Just like in 2006, Pelosi is afraid to exercise her constitutional responsibility to hold corrupt presidents accountable for their malfeasance & corruption. She refused to hold GW accountable for fabricating evidence to start the Iraq war & she refuses to hold Trump accountable.
We supported impeachment of Bully Boy Bush. We called out Nancy Pelosi for not allowing John Conyers to move forward on this.
All these years later, was she right to take impeachment off the table?
The argument that supports Nancy the most is that Democrats needed to win. She's undercut by the fact that Democrats had just won (in the 2006 mid-terms) control of both houses of Congress. So her eyes were on the White House.
That's worth noting because some are angry that she's not calling for Donald Trump's impeachment (she's saying there should be hearings first to explore various issues). Is it the same as 2007?
No, it's not.
The fear is that impeaching Trump (or trying) could result in the same sympathy response that Bill Clinton (and the Democrats) received when the GOP was going after Bill.
That was not an issue in 2007.
Bully Boy Bush was occupying the White House for a second term. There would be no re-election. Looking back from today, we know Dick Cheney does not seek to continue the BBB administration by running for the presidency. (The 2008 Republican candidate, for any who have forgotten, was the hideous John McCain.)
This is different from today. Donald Trump plans to run for re-election. Impeaching him and removing him from office might stop him from running for another term. (It might not. There's nothing in the Constitution that says a president removed from office can never run for re-election.) But the Senate is controlled by Republicans. Removal from office is no sure thing. (Equally true, removal from office puts Mike Pence in charge and Mike Pence is dangerous -- especially as a sitting president running for re-election.)
Creating sympathy for Donald is a given should impeachment be pursued. Again, it would be the Clinton effect that saw big losses for Republicans after they impeached Bill Clinton.
Republicans, back then, were seen as wasting the country's time and money and not focusing on the issues effecting the American people.
Congressional Democrats swore that Robert Mueller would find collusion with the Russian government (Mueller didn't). They swore Trump was going down for this and for that. It didn't come to pass. Instead of accepting their losses, they now scream for this or that, threaten to arrest the Attorney General of the United States and so much more.
Frankly, they look a little unhinged. They also appear to be focused on everything but the American people. That's not a good look with elections 18 months away.
And the Democratic Party's presidential candidates? They need to stop obsessing over Donald Trump and start presenting their plans for how they would govern. Hillary Clinton failed at her strategy of vote-for-me-he's-worse. That's not a winning strategy. Showing the people the difference you would make as president? That's how you win votes. Democratic candidates need to stop campaigning in response to Donald. They're giving him too much power and failing to define themselves.
So was Nancy right or wrong in 2007?
We'd argue she was wrong because an illegal war -- one you lie the world into -- is an impeachable offense. We'd argue she was wrong because there was no threat of another term in the White House for Bully Boy Bush. We'd argue she was wrong because the country had turned against the Iraq War.
In fairness, we'd argue she may have been right on one aspect: There may not have been votes to impeach Bully Boy Bush or to remove him from office.
All Democrats did not vote against the Iraq War.
Removing him from office would have required that John Kerry (I-was-for-the-war-before-I-was-against-it), Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and so many others who supported the Iraq War were willing to now admit what a mistake it was. None of those people are particularly known for owning their mistakes. For that reason, Nancy Pelosi may have been right to bury impeachment then. We'd argue she needs to bury it now.
