Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer with unimpeachable conservative credentials was on Bill Moyers Journal saying things that used to be considered "porn" on Daily Kos.  He is saying things many people their still have to be convinced make sense.  He's calling for the impeachment of Bush AND Cheney.  Immediately!

Here is the Link to the ENTIRE interview and transcript.

Fein was there at Watergate.  Fein helped draft the articles of impeachment for Clinton.  This is stunning. Someone needs to send it to Nancy, tape her eyelids open and make her watch it.  This is historic.

HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE TAKE HOME TALKING POINTS:

1. Impeachment is not a constitutional crisis. It is the CURE for constitutional crisis. (Nichols)
   
   
2. Let unchallenged, these powers will be lying around like loaded weapons for future presidents. (Fein)

More pyrotechnics below the fold as Fein defends "The Fighting Constitution"...

"Revolution is the Solution"

Joel Hirschhorn interviewed by Jason Miller

For several days I had been bedeviled by the recurring memory of a jingle from an out-dated television commercial. My recollection of the product they were promoting lay tantalizingly close to the edge of my consciousness, but remained stubbornly out of my reach.

So my "mind's ear" was left listening to, "It's time for a new beginning..." ad nauseam with no tangible context. (If I had had that, I would at least have known which company to despise for etching such an inane little tune into my brain).

In the run-up to the 2000 decision of Bush v. Gore, the Republican establishment worked tirelessly to frame the events of those days as a 'constitutional crisis' -- a situation so dire, so delicate -- as to threaten the very foundation of our nation's existence.

So, it was with great relief that Justice Scalia hastily passed down the high court's decision to forego a genuine manual recount and award to George W. Bush the White House and all its associated powers, real or imagined.

Little did the Supremes (or the rest of the Republican establishment) imagine that those actions would be the catalyst that set forth a series of unfortunate, unforgivable, and completely unnecessary, events that would eventually lead to a genuine constitutional crises -- a situation truly dire and legitimately threatening to the founding principles of America.

But here we are -- crisis in hand.

CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT

There has been a lot of talk in the news recently about congressional oversight.  Unfortunately, it is hard to tell whether "oversight" means "supervision," or whether it means "lack of attention."  The Senate confirmation hearings for the new CIA Director are just the most recent example of this disturbing trend.  

It certainly requires considerable oversight to overlook some of the questions Gen. Hayden refused to answer in open session.  I'm sure some questions are answered best in private.  However, it's hard to believe he needs a closed session to say torture is not an acceptable method for interrogation.  

Note: Check the comments for a photoessay comparison, and a commentary on Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind".

"The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune." -- Plutarch

What is the measure of a man, a political party, an ideology or an Administration? Is the collective whole of one's lifetime achievements enough, or would a subset of the timeline through which a lifetime passes provide an adequate sampling so as to derive a concept of what one might expect in the future?  If our answer to this question is the latter, then the second term of George W. Bush, along with the GOP-controlled Congress and Justice Department, has presented us with the opportunity to see up close and personal several key examples embodied in the form of two cities located nearly half a world from each other: New Orleans & Fallujah.

What we behold isn't pretty.