Fox News Analyst Calls for Impeaching Bush
Reported by Judy - February 5, 2006
Fox News tried Saturday (February 4, 2006) to get Wall Street to come to the rescue of the Bush Administration and protect it from any political fallout for spying on Americans without warrants, but the effort failed when a Democratic analyst called for George Bush to be impeached for violating the law.
Neil Cavuto did everything he could to try to stop it, but Gregg Hymowitz, of Entrust Capital and the token Democratic regular on "Cavuto on Business, deftly countered every phony Republican talking point that Cavuto came up with. Hymowitz also got some surprising support for the proposition that Bush violated the law from a conservative regular on the show, Jim Rogers, author of Hot Commodities.
Hymowitz's call for impeachment came after guest Tracy Byrnes claimed that Bush should keep up the warrantless wiretapping because it is good for stocks. "Wall Street should endorse it. We all know what happened after 9/11. The economy crumbled. ... Why not let the government do it's job?" said Byrnes, a business writer for the New York Post, a Rupert Murdoch property just like the Fox News Channel.
"Stocks go up in free and open societies," said Hymowitz. "Here we have an administration that has violated the law and a law, by the way, which allowed for secret wiretapping and for warrants retroactively. This is a complete violation of the law and quite frankly, you may not like this, but the president should be impeached for this. The president should be impeached for violation of the law."
"Do you think the fact that we haven't been hit since 9/11 owes in part to the fact that he's been doing this?" asked Cavuto, playing the usual GOP trump card -- the Ace of Fear.
"Absolutely not," said Hymowitz. "It's not about wiretapping. It's about the process of law. He could have wiretapped anyone he wants, as long as you go get the warrant."
Rogers jumped in at this point. "He certainly has broken the law. ... This is America. We're not supposed to be doing things like that," he said, noting that he did not agree with Hymowitz's call for impeachment.
Cavuto threw down another GOP card -- Bush is only wiretapping calls coming in from outside the U.S.
"Fine. Go get a warrant," said Rogers.
Cavuto reached into his hand for another card -- the King of Expediency. "When a call is being made, you don't have time to run out and get a warrant," he whined.
"Neil, you can get the warrant retroactively. The law accounted for that," explained Hymowitz.
Herman Cain, a conservative radio talk show host, broke in to claim that it is not "clear and cut" that Bush broke the law because "he informed members of Congress he has done certain things." Cain also tried to change the subject to the Internal Revenue Service and tax laws by claiming they took away more liberties than warrantless wiretapping. "At least they (terrorists) haven't hit us in the last four and a half years," Cain said.
Cavuto laid down one more GOP card -- the Queen of 9/11 Memories. "If you could have tapped the phone conversations of Al Qaeda planners ahead of 9/11 would that have been justified?" he asked.
Michael Parness, from trendsfunds.com, protested (not as effectively as Hymowitz would have), that the line needed to be drawn against violating Americans' liberties.
Cavuto chastised him that, "You seem to be more concerned aboaut being inconvenienced or having your line tapped than you are about having your sorry butt saved," he said, playing another card from the suit of Fear. "I draw the line at living."
Hymowitz responded that in times of great national danger, "more than ever, that's when you need to abide by the law."
Hymowitz is supposed to know about stocks and bonds, but surprisingly, he knew the intricacies of the FISA law inside and out. He made the case for Bush's impeachment for violating the law succinctly and effectively. He never allowed himself to get sidetracked onto other issues, to be talked over by conservatives, or to fall for the phony claim that somehow having a government that breaks laws makes us all safer -- and richer.
Hymowitz is not about to trade his basic American liberties for the right to be rich. Democrats who show up on Fox News shows would do well to imitate Hymowitz's performance.
Hymowitz was right that Fox may not like his call for Bush's impeachment. For his courage in saying what needs to be said, as well as his effective way of saying it, Hymowitz is a Top Dog.
