This would create a constitutional issue that has never been settled. Would the articles of impeachment expire at the end of the present Congress and be void in a new Congress in 2009? If so, that would give Congress 2 1/2 weeks before a new President is sworn in January 20 to reissue new articles of impeachment, but it would also allow Bush a slight time window to pardon everyone in his administration, including himself.
The anti-impeachment crowd could continue to put off impeachment proceedings while continuing investigations into the many crimes of the Bush administration, with the idea that it could turn the findings over to the World Court (officially known as the International Court of Justice) ~ where Bush's pardon powers don't apply ~ or any nation that would bring charges in the court for war-crimes trials of officials in the Bush administration. That might be a better tactic than attempting an impeachment that's sure to fail because it could be used as leverage to pressure Bush from pardoning criminals in his administration. Then the 2 1/2-week gap could be used for impeachment, which would make all impeached persons ineligible to ever hold another government job and prevent them from receiving a government pension.
The pros and cons of the impeachment crowd are:
Pro ~ prevent pardons by Bush for administration crimes;
Cons ~ Risk losing the Senate to Republicans, no time for other business.
Pros and cons for anti-impeachment crowd are:
Pros ~ Continued investigations into administration misdeeds. Continuation of work on other matters. Failure of Bush's wars provides ammunition for an anti-GOP campaign on the argument that the GOP had all the resources Bush wanted but couldn't get it done.
Cons ~ Leaves the door open for pardons. Bush and Cheney still in charge.
Instead of fighting over impeachment or non-impeachment, the two sides should agree that they would unite to prevent Bush from having his way on all matters and inflicting more damage on the nation, something they have failed to do so far into this Democratic Congress.
Let us hope that members of both sides of the issue see the ramifications of their positions and respond accordingly.
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The anti-impeachment crowd could continue to put off impeachment proceedings while continuing investigations into the many crimes of the Bush administration, with the idea that it could turn the findings over to the World Court (officially known as the International Court of Justice) ~ where Bush's pardon powers don't apply ~ or any nation that would bring charges in the court for war-crimes trials of officials in the Bush administration. That might be a better tactic than attempting an impeachment that's sure to fail because it could be used as leverage to pressure Bush from pardoning criminals in his administration. Then the 2 1/2-week gap could be used for impeachment, which would make all impeached persons ineligible to ever hold another government job and prevent them from receiving a government pension.
The pros and cons of the impeachment crowd are:
Pro ~ prevent pardons by Bush for administration crimes;
Pros and cons for anti-impeachment crowd are:
Pros ~ Continued investigations into administration misdeeds. Continuation of work on other matters. Failure of Bush's wars provides ammunition for an anti-GOP campaign on the argument that the GOP had all the resources Bush wanted but couldn't get it done.
Cons ~ Leaves the door open for pardons. Bush and Cheney still in charge.
Instead of fighting over impeachment or non-impeachment, the two sides should agree that they would unite to prevent Bush from having his way on all matters and inflicting more damage on the nation, something they have failed to do so far into this Democratic Congress.
Let us hope that members of both sides of the issue see the ramifications of their positions and respond accordingly.
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