Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Impeach Cheney?

Impeach Bush? I’m against it. Maybe he deserves it, but I really don’t want this sort of thing to get to be a habit (I assume an “Impeach Hillary” committee is already waiting in the wings). And as they say, look who is next.

But what about impeaching Cheney? My own knowledge of con law is near zero, perhaps negative. But my friend Fensterwald, who has the brain the size of a suitcase, responds to my inquiry:

I can't think of any reason why not. Article II, Section 4 provides for the impeachment of "the President, the Vice-President and all civil officers of the United States" for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Surely if the Vice-President committed treason or was bribed he should be able to be impeached without also impeaching the President. And it won't always be the case that the President and the VP are of the same party. An election that went to the House and Senate because of failure of any candidate to get a majority in the electoral college could result in Presidents and Vice-Presidents of different parties. This would suggest further reason to doubt that Presidents and Vice-Presidents must stand or fall together. Indeed, impeaching Bush and Cheney for only crimes Cheney committed would seem to be a constitutonal violation itself, because in that view Bush himself would not have committed an impeachable offense.

Hello, Speaker Pelosi...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Have you heard about HR 333? I urge you and your readers to take a few minutes to look at:

http://www.usalone.com/cgi-bin/transparency.cgi?paper=1&qnum=pet45

It's a list of the 25 most recent comments made by real Americans participating in an online poll/letter-writing campaign concerning the impeachment charges recently filed against Vice President Cheney, which are now being evaluated by the House Judiciary Committee. Comments can be sent to elected representatives and local newspapers at your option. The participation page is at:

http://www.usalone.com/cheney_impeachment.php

Since this campaign began, three members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors, in part due to hearing from their constituents. Make your voice heard, and let others know!