The Impeachment of Vice President Cheney

Just when you thought the Democrats in charge of running the House of Representatives had received the message that the American people wanted them to govern, not posture, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) brought a resolution to the floor today in an effort to impeach the vice president. Now, I happen to like the congressman personally — he’s quirky, to be sure, but very passionate about his beliefs, something I respect. Having worked with Kucinich over the years when I was a member of former Rep. John Kasich’s (R-Ohio) staff, we got along rather well — a relationship that I’ve enjoyed to this day.

But impeaching the vice president of the United States? C’mon! There is a reason that the congressional approval rating is more than a dozen points lower than President Bush’s: They haven’t accomplished a darn thing all year. With constant bickering, the Congress has failed to send the president appropriations bills to fund the government for fiscal 2008 — a fiscal year that started Oct. 1. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) indicated this week that the Congress could be in session up until the week of Christmas. Lovely.

Not to be outdone, the House Judiciary Committee has cleared the way for the full House to vote on whether to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for their “refusal” to release documents relating to the dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys nearly a year ago. Never mind that such hirings and firings are at the complete discretion of the president for any reason, or no reason, whatsoever. Imagine the outrage if President Bush called on the office of Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) to obtain information regarding the personnel decisions of the congressman’s personal and committee staffs.

So, while there is a vacancy at the Justice Department for an attorney general, while Congress has refused to send bills funding the United States government for the current fiscal year and while our troops require vital resources to wage the war on terror — the Congress continues to dither on senseless resolutions to impeach the vice president. And they wonder why politicians are held in such low regard.