Posted on 03/31/2006 2:45:19 PM PST by RetiredArmy
Democrats' Impeachment Agenda
By Jeff Kuhner, Mar 31, 2006
President Bush beware: Democrats are gearing up for an impeachment campaign. This may seem ridiculous. But if the Democrats capture control of Congress in the November elections, then this nightmarish scenario is very likely to become a reality.
Sen. Russell Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat, is proposing that Mr. Bush be “censured” for approving wiretaps on al Qaeda terrorist suspects without a court warrant. Leading congressional Democrats are distancing themselves from the idea. But liberal bloggers and grassroots activists are strongly supporting Mr. Feingold’s initiative. His bold attacks are resonating with Democrats, especially with the Howard Dean-MoveOn.org-Michael Moore voters that increasingly make up the core of the party.
In fact, should they retake the House or Senate (or both) censure will serve to pave the way for formal impeachment proceedings.
The logic of the Democrats’ rhetoric and their intense—almost pathological—hatred of Mr. Bush ensure that this will happen. The arguments of Mr. Feingold, Al Gore, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California all boil down to the same point: Mr. Bush broke the law. They assert that the president illegally authorized the National Security Agency to engage in domestic electronic surveillance without a warrant from a secret court, thereby violating the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Their claims are false. Contrary to their assertions, from the program’s inception the NSA wiretaps were disclosed to leading members of Congress, including top Democrats; judges on the FISA court were made aware of the program’s existence; and the attorney general’s office and lawyers from the Justice Department closely monitored the program to make sure no abuses took place.
Yet this hasn’t stopped Democrats—or the mainstream media—from denouncing Mr. Bush’s actions as “illegal spying.” Having outflanked and outmaneuvered the Democrats ever since coming into office in 2000, the president has become public enemy number one. The liberal establishment is desperately searching for a way to cripple the Bush presidency.
Impeachment is their ticket. Currently, prominent liberal journals, such as Harper’s Magazine, and influential leftist blogs like the Huffington Post are making the case for impeachment. Cities and towns are passing resolutions supporting it.
More importantly, the issue is gaining traction among prominent Democrats.
In a highly publicized speech on Jan. 16, Mr. Gore laid the groundwork for an impeachment campaign. “A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government,” (I wonder if he was talking about his former partner in crime, Bill Clinton??) he said.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, last year asked four leading scholars for their opinion on whether the NSA wiretaps are impeachable.
Yet the key figure is Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat and ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee. Mr. Conyers is leading a small but growing caucus of House liberal Democrats calling for a formal investigation into the administration’s alleged abuses of power. He has introduced a resolution, which has 33 co-sponsors, demanding the establishment of a “select committee,” whose ultimate purpose is “to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.” Should the Democrats win back the House, Mr. Conyers will become the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee. And Judiciary is the House committee in which formal impeachment proceedings must begin and then proceed to the floor.
Key Republicans are beginning to take notice. “The Democrats' plan for 2006?" Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman wrote in a fundraising e-mail last week. "Take the House and Senate and impeach the president.”,p>
All of this means nothing as long as the congressional Republicans remain in power. In theory, impeachment should be about the law—namely, whether a president’s ethical and legal transgressions rise to the level of a “high crime and misdemeanor.” Clearly, the Democrats’ case against Mr. Bush is without legal merit. In reality, however, impeachment is about politics, and whether there are enough votes in Congress to go forward with it.
A Democratic victory in November will unleash a maelstrom of liberal support, first for censure, and then finally for impeachment. As the 2008 presidential campaign and fierce Democratic nomination fight nears, the momentum of the Bush-bashing, pro-impeachment forces will become unstoppable. More mainstream candidates, such as Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kerry and maybe even Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, will feel compelled to follow the lead of left-wing firebrands like Mr. Feingold and Mr. Gore, lest they risk alienating the party’s leftist progressive base.
Mr. Bush may find himself spending much of the latter half of his second term fighting for his very survival just like Bill Clinton did from 1998 until February 1999—a point that is not lost on many Democrats.
Mr. Feingold’s censure proposal is in fact a boon to the GOP; it should sound as an alarm bell foretelling the dangers awaiting Republicans should they lose in November. What is at stake is not only their status as the majority party, but the ability of Mr. Bush to effectively conduct his duties as commander-in-chief in a time of war. Republicans cannot say they were not warned.
This article first appeared on Insight on the News.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a regular contributor to the Commentary Pages at The Washington Times and editor of Insight on the News where this article originally appeared.
The Democratic Crime Syndicate is headed for extinction.
United WE stand.
Let's make sure there is an better choice to vote for then.
Nominate a real Republican, not a rino.
I seriously doubt the loons could or would go for impeachment in a senate election year, and without any real evidence to justify impeachment. At some point reality has to take precident in this country, not the raving lunatics in the Democrat party screaming "impeachment" simply because they hate Bush and Republicans.
People scoffed at the mention of impeachment of Nixon at first.
By the time it was over, Goldwater was against him
I believe the liberal movement in this country is one True Conservative Candidate Election away. The mounting angry frustration I see building will be the back breaking Straw that does them in finally once and for all.
This is why it is absolutely essential True Conservatives come together to put them out of their misery forever. We may never get this close again to apply the coup de gras on these traitors and win back our country that is being stolen away from us! Don't back down now cut them up like a fat hog on a rope and watch them bleed!
This isn't watergate, and Democrats are even dumber than ever.
Besides, it's far to early to worry about anything like that. There has to be an election first, and we are a long, long ways from when that party gets started. much can happen between now and then.
let's wait till, oh lets say September, then crank up the heat on the Rats. They'll have burned themselves out by then, spent their entire war chests.
I don't think anyone is backing down. We can and will gain seats in other places. We will have to be careful is all. If the numbers are good, we can cut Rhino's loose along with them fat hogs. having an over all stronger position for 08 is important. That is LESS of a guarantee if we are caring ambitious rhino's along.
agreed good post, but my observation is not implausible.
Oh, I am so scared you're right.
There is a fourth group I would call the Loathsome Libertarians, who have bought into the "Bush has violated people's right" rhetoric.
This is their "base" issue.
Seriously, I know some hard core lawyer democrat types. They take this delusional BS very seriously.
Democrats view turnout as everything in 2006. They are trying to do everything to keep republicans and conservatives home.
The Rino's are Pork Rinds and spoilers who stand for absolutely nothing! Throw them out with all the rest of the liberal trash. They cannot be left to muck up the gearworks use them to grease the skids that will deliver the liberals into the pit of HELL where they all belong!
exactly, democrats understand the concept of incrementalism (furthering the socialist agenda one issue at a time) and a lot of us don't. We always seem to want all or nothing.
"Yes, you'd like that, wouldn't you. Freepers who refuse to acknowledge that George W. Bush is Christ returned to Earth do have a way of "disappearing" around here."
Not true. What will get you zotted at FR is acting like a jerk.
Someone who comes into a black church shouting racial epithets is going to get shown the door. Someone who goes into a VFW hall with an anti-American slogan on their T shirt is going to get shown the door.
This is a conservative website. Someone who comes here and posts with the intent of stirring up discontent amongst conservatives is going to also be shown the door.
As I can personally attest, if you follow the rules of the website and graciously make your points, the mods will leave you in peace. The Golden Rule works as well at FR as it does in most places.
I was thinking maybe McCain.
"And a democratic controlled Senate will convict him"
Hopefully the GOP will put America's security above politics. Putting America above everything will guarantee continued victories for republicans in 2006 and 2008.
But my wallet will stay in my pants, with a few exceptions.
There is no amount of money spending that will make me vote for a democrat.
It defies belief that democrats think by "speaking red state" or hiring Rev. Wallis, they will somehow DUPE me into voting for them.
"They have an excellent case for impeachment - Article 4, Section 4 - but they won't attempt it."
Serutan is Natures, spelled backwards. Remember that? Anyway, sweet dreams, dreamer. Zero grounds for impeachment.
I would never vote for a democrat...unless it is a Zell Miller. Whether or not I continue to vote for a republican depends on how the republican controlled congress deals with
#1) Our unsecure borders
#2) The Ilegals that have entered this country since the amnesty of 1986.
What good is a republican government without a country left to rule
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