Dems Outmaneuvered On Impeachment

by Michael Goldfarb - November 7th, 2007 - The Weekly Standard

4:23 Update: The House begins a 5-minute vote on whether to send Kucinich's impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee. The bill won't be acted upon, so this is another way to kill it.

4:31 Update: Looks like the Democrats successfully regrouped after that first vote surprised them. The House just voted 218-194 to send Kucinich's impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee. This effectively kills the bill, preventing a debate on impeachment.

It's interesting that on such a weighty question as impeaching the vice president of the United States, votes can change so quickly. While the roll calls are not yet available, it seems there were plenty of Democrats who voted to go forward with impeachment when they thought it would fail, who suddenly voted against impeachment when it mattered. I guess it was all just about politics after all -- even for the supposed 'true believers.'

Even for those of us who would have liked to see the democrats have to take an open position on impeaching Vice President Cheney for supporting the war against Islamo-fascism, it is just as well that this will not happen. We are in a war. We have an enemy that glories in our internal disagreements. I'll galdly give up the partisan desire to humiliate democrats if it helps even a little in ending the constant embarrassment of partisan bickering in front of our enemies.

The final outcome is actually inconsistent with the headline title for this article. Though temporarily outmaneuvered, they managed to stop the pubic discussion before it was over. I wonder if they consider that a victory?