High crimes, misdemeanors and protecting America

It's one thing to hear the lunatics on Library Mall rambling on about how we must impeach President Bush and all sorts of other hogwash out of the Harry Belafonte play book. But it is altogether another thing to hear that one of our senators, Russ Feingold, is dignifying the radical rhetoric.

The Vermont Guardian is reporting that Mr. Feingold recently responded to questions about George Bush's wiretapping terrorist chatter in the United States by saying:

I think there is an orderly and dignified way to find out what happened ... And, if there was a legal violation there needs to be accountability ... you can't put the cart before the horse, but I would not rule out any form of accountability.

Apparently our dear senator would like to force-fit fighting the war on terror into the constitutional impeachment criteria. Why Mr. Bush's father wasn't impeached for the Gulf War or President Clinton for his attempted attacks on Osama bin Laden remains a mystery, but it is increasingly clear that had Mr. Feingold been in power, either man may have had good reason to retain an attorney.

Then again, Mr. Feingold may well have been playing presidential politics. Remember, the source of the quote is the Vermont Guardian and that is because the Wisconsin senator has somehow wandered into New England to help independent Bernie Sanders campaign. I'm sure that Vermont's proximity to the first primary state is a coincidence and that Mr. Feingold speaking to a crowd that included people from New Hampshire is irrelevant, but then again this might just be the sort of primary rhetoric the Democratic Party demands. Anything short of a wild scream in Des Moines, Iowa won't do the trick after the 2004 cycle of flip-flops, so calling for the Commander in Chief's possible impeachment is going to have to be Mr. Feingold's strategy for now.

Hey, maybe the senator is headed to a nominating convention after all, but first, personally, I'm still hoping for an explanation of what exactly he was doing with cash that wreaked of Jack Abramoff's scent.