----Free Republic has at least a half-dozen posters joining Conyers in the call for Bush's impeachment.----
Make that at least seven. :)
(Actually, it's more than that.... this is a conservative forum, after all....)
-Dan
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.
Another lesson for the 3rd party, libertarian self-righteous types at this site.
RINOs, as despised as they are, serve as useful idiots and buffers that help prevent dems from being in control. We should upgrade the RINOs where we can but do whatever is necessary to ensure they do not control Congress.
There are, at most, 10,000 active FReepers.
Nobody in their wildest imagination has ever said there was anything close to a million.
And, it's not the fact that there are six, but that the six continue to promote their hopes and dreams with impunity.
And I also wish I could believe otherwise, but they seem to have brought this upon themselves.
- John
I hope they do impeach him. At least with Cheney we have a shot at having a conservative President.
And you think they wouldn't impeach Cheney?
The Dims have nothing to offer in the way of policy other than to get rid of Bush and their problem will be corrected.
This is such a lame waste of time and they should be made aware of that. This country has more important issues than ousting a president who is doing his job despite the continuous attacks on his integrity.
I don't always agree with Bush, (now more than ever) but elections have a way of removing bad eggs and congress needs to be made fully aware they are on the hit list as well.
So, I guess it's a terrible expression only if you know what it means. Sort of like your grandma saying she's just putzing around, or calling someone a schmuck without knowing the Yiddish meanings of those words.
Oh yeah there is.
Most of the people on this site who want him impeached fall into one of three categories.
Free Republic rejects who now post on places like Clownposse and Libertypost. They like nothing more than to try and disrupt FT.
The self proclaimed "true conservatives" who see everyone except themselves as socialists in disguise. If you don't agree with them 100% on every issue, then you're really a socialist who is out to destroy America. Many of these are the fringe kook types who never vote or vote for some .1% third party. Many are from the old Pat Buchanan Brigades. Currently they hate Bush over immigration but even if there was a 10,000 foot wall around the U.S., they just find something else to hate him for. Some are obviously already on this thread.
A few are DU/DailyKos type trolls but most of them are easy to spot and don't last long.
"I've "met" some on FR and they have to be DU plants. No other explanation."
All the people on here who don't like Bush don't like Bush because hes not a conservative, not because hes too conservative. So throwing around DU poster doesn't make any sense.
Since the GOP can't keep bleating the "Most important election ever" and "Just a few more reps and we can change the agenda" rallying cries, now they're using this to try to get the voters to forget the party's towering failures over the past 4 years. Sorry, but protecting GWB from ridiculous Dem tactics won't motivate me.
(Heck, usually when the Dems try these stupid, puerile, and purely political shenanigans, they lose voters. Tell 'em to give it a try!)
The Senate, of course, will not convict. Not in a million years.
Make that at least seven. :)
(Actually, it's more than that.... this is a conservative forum, after all....)
-Dan
Oh I hope they run with this one all the way up to the election. Even if the Rats take over the house they would spend easily 8-10 months of investigations and even if they impeach they'll never get 67 votes in the Senate so they'll spend all the way up to the next campaign and will be out of office just as quick for being a do nothing congress.
Doesn't matter. Impeachment is forever.
-Dan
as savage likes to say, "we are already on the train to socialism... you want to take the fast train or the slow train?"
You're a moron! Why waste a bunch of time that the ending result is a nothing? Look at Clinton, he's still the pride and joy of the Democrat Party so you have no idea what you are talking about. With idiots like you, it's amazing how Conservatives can stay afloat!
Free Republic has at least a half-dozen posters joining Conyers in the call for Bush's impeachment.
You have GOT to be kidding. Please say you are kidding.
Quit with the defeatist mindset - The reality is the GOP is going to pick up seats in both the House and the Senate come this Nov -
Regardless of the pollsh*t the media keep touting (they know their internals are junk and they are just trying to push-poll the public....won't work).
If the GOP stands tall and firm behind GWB on the WOT, Iraq & the NSA operation they are going to win come Nov - All the while the backdrop out a robust economy is also going to help the GOP -
This is going to be the first election cycle where the economy is going to play a key role (since 96) - The economy is doing very well on all practical levels and people have had 2 years to adjust to the increased energy costs -
Just as in 2002 when we were told over and over again how the GOP would lose and it wasn't a matter of "if" it was just a matter of how many seats......yet reality came home and the GOP won big time! Just as we did in 2004.
The same thing is going to happen later this year -
I agree. This is just hysteria. President Bush has more to do than worry about what nutty DemocRATS are going to try to do to him. What are we supposed to do just sit around and worry about this nonsense?
Thanks for outing yourself.
I'm keeping a list, and we'll just see how bold you are if impeachment gets going under a Democrat House.
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