Memo to Nancy Pelosi: THIS is how shit gets done (Blago impeachment)

[derby378]

Illinois' now-former Governor Rod Blagojevich has just been impeached for offenses that, while substantial in their own right, plae in significance to the crimes committed by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

And you couldn't find it within yourself to hold these two war criminals accountable for their deeds. Thanks a hell of a lot.

When there is sufficient intention and drive, anything can be accomplished.

Sorry, Fancy Nancy, but you failed your nation. Now get off your ass and act like the Speaker we hoped you would be in 2006.

[liberalmuse]

1. I'm impressed.

I admit I was getting sucked into the madness, but am very relieved that there is sanity in the Illinois Senate. I do wish Pelosi and Reid would take note because I agree. This is how shit should be done. Swift and decisive.

[Deja Q]

2. "Our nation", surely?

Yours and mine?

It's not hers. Unless that's implying something deliciously snarky... :evilgrin:

[derby378]

10. Well, maybe a little...

...but I promise you that any snark in the OP was purely accidental. Just like my horrid butchering of the word "pales."

[davidwparker]

3. Amen. And anybody reading this from her district and voted for her has the

same blood on your hands that * does.

Only those in her district had the opportunity to send her (and them) a message by NOT returning her to the House.

That Reid is another gutless wonder. Read and heed, Nevada.

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. Do the Democratic Congressmen who voted for her as Speaker have that blood on their hands too?

:shrug: She actually promised that there would be no impeachment before she was elected Speaker.

[Captain Hilts]

5. She didn't have the numbers to make it work, even now. nt

[cynatnite]

6. I always laugh at the impeachment threads...

It's like...why read the constitution that says 2/3rds vote in the senate required to convict which they never had at any time nor was there ever any hope of getting?

So many here think that outrage and self-righteousness is enough to impeach and convict a sitting president.

There was ZERO chance of getting bush impeached while he was in office. It's about time people wake up to that fact.

[Independent_Liberal]

7. Interesting you bring that up.

I am well aware that just outrage, self-righteousness, and political accusations themselves aren't enough to impeach and remove a president. But you bring up the argument of not having enough votes for impeachment and conviction. I still don't think we ever really knew that for certain. That's why I kept telling people we needed to at least try. I think even a failed impeachment would have helped get a full scope of who was in favor of a democracy and who was in favor of a fascist dictatorship. Also keep in mind that Bush and Cheney can still be impeached even though they're gone. There is a precedent for impeaching officials after they leave office.

[cynatnite]

8. I wouldn't mind the trying, but I've always believed it would have been pointless...

Plus, I think a failed impeachment would have hurt the Dems. I know that impeachment is still possible, no matter how remote of a chance that it would ever happen. Besides, it would still leave us with that administration and the hell it put the planet through.

No matter how much bush and cheney deserve it, they'll never pay for their crimes. That's another fact more people need to face, too.

[Independent_Liberal]

9. It's not a fact, it's just your opinion.

We don't know for certain that Holder won't prosecute. If push comes to shove, he might be forced to do it. Also, there is a massive movement going on right now targeting state and local prosecutors to take on the task of prosecuting Bush, Cheney and the gang on murder charges at the state level.

When you say, "they'll never pay for their crimes. That's another fact more people need to face, too" it comes across to me as just a self-defeating prophesy as in "Look, this can't be done. You just have to accept that." Who are any of us to say they will never face justice? As a matter of fact, I've seen a lot of recent developments that give me reason to think the exact opposite.

[polmaven]

12. Maybe YOU don't know it for certain,

but you can bet the Speaker knows it. I have actually discussed this with my Congressman. He told me there was NO WAY that either of them could have been convicted in the Senate.

You do realize it takes 67 votes to do that, right? Do you REALLY think there were 18 Republican Senators who would have voted to remove these criminals? We're talking REPUBLICANS here.

What do you suppose they would have thought after acquittal? "Well, the Senate obviously thinks that what we have done is right an just....we evidently have just been given a free hand to go even further". That's what I think would have happened.

Speaker Pelosi was right, and saved the country from even more grief than we already have.

[wiggs]

11. Good point. And to some degree, failure to even try to impeach and convict

caused congress to co-own Bush's misdeeds. Complicity has definitely been in the air. You can't say that about the Illinois legislature.

So Obama should take note....failure to investigate and perhaps prosecute brings ownership in the crime.

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. Poor comparison

Bush had the unquestioning support of his party, and the votes were not there, they were never there, and whingeing about what you think Pelosi or anyone else ought to have done doesn't change that.