The I-Word

Posted by Melissa McEwan at 5:52 AM on April 25, 2006.

NOTE: For the whole scoop on state impeachment initiatives go HERE.

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In Illinois and California, state legislators have introduced proposals to impeach President Bush; California provides for impeaching Vice President Cheney as well.

Background on the rationale (via Gordon; emphasis mine):

The Illinois General Assembly is about to rock the nation. Members of state legislatures are normally not considered as having the ability to decide issues with a massive impact to the nation as a whole. Representative Karen A. Yarbrough of Illinois' 7th District is about to shatter that perception forever. Representative Yarbrough stumbled on a little known and never utilized rule of the US House of Representatives, Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature. From there, Illinois House Joint Resolution 125 (hereafter to be referred to as HJR0125) was born.

Detailing five specific charges against President Bush including one that is specified to be a felony, the complete text of HJR0125 is copied below at the end of this article. One of the interesting points is that one of the items, the one specified as a felony, that the NSA was directed by the President to spy on American citizens without warrant, is not in dispute. That fact should prove an interesting dilemma for a Republican controlled US House that clearly is not only loathe to initiate impeachment proceedings, but does not even want to thoroughly investigate any of the five items brought up by the Illinois Assembly as high crimes and/or misdemeanors. Should HJR0125 be passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the US House will be forced by House Rules to take up the issue of impeachment as a privileged bill, meaning it will take precedence over other House business.

Green Mountain Daily reports that Vermont is following suit, with State Rep. David Zuckerman having updated his previous call for impeachment.

Though these state resolutions have slim chance of passing through their respective legislatures, they do, regardless of conservative wailing to the contrary, represent a growing sentiment among the larger populace. On April 14, the LA Times referenced recent polling that found 33% of repondents thought Bush should be impeached. Meanwhile, the most recent CNN poll finds only 32% of Americans giving Bush a positive approval rating. Bearing in mind the usual margin of error caveats, this could mean there are more Americans who now support impeaching the president than believe he is doing a good job.

(AfterDowningStreet, Alternate Brain, Green Mountain Daily)

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Melissa McEwan writes and edits the blog Shakespeare's Sister.