American Research Group: 54% of Americans support impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney. 45% support impeaching President Bush. And, I have to admit, I’m starting to come around on the topic myself. (Via David Swanson)
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American Research Group: 54% of Americans support impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney. 45% support impeaching President Bush. And, I have to admit, I’m starting to come around on the topic myself. (Via David Swanson)
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Even with no Senate trials, the impeachment process would bring to light many more abuses of power in both offices.
Those that say there isn’t time left really miss the point.
I agree with Mark. If Cheney were successfully impeached, so much stuff about Bush would be forced in front of the public in legalistic terms that Bush’s impeachment would then become almost inevitable.
I can’t say that there’s enough evidence for a conviction on any of the charges being bandied about. I’m not persuaded of that. But I do think that there are strong merits to a trial, such that guilt or innocence be determined by people smarter than I.
Surprised that it’s so high. Naturally, my first instinct was to check out American Research Group, convinced I’d find that they were some sort of Neo-Stalinist outfit. However, they appear to be legit. Undoubtedly a portion of the numbers are the result of a spike in the wake of the Libby commutation, but, damn, it’s still pretty high.
BTW Waldo, you’re way smarter than most congressmen.
*Laugh* Now that you mention it, I suspect most of us here are smarter than a great many congressmen, JS. :)
I’m not sure where (some legal blog?), but I recently read an interesting argument advancing an argument that one could be impeached even if out of office. I’m not sure of the merits of it, but it does aim at something I think is vital to the future of our constitutional republic – a clear rejection of the extra-constitutional approach to governance that we’ve seen by this administration. I don’t want *anyone* – Democrat or Republican – to ever feel like they can get away with what this administration has done.
As a practical matter in the present term, you’ll never get the required 17 Republican Senators (from the pool in office now) to vote for removal. They’ve slid so far into the abyss that there’s no hope that they’d ever have the conscience or spine to do the right thing. Part of me would like to see the House impeach and force that vote, to show exactly that. The other part would like to see Waxman and others take their time to establish a clear and convincing record of evidence on which criminal prosecutions can take place.
One way or another, there must be consequences for what has happened. And the loss of the Congress and Presidency by an election is not enough.
If a sitting President is stripped of all their powers of office when impeached, then it follows that the same can happen to a former President, who still enjoys a great many perks of the office.
If you find a poisonous snake in your house, don’t you do anything in your power to remove it? That’s how I feel about Cheney. The guys just looks evil. Like, scaring little children evil. I’m willing to debate the merits of impeaching Bush, but as for Cheney, get him the hell out of there.
“The guys just looks evil. Like, scaring little children evil. I’m willing to debate the merits of impeaching Bush, but as for Cheney, get him the hell out of there.”
Come on, Dan! You’re usually a lot more thoughtful than that. Remember when Cheney was the conservative liberals loved? The no-nonsense SecDef who helped plan and win the Gulf War in such spectacular fashion. The VP candidate who debated Lieberman in 2000 and made both sides feel the wrong guys were at the bottom of the ticket.
Sometimes I think the left is so desperate for a bogeyman that they’re willing to do almost anything to create on. He “looks evil?” Please.
No, I’ve never thought any of those things.
And one snarky comment is a hell of a lot more than you’ve come up with lately.
No, I think you’re the only one who remembers that, Smails. The rest of us were wondering how screwed we were, that Gore picked someone who couldn’t even come back with a “Yes, the government had a lot to do with how well you did. You’ve been feeding at the public trough ever since you left government.”
The Left has, indeed, been desperate at times. But it’s never needed to create an evil Cheney. That’s just bringing sand to the beach.
Maybe I’m just too young, but if there was ever a time when Cheney was loved by liberals, I’m not aware of it.
I don’t remember that either, Waldo, and I’m an oldster.
Eerrr … liberals are not and never have been fans of Cheney.
But I agree with the sentiment that “looks evil” is not a reason for impeachment – even if all 4 parts of the Washington Post piece on “Angler” are …
I have a great deal of faith in the Senate. Trying to predict the Senate vote on conviction…before the House even assembles the impeachment is beside the point. Get on with the investigation. Every good American KNOWS that this Iraq disaster must be investigated. And the skipper is always accountable.
Why?
Why? 1)The United States Senate’s homage to the guidance of George Washington, stated in his Farewell Address It is a great read, and is recited each year in the Senate chamber. Here is a snippet:
GW goes on to exhort the rule-of-law, adherence to the Constitution, and constant vigilance to usurpations of power. Sound timely? It did in 1974, and still does in 2007.
2)The Senate Watergate Committee Hearings. 2)The Senate Republican-led forced resignation of Republican President Richard Nixon.
The United States Senate is OUR last best defense of Liberty and they have assumed a specific fealty to George Washington’s last address.
Bubby, all I can respond with is an observation that you’ve a far stronger faith in the guiding hand of history than I do. As I see it, there is absolutely nothing in the body of men and women that currently make up the Senate that suggests anything more than the faintest trace of those ideals.
Given the current approval rating of that body, MB, I suspect you probably share that opinion with a great many other Americans. Which is a shame, because it sure leaves us in a bind.
It’s not that opinion that leaves us in a bind – it’s the members of the Senate that give rise to it.
Bubby, what on earth gives you the slightest indication that the Republicans we have in the Senate now have anything resembling the integrity that the Republicans in the Senate in 1974 had?
We don’t need to concern ourselves with estimates of “integrity”, we simply need the evidence of crimes and misdemeanors to be assembled and presented to the Senate. As for “indications”, review again the Senate vote on President Clinton’s impeachment counts and the key Republican leadership votes.
We must avoid speculation about the outcome of a trial when the evidence has not yet been presented. We should instead focus on the duty of our representatives to discharge their duty to defend the Constitution and the rule of law. There is more than enough suspicion that crimes have been committed. Investigate now.
Amazing as it may seem, 17% of REPUBLICANS want Cheney impeached.
Now if only the corporate slave media would get a backbone and report on this tidal wave of outrage, it could be the catalyst needed for some change.