Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
A Google alert brought me to the article, “Impeach Obama? 2014 Impeachment Starts Operation American Spring,” at Inquisitr.com. The article is headed by this Jon McNaughton portrait of a stern-faced Obama burning the US Constitution.
Interested readers can look at the specific items that article suggests might be impeachable offenses, but I found nothing especially egregious or out of line with things done by other US presidents who were not impeached, and certainly nothing reaching the lawlessness of Watergate or Iran-Contra. Nor is there anything new about an image of a president burning the Constitution:
The preceding cartoon1 depicts the United States as symbolized by the eagle rescuing the Constitution from being burned by Thomas Jefferson. It literally refers to the defeat of Jefferson by Adams in the 1796 presidential election.
1A version of this image (with a less clear face) was incorrectly labeled as George Washington in a prior article on this blog. That has been corrected.
That first image . . . OMG, that’s the scariest picture of Cliven Bundy I’ve ever seen!
The only thing that changes in politics is the clothing
It’s noteworthy that not only internet kooks but also Repube congresscritters have declared that if they get sufficient majorities in the House and the Senate, they will impeach Obama.
They won’t say what crime he would be impeached for because it doesn’t matter, they’ll make up something: they are treating impeachment as just a veto power over Presidential election, which of course doesn’t exist in the Constitution. That’s how much they respect it…
Doc says: Interested readers can look at the specific items that article suggests might be impeachable offenses, but I found nothing especially egregious or out of line with things done by other US presidents who were not impeached, and certainly nothing reaching the lawlessness of Watergate or Iran-Contra.
The technical term for what you’re seeing is bullsh*t…..a commodity never in short supply in Washington.
I find it interesting that Jefferson, who supported the French Revolution, would be depicted at the “Altar to Gallic Despotism.” It’s enough to make me think political cartoons might not always tell it like it is.
But that eagle is giving a clinic in the proper technique for a stiff-arm (stiff-leg?). Bronko Nagurski would be proud.
(I doubt God was on Bronko’s side, however. He did play for the Chicago Bears, after all. 😀 )
Anyway, when it comes to political cartoons, I’ll take Tom Toles any day.
I didn’t see credit given to the “artist” who portrayed the President burning the Constitution, either here or at the linked site, so be sure to check out Wonkette’s take on Jon McNaughton, the Birfiest Artist Who Ever Done Birfed:
http://wonkette.com/467834/americas-greatest-artist-depicts-obama-burning-the-constitution
Seriously, follow the links and check out his oeuvre. It’s… unique.
In his right hand he appears to be holding a copy of the Mazzei letter from April, 1796.
http://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/selected-documents/jeffersons-letter-philip-mazzei
“No single writing from Jefferson’s pen pursued him so remorselessly beyond the grave.” Merrill Peterson
Jefferson wrote a long rebuttal to the interpretation of the Mazzei letter in a letter to Martin Van Buren
http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/founders/default.xqy?keys=FOEA-print-04-02-02-4356
The more things change, the more they stay the same. 😉
As I predicted, the next OMG moment (read: failfest) is always around the corner. Didn’t KKKlayman get Obama out of office with his “can’t fail” rally last November? I don’t know how many Obamas the Illuminati have left in stock, maybe they’ll run out of usurpers quickly if Teatriots just keep rallying their tens of people. Any day now!
(Another “as usual” observation is birthers trying to attach themselves to other events because that’s the only way they can claim to have a significant number of supporters after their own private events never got more than 50.)
Every time I read “Plus ca change, plus c’est la même chose” the Rush song “Circumstances” plays in my head.