I agree that those who ran on an impeachment platform, then said it was "off the table" or dragged their feet, need to be voted out as lying sacks of political baggage. Note that includes the Speaker of the House among others. I've been beyond disappointed in that clutch of political hacks.
That disappointment seems to be ill-founded, as no real purpose is served by tying up congress for a few weeks with an impeachment proceeding that they know beforehand is destined to be pointless in any practical sense.
So, to the real provocative issue - if it's perhaps empty to impeach someone who will soon be out of office, is it an even-emptier gesture to impeach someone after they are out of office? That's a more complicated question than one quick comment suggests!
No, that question still seems fairly simple. If, in the extant case, it would be an empty gesture to impeach W or Cheney or both, then I fail to understand how it could be any less empty even given some possible future congress (fivethirtyeight.com says that there's around a 14% chance!) where it is even possible to do so.
I believe that the purpose of government is not, as they seem to have thought for the last twelve years or so, pointless petty partisan bickering, but instead TO GOVERN. I'm ashamed that the Republicans lost track of this during the drive to impeach Clinton, and I will be severely disappointed if the Democrats manage to lose track of it anytime soon.
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I agree that those who ran on an impeachment platform, then said it was "off the table" or dragged their feet, need to be voted out as lying sacks of political baggage. Note that includes the Speaker of the House among others. I've been beyond disappointed in that clutch of political hacks.
That disappointment seems to be ill-founded, as no real purpose is served by tying up congress for a few weeks with an impeachment proceeding that they know beforehand is destined to be pointless in any practical sense.
So, to the real provocative issue - if it's perhaps empty to impeach someone who will soon be out of office, is it an even-emptier gesture to impeach someone after they are out of office? That's a more complicated question than one quick comment suggests!
No, that question still seems fairly simple. If, in the extant case, it would be an empty gesture to impeach W or Cheney or both, then I fail to understand how it could be any less empty even given some possible future congress (fivethirtyeight.com says that there's around a 14% chance!) where it is even possible to do so.
I believe that the purpose of government is not, as they seem to have thought for the last twelve years or so, pointless petty partisan bickering, but instead TO GOVERN. I'm ashamed that the Republicans lost track of this during the drive to impeach Clinton, and I will be severely disappointed if the Democrats manage to lose track of it anytime soon.