Kerry Jokes About Impeachment, Some Bloggers Don’t Get It

Despite all the stereotypes in the press we are learning once again what we already knew–John Kerry has a sense of humor. When in small groups with friends he talks just like we do, in this case questioning why if Clinton was impeached for misleading the country, Bush might not be impeached for the same should the Democrats take control of Congress.

No big deal, except some bloggers appear to be the ones lacking a sense of humor. We’d expect Rush Limbaugh to come up with his usual nonsense, but I’d expect better from liberal bloggers. After the clarification came out that Kerry was joking, some bloggers are attacking Kerry for not actually calling for impeachment, and taking this as an overall sign of Democratic weakness.

It’s one thing for John Kerry to talk about impeachment in private. As David Wade said in his email response to this report, “Impeachment jokes in Washington are as old as Don Rumsfeld and as funny as Dick Cheney is gruff.” It’s another matter for a Senator to formally call for impeachment at this point. First of all , acts of impeachment are initiated in the House, not the Senate. Secondly, it is premature to call for impeachment before a formal mechanism is initiated to investigate the the crimes.

The proper and sensible course of action is not to call for impeachment at this point but to work to reveal the manner in which Bush has deceived Congress and the country. John Kerry has been doing this, just as he worked to expose the BCCI and Iran Contra scandals. The bloggers who think that calling for impeachment now will increase Democratic votes are spending too much time listening to other liberals and not enough time considering the country as a whole. At the moment, only 32% of the country favors impeachment. While not a good sign for Bush, this is far from enough people to give Democrats control of Congress. I bet a far larger number would support a more general platform supporting holding Bush accountable.

Hey guys, there are real issues out there. I’ve backed John Kerry because of the way he has intelligently looked at these problems and proposed solutions. I don’t care whether he’s joking or serious when bringing up impeachment.

As for the Republicans who are protesting, it would be interesting to hear exactly how they can justify impeaching a President over a private sexual affair and but not for lying the country into a war.