Impeachment Fever

According to a recent poll, 45% of Americans favor "beginning impeachment proceedings" against President Bush, with 46% opposed. The number rises to 54% in favor of beginning proceedings against Vice President Cheney, with 40% opposed. Only 36% favored holding hearings to impeach President Clinton in 1998.

Even William Odom, head of the NSA under Reagan, has laid out his strategy for Dubya's impeachment:

To force him to begin a withdrawal..., the first step should be to rally the public by providing an honest and candid definition of what “supporting the troops” really means and pointing out who is and who is not supporting our troops at war. The next step should be a flat refusal to appropriate money...to be used in Iraq for anything but withdrawal operations with a clear deadline for completion.

The final step should be to put that president on notice that if [he] ignores this legislative action and tries to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril, impeachment proceeding[s] will proceed in the House of Representatives. Such presidential behavior surely would constitute the “high crime” of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest.

Meanwhile, the first steps to impeach Dick Cheney have already been taken. An internet petition posted today already boasts over 12,000 signers. (Sign it here.) A House resolution has been introduced by Dennis Kucinich to impeach Cheney. According to the Library of Congress, H.R. 333 was introduced back in April and has languished in the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties since May. The members of the subcommittee are listed here. I urge you to call them in support of H.R. 333. E-mail your representative here. Ask them to support or co-sponsor the resolution.