Reply #16: Your question is wrongly stated

[frazzled]

Very few "oppose" impeachment. That is setting up the kind of false wording we see so often in various opinion polls. The preponderance of people on this board (and in Congress) who question the wisdom of impeachment proceedings base their arguments on the efficacy of the process. Everyone believes Cheney/Bush have flouted the Constitution and committed crimes. No one doubts that with a Democratic majority in the House, impeachment could be achieved: No one with any sense believes that a 2/3 majority (67 votes) could be gotten to convict and remove from office. Impeachment without conviction, as we saw with the Clinton charade, and 25 cents will get you a ride on the bus, and little else. It is not, as some impeachment-hounds have claimed, a deterrent to future administrations; it is not the only "teachable moment" available in the arsenal of tools at our disposal; and it is hugely time consuming: other issues, such as ending the war and fixing domestic policy, would necessarily be slowed down.

Of course everyone would be thrilled if Cheney and Bush would be removed from office (as opposed to merely getting the wrist slap of "impeachment"). But a show-trial impeachment that could not result in that outcome (a veritable certainty, given the current configuration of the Senate) would be an enormous waste of resources and achieve little. Congressional investigations can shine the same light on the corruption of this administration, and possibly uncover some sure-fire Capone-like tax-evasion gotcha that could result in actual resignation or removal. But don't count on it: what we are up against is an administration that has no respect for any law, much less the approbation of Congress. That is why impeachment seems pretty useless: it's as if the Reichstag decided they should impeach Hitler: that would have worked to stop him, right? Not.

What we have to realize is that we have a totalitarian regime on which such niceties of law are completely beside the point. They have no shame and they will not relent--nor will their party (short of some incontrovertible evidence such as finding a dead boy in Cheney's bed) turn against them. It's a sad state of affairs, the likes of which we've never seen before. But some of us apprise that it is the actual one, and that our efforts should be placed on stopping the depredations rather than holding a show trial.

If impeachment or its effects looked more promising, I'd change my tune in a second. I've been fighting these people and their outrages for seven years. No one understands their crimes better. It's insulting to have it suggested that people like Russ Feingold are being "puppets" or "wimps" when they question the efficacy of impeachment proceedings.