I'm sorry, Kos, but you're wrong about not impeaching the monster that currently lives in the White House. I usually agree with you on most things, but on this, you're just dead wrong.
You make a strong point as to why impeachment is a no-go in 2008; and on that, you're wrong. You make a strong point as to why we should get past it; and on that, you're wrong. You make a point that it we cannot do it because we don't live in a perfect world, and in that, you show so very precisely why you are so absolutely and incontrovertibly wrong about this.
Why do we, as a society, spend time and money trying and convicting old, old men who committed racially motivated crimes 40 years ago, when they're going to die soon anyway? Why do we try people on multiple charges when the ones they already have will put them into prison for the remainder of their life?
I'll tell you why; we do it because it is RIGHT. Because it provides closure and completion for the people who have had their lives altered and destroyed by the actions of monsters. Does it matter if Gary Ridgway, the Green River killer, gets convicted of 7 or 48 murders? It sure does to the families of those 41 women.
Why impeach George W. Bush? Because he has committed crimes in office against the American people, and against sovereign nations, and against international treaties that the U.S. is a signatory to. He has attempted to subvert the American governmental system by acting expressly against the law and subverting the congress and the will of the American people. This much is clear; this is treason most foul, and deserves impeachment at the very least.
You make a good point, kos, about why it would be politically wrong for the Democrats to initiate impeachment against George W. Bush; and it is precisely those reasons that the Democratic party is in such deep trouble right now. Because they have ceased doing what is RIGHT and simply done what is politically expedient for them. I don't believe Republicans started out as being a party of corruption and deceit, but they became one by doing what was in their political interests as opposed to doing what was RIGHT. And it is inevitable that the Democratic party will become a tattered husk of itself and go down in flames if it chooses to continue to put party above people, politics above propriety, and self-interest above the interest of the nation as a whole.
There is no doubt in my mind that George W. Bush is the worst president that America has ever had. That he has engaged in treasonous activities. That his presidency has, through neglect, left America open to attack by terrorists, destroyed an American city (anyone remember Katrina?), and through open malice and aggression, invaded a sovereign nation illegally and under false pretense, killed hundreds of thousands of foreign civilians and thousands of American soldiers, and squandered nearly all of the respect and admiration that America had in the world's eyes.
Can crimes like this go unpunished? Yes, they can, without the will and strength to do what is right despite what is politically unpopular. SHOULD crimes like this go unpunished? No, they most certainly should not. And whether it means the defeat of the Democrats in 2008 (and I don't think it does) or anything else, impeachment is simply what needs to be done. Not to solidify anyone's hold on power, or to protect any perceived standing. But because it is RIGHT, and because it is the responsibility of the congress to uphold the Constitution, and bring to justice those who attempt to subvert it.