February, 2007: Just how possible IS impeachment?

Forget the political bullshit on both sides. Forget what some of you see as Pelosi's 'taking impeachment off the table'. Forget the 'weak-kneed Dems' crap for a bit. All of that from our side is political posturing for good or not-so-good reasons. It is also, for the purpose of this thread, beside the point.

Consult your crystal ball and look ahead with an intent to try to **realistically** predict the course of the two years that will mark the start of our reemergence to power. Assume an emboldened Democratic base with the power to push the agenda.

Let's stipulate that there will be no marked change in committee assignments and that people like John Conyers and Charlie Rangel and Barney Frank will become the (key, probably) committee chairpersons.

Do you think the Democrats have the political will to move forward with hearings?

And if they do, we can all assume that there is way more than enough to find grounds to impeach.

Will the Dems have the will, in the face of what will no doubt be overwhelming multiple reasons, to move the hearings to the next logical step: Impeachment?

Lastly, if the House impeaches, will the Dem-controlled Senate vote to convict?

(Note: This thread requires some leaps of faith. This thread is not the place to discuss them, Please stay with the topic at hand.)

The odds of impeachment are tied to how well Democrats do in the Congressional elections in November.

Impeachment is very much a possibility. I believe the Dems will likely start an investigation on the wiretap and/or Geneva Conventions abuses. Those have already been ruled on by the courts, and therefore gives more credence to an investigation.

From there, once a few more facts have been revealed, it will open the door to expand the investigation into other areas.

I believe the abuses have been significant, and that the American people will realize Democracy and the protection of our Constitution should prevail over all other considerations, including fighting the war on terror.

The Repugs will fight back that this is retaliation for Bill Clinton, and the facts will prove otherwise. It will be a bitter struggle, but one that must be fought to protect our country.

If the GOP has nothing to hide, they should not fight such an investigation, correct? It would prove innocence as well as guilt.

I too, believe it is a battle that should be fought. Very nice post and I appreciate it!

I also believe that I as an American knowing that the president has lied and committed acts against the Constitution, am obligated to speak and act. I have mailed my DIY impeachment letters. Whether or not there will be impeachment really doesn't matter, what matters is my own conscience that I did something to right a wrong. The rest is on the conscience of the lawmakers..... and whether they will be able to sleep at night with peace knowing the truth.

If the Dems do manage to get control of both houses, it may become an imperative to impeach and convict. But then you have numbnuts Cheney taking over. The Dems would need to know that both can be removed, then the house Speaker, I believe would take the office.

Uh .... I'm gonna take real flyer here ...... but I bet they already know this.

I only mention this because we hear a lot about impeachment once the Dems take over. I'm not a legal mind, but I think they would need to convict Cheney of executing some illegal event. I know he's an evil bastard, but he didn't have the power to execute executive orders. The only item I saw that they might get him on is the Plame incident.

...... using your 'possibles' ...... if Cheney doesn't have the authority to do 'X', but indeed did it, then he's either guilty of overstepping his authority or or usurping the authority of the president, both of which can be impeachable. If Cheney does have the authority and did what we pretty much beleive then he's guilty and impeachable.

I agree with you and hope there is some evidence of that. Nothing would make me happier than getting rid of Bush-Cheney 'evil axis'.

I'll accept as a leap of faith the fact that we recapture the House in November 06. But even if we also recapture the Senate, it is mathematically impossible that the Democrats will have the votes needed to convict. And because conviction isn't within the realm of possibility, I doubt that the House Democratic leadership will go in the impeachment direction. Will there be hearings? Yes. Will they provide new evidence of what we know this administration has done? Very unlikely. (If you think the administration would provide such evidence without a fight that takes it to the Supreme Court and if you think the Supreme Court will go against the administration....ha!)

So the situation after the hearings will be where it is now. The administration will stand accused of doing the things it has been doing. The repubs in Congress will defend the administration saying that what they did wasn't illegal, was necessary to fight the war on terra, blah blah blah. And the public will feel about the whole thing about the same as now, except that if the Democrats then push for impeachment, they may get turned off, since what the electorate really wants is to see some action on issues not partisan battles (which is how they will see it).

So, bottom line: impeachment is damn near impossible.