Support For Impeachment Grows

Some people thought I was crazy for raising the idea of impeaching Bush for violating federal wire tap restrictions. But, support for impeachment is growing. From Roll Call:

On the seventh anniversary of the House’s decision to impeach then-President Bill Clinton, a pair of leading Congressional Democrats raised the specter of impeachment regarding President Bush’s authorization of domestic spying by the National Security Agency.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Monday sent a letter to legal scholars asking their opinion of whether Bush’s actions, revealed last week, amount to an unconstitutional action that warrants Congress considering impeachment proceedings.

Boxer, the Chief Deputy Minority Whip, appeared on a radio program over the weekend with Nixon White House Counsel John Dean, who said that the NSA executive order was an impeachable offense. Boxer said Dean’s statement prompted her to consider the matter and issue the letter to other legal scholars, asking their opinion on the matter and vowing to see the issue explored in the Senate.

[snip]

Boxer’s letter came on the same day that Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who is currently Senior Chief Deputy Minority Whip for House Democrats, flatly accused Bush of breaking the law and signaling that impeachment proceedings should be considered.

“He violated the law,” Lewis said in a radio interview in Atlanta. “The president should abide by the law. He deliberately, systematically violated the law. He is not king, he is president.”

[snip]

Top Senate Republicans considered even the talk of impeachment to be irresponsible, saying so many facts about the NSA program were still not known. “It’s irresponsible to even be talking in such terms before any of the facts are on the table,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said.

“That’s utterly absurd, utterly absurd,” Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) echoed.

[snip]

The issue has struck a chord in Congress, with even leading Republicans worried about the constitutional issues at hand. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said Monday that he was so far not sufficiently pleased with the explanations for the NSA authorization offered to him by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

“I’m skeptical of the attorney general’s citation of authority,” he told reporters Monday. However, Specter suggested that the route Congress needed to take was through hearings, both public and private, and then possibly legislation. He vowed to go straight to hearings on the NSA matter once the nominating process for Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito is concluded next month.

“I’m going to put it ahead of every other committee action,” he promised.

I'm as giddy as a 12-year old school girl. Down with King George!