Truth Hurts

by poputonian

A few commenters yesterday were unaware of why state legislative bodies are involved in impeachment resolutions. This column explains it well.

It’s the People of Washington vs. Pelosi et al

In the State of Washington, it is the people versus Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party leadership.

At issue is a bill, S8016, submitted in the state’s senate by freshman state Senator Eric Oemig, which would call on the U.S. Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against President George Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors against the Constitution and the people of the United States and of the State of Washington.

The measure, which would take the form of a joint resolution by the two houses of the Washington state legislature, accords with the instructions laid out by Founder Thomas Jefferson, who, in his Manual of the Rules of the House of Representatives laid out state joint resolutions as an alternative route for initiating presidential impeachment proceedings in the House in addition to the more usual route of a member submitting a bill of impeachment.

Jefferson’s prescient thinking was that if Congress, by reason of political cowardice or inattention, ever proved unwilling or unable to initiate impeachment when it was called for, state legislators, far from Washington and closer to the people, could do it for them.

But two unprincipled and devious Democratic members of Washington’s congressional delegation, Sen. Pat Murray and Rep. Jay Inslee, are undermining Jefferson’s carefully designed fail-safe system by pressuring Democratic state legislators to kill Sen. Oemig’s bill. The Seattle Times in a March 2 article, reports that Murray and Inslee are telling Democrats in the state senate to kill the impeachment bill on the grounds that it would lead to “divisiveness” in Washington, and that it would impede the “Democratic agenda” in Congress.

Forget grave spinning! This wholly inappropriate interference in state affairs by the state’s two leading national political figures must have Jefferson shitting in his mouldered pants!

Tough medicine, I know, for institutionalized Democrats who place party above people. But these otherwise fine and respectable pols go at risk when they do their higher up’s bidding instead of the people’s bidding.

For a perfect presentation to Senator Murray, please see this framing of the issue by jman.