Houston Democrats

Like most people I know, I get all giddy when the word impeachment gets tossed around without any antecedent mention of the word semen. But I'm a poliactive person; I get a thrill out of seeing government in action. I won't pretend that most people feel the same. In general, people--including most people who voted against Bush last time--don't want to see an impeachment happen.

It's a heavy thing and voters don't want to see it used for frivolous purposes. Unless your memory stretches back to before the Love Boat, you don't have a recollection of a presidential impeachment that wasn't frivolous, callous, and motivated by petty partisan tribalism. As a people, we American don't like it and are wary of those who propose using it too quickly.

Before you undo a whole election (and install Dick Cheney in the White House, by the way) there's a number of steps that we ought to go thru first. These including hearings, deliberations, public debate, and sundry other democratic mechanisms designed to prevent us from having such a monumental show down. Avoiding impeachment, on the other hand, would be pretty easy right now. The president could do this:

First, declare his presidency represents an affirmation of the principle of transparent government. He could open all his records on the actions he took for Congressional review and, where appropriate, release to the public such details that let us in on the thinking in the White House that brought them to evesdrop on American citizens without court orders.

Next, he could direct all administration officials to fully cooperate with the Senate and House investigations of these incidents and encourage the nation's lawmakers to have a full debate on the propriety of these actions.

After the Congress affirms, as it must, that the president in his overly zealous pursuit of national security broke the law, the president can come before the people and give a heartfelt apology. He could recognize that, while he believed at the time that he had the right to snoop on the communications of suspected terrorists, he sees now that he was wrong and asks for our forgiveness.

That's what a mensch would do. I won't hold my breath.

There's one other step that we, as a nation, must go thru before we can even begin to consider impeachment a viable option. We have to elect a Congress controlled by lawmakers who love the Constitution more than they love their own party.