Bush Impeachment Buzz Gains Momentum

The "I" word has been all the buzz for almost a year, but the persistent buzz turned to action, PACs and open calls for impeachment in December 2005.

Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), a pastor and 40-year civil rights leader, became the first member of Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against President Bush when he stated "if he broke the law in authorizing spying on Americans."

According to AP, Lewis said on a December 19, 2005 radio interview, " 'Its a very serious charge, but he violated the law....He deliberately, systematically violated the law. He is not King, he is president' "
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Also last week, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) asked four respected presidential scholars for their legal opinions on former White House Counsel John Dean’s statement that President Bush admitted to an “impeachable offense” when he said he authorized the National Security Agency to spy on Americans without getting a warrant from a judge.

The four distinguished law professors consulted by Senator Boxer are:
-- Professor Cass Sunstein, University of Chicago Law School
-- Professor Bruce Ackerman, Yale University
-- Professor Susan Low Bloch, Georgetown University Law Center
-- Michael Gerhardt, College of William and Mary School of Law

Said the Senator “I take very seriously Mr. Dean’s comments, as I view him to be an expert on Presidential abuse of power. I am expecting a full airing of this matter by the Senate in the very near future.”
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There is an Impeach Bush Coalition, complete with a heavily-trafficked Impeach Bush Coalition blog.

ImpeachPAC was recently established by Democrats.com founder and liberal leader Bob Fertik and others to "support Democratic candidates for Congress who support the immediate and simultaneous impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for their Iraq War lies." The PAC has already attracted tens of thousands in online contributions and serves as the informal "go to" site for impeachment news and info.
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And all this impeachment buzz has occurred since a nationwide poll was conducted from October 29 to November 2 by Zogby, the highly-regarded non-partisan polling company. In that poll, by a margin of 53% to 42%, Americans wanted Congress to impeach President Bush if he lied about the war in Iraq.

This Zogby poll, of course, was taken before the President's revelation that, without legally-mandated judicial permission or oversight, he personally authorized telephone wiretaps on untold thousands...perhaps millions...of Americans.

Expect impeachment buzz to grow before the House of Representatives reconvenes on January 4, 2006. Although the Senate doesn't formally reconvene until January 18, 2005, hearings on various matters, including the Alito confirmation, start several weeks earlier.

It wouldn't surprise me if the "I" word was prominently mentioned on Capitol Hill in January. I will keep you posted on the latest word....
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