A Question of Bias

"The fact remains, however, that impeaching and convicting Bush means, in practice, only that Dick Cheney becomes President. In a weird way, it was the very trumped-up and trivial nature of the charges against Clinton that made impeachment plausible -- replacing Bill Clinton with Al Gore really would have had a material impact on the quantity of tomcatting in the executive branch. Removing Bush doesn't accomplish anything. I suppose you could impeach Cheney, and then impeach Bush before confirming a new vice president, and then Nancy Pelosi becomes president. And that, of course, is going to get 67 votes in the Senate sometime after they establish congressional representation for flying pigs."

In response, Ezra Klein:

"Impeachment proceedings, particularly in light of this poll (and we know how the media looooooves talking polls), should get some chattering class attention -- and not just in the 'those-crazy-liberals' sense. When it's 40 percent of the country, it ain't crazy. It's more than currently support the Iraq War, which the president insists on continuing, and given what a radical option impeachment is, such high rates of support deserve considerable examination.

"This is all different, to be sure, than whether we should actually impeach Bush. Unlike Matt, I'm actually more a fan of the Impeach Cheney option. Many of the worst abuses originated in his office, both polls and intuition suggest it's a more political appealing route, and the actual impacts of erasing Cheney would be considerably more positive than impeaching Bush and thus elevating Cheney."

Meteor Blades at Kos jumps in:

"Impeachment is the right remedy right now. But transforming it from blog-shriek into reality - if that can be done - will require a fresh approach. Those who want Richard Bruce Cheney and/or George Walker Bush (and possibly other high officials) impeached by the House of Representatives and tried by the Senate should stop pounding on Nancy Pelosi and concentrate on convincing the 23 people pictured below."

Those would be the members of the House Judiciary Committee.

When I see any sign that there is a glimmer of possibility this might happen, I'll let you know.

I confess I was unaware that there's a Man-Crush Primary going on, or that the Republicans are scoring big. American Prospect's J. Goodrich scores the action:

"Fred Thompson makes [Chris] Matthews . . . giddy. On a recent episode of Hardball, he wanted to know if his female guest found Thompson sexually attractive. This must be the case, given that Thompson looks 'seasoned and in charge of himself' and smells of English Leather, Aqua Velva or cigar smoke.

"Even Mitt Romney gets nods of approval from Matthews, who thinks he has a perfect chin and perfect hair, both apparently attributes of importance for a president . . .

"Who doesn't receive this kind of adulation? The Democratic candidates. Pundits don't laud John Edwards' perfect hair, they're still focused on a $400 haircut. Barack Obama, according to Maureen Dowd, is 'afraid of looking like a pretty boy,' and yet is 'drawing attention for his more superficial charms.' And Hillary Clinton, according to Chris Matthews, has a voice which reminds 'some men' of 'fingernails on a blackboard.' "

Remember Lisa Nowak, dubbed the "Astro-Nut" by the tabloids? Turns out, according to a newly released police interview, that she drove across the country to confront the other astronaut "because she wanted to know where she stood in the bizarre love triangle. So what if she was carrying pepper spray, a steel mallet, a 4-inch knife and a BB gun? It was all just a misunderstanding!"

Finally, I've noticed the last couple of times I've gone out on the trail that I'm wearing a tie--not my favorite article of clothing--and the presidential candidate isn't. Which brings me to BBC blogger Jeremy Paxman:

"Is it time for Newsnight men to stop wearing ties? It has always been an utterly useless part of the male wardrobe. But now, it seems to me, the only people who wear the things daily are male politicians, the male reporters who interview them - and dodgy estate agents . . .

"Increasingly, ties are simply bits of cloth which we hang around our necks when getting married, attending a funeral, or when called for a job interview. In the days when I used to be sent to report gory murder cases it was always easy to spot the defendant. He was the one picking at the unfamiliar constriction on his neck, in the belief that the judge would think a borrowed outfit made him incapable of malice aforethought."

Here here!