35 charges against Bush. 32,721 words. 251 votes against debate. One oath of office, ignored.

[openspace4life]

This is how bad it's gotten: 166 House Republicans cast the only votes in favor of taking serious action by opening a debate of the full House of Representatives on the thirty-five Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush introduced by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) on Monday. The idea was "to highlight the ability of the 'loony left,' in the words of a Republican aide, to force a debate and distract the House from pressing issues like gas prices and funding for the Iraq war." (The Hill) And while "Kucinich himself made the motion to send it to the [Judiciary] committee, saying his detailed allegations should be weighed in a hearing" (ibid), the prevailing view seems to be that the resolution is effectively dead.

It's worth noting, in response to that aide's snarky comment, that pushing through more billions for an illegal and unwinnable* war, which doubtless has played a major role in pushing gas prices through the roof, isn't a particularly productive use of the House's time either. The above article from The Hill also claims that "Republicans suffered politically from the impeachment of President Clinton," providing another easily refuted rationale for leading Democrats' aversion to impeachment. But that's not the point. The point is this:

"As required by Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, Members of Congress shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Representatives, delegates, and the resident commissioner all take the oath of office on the first day of the new Congress, immediately after the House has elected its Speaker. The Speaker of the House administers the oath of office as follows:

"'I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or 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.'" (Question 3 on a House.gov FAQ page)

Given that all 35 of Kucinich's Articles make reference to violations of the Constitution, it doesn't matter how distracting or politically inconvenient impeachment would be; it is quite simply the duty of Congress to investigate these charges. But of course they never will. Kucinich plans to reintroduce his resolution in 30 days if and when the Judiciary Committee fails to hold any hearing on it, but of course there is every reason to suspect that it will just suffer the same fate again.  Which begs the question: is there a way to impeach Congress?

If you're inclined to dismiss all this as a justifiable attempt on the House's part to ignore a set of patently ludicrous claims, please at least read the list of Article headings below, noting that if even one of them has merit, it serves as sufficient grounds for impeachment: 

Article I: Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.

Article II: Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.

Article III: Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.

Article IV: Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.

Article V: Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.

Article VI: Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of H. J. Res114.

Article VII: Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII: Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.

Article IX: Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor.

Article X: Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes.

Article XI: Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq.

Article XII: Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources.

Article XIII: Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries.

Article XIV: Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Article XV: Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq.

Article XVI: Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors.

Article XVII: Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives.

Article XVIII: Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy.

Article XIX: Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture.

Article XX: Imprisoning Children [as enemy combatants].

Article XXI: Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government.

Article XXII: Creating Secret Laws.

Article XXIII: Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Article XXIV: Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment.

Article XXV: Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens.

Article XXVI: Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements.

Article XXVII: Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply.

Article XXVIII: Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice.

Article XXIX: Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Article XXX: Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare.

Article XXXI: Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency.

Article XXXII: Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change.

Article XXXIII: Repeatedly Ignoring and Failing to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 9/11.

Article XXXIV: Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001.

Article XXXV: Endangering the Health of 9/11 First Responders.

*What I mean by this is that we can't win the goal of a stable Iraq by continuing to treat the problem as a war.  There is another way to achieve this goal.   By starting troop withdrawals and scratching plans for permanent bases, we can gain the cooperation we need from groups who currently view us as an imperialist occupation.  That's the only way I can see to make political progress, short of committing to bankrupt our nation over the next decade or more by trying to defeat every insurgent group in Iraq by force of arms.