With the White House defiant on illegal spying: Why no outcry for Bush’s impeachment?

One congressman, Democrat John Lewis of Georgia, suggested in a radio interview that Bush’s actions recalled “the dark past when our government spied on civil rights leaders and Vietnam War protesters,” and could warrant impeachment. “It’s a very serious charge, but he violated the law,” Lewis said. “The president should abide by the law. He deliberately, systematically violated the law. He is not king, he is president.”

One senator, Barbara Boxer (Democrat of California), has announced that she is investigating the possibility of impeachment, seeking opinions from four presidential scholars on whether Bush’s actions constitute “high crimes and misdemeanors.” But no other senator or congressman, and not a single congressional leader of either party, has allowed the “i-word” to cross his or her lips.

Five senators, two Republicans and three Democrats, issued a call for a joint investigation by the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees into whether the NSA eavesdropping was conducted “without appropriate legal authority.” Republicans Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine joined Democrats Carl Levin of Michigan, Dianne Feinstein of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon in signing a joint letter.

“It is critical that Congress determine, as quickly as possible, exactly what collection activities were authorized, what were actually undertaken, how many names and numbers were involved over what period, and what was the asserted legal authority for such activities. In sum, we must determine the facts,” they wrote.

It is highly unlikely, however, that the Bush administration will agree to cooperate with such an investigation. Bush, in his belligerent press conference Monday, declared that the fact that he was compelled to address the subject in public was “shameful.” He bristled in response to one reporter’s question about his assertion of unchecked executive power, declaring “To say ‘unchecked power’ basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject.”

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/bush-d21.shtml