As the litany of Bush administration crimes and scandals rolls on like a newscrawl and as they respond with thinly disguised and familiar, if not laughable, defenses such as the well-worn inability to comment on ongoing investigations there is a sense that their wily arrogance and disdain is what protects them from accountability and ultimately impeachment. But that is not truly the case. In reality, they could easily be impeached if the opposition party in power wished to do so. The case is nakedly overwhelming and any impeachment proceeding would develop an even stronger case.
In an Impeachment proceeding neither the White House nor the Republicans could impede the investigation. In the House a simple majority would be all that's needed to move the case to Senate trial. In the Senate there could not be a filibuster of the trial and, although sixty votes are needed to convict, the likely outcome would be that the case would be too overwhelming for moderate Republicans running for re-election to ignore. Finally, even an acquital in the Senate, as in the case of the Clinton impeachment, would still have served as a stern rebuke to this criminal administration and it would undermine the belief that future presidents can do what Bush has done.
How could any of this be contrary to the interests of Democrats if they are any better than the Republicans or if they care at all about their country and its future? It's the Republicans who are saddled with the political conflict that they will soon sink whether or not they continue to support Bush, so they may as well continue to shore up the base with intransigence. The public spectacle of the trial would be the death knell for intransigent Republicans. And so we all continue to wonder in amazement why Reid and Pelosi keep it off the table? There can be only one answer: they wish to keep Bush in the presidency right through the presidential election. That correlates with the Dems unwillingness to defund the war, they are delighted Bush will retain ownership right through the elections.
If Bush was successfully impeached and convicted, a new Republican president would have to be chosen. That person could disavow Bush and the Iraq War and as far-fetched as that seems, it's the only possible answer. History will have a field-day hashing over these times, where one party impeached an opposition president over a sexual escapade and his successor escaped impeachment after literally begging for it. The only thing keeping Bush in office is Democratic political calculations and though I will hold my nose and vote Democratic, I will never forget this betrayel...it will be a moment that will live in infamy and shame for our party.