Reply #19: sounds pretty [View All]

and I agree that we must never allow these constitutional depredations to occur again. But:

(a) the Clinton impeachment did nothing to prevent politicians from continuing to engage in untoward sexual liaisons or even, as we have seen of late, lying to a grand jury

(b) serious breaches of constiutionality have occurred in the past in our nation's history--from the blacklisting of the Army McCarthy hearings to the internment of US citizens during World War II to the Iran-Contra debacle of the former Bush administration ... and reaching all the way back into our earliest days. It was not the institution of impeachment that ended these practices and prevented their recurrence. It was the public realization of their inherent wrongness itself that was the corrective, and the self-correcting nature of democracy.

So in the end, as I reiterate--I would love to see these guys impeached. I am not particularly in favor of impeachment that is merely making a statement. Impeachment without removal will never end the crimes at issue--because the Bush administration has taught us one thing: when a president/v-p is determined to govern without caring about opinion or approval--or even reality-- no amount of knuckle-rapping will make a dent in their practices or the future practices of another evil-minded administration.. It could happen again, even with impeachment.

Sadly, I think if the Clinton impeachment hadn't happened, the story would be different. It has effectively put a damper on the whole idea of impeachment. I wonder if that's why they did it.