Democratic leaders long ago rejected any consideration of impeaching Cheney and President Bush as an irresponsible move supported only by the far left, so they tried today to table Kucinich's impeachment resolution. After initially having more than enough votes to kill the resolution - the "yea" tally to table impeachment topped out at 291 - Republicans decided they had a chance to politically shame Democrats into a full debate on the sensitive issue. Republicans gleefully said they wanted the debate to show the public how many Democrats would actually support impeaching Cheney, which they consider a move supported only by a fringe element of anti-war activists.I guess the best argument AGAINST impeaching Cheney is that it would be hard to legally PROVE that he deliberately misled the entire world on Saddam's WMDs, despite mountains and mountains of circumstantial evidence to that effect. Nevertheless, to think that the Democrats would let themselves be pressured like this is just depressing: the hopes and dreams of many of their supporters lie dead.
More than 120 members, predominantly Republicans, then switched their votes in favor of holding a one-hour debate on the issue, with a final vote of 251-162 supporting a debate on impeachment. Rather than allow a debate fraught with political risk, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) moved to send the Kucinich resolution to the Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), has publicly speculated about impeaching the president or vice president but has declined taking any action since taking the gavel in January.
Defusing any chance of an actual impeachment debate today, the House then voted 218-194 to send the motion to Conyers's committee, with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting the move.
Today's resolution from Kucinich (D-Ohio) was essentially the same as the legislation he introduced earlier this year, which included three articles of impeachment against Cheney based largely on allegations that he manipulated intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. The last article accuses Cheney of threatening "aggression" against Iran "absent any real threat."
The whole world can see what's happening: the elites in power will not even contemplate acceding to the will of the people. To that extent, this impeachment process now becomes a battle between the Elites and the People. There is revolution in the air! Over to you now, John Conyers...
Elsewhere, a new report tells us what we already knew:
"The terrorist attacks on 9/11 caused America to become a frightened and angry nation. We reacted in ways that alarmed people the world over ... we relied excessively on hard military power to fight the war against terrorists and violent extremists. Ultimately this is a battle that will be won by ideas, not bullets. Just like the Cold War, we will prevail when the world chooses the opportunities we defend over the despair offered by our enemies..."Of course, there is an increasingly good chance that the world will choose neither of these options.
