QOTD: Beto O’Rourke
by digby
I thought this answer to Joy Reid’s question about whether or not it’s time to impeach was pretty good:
O’Rourke: I think the only way to compel the testimony, to get the evidence and have the facts so that there is accountability and justice for what has been done and to prevent future attacks on our democracy, is to move forward with impeachment.
It should be the option of last resort and we are clearly there with this administration. A candidate invited the involvement of a foreign power in our democracy and then did everything in his power to obstruct just that — and he’s still doing that today — so if we’re going to affirm that we’re a nation of laws and that no person, no matter what position he holds, is above the law, there have to be consequences.
And impeachment is the only way that we’re going to get the facts, the evidence, the truth necessary to make sure that we save this democracy.
Joy Reid: Do you think at this point that the office of the president is too powerful and too hard to control when they have a partisan congress or even part of the Congress is in their favor?
O’Rourke: The short answer is yes. If you look at the wars that we are in — 28 years in Iraq, 18 years in Afghanistan, and Somalia and Yemen, Libya as well — there’s a clear case where the presidency has gone well past the constitutional mandate and Congress has abnegated theirs.
When you look at this investigation into Russia’s involvement in our democracy and the continuing threat that they pose and the fact that we have not been able to get to the truth, nor has Congress been able to see all the evidence we have yet another example.
Part of that is the presidency and the administration. And part of it is, per your earlier question, Congress standing up and asserting itself regardless of party or consequences in the next election or how this stuff polls.
If we’re going to follow the constitution, if we’re going to live up to our promise, if we’re going to ensure that this democracy survives this administration, we’re going to need a Congress that’s willing to assert itself and stand up for those whom they purport to represent.
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