Let's face it--the only reason that Cheney/B*sh hasn't been impeached already is because the pinch-faced Republican House hypocrites of the late 90's impeached Bill Clinton for bald politics, knowing full well he would never be removed, and the whole enterprise disgusted the country so much that the lingering awful aftertaste left us all hoping that no one would ever be impeached again, ever.
As a result, Dems today are allergic to impeachment, fearing they'll be viewed in the same way that the majority of the country saw the Repubs: with derision and disgust. Plus, there is fear of being seen as being petty, playing tit for tat, and thus suffering in the next election (which the Repubs, it must be noted, did not). WRONG. Time to clear the air. . .
Leaving aside for the moment, how much Cheney/B*sh deserves to go, let's focus on an even easier, more immediate case: that of the Attorney General.
Alberto Gonzales, in addition to exercizing his torture fetish and penchant for warrantless spying on Americans even BEFORE he became Atty. General, has now demonstrably lied to Congress on multiple occasions. Every time he said "I don't recall," or some variation thereof (over 100 times in recent Senate committee testimony), he was either LYING, or proving that he does not have the memory, therefore the competence, to be the nation's top lawyer. Either way, he has to go--and Republicans recognize this too.
Now an even more direct lie (or case of deliberate dereliction of duty) has been revealed: that Gonzales was informed by the FBI about clear violations of procedures and individual rights WITHIN DAYS of testifying to Congress that there were no such violations. It's damn near a smoking gun, and taken with the rest of his testimony is persuasive evidence of an ongoing effort to deceive Congress in a clear and willful manner.
Judiciary Committee member and chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution (which would handle impeachment matters) Jerrald Nadler (D-NY-West Manhattan) has called for a "special prosecutor" to look into this. Not enough. Or rather, why waste the time? Instead of grandstanding, Nadler should take action. Why not let the investigation play out in his own committee, rather than somewhere under the Justice Dpt. that Gonzales himself happens to run?
The country is craving justice, leadership, and action. People are salivating for some sign that Democrats are actually able to LEAD. I know how difficult it must be, after so many years at the Republican heel, but there is a time when deliberation becomes cowardice, and ACTION is required.
As Judiciary Committee chair John Conyers sits on H.Res. 333 (Kucinich's Impeach Cheney bill) like a mother hen, the Dem strategy vis a vis impeachment now appears to be to wait until the clamor for impeachment of Cheney/B*sh reaches a fever pitch and then, maybe, finally, taking action. Meanwhile, "moderates" continue to fret that impeachment (simple majority of the House, forcing Senate trial) without conviction (2/3 of the Senate) is useless/meaningless/politically mistaken.
I believe this is a bad miscalculation, no matter how many tentative Dems agree with it. Each time in U.S. history that impeachment action has been taken, the party that did the impeaching has GAINED in the next election cycle. That is historical fact. The paranoia that impeachment will somehow cost Democrats in the next election is hysterical fear, driven not by history or logic but by emotion (eg. disgust with Repubs. for the Clinton fiasco). That's poor leadership AND poor politics.
Further, enough with the fiction that "Impeachment will be seen as purely political." That's raw hypocrisy. You can't not impeach on the rationale that it will cost your party politically, then turn around and justify it by saying "impeachment is political." The fact is that, if impeachment is warranted (as it increasingly seems to be), then only NOT impeaching is political.
But never mind all that--I recognize you can't make people see a line of logic that they don't want to see. The Dem leadership has laid down it's line, and seems as determined to stick to it as B*sh is to stick with his surge. I have as little hope of pursuading them as I have of pursuading the Kossacks who agree with them.
So, then, why bother writing at all? Why one more plaintive impeachment diary for a lost cause? Because A) hope springs eternal, and B) even if Cheney/B*sh remain out of impeach reach, Gonzales is not. The AG is VULNERABLE, and I think Kossacks (and maybe even Dem Reps.) are capable of seeing this.
I hope anyone who read this far can be pursuaded to go a little farther--call your Rep, ask them about impeaching Alberto Gonzales, and urge them to do so, STAT. It's no big deal, really--only the integrity of Justice in America is at stake. . .