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Senator Hagel, Meet the Constitution

Jimmie | March 25, 2007 | Comments (0)

Senator Chuck Hagel is – Surprise! Surprise! – not happy with President Bush. The media’s second-favorite Republican “maverick” spent some time on ABC’s “This Week” program today being really unhappy with the President and threatening him with impeachment.

“Any president who says, I don’t care, or I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else, or I don’t care what the Congress does, I am going to proceed if a president really believes that, then there are what I was pointing out, there are ways to deal with that,” said Hagel, who is considering a 2008 presidential run.

I can safely say that Chuck Hagel knows exactly as much about the President and impeachment as he does about sprouting wings and flying to the moon. He can’t impeach the President for not caring “what Congress does”. Let me quote the US Constitution, a document that Hagel should probably read a time or two.

The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

I wonder if the Senator is willing to share with us exactly which crime “not listening to Congress” is. I promise not to laugh until after he’s bumbled through his explanation. Suggesting that “not listening to Congress” is an impeachable offense when, in fact, the President is doing exactly what he is empowered to do is ridiculous.

The truth here is that Hagel does have a way to end the war immediately. All he has to do is get a bill passed to stop funding our soldiers in Iraq. Without funding, they can’t stay there. The President would have to bring them all home. That is, in fact, the only Constitutional way Hagel has to end the war.

That requires a certain amount of courage and integrity to do. It requires having strong principles and a willingness to risk losing all the power and perks that come with being a US Senator. It means that he might have to stake his whole political career on being able to sell surrender as noble and the inevitable slaughter of countless Iraqis as right.

You think you’ll see any of that from the likes of Chuck Hagel?

Yeah. Hold your breath.