I think that Bush and Cheney should stay in the White House

[question everything]

to finish their term.

Bear with me while I am trying to explain.

Nixon had to leave office, but ended up being respected as "elder statesman." OK, perhaps not by DUers, but by the country in general.

Clinton's approval rating soared after his impeachment and he has been as popular as ever.

Thus, I think that if Bush stays to complete his term, he will never recover. His presidency will forever be remembered as the one behind the fiasco in Iraq, behind losing Afghanistan, losing the support of the whole world after 9/11, soaring deficit, increasing the gap between the haves and have not, Katrina and now Walter Reed and next..

If he is impeached and is forced to leave office early (and, the way Congress moves, I don't think that this can take place before January 2009) he, and his followers, will always be able to claim "partisan politics" and to raise some sympathy.

One problem, of course, is every day that Bush is still the president more soldiers get killed in Iraq however if Cheney succeeds him, or, if, as with Agnew, Cheney leaves first, whoever replaces them, a Republican, is not going to stop everything and bring the troops homes.

[TomInTib]

1. Goddamned right...

let the bastards strangle on their own vomit.


Fuck 'em.

Let them stand on it.

[ninkasi]

2. With all due respect

I'm less concerned with how he'll be remembered, than the amount of damage he can inflict upon the country if he stays. I don't remember Nixon ever having respect as an elder statesman, although it's possible that it just escaped my attention. I was 31 when Nixon resigned, and can honestly say that as bad as he was, Bush/Cheney are many, many times worse.

His hardcore followers are probably hovering around 25% now, and due to the popularity he enjoyed after the trauma of 9-11, I think that the many who jumped on his bandwagon back then, are bitter about being duped now. No, impeach, convict, and imprison, for the good of our country, and the preservation and restoration of the Constitution.

I am quite frankly sick of worrying about being accused of "partisan politics." They've beat us over the head enough over that, and I truly believe the country wants Bushco out, and for us to be restored to being America, instead of Amerika.

[GregD]

3. I am quite frankly sick of worrying about being accused of "partisan politics."

I, OTOH, am simply sick and tired of worrying. Every freaking morning I wake up I worry about what damage the bastards will do today, or did yesterday.

Impeach, convict, imprison. Screw them. And screw the political consequences. They crossed every possible line. America wants them out.

[Jack Sprat]

4. Respectfully disagree.

This far surpasses Watergate in every way. Not only was there a cover-up, the cover-up did not start and end with Scooter Libby. This is just a piece of bigger crime puzzle, though. This covers the outing of a CIA operative, but lead into something way more serious. Building a case for against a sovereign nation considerable false intelligence was ignored and withheld from Congress. Since going to war, over 3000 US deaths, some 500,000 Iraqi deaths, torture of our prisoners. All combined it damages our reputation all over the globe. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, and Rice should all face international crime courts, as well as charges in our courts. I am now convinced they are guilty of crimes greater than Saddam Hussein had committed.

We owe some sort of justice to mankind as a whole, for the death, for the torture, for theft of Iraq's oil, and an unprovoked attack against a weak country where an estimated 500,000 have died as a result.

[global1]

5. I Still See A Group Of Repugs Going To The WH And Giving * The Opportunity To Resign......

before they themselves start the 'impeachment' process. This Libby conviction is just another nail in *Co's coffin and as such - another nail in the coffin of the Repug party. The Repugs have to do something or they will not only lose the Presidency in '08 but they will lose big in both the Senate and the House. They will not have enough votes in either chamber to stop the Dems. There will be no more non-binding resolutions after '08.

It's getting beyond ridiculous for any Repug to take the party line and spew the Repug talking points that *Co wants them to. The talking points are becoming indefensible and making those that spew them look like the same kind of raving maniacs that are running the WH.

I think more Repugs will begin to align under a Chuck Hagel and if so - *Co is in its last throes.

[Cobalt-60]

6. They probably will stay there

They're entrenched and determined criminals.
Let's keep Cheney talking. Every time that horrid man speaks the Republicons come a little closer to extinction.
As far as the Chimp goes, it's hard to say. On one had every thing he does complements the destructive activities of his master , the Vice President.
On the other hand, he is doing great damage. This idiot needs to be occupied with something relatively meaningless until its too late. A two year seminar on flag burning with a daily farting contest might do it.