Should Obama Be Impeached? We’ve had too few impeachments in American history, not too many.

You may be appalled about IRS inquisitions for Tea Party groups and dragnet subpoenas for investigative reporters, but what's really outrageous, according to some commentators, is that a couple of Republicans recently dared to use the "I-word"—"impeachment."

I'm not convinced that any of President Obama's recent scandal eruptions constitute an "impeachable moment." But surely something's gone wrong with our constitutional culture when opinion leaders treat the very invocation of the "I-word" as akin to screaming obscenities in a church.

"The notion of impeachment is industrial-strength insane," Michael Tomasky fumes in the Daily Beast. Over at the Atlantic, "communitarian" guru Amitai Etzioni moans "I see no way to protect the president and all of us from the second term curse."

"First among" the serious issues that confront us, Etzioni insists, is "the threshold for impeachment." It's distressingly low, he argues in a piece entitled "Why it should be harder to impeach the president."

"Harder"? We've impeached a total of two presidents in our 224-year constitutional history: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton (Richard Nixon resigned before the full House had a chance to vote on articles of impeachment). Let's be charitable and call it three. The question that should have occurred to Etzioni is, if we only manage to impeach a president once every 75 years or so, just how easy can it be?

As Alexander Hamilton explains in Federalist No. 66, the impeachment power was supposed to serve as "an essential check in the hands of [the legislature] upon encroachments of the executive." Unfortunately, that power has been too rarely used against presidents, and, on occasion, it's been abused.

One such case, argues constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, was the 1868 impeachment of President Andrew Johnson for firing his secretary of war and, through various intemperate speeches, "excit[ing] the odium and resentment of all good people of the United States against Congress," which is hardly a "high crime."

"The Johnson case shows the danger majority factions may pose if the constitutional standards for impeachment are ignored," Turley writes, but given how infrequently presidents are impeached, "a more significant danger lies in impeach[able] conduct that is ignored by the majority," as when presidents assert "a relativistic view of their authority to claim extraconstitutional powers at times of crisis."

That was a worry shared by many of the Framers. As Virginia's Edmund Randolph noted at the Philadelphia Convention, the impeachment power was essential, given that "the executive will have great opportunities of abusing his power; particularly in time of war. ... Should no regular punishment be provided, it will be irregularly inflicted by tumults & insurrections."

In this regard, the Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf makes a key point: "The biggest Obama scandals are proven and ignored." Among other offenses, Friedersdorf writes, the president has "violated the War Powers Resolution ... when committing U.S. troops to Libya without Congressional approval" and "ordered the assassination of ... American citizens in secret without due process," while "refus[ing] to reveal even the legal reasoning he used."

"People may be starting to use the I-word before too long," Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said last week in relation to the Benghazi scandal. But impeachment talk is relegated to the fringes of the Republican Party, and it's usually invoked for the wrong reasons. The real Benghazi scandal is how we got there in the first place. The president launched an illegal war in a country that his own secretary of defense admitted wasn't "a vital interest" for the United States.

One thing is clear, however: Given the massive abuses of power and public trust that modern presidents have committed, we've had far too few presidential impeachments. We should stop treating the "I-word" like it's a curse.

in none of them have I seen any reason to believe the legislature would be more likely to elect a good Senate than the general populace.

The goodness of the men elected or appointed is far less important than their interest, or rather, to whom or what they are responsible.

Today's Senate is just another House of Reps, only more dangerous. The rhetoric and voting pattern of the typical rat Senator is indistinguishable from his siblings in the House. Both houses are perfect breeding grounds for demagogues beholden to the whims of the mob. That is okay in the House, and the Framers expected it. It is called consent of the people.

Our liberties were generally secure as long as a wild House of Reps was countered by a deliberative body that represented the interests of the States.

If not all State Assemblymen are very honest, that's okay from a national standpoint, for they would still be protective of their interests.

Simply put, the 17th Amendment effectively repealed the 10th. It removed the structure necessary to protect it. James Madison was cool toward Bills of Rights not because they were dangerous in themselves, but because he feared we would rely on "parchment barriers" to despotism rather than the structure of our government.

One more example: What right is most closely guarded? Notwithstanding Obama's recent assaults, freedom of the press is unrestricted. It is so not because the 1st Amendment says so. It is because of the self interest of the press that defends it.

Just say no to impeachment. Let's not exhaust ourselves w/ special prosecutors, impeachment, and the like---there are far simpler ways to move forward....that effectively thwart these cunning con artists.

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EXHIBIT ONE---A "PATTERN" OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR under RICO laws is considered "racketeering" and is eminently prosecutable. Note: Anyone can file a RICO suit (how-to's online)

PAPER TRAIL PATTERN OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR At ATF, at Justice, at DOE, at FBI, at Boston and Benghazi, at the Federal Reserve Bank, at Solyndra, the answer’s always the same: “Oops. We made a mistake.” And they don’t just make one mistake; they make a series of mistakes, they obfuscate, then lie, then lie about the lie.......

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EXHIBIT TWO Although the IRS targeted and harrassed conservative groups, it appears that Obama ordered "hands-off." No one at IRS has been formally reprimanded and a spokesperson for their powerful federal union said it hasn’t been called in, as yet. Most IRS employees involved in the targeting program are given federal protections that could drag out the termination process.

FReeper showme_the_Glory reminds us of the practice of "pencil whipping."

DEFINITION To complete a form, record, or document without having performed the implied work or without supporting data or evidence. Pencil whipping an official document incurs jailtime. As well, faslsifying official documents incurs 4-5 felonies and could involve criminal forgery.

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EXHIBIT THREE----FREEPER DIOGENESIS WISELY SUGGESTS local grand juries should begin indicting Congresspeople and Senators for FAILING TO UPHOLD THE LAW AGAINST FELONIES.A few felony convictions and imprisonment oughta wake up the treasonous Congress (that supports al Qaeda and Communism).

KEEP IN MIND---those elected to office are supposed to adhere to a higher standard of law than we peons....but have never been held to account.....til now.

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EXHIBIT FOUR Dump impeachment----in favor of our taking over Congress. When conservatives are running things---we screw up his agenda---and wont need to waste our time and resources impeaching this guy.

AS FREEPER GRAMPADAVE INSIGHTFULLY POSTED: Take over both the house and $inate and keep Obozo in office as a living reason for sane Americans to get rid of Rats in Congress and across the country. Tell the rats we want to keep Herr Obozo in office while we remove his fellow rats. If they/the rats want him out of office because he is killing their party, they can do it.

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