On impeachment.

For several years, leftist Democrats have talked eagerly of the possibility of impeaching President Bush. Some many good points about actions that President Bush has taken that appear genuinely impeachable, in the legal sense — falsifying evidence to create demand for war being a prime example. But impeachment requires the support of the majority of the House, so in a practical sense, any idea of impeachment has been, essentially, crazy.

True believers, though, are left feeling a little miffed by the total lack of impeachment at this point, to say nothing of the Right Wing Media™ not talking about what appears, thanks to the echo chamber effect, to be a demand of a majority of Americans.

I have ignored this sort of talk, though I have fantasized about what it might take to get President Bush impeached. I admit that’s partly because of a desire for revenge, post-Clinton, but it’s also because I genuinely fear for this nation. Our civil liberties are nearly eroded, another war or two seems inevitable, and the economy will take decades to recover from the damage done to it by this administration’s policies. One fantasy-simple method of fixing that is removing George Bush from the White House.

It is to my absolute wonder and amazement, then, that there has been some very real talk of impeachment in the past few days. From left-wing torch-bearers in Congress, yes, but it’s now under way among Republicans. I haven’t written about President Bush’s domestic spying program, largely because I’m sufficiently angry about it that I can’t get clear-headed enough to write anything useful. Suffice it to say that the Bush administration’s belief that their desire for power trumps Congress’ laws is something that reminds me of the Nixon administration more than anything else, and I’m pretty pissed off about that.

There’s a web-based publication named “WorldNetDaily” that is basically a mouthpiece for the Bush administration, Gannon-style, as best as I can tell. There’s clearly no editor or concern for fact-checking, and they’ll cheerily repeat anything that the RNC wants to be the talking point of the week. Which is why I’m so shocked to see this article:

This attitude, while hardly unique in Washington, should be absolutely anathema to every American of all political stripes. And it appears that Americans are increasingly turning away from the president in rightful disgust. A recent poll here on WorldNetDaily showed that 45 percent of WND readers – who tend to lean strongly Republican – believe that George Bush deserves to be impeached.

I find it interesting to note that a 2003 Elliott Wave report predicted that if George Bush was re-elected, his second term would likely follow the pattern of Richard Nixon’s. Given the recent reports of George Bush’s personal authorization of domestic spying and more revelations yet to come, this seems entirely possible. After all, Richard Nixon merely spied on his political opponents, while George Bush is spying on the American people.

For this and other crimes against the American people and their Constitution, George Bush must resign. Failing that, he should be impeached.

I have little doubt that this column will infuriate many Republicans and conservatives, millions of whom twice voted enthusiastically for George Bush. It is always painful to realize that one has been betrayed, and even more painful to discover that one has been made a willing accomplice in the destruction of that which one cherishes. You can continue to believe that George Bush is a patriotic American, though he is not. You can dismiss me as a liberal, a left-winger or a lunatic, though I am not.

But as you do so, try to keep in mind that railing against the messenger does not make the message any less valid.

Wow. There’s a lot to be amazed by here. Firstly the fact that this was published at all, secondly the fact that 45% of the site’s extremely conservative audience support impeachment (in what is surely a highly unscientific poll), and thirdly the painfully-accurate Nixon comparison.

The National Review would like Republicans to think that only Democrats are issuing calls for impeachment, but that’s clearly not true.

To be fair, this is something that Republicans should be upset about, more so than Democrats, at least if any of the base continues to support genuine Republican ideals. Republicans (hypothetically) support smaller, less-intrusive government, while Democrats (hypothetically) support large, intrusive, “nanny state” government. A domestic spying program is something that Democrats should support, as Democrats support red light cameras and the like. And it’s something that Republicans should oppose, as they oppose any massive, illegal government invasion into private communications.

The Bush presidency, while bad for the nation, has been wonderful for Republicans. It has persuaded Democrats of the importance of reducing spending, maintaining a balanced budget, avoiding nation building, and civil liberties. Some Republicans oppose Democrats by habit, and so they have even more bizarrely come to oppose a balanced budget, support nation building, and generally oppose the preservation of civil liberties. If such Republicans come to their senses some years down the line, they should be pleased by the recentering of the electorate. If these Republicans can come to their senses in coming days or weeks, “impeachment” may be a word that’s tossed around a lot more.