Impeachment Talks: Why Not?

As Bill Moyers and his guests, constitutional law expert Bruce Fein and political journalist John Nichols, made abundantly clear in their discussion on PBS' Journal (catch the whole episode here), the question that ought to be asked isn't, "should we be discussing impeachment?" but, "why haven't we seriously started discussing impeachment yet?" Even though a recent public opinion poll from the American Research Group revealed that 45% of Americans favored impeachment hearings for Bush and a majority, 54%, favored impeachment for Cheney, the MSM has largely continued to dismiss impeachment as "extremist" and an option only favored by the "extreme leftist wing" of the Democratic Party. Lest we forget, in their eyes receiving a blowjob still constitutes a much more serious national crisis.

While the disastrous war in Iraq and Bush's repeated flouting of civil rights in the name of "executive privilege" have been the primary catalysts for his abysmal approval ratings and the electorate's foul mood, other recent developments, including the president's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence and Cheney's refusal to surrender e-mails and documents under subpoena to Congress (he is, after all, his own branch of government), have continued to weaken his position and give ammunition to those who argue that impeachment should be on the table.

Given their penchant for playing it safe (some might say spinelessness), the Democrats certainly haven't helped themselves or the country by playing along with the media's portrayal of impeachment as an unprecedented and "extraordinary" move. While pundits and columnists have spent untold hours and words decrying even the notion of impeachment (let alone just bringing impeachment hearings), the American public, as John Nichols noted, has been way ahead of the Congress on this.

"People don't want to let this go. They do not accept Nancy Pelosi's argument that impeachment is, quote/unquote, off the table. Because I guess maybe they're glad she didn't take some other part of the Constitution off the table like freedom of speech. But they also don't accept the argument that, oh, well, there's a presidential campaign going on. So let's just hold our breath till Bush and Cheney get done," he told Moyers.