be made of a sitting president, given that any such effort would be blocked by the Secret Service and the citizen charged. "The need to have a mechanism in the hands of the people to hold the president accountable for crimes brings to the fore this need to advance the battle of democracy -- the battle for new institutions of governance, a new constitution that does provide for accountability. People very much despise the ability of government, especially the president, to commit crimes with impunity. Even elections, given as the way to deal with this issue, do not provide a means to bring criminal charges. Indeed, like impeachment, they are yet another mechanism where the people do not decide the outcome; the rulers, the minority do. "The battle of democracy is the battle of political power, the battle for new arrangements that empower the people to govern and decide. A new constitution and institutions should serve to harmonize the many human relations of the present, the whole ensemble of relations between humans and humans and humans and nature. Harmonizing and providing for accountability are interrelated, so this issue too must be addressed. Steps in this direction today include stepping up organized efforts for the people, as individuals and collectives, to speak out in their own name, voice their concerns, stick to their own agenda for the change needed. It includes discussing and debating this problem of accountability, what is needed for it and how achieving it is related to advancing the battle of the people to govern and decide." Note1. Voice of Revolution, December 13, 2019.
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
However, after
voting to impeach the president, House Democrats
took a decision to delay transmitting the articles
of impeachment
to the Senate. Speaker of the House of
Representatives Nancy
Pelosi cited concerns that the Republicans in
control of the
Senate would not hold a "fair trial." In other
words, the
Democrats do not agree with the rules the
Republicans are seeking
to set for the Senate trial nor the witnesses
proposed, if any.
This is the first time the impeachment of a
president takes place
at a time both houses of Congress are not under
the command of
the same party. It is not clear whether the horse
trading taking
place will get either party the votes it wants in
this matter.
Given how the vying factions among the rulers and
their
representatives are currently lining up, few think
the
impeachment of the president will succeed.
Meanwhile, both Houses
are scheduled to take a two-week break for the
holidays.
"These battles for
democracy contribute to the efforts all
across the country to give voice to the demands of
the people and
to affirm their rights. They also raise the
central issue of
today's battle of democracy, of who decides, the
minority or the
majority? The battle of democracy is the battle to
advance the
content and form of democracy and the institutions
for it so as
to bring it on a par with modern times. Empowering
the people,
the majority to govern and decide, is required.
That is the
democracy that would put in place the means to
have the anti-war,
pro-social will of the people -- readily apparent
in the many
united actions, meetings, petitions, strikes --
implemented. This
is precisely what the rulers are striving to
prevent. Impeachment
is part of this effort to embroil everyone for and
against while
attempting to divert the drive of the people to
themselves be
decision-makers.