Let's Impeach the President for Lyin' (or at least threaten him)


I've said in the past that I don't think that Congress should start impeachment proceedings, and I still believe that. The top down sort of impeachment that the Republicans tried on Clinton was clearly counterproductive. I do think, however, that it would be a good thing if Bush were put on the defensive by a drive for impeachment from the hinterlands to which the Congress was "forced" to respond. Whether it ever went to a formal procedure or not, an impeachment drive that derived its force from a groundswell in the states could at least weaken Bush, and at best actually get rid of him at some point in the next two years.

I was unaware that state legislatures can have a formal role in initiating the impeachment process, thanks to a provision in Jefferson's Manual on Parliamentary Practice and Rules of the House of Representative, under which the House apparently still operates. Tom has been in a bad odor lately, Sally Hemings and all, but I'd trade him for anything we have in a heartbeat. Sorry, I digress...back to the present.

An impeachment resolution has been introduced in Washington State. You can download a PDF at the link.

The specifications are as follows:

WHEREAS, On September 8, 2006, when summarizing a bipartisan Senate investigation into prewar intelligence on Iraq, Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said that, "The Committee's investigation into prewar intelligence on Iraq has revealed that the Bush Administration's case for war in Iraq was fundamentally misleading. The Administration pursued a deceptive strategy of using intelligence reporting that the Intelligence Community had already warned was uncorroborated, unreliable, and in critical instances, fabricated."; and

WHEREAS, The President, the Vice President, and members of the President's Administration appear to have deliberately misrepresented the severity of the threat from Iraq by providing distorted intelligence to Congress and the public in order to justify war with Iraq; and

WHEREAS, The war with Iraq has cost the lives of many Washington state residents and squandered taxpayer money from the state of Washington; and

WHEREAS, The President has publicly admitted to conducting electronic surveillance of thousands and perhaps millions of American civilians without seeking warrants; and

WHEREAS, Washington state residents are likely to have been subject to this electronic surveillance; and

WHEREAS, The President, the Vice President, and members of the President's Administration have acted to strip American citizens of their constitutional rights, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a United States citizen as an "enemy combatant"; and

WHEREAS, Such offenses, if committed, are subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of Washington state and of the United States of America; and

...

WHEREAS, If the President and/or members of his administration committed such offenses, ignoring these offenses would undermine core American values of truth and justice...

One nice thing (in a perverted sort of way) about the present situation is that any impeachable offense George can do, Dick can do better, so we can impeach both of them at once.

So, it occurred to me, what's the use of a veto proof legislature (not that Jodi has a role in any event) if you don't use it. We shouldn't let Washington, or any other state beat us to the punch. A push from state legislatures would give House Democrats the cover they need to start making noises about impeachment, and would make it harder for the media to dismiss the impeachment drive. Whether it ultimately succeeds isn't the point; what is important is to suck the last bit of life out of the Bush presidency, and give the Congress the backbone it needs to curb him. If a bottom up impeachment drive was one small part of a successful effort to keep Bush from attacking Iran, it would be worth it.
Posted: Thursday - February 15, 2007 at 08:40 PM          

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