Thursday, May 10, 2007
Ending Impeachment Myths III -- "Impeaching Bush Would Just Put Cheney in Office."
This myth is frequently espoused by those who wish to short-circuit the debate by presenting an even worse alternative than President Bush. As many people who favor impeachment flinch at the idea of a President Cheney, this gambit is often successful.
However, impeachment no more ensures a President Cheney than it does a President Pelosi. The reasons are laid out in more detail in part II of this series, but the short version is that, if Vice President Cheney is successfully impeached (or resigns from office) before impeachment proceedings against President Bush are begun, the danger of him ascending to the presidency is readily avoided.
There are good reasons to believe that a successful impeachment of Cheney is in the works. On April 24th, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced HR 333, a resolution containing three separate articles of impeachment against the Vice President. Over 45 documents supporting the charges are available on his website.
An online campaign to collect public opinion (and, at your request, forward that opinion to elected representatives) sprung up almost immediately, and, at the time of this writing, it has collected over 35,000 comments from regular Americans, and the number is growing constantly. Astoundingly, even though the campaign is seeking opinion both for and against impeachment of Cheney, registered opinion as I write this is over 99% in favor.
Some in Congress appear to be being influenced by this campaign. HR 333 was introduced with no co-sponsors, but on May 1st, two other members of Congress signed on in support of the resolution. Those members are William Lacy Clay, Jr. and Jan Schakowsky. The resolution is currently awaiting a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. That committee is chaired by Congressman John Conyers, who introduced his own resolution calling for an investigation into impeachable offenses last year.
It's too early to say how the resolution will play out, but there are encouraging signs that the Democratic leadership is exploring the possibility seriously. Recently, MoveOn conducted a quiet poll seeking input on the matter of impeaching Bush, and MoveOn is notorious for moving only at the pace Democratic leaders are comfortable with. The successful impeachment of Cheney would almost certainly be a political pre-requisite to impeaching Bush. Notably, Jan Schakowsky, one of the new HR 333 co-sponsors, has been called a member of Nancy Pelosi's "inner circle".
SUMMARY:
However, impeachment no more ensures a President Cheney than it does a President Pelosi. The reasons are laid out in more detail in part II of this series, but the short version is that, if Vice President Cheney is successfully impeached (or resigns from office) before impeachment proceedings against President Bush are begun, the danger of him ascending to the presidency is readily avoided.
There are good reasons to believe that a successful impeachment of Cheney is in the works. On April 24th, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced HR 333, a resolution containing three separate articles of impeachment against the Vice President. Over 45 documents supporting the charges are available on his website.
An online campaign to collect public opinion (and, at your request, forward that opinion to elected representatives) sprung up almost immediately, and, at the time of this writing, it has collected over 35,000 comments from regular Americans, and the number is growing constantly. Astoundingly, even though the campaign is seeking opinion both for and against impeachment of Cheney, registered opinion as I write this is over 99% in favor.
Some in Congress appear to be being influenced by this campaign. HR 333 was introduced with no co-sponsors, but on May 1st, two other members of Congress signed on in support of the resolution. Those members are William Lacy Clay, Jr. and Jan Schakowsky. The resolution is currently awaiting a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. That committee is chaired by Congressman John Conyers, who introduced his own resolution calling for an investigation into impeachable offenses last year.
It's too early to say how the resolution will play out, but there are encouraging signs that the Democratic leadership is exploring the possibility seriously. Recently, MoveOn conducted a quiet poll seeking input on the matter of impeaching Bush, and MoveOn is notorious for moving only at the pace Democratic leaders are comfortable with. The successful impeachment of Cheney would almost certainly be a political pre-requisite to impeaching Bush. Notably, Jan Schakowsky, one of the new HR 333 co-sponsors, has been called a member of Nancy Pelosi's "inner circle".
SUMMARY:
- Any impeachment plan would likely involve impeaching Vice President Cheney first.
- The process of impeaching Vice President Cheney has already begun, and there is evidence of strong public support.
- Successful impeachment would very likely result in a moderate Republican taking office, as in the case of Gerald Ford.
