In the new issue of Esquire, a profile of Chuck Hagel includes this stunner of a quote:
"The president says, 'I don't care.' He's not accountable anymore," Hagel say, measuring his words by the syllable and his syllables almost by the letter. "He's not accountable anymore, which isn't totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don't know. It depends how this goes."
The article, elsewhere, compares him to Eugene McCarthy (a point Hagel disputes "I don't think it's the same thing, because McCarthy was strictly an antiwar candidate"). Chuck Hagel (described as "a true maverick" and "The Real McCain") then is contrasted with John McCain ("even prior to [supporting the Bush's surge] had appeared on the verge of becmoing a very ridiculous man").
I don't mean this to glorify Hagel, but as a challenge to our Democratic leaders in Congress. It's one thing about getting one's ducks in a row before moving onto impeachment; it's one thing about discounting the chances of impeachment so as not to make it an issue going into the 2006 elections; but by now, if it's going to happen, it should at least be mentioned as a possibility.