The Wackos are in a Fever

Today's classic dumb lefty opinion column comes from The Nation where John Nichols wants Bush impeached...NOW!:

When Nancy Pelosi announced last fall that impeachment was "off the table," official Washington accepted that the primary avenue for holding lawless Presidents to account had been closed off by the new Speaker of the House. But the Republic's citizenry has not been so inclined. And now, with the Administration's troubles mounting, they're preparing to tell Pelosi that America and the world cannot wait until January 20, 2009, to put an end to Bush's reign of error. When Pelosi arrives at the California Democratic Convention in San Diego on April 28--the same day that activists nationwide will rally for presidential accountability--she'll find on the agenda a resolution that declares that the actions of President Bush and Vice President Cheney "warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office." Delegates are expected to endorse the measure.

Pelosi fears that impeachment would distract from the Democratic legislative agenda and provoke an electoral backlash. History suggests she is wrong: The Watergate Congress was highly efficient, and Democrats had one of their best years ever at the polls after pressuring Richard Nixon out of office. But aside from Dennis Kucinich, who is particularly fired up about Cheney's misdeeds, few in Congress have even hinted at bucking Pelosi's ban.

Outside Washington, however, an "impeachment from below" movement is gathering steam. The President's troop surge into Iraq and his refusal to consider exit strategies has caused many to react like GOP Senator Chuck Hagel, who has observed, "The President says...he's not accountable anymore, which isn't totally true. You can impeach him." Hagel's remarks go to the heart of the surge in interest in impeachment: It stems from Bush's ongoing disregard for the demands of the electorate, the Congress and the Constitution. Legitimate impeachment initiatives are organic responses to the realities of a moment rather than purely legal procedures. Talk of impeachment gains traction when it becomes clear that an Administration is unwilling to respect the system of checks and balances or the rule of law. This explains why the allegation that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, apparently with White House approval, pressured US Attorneys to politicize prosecutions has added so much fuel to the fire, with activists like Vermont's Dan DeWalt now saying, "I don't have any trouble getting people to agree that impeachment is necessary."

This is dumb on a really impressive scale. You can organize all the grassroots activists you want, and maybe even convince enough House members to go along with an impeachment circus, but you can't remove a president without a trial and conviction in the Senate, and it takes 2/3rds of the Senate to convict, and I doubt any Republicans - even Chuck Hagel - would vote for that.

These people are so sure of the righteousness of their cause that they've convinced themselves that if they could just present the "evidence" against Bush and Cheney, Republicans will slap their foreheads, suddenly become enlightened, and run to the opportunity to vote them out. That will never happen, which means this whole effort is a waste of time, though it might provide some solace to the lefty thumbsuckers who think this would be a good idea. This type of thinking has become known as Bush Derangement Syndrome, and the author of this column has it bad.

But hey, if having fantasies of a Bush/Cheney impeachment keeps the wackos occupied and away from kiddie porn or whatever else gives them a thrill, it might have some benefit after all.