exactly what will it take to put impeachment on the table?

exactly what crimes beyond treason, outing a CIA agent, violating the Hatch Act, requiring fealty oaths from USattys, vote caging, manipulation of vote counting, felonious stonewalling against supbeonas, fabricating fake intelligence to lie us into war...

you want me to stop or should I keep going?

what crime BEYOND THOSE ALREADY LISTED, will finally be enough for clinton, obama, edwards, pelosi, etc. to put impeachment on the table?

There is a point where turning a blind eye to crime is an accessory after the fact.

and one is a former Senator, none of whom have the power to impeach

was the lawyer that represented Gore in 2000. He was on some cable show last week saying that no crimes have been committed AND that the people reelected * for a second term in '04 and the information on the WMD etc was out there and that they voted him in anyway. He is probably one advising the dems still so this is where their info and strategy is coming from. I couldn't believe my ears and am stil fuming over this one. History will not be kind to the dems either I'm afraid.

That's the political reality. In the two most recent impeachment proceedings, neither was commenced on a purely partisan basis. In the Nixon impeachment, the vote to authorize the Judiciary Committee to conduct hearings/investigation was 410-4 and even the vote on authorizing Judiciary to start the process against Clinton drew the support of 31 Democrats. Many blue dog and moderate/conservative Democrats from red-leaning areas are not willing to support an impeachment effort if there aren't some repubs stepping up as well.

n/t

why are the rest refusing to even discuss it?

Democrats in Congress need to pull up their collective socks and face the fact that this administration is a runaway freight train and it is their job to stop them.

Impeachment should not be a popularity contest, but rather a solemn duty if crimes are committed

and guess what? impeachable crimes have been committed.

enough of the distractions, the real question is and should be, whether congress will perform its sworn duty to uphold the constitituion or not?

I'm sure impeachment would be the best way to send GWB's approval ratings soaring.

so passively?

n/t

But I don't think my different viewpoint makes me passive about this administration's crimes. I was just expressing a different viewpoint about the impeachment thing. If it were up to me, the entire administration would be tried and hung.

I agree that it will have political implications that may be unsavory for the Democrats. However, what resonates clearer and clearer as the unchecked felonies pile up in the corner is the fact that this administration is out of control and it is incumbent upon Congress to stop it.

I am acutely cognizant that the upcoming election is critical, but I wonder how Democrats can face their base when they are treading so cautiously. I realize "X" amount of votes are required to impeach, however, I firmly believe a more vigorous investigation of the myriad of crimes committed by this administration will ultimately make impeachment the only sane thing to do and exposure of the unseemly details will put the GOP between a rock and a hard place.

Perhaps we don't agree on strategy, but I believe we're otherwise on the same page.

to ignore them is to enable them.

I was just making the point that impeachment might actually hurt the cause. I'm on your side, I promise you.

if anybody argues against the WISDOM of impeaching now, they accuse you of defending Bush and Cheney.

It's mindless binary thought - like saying if you oppose the war, you hate America.

It's quite possible to hate these bastards and still think an impeachment that is bound to fail is a waste of time.

Although there are some here that fall into the category you mention, to most others the current political scene is simply too complicated to make such a statement with a straight face.

I think we can all agree that this administration deserves impeachment - and a half.

when any argument made against the wisdom of impeachment is met with accusations of being a bush-sucking cheney-lover.

There are shades of gray in the world, and it's not my side that fails to see them.

I say crimes have been committed, which congress has a duty to prosecute and impeach.

you make a flip comment that I need to be in a support group.

in what way is that on my side?

Upfront let me mention that I am not a D nor an R, but I tend to vote D MUCH more than R. (Actually do not recall the last R I voted for, if ever?) And I have worked on a couple of D US Congressional campaigns.

Just telling you that so you can follow that I am a "friendly" before I tell you something you might not want to hear.

The D's look pathetic. You all wanted the job but are afraid to do it. You all look worse than nothing.

I have a friend who is a plumber. I was joking with him about how he just keeps smiling while cleaning out stuck toilets. He looked up and laughed -- "You know what, Phil? If I were afraid of shit, I sure picked one hell of a job."

My friend the plumber is correct. Some shitty stuff comes with a lot of jobs. Same with the Democrat Congress -- you have a job but are afraid to do it.

THAT is why the Democrat Congress is held in lower esteem than even Cheney/Bush by We the People.

Want to watch your own numbers and support fall further? Just keep being wimps. eewww, let's check some poll numbers. Just disgusting. What a strategy.

putting impeachment on the table will bring ALL of their criminal acts to the forefront EVERY DAY. The media will HAVE to discuss the how's, why's, etc. of the impeachment proceedings. Maybe THEN there will be enough outrage from the public, that even the republics in Congress will give us the votes?
Or am I being naive?

...as they always do.

...is that by the time impeachment proceedings start, are carried out, & if Bush and/or Cheney is impeached, it'll be 11/2008.

Better to let your opponent self-destruct on his own, is probably the thinking of the Dems.

This administration has committed a plethora of impeachable actions, but my guess is that Congress doesn't want to put the nation through that whole mess again. Who knows what'll come out after they're out of office?