I have no idea who Jonathan Bernstein is but today he has guest written a column for Ezra Klein in the Washington Post suggesting that if the GOP regains the House come November that then impeachment proceedings against President Barack Obama are likely. As evidence, Mr. Bernstein cites comments made by uber conservative radical Rep. Darrell Issa of California over the Sestak brouhaha.

"It's very clear that allegation is one that everyone from Arlen Spector to Dick Morris has said is in fact a crime, and could be impeachable," said Rep. Issa, who is threatening to file an ethics compliant if Rep. Sestak doesn't provide more details about the alleged job offer.

Congressman Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, also wants the Justice Department to name a special prosecutor to investigate whether the White House broke the law over the alleged job offer to Rep. Sestak in return for his dropping out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary. I have to ask why do we need a special prosecutor if the venerable Dick Morris has already told us a crime has been committed?

In all seriousness, I must be missing something because I am not sure I care whether Joe Sestak was offered a job to drop out of the Pennsylvania primary and I wholly unaware how such an offer, if made, broke any laws. It perhaps does not speak well of the Obama Administration ethically but I'd bet my bottom dollar that this trail would lead back to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. 

[UPDATE]The Hill has a related story noting the Congressman Issa has sent an email to his supporters with the subject line "The Sestak Affair - Obama's Watergate?"

The campaign e-mail says the allegations would amount to three felony charges of bribery and corruption.

"Congressman Sestak has continued to repeat his story whenever asked without varying from the original version. The White House however has arrogantly and wrongly assumed that they can sweep this matter under the rug," Issa, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, says in the e-mail.

"This may be the way business is done in Chicago, but it’s not the way things are done in our nation’s capitol [sic] and I am intent on getting to the bottom of this."

The congressman noted that Sestak has otherwise been mum on the details of the job offer, but added that it is "widely speculated" that Secretary of the Navy was the job in question.

"Joe Sestak realized that he made a mistake by letting the cat out of the bag. It’s a mistake that might end his bid for U.S. Senate and damage President Barack Obama," Issa continues. "He doesn’t want to make things worse than they are, so he’s sticking to his story to maintain his own credibility, but will not cooperate with investigators to bring charges against the guilty White House official.

"If he’s telling the truth, an investigation must take place and justice must be served. If he’s lying, then he should immediately resign the race for Senate."

Justice must be served? This isn't about the rule of law but about Rep. Issa seeking to destroy the Obama Presidency come hell or high water.

I would like to ask all of you to please take a minute to read, comment and rec'd this diary.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/8/31/1344 37/886

PLEASE watch the video and if you feel as I do, then pass it along to others with some of the action items discussed in the linked diary or other items that you come up with on your own.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/8/31/1344 37/886

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Let's look at some the events of the last few days, to see what they have in common:

1) Dennis Kucinich introduced a single new article of impeachment against the president, for his and his administration's lying us into a disastrous and illegal war;

2) Karl Rove not only failed to appear before the HJC on Thursday after being subpoenaed, but he skipped the country without notifying Congress(!);

3) Nancy Pelosi, in her signature style (vague, ambiguous, and vague again), made a statement which seemed to leave the door open for impeachment hearings (back on the table?);

4) I, Adam Sullivan, filed well in excess of the number of required petition signatures to gain ballot access for the Democratic primary here in NYC, where I am challenging Jerrold Nadler for his seat representing New York's Eighth Congressional District in the House.

From my perspective, this is a strong list of reasons for Mr. Nadler--who chairs the Subcommittee of the Judiciary on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties--to change his position on seeking to initiate impeachment hearings.

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My name is Adam Sullivan. Until recently, I was just another citizen of New York's 8th Congressional District. Now I am running for Congress as a challenger to Jerrold Nadler for nomination in CD8 by the Democratic Party. And I need your help.

You may legitimately ask why I would challenge Congressman Nadler, a representative with a long liberal voting record. While this is true, Nadler has failed us all where it matters most.

The issue--Impeachment

Some months ago, I joined a pro-impeachment group with the intent of encouraging my congressman to co-sponsor the Articles of Impeachment introduced in the House by Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

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The historic vote on New Hampshire State House Resolution HR 24, introduced by 87 year old State Representative Betty Hall, will be coming to a vote tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16th.  If adopted, New Hampshire will not only be the first-in-the-nation presidential primary but the first-in-the-nation on impeachment, employing Jefferson's Manual rules, whereby a single state legislature may direct Congress to initiate hearings.  This avenue has never before been employed for a president or vice president, and so legal ramifications are not clear.  What is clear is that legal scholars would have to get to work to decipher the meaning.  In addition, a resolution like this coming from flinty New Hampshirites rather than hippie Vermonters casts an different pale on impeachment.  

The vote follows a day-long event in Concord, which was reported to have standing-room-only, in support of HR24.  It featured Daniel Ellsberg, Dr. Robert Bowman, John Nichols, and others as speakers, and the "Paul" of Peter Paul and Mary as part of the entertainment.  

If you are in NH PLEASE CALL your state representative, urge "Yes on HR24." If you are not in New Hampshire you can still pick out a rep. or two and and explain that, although you are not a constituent, you are pleading with them as one American to another to vote yes on HR24.  The eyes of a nation weary of Bush-Cheney law-breaking are upon them.  Say "Please, New Hampshire, save America." As Daniel Ellsberg has said, just waiting this administration out is not good enough.   Ellsberg argues that no future president or congress will roll back the new powers the government has to spy on us, because they are part of the government and could be beneficiaries.  Ellsberg has said "No congressman is going to cover his ears and say, 'no no I don't want to hear these things about my primary opponent, or that journalist.'" He says if Bush and Cheney are not firmly reprimanded for breaking the FISA law through impeachment, the new NSA powers will stay, and "democracy is dead." This, he says, is the main argument against just waiting these idiots out to the end of their terms.

If you are from NH, find your legislator.

If you are not, list of targeted legislators and their phone numbers, pick at random.

Full list of NH legislators (pdf.)

LETTER FROM NH STATE REP. JIM SPAINE

The Impeachment Resolution -- NH State Representative Betty Hall Is An American Hero
by: Rep. Jim Splaine
Fri Apr 11, 2008 at 23:11:34 PM EDT

One of my most golden memories of the New Hampshire State Legislature was in 1973, when I stood with just about two dozen other House members -- we stood in those days on "division" votes since roll calls before push button machines took 45 minutes or so to run through -- in favor of a resolution to call for the impeachment of President Richard "I Am Not A Crook" Nixon.

It was clear the President had lied, and had covered up his lie, and had participated in wrongdoing that put America's democracy in harm's way.  I have to admit that as a young pup that term, and being one of the younger members of the House as opposed to now when I'm close to "average" age (scary, huh?), I was shaking a bit while standing to be counted.

I won' be shaking (because I'll be sitting down just pushing a button) nor will I have any doubt about it being the right thing to do when I vote this coming Wednesday in favor of Representative Betty Hall's resolution calling for the United States Congress to begin an investigation regarding the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney.

Why?  Because just like President Nixon, the current occupant of the White House has lied, had tried to cover it up, and has participated in wrongdoing that has put American's democracy in harm's way.  And HIS lies have resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 American soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of other men, women, and children.  The horror of it all.

Yes, this man and his alter ego will be put out of the White House in January.  But neither deserve to journey into history without the asterisk that there were efforts in various states to encourage Congress to impeach them.  As they leave the White House, the past has shown us that former Presidents usually go onto even richer lives and fame.  This one doesn't deserve it. Nor does his partner.  Their legacy should be shame.

The resolution appears in full below. It is being recommended to be killed by the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee by a vote of 10-5.  NH State Representative Betty Hall, to me and many others, is an American hero.  She seeks to impeach two people who are not.
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