"Impeachment is a bad idea."

[hiaasenrocks]

That's what I used to think anyway, and I have no problem admitting that I thought and said those words because, well, I believed it to be true. I thought it would be politically disastrous for the Democratic Party. I thought the evidence would be, at the very least, somewhat arguable, and since impeachment is a political act and not a legal one, the right-wing noise machine would have a fighting chance. It was just too risky. I realize that some of you won't agree with everything I've said to this point but...

I now recognize that I am wrong. I admit it.

With the recent Pentagon IG report, we have irrefutable evidence that the administration substituted talking-points for intelligence, or as Keith O called it tonight: Spintelligence.

It's that simple. We have the hard evidence. We know beyond a reasonable doubt now that they committed acts of treason, war crimes and are responsible for constructing a fraudulent policy that is responsible for the deaths of over 3,200 American service-people, the injury of thousands more, and the needless deaths of Iraqi citizens.

Start hearings now. Impeach these liars and hold them responsible for their crimes against the United States.

[porphyrian]

1. Welcome aboard. Now, tell your Congressmen. - n/t

[walldude]

2. Impeach, indict, incarcerate..

immolate if possible. Oh and Hiaasen does rock! :toast:

[Fly by night]

27. ... eviscerate

[ShortnFiery]

3. Bless you for your humble admission ... and welcome to the ever increasing club.

:applause: :hi:

[pocoloco]

4. Haven't you heard....?

It's off the table!

[madeline_con]

10. Well ,if our brave leader sez so. n/t

[jean]

5. I want them all impeached. Period. The only possibility for relief, barring impeachment, is

if bush is left to whirl out of control until the end of his term, he might come very close to or succeed in destroying his own party.

[BearSquirrel2]

15. It will take that long ...

It will take that long just to get the investigations through. The Democrats do not have the votes to convict. The best they can do is run the investigations and lay bare the crimes of the administration. If they do their jobs right, it will be the REPUBLICANS begging for impeachment so they can get on record of being AGAINST this AWFUL administration. The 109th will have to live with the fact that they conducted no oversight on this madman and this will be taken into the 2008 elections.

[Fovea]

6. Thank you

Anyone can do the right thing when they are right. It is difficult to do the right thing when you were wrong about something. Even harder when it is something both critical and controversial.

Both ideologues and grownups show the same trait-- commitment. But the grownups are committed to the truth.

Ideologues are committed to their ego primarily, the truth is not as important as winning.

Thank you for being reality based.

Now, let's go get those traitorous bastids!

[orleans]

7. all these fuckers can hold public office again if they are NOT impeached

impeachment will prevent them from doing this shit again.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

8. It can even happen after 1.20.09

what a lovely way to denote the history
of the * regime

[calimary]

20. Oh really? Now THERE'S a good idea.

We now have Plan B.

However I'd still like to see IMPEACHMENT for bush AND for cheney too, for that matter, BEFORE they run the clock all the way out.

ESPECIALLY after what the Pentagon coughed up today. ESPECIALLY. I think, as Madeleine Albright said elsewhere on "Countdown" that you build it brick by brick. Step by step. This particular "it" would be IMPEACHMENT.

Look, we already reached critical mass on the war. We reached critical mass for divided government and accountability and checks and balances last November. Why wouldn't we achieve that tipping point here - sooner or later (preferably sooner)? If not now, when? How bad does it have to get? How many offenses have to pile up before something's done?

Hey, as was said here earlier - have you called your reps? They NEED to hear this.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

24. I'ts like beating my head against the wall

But I never stop trying to get this message
across- including my congress people.

[calimary]

28. Good. Don't Give Up! I'm not giving up either.

I nag and nag and nag.

Look, I figure we've already gotten THIS far. This is no small feat.

[man4allcats]

9. Not being a lawyer myself,

I'm suppose I'm not qualified to speak professionally on your comment that "impeachment is a political act and not a legal one." As a citizen though, I view impeachment as a legal remedy for just the sort of activity engaged in by the Bush administration. I know from your post that I don't have to tell you impeachment exists as a remedy because of people like Bush and Cheney. They both need to go NOW! Thanks for posting. Many people are now saying this, but it can't be said enough.

[hiaasenrocks]

12. Here's what I mean by that.

Only that it's not within the criminal justice system itself, and that the process is different, with a different standard of proof, different rulings, different verdicts, etc. That's all. I didn't mean to sound as though I was slighting the importance and seriousness of impeachment.

[man4allcats]

14. Understood.

No problem here. I appreciate your thoughts. I admit I'm vague on the legalities and the burden/standard of proof issues. Like you, I just know as a person that Bush and Cheney are wrong and need to be dealt with. I wish I were a lawyer and a top notch prosecutor with a free reign. I'd hang both their asses out to dry. Many thanks for your post! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Cirque du So-What]

11. I've been a proponent of impeachment for practically all of the Chimp's term in office

but I understand the concerns people may have for undertaking impeachment. Since I believe the stakes are too high *not* to impeach, I've heard no argument that comes close to counterbalancing the case *for* impeachment.

In any event, I'm glad to see increasing numbers of people coming out for impeachment. I can't wait to hear the term 'groundswell' used to describe the public outcry for it!

[man4allcats]

16. Great Post! I'm waiting to hear

"groundswell" myself. Also, love the gif! Hope you don't mind if I save it. :-)

[Cirque du So-What]

26. No problem!

It's from the Congressional Progressive Caucus website. I figure it's paid for with public money, so it's public domain :thumbsup:

[Tom Joad]

13. Short massive pressure from the grassroots, the Dem leadership will NOT do this

they need to make sure the war is funded for at least another year.

[BearSquirrel2]

17. I agree ...

I agree that the Dems know damn well that they will get blamed for "losing the war" if they cut the funding at this point. This is why you'll likely see them send up a cleaner bill after the President vetoes the one with the timetables. Personally, I would like to see them keep putting poison pills in all the funding bills:

1) War Taxes - put the top bracket back at 42% and enact windfall profit taxes for oil companies and the Halliburton types.
2) Anti torture legislation
3) Minimum Wage Hikes
4) Medicaire reform.

I actually think they could get #1 to stick. This would be doubly so if they conditioned if they made it expire once troop level in Iraq were down to say ... 5000.

[Tom Joad]

22. I don't want a well-funded war of aggression, and they should be clear what this

is. Saying its a "war of choice" is not strong enough.
But most dems are basically in line to support US hegemony in the Middle East, and oppose the US retreating from that role.

[EFerrari]

18. You're right. We're up! n/t

[grannylib]

19. Impeachment is too good for them. Treason and war crimes. Prison for the

rest of their lives. Real prison, not country-club spa...

[man4allcats]

21. Agreed, but I would say

Impeachment AND prison for the rest of their lives. And yes, a real prison. It's only right.

[Telly Savalas]

23. It's a waste of time. Bush and Cheney should just resign.

And the government should focus on tackling the problems our nation faces instead of prolonging this inane soap opera.

[Orsino]

25. Every day we don't impeach makes us a little more complicit. n/t

Saying "Sorry, world" isn't enough.