You’ve gotta just love the new Republican strategy for winning the midterms this year: “if the Democrats win, they’ll investigate President Bush.” And maybe they’ll investigate other Republicans, too.

And we all know that if Republicans were in control of Congress while a Democrat were in the White House, they would never ask for investigations!

The biting irony is that Republicans ran a virtual investigation madhouse for the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency, primarily investigating him on sexual matters and charges of alleged (yet despite massive investigations, never proved) bribe-taking dating back years before Clinton entered the White House. But they also demanded investigations on any rumor that floated up from the muck, no matter how spurious or unwarranted. And tragically, Clinton’s actual governance during those eight years was excellent–yet it is remembered more for the investigations than for anything else.

And now, after this president has committed grave crimes in office, including an actual, clear violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and other offenses that have endangered the security of the country, supposedly the thing we should most fear is the Democrats actually investigating this president! How dare they! It’s not like Bush got a blow job or anything!

This Republican strategy is two-fold: not only do they hope to stir up public opinion against the idea of investigations against Bush and themselves, but they clearly hope to get Democrats to swear up and down not to investigate Bush or any Republicans if they take control of the House and/or Senate. The Republicans are masters at this–witness how, despite the fact that current corruption is almost exclusively Republican in nature, they have succeeded in fooling a whopping 76% of Americans into believing that Democrats are equally complicit in the GOP’s graft.

Frankly, if Democrats do win and if they do start investigations, not only will it be fitting turnabout on Republicans–for them to be investigated for significant and damaging crimes after spending the 90’s investigating Clinton for insignificant and often specious charges–but it will, hopefully, actually have the effect of curbing some of the costly, rampant Republican corruption and dangerous White House attacks on the rights of Americans.

And if the Democrats do investigate, they won’t have to go back years for some Whitewater-like charge–though Bush’s past is full of investigable stuff, like use of hard drugs, several SEC violations, and (oh, the irony!) lying under oath while Governor of Texas. No, there are charges galore they could look into that stem from Bush’s behavior in the White House–though a single, focused investigation into Bush’s Fourth Amendment and FISA violations alone would probably do it.

As for Congressional Republicans, it looks like the Democrats would have a field day there as well, with the Cunningham-Wilkes scandal apparently set to blow its lid sometime soon.

As far as I’m concerned, the Democrats shouldn’t run and hide from this issue, as the GOP certainly hopes they will. They should turn around and campaign on it. Say, “you’re damned right we’re going to investigate! And we’re not afraid of what those investigations will uncover.” Then launch into detailed descriptions of the Republican corruption that has rotted Washington and cost Americans far more than just money.