Is Presidential Impeachment a Possibility?

Some ask why not just wait it out? After all it is just some 16 months or so until this administration is removed due if nothing else to term limits. But I say that misses the point. The point being what is acceptable and what is not.

(SALEM, Ore.) - I get into quite a few discussions lately regarding the subject of impeachment of President George W Bush (aka 'Shrub' to me and others) and Vice-President Dick Cheney. It might have something to do with my "Impeach Cheney?" hat I usually wear.

Impeachment is not to be taken lightly, is not a mechanism to get a 'do over' on an election you lost and it is not supposed to be a mechanism of political or personal vengeance.

I do not even look at impeachment in a relativistic sense; if it was good enough to impeach President Clinton over a lie about a personal affair then the bar has been brought pretty low indeed in regards to 'high crimes and misdemeanors'.

However with the Bush/Cheney administration we have in my mind exactly what the mechanism for impeachment was designed for - an out of control, unaccountable administration that misuses and abuses the apparatus of government to pursue an agenda at odds with the law, at odds with the US Constitution and in many ways at odds with international laws, treaties and human rights.

I will not go into microspecifics here, as an opinion piece is not the place for that, the exercise would take volumes and the information is easily accessed on the net. If you are reading this then my guess is that you have access to the net.

* Violation of the Geneva Convention in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere with the transparent 'enemy combatants' circumvention attempt.

Some might add, but I would disagree, the heavy reliance of mercenaries in our wars. I consider this to be incredibly bad judgment but not an impeachable offense.

Others might add a long laundry list of ineptitudes and mistakes but being stupid, being reckless and being ignorant are not really impeachable offenses. Those are matters for the next election.

But the Iraq war, how we got there, how it has been handled, etc, the treatment of detainees, the rape (I'm sorry but there is no better word) of the rights of US Citizens under this regime from Habeus Corpus on down, and the violation of international treaties, laws and general rules of civilized behaviors more than meet and exceed the reasonable bar of 'high crimes and misdemeanors'.

This administration has become so used to not being held accountable no matter how severe or heinous its crimes and offenses that it just keeps getting worse, even under the cowardly Democratic Congress elected in 2006 with the clear mandate to deal with this out of control 'Imperial Presidency'. It is my view that unless it is impeached, Vice-President Cheney first and then President Bush, future administrations will have been given the green light to attempt even more egregious offenses.

I usually try to comment on issues of local importance and this issue IS of local importance. It is abundantly clear that the cowards in Congress will not act unless the local folks they allegedly represent hold their feet to the political fire on this.

So write or call US Representative Darlene Hooley (or whoever your US Representative is) and demand action towards impeachment. Writing or calling US Senators Wyden and Smith is nice, but since Articles of Impeachment must originate in the US House of Representatives it is not particularly useful at this time.

But more importantly TALK. Talk to your friends, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, the person you sit next to on the bus, Use it as a pickup line at a bar. Whatever means you use, just talk to others about the issue and if they agree suggest they call or write to Representative Hooley (or their Representative if it is someone else).

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Neal Feldman October 8, 2007 1:52 pm (Pacific time)

DD877 - please show where I said you were of any party. I merely referred to your apparent blind partisanship. And partusanship does nothing to advance the common good in this nation.. it is like two small children fighting over a bag of potato chips... regardless who eventually 'wins' the bag is invariably ruined and contains only the crumbs of what they were originally fighting for. As for Carter I fail to see what Carter ever did to justify, in your mind, impeachment. In fact I know of no one at the time even bringing it up. And I never said I liked your last sentence 'so much' or even at all. I just stated correctly that it seemed to imply you supported assassination as an option. And unless you know something the rest of the world does not there is no evidence that the Democrats of the time hired John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Lincoln. He did so on his own volition for his own reasons. No grassy knoll there either. Ah well...

DD877 October 8, 2007 11:27 am (Pacific time)

Hank: Let me Thank you for Your Insight and Time Check. I am well aware of the Time and Also Have Voted Correctly More Often Than Incorrectly I will Muddle on Regardless

Hank Ruark October 8, 2007 7:57 am (Pacific time)

DD87 et al: Yr longterm interest in voting badly marred by yr insistence on criteria from a longpast era. This is 21st Century, time to be aware of vast changes including bkgrnd for informed voters NOW. Past prejudice and shady insights will never cut the mustard these days, as it gets hotter with each misguided return to outdated criteria and evaluative elements.

DD877 October 8, 2007 7:39 am (Pacific time)

Hey Neal: I am a Registered Democrat Who voted For Jimmy Carter Probably the only President that Should have been Impeached.I Believe That Partisan Politics are prevalent and necessary . I also Will let you know that I now vote for the person That most Reflects my world view not a party. As to The last Sentence in my Comment that you liked so much I was Suggesting That in that Instance The Democrats Were sore Losers. They were As I am sure you are aware Pro Slavery.

N0spam4me October 7, 2007 5:06 pm (Pacific time)

Impeachment is imperitive! Can anyone answer the question WHY is it, that the worlds greatest military power FAILED to defend even its own HQ? Deriliction of duty, gross incompetence, or? Lets Roll!

Henry Ruark October 7, 2007 2:06 pm (Pacific time)

To all: See Neal's satement to DD877, right dead on center of inescapable truth; then consider the rest of the truth laid out precisely by M.W. For practical safety of "the republic" we have, we need to start now on epic clean-up and clean-out, while we still can do so in some protection from what Constitutional barriers still exist to fascistic take-over entirely possible. Re "republic", that's what ol' Ben F. said we had "if you can keep it !"

Bert October 7, 2007 1:40 pm (Pacific time)

I support impeachment, and have signed on to the petition available at this website: http://www.impeachbush.org

Melisander Wildberger October 7, 2007 12:07 pm (Pacific time)

There is another reason not to wait until Bush's term is supposed to expire. Before he was re-elected I predicted not only that he would prevail, but that during his second term he would attack Iran; that the attack would engender such an irate reaction on the parts of both Middle Easterners and U.S. citizens that he would declare martial law [as planned], and then cancel or "defer" the coming national election; that congress, Republicrats and Demoblicans alike, after a great deal of grumbling, would shrug its collective shoulder and say, "nothin' we can do!" THAT's the reason to impeach NOW.

Concerned October 7, 2007 8:14 am (Pacific time)

Whatever happened to Cheney? We haven't heard from him in the last several months. Did somebody flush the toilet?

Neal Feldman October 7, 2007 7:05 am (Pacific time)

DD877 - Your argument might have applied during the Clinton impeachment proceedings but not here. I am sorry if you cannot get past your blind partisanship to see it, but if Bush and Cheney do not qualify solidly for impeachment no one ever will and there is no reason at all for those mechanisms existing in the Constitution and no future administration should ever feel in any way bound by the rule of law or the Constitution. Is that really the position that you wish to advocate? It sure seems to be. Or, considering your last sentence, are you simply suggesting Bush and Cheney just be assassinated? Ah well...

Leonardo October 7, 2007 6:43 am (Pacific time)

A 70 year old retired police officer in Salem was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison last week. He's near the end of his life, so why shouldn't we shrug off his crime? Because justice is justice. The same is true with Bush.

Squire October 7, 2007 5:39 am (Pacific time)

Matters of the Constitution trump upcoming elections. The Constitution should never be "off the table". George Bush ignored the Constitution now we have Nancy Pelosi doing the same. Can we afford to "cherry pick" the Constitution?

DD877 October 7, 2007 5:09 am (Pacific time)

The Only Two reasons that Impeachment talk is prevalent is (1) The Blind hatred of the Left For The right (2) The blind hatred of the right for The left. It has been the SOS since at least the Civil War when the Dem's ran Cut and Run McClellan against Stand and Fight Lincoln. The consequences were bad then as one of the losers impeached Lincoln in a rather violent manner.

Night Owl October 6, 2007 11:31 pm (Pacific time)

How about focusing on the upcoming election. impeachment is useless so close to elections.

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