Impeachment WatchIt's been awhile for this regular feature here at Brainster's, but the results of Tuesday's election clearly indicate that impeachment is on the table. Except
Nancy Pelousy insists that it isn't.
But Pelosi made clear on Wednesday she plans to rein in any revenge seeking Democrats who have dreams of bringing the president up on charges of ''high crimes and misdemeanours'' over the war in Iraq.
''I have said, and I say again, that impeachment is off the table,'' Pelosi told reporters. ''Democrats are not about getting even.''However, apparently even Pelousy's constituents
disagree with her:
This is not an abstraction. Indeed, the question was put to the voters as Proposition (or Measure) J:
"Shall it be City policy to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney?"
We the People of San Francisco answered thus, according to the SF Department of Elections:
MEASURE J
VOTE FOR 1
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . 92,136 59.35
NO. . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,100 40.65The
Booman Tribune, one of the larger liberal blogs, is willing to wait until after the trial:
"We won't rest until they're frog-marched out" or otherwise resign in disgrace. Goodbye Rumsfeld. This website is still dedicated to exposing crimes and punishing hypocrisy. I'll be pushing for accountability and vigorous oversight. At the same time, I do not want, or expect, the new House to push for impeachment. What I want them to do is conduct public hearings of White House officials, under oath, and investigate pre-war intelligence, the energy plan, war profiteering, NSA wiretapping, officially sanctioned torture, and violations of our treaty obligations. I expect those hearings to expose criminal wrongdoing in a very organic way.
We should pursue Cheney first and foremost. If facts emerge that are so damning that even Republicans have to concede that Cheney must be leave office, then we should have them quietly go up to Naval Observatory and ask him to resign (for health reasons if necessary to save face). If he refuses, we impeach. But we only impeach if we are virtually assured of winning in the Senate. And we will only be assured of that if the facts that emerge from honest and open hearings warrant it.
