Clearly, impeaching Bush for violation of the Geneva Conventions, for overturning habeas corpus, and for spying on Americans, would likewise embarrass some key Democrats.
So maybe this is all about finding a “safe” impeachment that these compromised Democrats can get behind.
At least, at this point, constituents of these members of Congress who would impeach Gonzales but not Bush or Cheney should be demanding, during the August recess, an explanation for why it’s okay to impeach an administration lightweight, but not the leaders of this criminal administration.
A spokesperson for Inslee’s office says that the reason Inslee has filed a bill to impeach Gonzales while not filing a bill of impeachment against the president or vice president is that “he thinks the votes to convict might be there in the Senate.” It’s not that he thinks there are 49 Democrats and 18 Republicans (or 16 Republicans and two independents in the Senate) ready to convict. Rather, he thinks that “as things unravel and as things are investigated in an impeachment hearing b y the House Judiciary Committee, it would get to a point that Republican members of the Senate would come around to supporting conviction.” She says Inslee bases this hope on the fact that “a few high-profile Republicans have come out against Gonzales.”
Yet isn’t this exactly the argument being made by advocates of impeaching the president and vice president, i.e. that once impeachment hearings began, the public exposure of Bush’s and/or Cheney’s crimes and abuses of power would cause Republicans in the House and Senate to abandon them and eventually even to convict and remove them from office, as Nixon was warned would be his fate?
Apparently Inslee believes what would work for Gonzales’ impeachment would not work for President George W. Bush, who is at a 27% approval rating, or even for Vice President Cheney, who now has only a 13% support rating in the polls.
No wonder impeachment activists are looking askance at this latest “bold” move by Democrats in Congress. It's a bit like federal prosecutors going after the Mob by indicting John Gotti's chauffeaur.
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DAVE LINDORFF is an investigative reporter and columnist based in Philadelphia. His latest book, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky, is "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office" (St. Martin's Press, 2206 and now available in paperback edition). His website is www.thiscantbehappening.net
So maybe this is all about finding a “safe” impeachment that these compromised Democrats can get behind.
At least, at this point, constituents of these members of Congress who would impeach Gonzales but not Bush or Cheney should be demanding, during the August recess, an explanation for why it’s okay to impeach an administration lightweight, but not the leaders of this criminal administration.
A spokesperson for Inslee’s office says that the reason Inslee has filed a bill to impeach Gonzales while not filing a bill of impeachment against the president or vice president is that “he thinks the votes to convict might be there in the Senate.” It’s not that he thinks there are 49 Democrats and 18 Republicans (or 16 Republicans and two independents in the Senate) ready to convict. Rather, he thinks that “as things unravel and as things are investigated in an impeachment hearing b y the House Judiciary Committee, it would get to a point that Republican members of the Senate would come around to supporting conviction.” She says Inslee bases this hope on the fact that “a few high-profile Republicans have come out against Gonzales.”
Apparently Inslee believes what would work for Gonzales’ impeachment would not work for President George W. Bush, who is at a 27% approval rating, or even for Vice President Cheney, who now has only a 13% support rating in the polls.
No wonder impeachment activists are looking askance at this latest “bold” move by Democrats in Congress. It's a bit like federal prosecutors going after the Mob by indicting John Gotti's chauffeaur.
-----------------------------
DAVE LINDORFF is an investigative reporter and columnist based in Philadelphia. His latest book, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky, is "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office" (St. Martin's Press, 2206 and now available in paperback edition). His website is www.thiscantbehappening.net
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