Truth and Reconciliation

I'm delighted to say that the Dems are actually starting to put together an agenda for 2007, on the chance that they might regain one or both houses of Congress. It's not only good to be ready, but also the best way to convince people to put you in charge - if you actually belong in charge - is to tell people what you'll do with your newfound power once you get it. And things like a minimum wage hike, governmental authority to negotiate better Medicare drug prices, protecting our ports and chemical plants, and fiscal responsibility are things we can all get behind.

Hell, a conservative libertarian I often debate with over at my favorite political message board said he could get behind all of those except the min-wage hike, and conceded that even that was good politics.

Another thing that the Dems want to do is launch investigations. According to the WaPo (link above),

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said in an interview last week that a Democratic House would launch a series of investigations of the Bush administration, beginning with the White House's first-term energy task force and probably including the use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

I've got one of them 'framing' ideas: why don't we say we need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission?

The Dems damned well ought to investigate the hell out of Bush if they win back a house of Congress this fall. But they could seize the moral high ground by calling for a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" in the style of South Africa.

Of course, they need only promise amnesty to the lower-level appointees - those that almost never exchanged words with a Cabinet-level Administration official - in return for their complete and unperjured testimony. Prez, Veep, Cabinet, and those who conferred frequently with the principals would still be fair game.

And if questioned about it, Dems could say, "unlike Abu Ghraib and related GOP scandals, we're going after the big fish and let the little guys go, not the other way around like the GOP does."

So let's frame this right from the get-go.

Besides, I don't know about you, but I feel that Bush and Cheney have fully earned impeachment, from lying us into war, to illegal wiretapping, to torture and secret prisons. But if we're going to impeach them next year, the time to start mentally preparing the public is now. Truth and Reconciliation conveys the gravity and enormity of the offenses committed, and indicates that we're going to handle this in a sober and serious manner. As we ought to.

It prepares the ground.