HALF the House needed to impeach. ALL the House is up for re-election.

[mdmc]

Perhaps the framers of the Constitution had a good idea with the two year terms. Keep their feet to the fire!
Request a "yes" vote from your Congressman and his political challenger. Listen as they either defend Bush as noble, or defend his behavior as something less then criminal. Then make your choice - 1]who to vote for and 2]who to spend your hard earned money, time and, passion working to get elected.

I bet some congresscritters will toss Kucinich a bone here.

[chknltl]

1. Yep! I reminded my congressman of this just the other day.

He responded with a form letter BUT then he voted to send the Kucinich referendum to the Judiciary. (No Dem voted against). I will remind him of this again...and so should every DUer do the same for their Congressmen and Congresswomen. (INCLUDING and especially Madam Speaker)

[tuggle]

2. I think it works both ways for them...

If they are up for re election and they vote for impeachment, they could lose support elsewhere - fellow congress members, donors, state legislators. If all dems decide to do it, they are a strong force, but a few brave members, without the whole group, it looks ridiculous.

[chknltl]

4. Yes, they DO INDEED risk what you say....

...in order to uphold their very oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

Or they could worry more about keeping their jobs and maintaining the gravy-train status quo at the expense of our Constitution. As a member of the electorate, my duty to my country is quite clear: "I support and vote for those who take that oath of office seriously!" I do NOT desire to support those whom I feel take this oath non-seriously and will only vote for such a coward IF the alternative is someone worse for my country.

I understand compromise too, Senator Obama by rights should fall into the category of not getting my support. He seeks to distance himself from impeachment. He HAS made a statement which gives me hope that he IS taking his oath somewhat seriously: He promises to put his AG to the task of reviewing any crimes the bush administration may have committed and if any are found he will use the Constitution as his guide on how to proceed. That is my compromise in why I support Senator Obama...for now. He has many other traits going for him that I also like but the willingness to pursue honest criminal accountability is my bottom line. If possible I will actively help to hold a President Obama to his promise. Should he fail in keeping this promise I will be one of the many here who will be screaming foul again regardless of everything else.

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Beautiful.

Most of us on DU want impeachment, but we aren't the only ones who vote in this country.

We are going to have to convince our right-wing friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers that impeachment is our duty as citizens.

And hopefully, they will convince their Congress critters to vote for it, or at the very least not block it.

We have a lot of work to do.

[JDPriestly]

5. It is precisely because the House is up for election so often and

because the members of the House are relatively numerous that the task of impeachment is given to it. The House is considered closer to the people. Read Federalist Paper No. 65.

[tuggle]

6. That's an EXCELLENT point!