Newsweek (via Kos): 51% of Americans support impeachment

[Mark E. Smith]

Sat Oct 21, 2006

Remember all the pundits laughing at the notion of impeaching president Bush? Remember all the
pollsters refusing to even ask that question in their oh so serious polls? Well, a majority now approves of
Democratic plans to impeach president George W. Bush. 28% think it should be a high priority, 23% think
it should be a lower priority, 44% disapprove of the idea. Wow.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/21/132813/35

American democracy will be reborn the day a jail cell is slammed shut in the face of George W. Bush.

[rodeodance]

1. hey hey-----its a Mandate!

[NVMojo]

2. and, boy, do those neocons need a mandate!

[krispos42]

15. They need a mandate from the yardarm of the USS Constitution

Is that not the traditional punishment for traitors?

Very fitting, very fitting indeed.

[Rocknrule]

27. Besides one that's a 16-year old page

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I hope Bush and his stooges find their mandates

in Leavenworth.

[otohara]

4. President Cheney

makes me shutter at the thought!

[llmart]

5. Oh, don't worry......

Dickhead Cheney would go down with the Idiot-in-Chief.

[pat_k]

8. Every official who subscribes to the fascist fig leaf of Bush as unitary

. . . authoritarian executive is a clear and present danger to our constitutional democracy.

Members of Congress are sworn to defend the Constitution. Impeachment is the weapon we gave them to fulfill their oath when the attack comes from within the halls of power.

Impeachment must start with Bush and Cheney, but it cannot end there. Alito, Addington, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, on and on. . . the list of promoters of the fascist fantasy of a "unitary executive" is VERY long -- and each and every one poses an intolerable threat as long as they wield power.

[krispos42]

19. Yeah, they love all of Article 2 except Section 4

They gloss over that part quite a bit.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

[krispos42]

17. Dual impeachment

Give'em Article 2, Section 4 with BOTH barrels! Kinda like Cheney gave his hunting buddy last year...

+

=

[allisonthegreat]

6. Hope it works...n/t

[AJ9000]

32. It'll have a better chance if there is an investigation first to show the

public what these guys have really been up to, if the media will report it fairly.

[pat_k]

7. Just imagine what % would be if leaders in Congress were giving voice to.

. . .the anger, telling the truth about Bush and Cheney in unequivocal terms, and calling on their colleagues to rescue the Constitution from further destruction by impeaching and removing the destroyers?

Seeing more than 50% despite and SILENCE and counter-propaganda means we are looking at a potential tidal wave.

Bush and Cheney could be out so fast the DC analstocracy wouldn't know what hit them. When the threat of impeachment becomes real there is every reason to believe the demands from our leaders would open the floodgates and release a deafening roar from the electorate. In short order, we could see the Republican leadership taking a little trip up to the WH to say "Sorry boys, the jig's up."

[pat_k]

9. "American democracy will be reborn the day. . ."

. . .Bush and Cheney are impeached and removed from power.

Impeachment is a defensive act. When officials in the executive or judiciary put our common contract (i.e., the Constitution of the United States of America) into breach, impeachment is the mechanism we defined to reassert the terms.

Indictment, prosecution in court, judgment, and punishment must follow, but it is through impeachment and removal that our constitutional democracy is "reborn."

[electron_blue]

10. Considering that most of us didn't want him in the first place, this is

not really surprising, is it?

[pat_k]

24. It is amazing. Despite the unanimous "company line" against Impeachment.

. . .you can only get 44% to say "Impeaching George W. Bush should not be done"?

There is NOTHING partisan about rescuing our constitutional democracy, but the question is asked in the context of "What the Dems should do."

"As I read you some things the Democrats might do over the next two years if they take control of Congress, please tell me if you think each should be one of their TOP priorities, a lower priority, or should not be done at all. . . .Impeaching George W. Bush

Even in this biasing context, you can't get more than 44% to say "shouldn't do it" to impeachment?

Tragically, Democratic leaders have been talking DOWN impeachment -- not much of an "agenda item" when it is something you say you "Don't have time for."

The propaganda has been 100% the other way. Despite the "Shouldn't be done" drum beat coming from Democratic candidates and leaders and the "Impeachment would be the end of the world" drumbeat coming from the Republicans, ONLY 44% of Americans think it shouldn't be done?!

It is mind-boggling.

This poll gives us the floor. If our leaders actually took up the fight to defend the Constitution against Bush and Cheney and put the lid on the "Oh, no, impeachment would be Teerrrribllle" crap coming from "our side" the numbers would skyrocket.

[burrowowl]

11. If Dems get in may

they IMPEACH ALL OF THEM!

[Vidar]

12. After the removal of Bush & Cheney (& thus the possibility of

pardon), the trial for treason begin.

[lynne]

13. There is no mention of impeachment in the Newsweek article at the link -

- what am I missing? I've read it 3 times and there is NO mention of impeachment anywhere.

:shrug:

[Beetwasher]

14. It's On Page 2

"Other parts of a potential Democratic agenda receive less support, especially calls to impeach Bush: 47 percent of Democrats say that should be a “top priority,” but only 28 percent of all Americans say it should be, 23 percent say it should be a lower priority and nearly half, 44 percent, say it should not be done. (Five percent of Republicans say it should be a top priority and 15 percent of Republicans say it should be a lower priority; 78 percent oppose impeachment.) Rolling back some of the Bush tax cuts would be contentious too: 38 percent of Americans say the Dems should make that a top priority; 28 percent say it should be a lower priority; and 28 percent say it shouldn’t be done at all."

[lynne]

18. Thanks - I thought the article ended above the comment box -

- I didn't see the link to the 2nd page. My bad!

[barb162]

28. You're right. No mention of impeachment in the article

Sometimes the Kos crowd gets a bit carried away

[BadGimp]

16. wait till it starts and the evidence starts to dribble out..

eom

[screenplaya]

20. The couple that meets with the 9/11 commission together...

...gets impeached together. And how about taking their pensions, too?

[leesa]

21. And people on this board will still say it's a stupid idea.

It's their JOB to impeach this criminal.

[AnnieBW]

22. How Many In Favor Of Impeaching Clenis?

At the height of the Monica scandal, how many Americans were in favor of impeaching the Big Dog? I don't remember.

[pat_k]

25. Massive "impeach Clinton" propaganda push couldn't get more than 30%. . .

. . .and we've got 51% who want impeachment to be a priority even with 100% of the establishment saying "shouldn't impeach," "don't have time to impeach," "Impeachment would be terrriibbllle!". . .

Remember back at the very beginning of the "Monica scandal"? The insiders -- including the so-called "objective" pundidiots -- were gleefully predicting that Clinton would be out within a week.

If the threat of impeaching Bush and Cheney becomes real we'll probably start hearing similar predictions of "he's toast" -- but this time the predictions will actually reflect reality.

[anotherdrew]

33. "impeaching Bush and Cheney"is key, they must both be charged n/t

[pat_k]

39. Yes. Meant "they're toast" (not "he's toast")

. . .It is par for the course, but nevertheless maddening to hear the pund-idiots and so-called "strategists" talk about the damage of a "lengthy and painful process of impeachment."

When members of Congress abused their power to impeach Clinton, not to defend the Constitution, but to overturn an election, the beltway "conventional wisdom" (which is the opposite of reality with nearly 100% consistency) was initially "He'll resign any second now."

Now, when Bush and Cheney whose abuses are considered "legendary" (forgot the name of the guy, but recently heard this out of one of the growing number of reformed "conservatives") there is as much, or more, reason to believe they would bow out the minute the threat of impeachment became real.

The fascists don't want the day-in and day-out "debates" on the news/entertainment shows to be:

• "Did the War Criminals Protection Act destroy the Constitution?"
• "When they invoke Bush as unitary authoritarian executive are they confessing to high crimes?"
• "Are they War Criminals? (an easy argument given the SCOTUS ruling that they had been committing war crimes for years with their inhuman 'commissions')"
• "Is the Hague on the verge of issuing indictments?"

Whether the attacks are accurate or inaccurate, when someone takes on a defensive position they are on the attacker's turf. ("I am not a crook" = "People think Nixon is a crook?" = "Don't think of an elephant")

The more I consider it, a "long drawn out impeachment" is extremely unlikely.

[Temporary1]

23. Someone let Pelosi and Reid know that

And let them know loudly.

[upi402]

31. Agreed n/t

[pat_k]

26. Newsweek poll complete results

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-21-2006/0004456423&EDATE=">Press Release w/full results

The following details on the impeachment question were compiled from the above.






--------------
BTW, http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/October%202006/EvangelicalChristiansFoley.htm">Rasmussen finds that:
37.5% identify as Democrats
32.4% identify as Republicans
(When you take Independents out, this represents about a
1% shift from Repubs to Dems relative to the Newsweek percentages)

[barb162]

29. Check Newsweek. either the link is wrong

or the KOs poster is. No mention of impeachment

[Mark E. Smith]

35. See post 14

Page 2. It's there.

[upi402]

30. let god sort 'em out

in jail.

"Spitters on the left, swallowers on the right"

[onenote]

34. poll indicates aggressive pursuit of impeachment would be mistake

What the poll data suggests is that a substantial majority of Americans would not be happy if impeachment was aggressively pursued to the exclusion of, or detriment to the pursuit of, the "First 100 Hours agenda" matters that they feel are more important (lobbying reform, minimum wage, drug benefit). In other words, if the Democrats were to come out of the box treating impeachment as equally or more important than these other issues, they would pay a price with the voters. Investigations, which I've not seen the Democratic leadership rule out, are likely. And out of those investigations, the necessary momentum for pushing impeachment might develop. But the leadership is clearly in sync with the voters in downplaying talk of impeachment at this point.

[Ian David]

40. Impeachment could wait for hour number 101. n/t

[eviltwin2525]

36. Impeach them all together

Nothing in the Constitution prohibits or implies that a President, a VP, and a Sec of Defense can't be impeached and tried in a combined trial. It happens plenty of times in criminal cases. And who can think of anything more criminal than what they've done to the Constitution?

[gorbal]

37. And I bet most of those that disapprove

want us to consentrate our efforts on voting him out of office. Impeachment would take a long time and much energy, and by the time we are finished it will be time for the elections anyway. We'll have dragged Bush through the muck, for sure, but then here comes McCain, hero of the Republican party to pick up the pieces, if he is up against Clinton we are sure to have a third party candidate taking a chunk of the vote....then...back to the matrix we go.

[NotGivingUp]

38. i say very high priority. he has done so much to destroy this

country.

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

41. My only concern is Iraq

If impeachment could be achieved without losing focus on Iraq, then I'm all for it. If t would just make a disaster more disastrous, then I would opt for waiting for 2008. If impeachment has enough support, that tells me the 08 election is a foregone conclusion.

[stepnw1f]

42. Impeachment? How about Imprisonment for Life?

I do not believe the number is split as evenly as this poll claims.

[shadowknows69]

43. Hey Congress

You have a 12% approval rating. 51% of the country wants you to impeach the criminals. Do the math. Your numbers only get better.

[goforit]

44. Impeachment? I think imprisonment is in order.

Starting with the inhumane downing of the WTC!!!

[tblue]

45. How about waterboarding? It's legal now.

[Zybelline]

47. send neocons to Guantanamo !

promise to provide them with Bibles

[Zhade]

46. And yet DLCers have suggested we avoid bringing it up.

Whose side are they on, anyway?

Not the majority's, that's for sure.

[havocmom]

48. Start with Cheney. Go DOWN the line of succession a long way

THEN nail the chimp.