by Stephen L. Goldstein, author of Atlas Drugged: Ayn Rand Be Damned!
Florida Governor Rick Scott and the tea party/GOP members of the state Legislature should "self-impeach." But because they haven't got a scintilla of integrity among them, for high crimes and misdemeanors against representative government, I'll start the process myself. And I know I'm not alone: If impeachment or a recall were permissible citizen initiatives in Florida, the whole gang would already have been swept out of office like pond scum, no offense to algae. Here are my charges against Scott and the Legislature:
1. As legitimate as removal from office for voter suppression is, Rick Scott's active role as a card-carrying member of the national conspiracy of Republican governors to keep likely Democrats from voting is just his most recent, obvious, and egregious abuse of power. The governor became the governor but has never been the governor. He must have had his fingers crossed when he took the oath of office. In his nearly two years in office, I can't think of a single instance when he has acted on behalf of the citizens of Florida. Instead, he practices unprotected commerce. He sees himself as the leader of corporate interests, the CEO-in-chief of Florida, Inc. If he had his
way, public assets (bridges, schools, roads, hospitals, etc.) would be sold to for-profit companies, and public services would be converted to point-of-purchase transactions. Your kid is drowning? Pay the lifeguard on-the-spot or he won't swim out to save her. He's the original "privatize FEMA" guy. Next to him, Mitt Romney at his most mean-spirited looks like Mother Teresa.
In addition, in the ultimate cynicism of power, the governor has used "the people's" money to deprive Floridians of their rights, most notably suing the Feds to overturn Obamacare--even refusing to implement it after the Supreme Court upheld it. Finally, his support of the partisan removal of three state Supreme Court justices is the pièce-de-résistance in an unblemished record of his executive branch gone wild.
2. Ditto for tea party/GOP members of the Florida Legislature for going along with so much of the governor's bad stuff. They actually have the power to impeach him, but won't, of course--because in some ways, they're even worse than he is. If all 11 Constitutional Amendments the tea party/GOP members of the Legislature placed on the November ballot had passed, they would have constituted a bloodless coup that would have destroyed the separation of church and state, diminished the power of the judiciary, violated women's rights, robbed state government of critical resources.
The lesson here is neither to forget nor forgive, but to act. Sad fact is: No matter what candidates say they'll do if elected, once they're in office they can do whatever they please--or what pleases lobbyists. Floridians are powerless to do anything about elected officials guilty of abusing their power--except vote them out of office, which is usually too little too late: They can do too much damage in the meantime, and too often even the worst incumbents are re-elected.
"The people" of Florida need to put a Constitutional Amendment on the November 2014 ballot to allow the recall of all elected officials. Otherwise, we'll be guilty of "self-impeaching" and continuing to let the bad guys win.#
