A Common Sense Approach to Impeachment

Common sense should dictate when we impeach, on what grounds, and how to sell it to the American people.  Learn about the sensible road to impeachment below the fold.

We Kossacks are all too familiar with the deadly quagmire that is the Iraq war.  We are also all too familiar with how the arrogance, incompetence, and stupidity of the President has contributed to the debacle.  Now that we have taken back Congress there is much talk of impeachment.  How do we sell the need to get rid of the President to the American people?  Easy...we first remind the public about Bush's complicity in the Iraq disaster, then we ask a simple question, "Should we leave the man who created the mess in charge of cleaning it up"?  The only logical answer is of course not.  Bush's incompetence as a leader means he can not be trusted with anything, much less something as difficult as extracting us from Iraq.

I realize the Constitution speaks of "high crimes and misdemeanors" as grounds for impeachment, and being an incompetent leader may not technically be illegal.  However, I am sure that upcoming Congressional investigations will unearth plenty of illegal activities on the part of Bush and Cheney that are impeachable.  We can then use the "incompetent leader" meme as the global thread that ties together all the Administration's illegal activities in a very tidy package.  This will resonate with the American people, and make impeachment that much easier to sell.

Should we pursue impeachment?  On November 7th the American people gave us a mandate to fix Iraq.  We have no business focusing on impeachment until Congress takes the lead in implementing a change of course in Iraq.  With that accomplished I think the American people will then be ready to turn their attention to impeachment.  That will be the time for us to begin proceedings.

If we go down the impeachment road we absolutely have to impeach both Bush and Cheney; the idea of a President Dick Cheney is too scary to contemplate.  Of course if both the President and Vice-President are impeached that makes Nancy Pelosi the President.  To avoid criticism on being a "power hungry partisan", Ms. Pelosi should state at the beginning of impeachment proceedings that if she becomes President she will only serve until Jan. 20, 2009, and that she has no interest in running for President in her own right.  Wouldn't it be strange if we finally got a women President thanks to impeachment rather than via the ballot box?

•  Tip Jar...

  your comments and (polite) criticisms are encouraged.

  by The Angry Democrat on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 10:23:42 AM PDT

•  The best scenario

  The best way for this to proceed is to just hold hearings.  Pelosi and Reid can get about the business of righting this ship we call America.  While Waxman and Conyers get their groove on with investigations.  When the smoking gun arrives (most likely it will be an entire arsenal), it should be placed in front of the American people.  

  At that point, it won't be the 'whiny, petulant Democrats' who are demanding they be impeached.  It will be the country as a whole.  

  by astrolad on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 10:33:51 AM PDT

•  Diary Pimping

  Impeachment Events From Coast to Coast
  http://www.dailykos.com/...

  by SarahLee on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 10:42:26 AM PDT

  •  What a reply!

    Is that the only reaction you have about the serious problem of a criminal, a genocidal criminal resp[onsible for the death of tens of thousnads of US and Iraqi citizens...

    No wonder the like of him are still in power!

    by NicolausCopernicus on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 12:54:01 PM PDT

    •  It is posted as ACTIONS citizens can take

      to move the impeachment discussion forward.  Doing something is certainly as good, if not a better response than simply talking about it here.

      by SarahLee on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 01:45:53 PM PDT

•  There will be investigations

  and many things will come to light. If there are found undeniable "high crimes and misdemeanors", then of course we should impeach.
  All in due course. Our first priority will have to be progressive legislation that will fix the problems that 6 years of Curious George have left us with.
  Heck, if we're lucky the chimp will see the writing on the wall have someone read him the writing on the wall and do the right thing (always a first time) and resign.

  by Niniane on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 10:44:57 AM PDT

  •  oversight and impeachment

    one thorn in any substantial oversight program will be pardons from Bush: preemptive pardons, threatened pardons - heck, he may even occasionally wait until after a crony is convicted to pardon him. That ability goes away if the oversight is part of an impeachment proceeding.
    Questions for the scholars out there: If Bush issues preemptive pardons to people before impeachment procedingsbegin  to protect himself from their testimony  will the pardons stand after impeachment has formally begun? Can the pardon faucet be turned off as soon as the Judiciary or Rules committee starts work on the process or not until some point later on?

    by HiBob on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 01:11:11 PM PDT

•  I don't care what you do...

  The 'man' has to go back to Crawford...
   

  by NicolausCopernicus on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 12:51:45 PM PDT