At least some members of Congress get it. Although Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still on record as saying “impeachment is off the table,” as of today there are 19 members of Congress, including six members of the House Judiciary Committee, who have signed on to Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s Cheney impeachment bill (H Res 333). It’s a number that is starting to rise rapidly. As for the current Democratic leadership, their continued cowering surrender and outright obstruction on these major issues (as most recently demonstrated in their fawning granting of more power to the president to spy on Americans without any judicial restraint or oversight), appears likely if anything to lead to Democratic defeat in 2008. They ignore at their peril the reality that it was angry independents and even disaffected Republicans who crossed over and voted for Democratic candidates that handed Congress to Democrats in 2006. Those crossover voters didn’t vote Democratic because they wanted milquatoast, but because they wanted action. They wanted the war ended, and they wanted their Constitution protected.
They are getting neither of those things from the people they put in power in Congress, and they are unlikely to make the same mistake again in 2008. More likely, they’ll stay home this time, or even vote Republican, and we will see a continuation of the same disaster we currently face.
Tomasky has it wrong. The worst mistake the Democrats could make is not to impeach this Constitutional wrecking crew.
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DAVE LINDORFF is co-author, with Barbara Olshansky, of “The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now out in paperback). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net
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