Peter Welch, the freshman representative from my state of Vermont, made it clear last spring that he supported impeachment, but only after the hard work of investigations.

This is from an article in the Vermont Guardian:

“My hat is off to the citizen activists in Vermont for bringing their case to the Legislature; they are representative of the proud tradition we have in Vermont to speaking out,” said Welch. “People are expressing broad outrage about this president’s handling of the war, his treatment of civil liberties, and the use of bogus intelligence, and there is a lot of common ground here on holding the president and vice president accountable. The major question is the best way to make that happen.”

Welch said the current investigations on everything from the war to the firing of U.S. attorneys are potentially the beginning of further action, not the end. He said the current probes into the Bush administration are akin to the congressional investigations into the Nixon administration.

“Those investigations weren’t the end, but the beginning of the end and brought out the facts that led to articles of impeachment,” said Welch. “It didn’t begin with filing articles of impeachment. My fundamental concern is ending this war.”

We can see how well that's all working out!

Last spring, the three members of Vermont's Washington delegation -- Senators Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and Congressman Peter Welch -- stood together when the Vermont state senate voted to impeach Bush and asked Vermonters to have patience. There were ongoing investigations, and we must let these investigations continue, they said.

“People are expressing broad outrage about this president’s handling of the war, his treatment of civil liberties, and the use of bogus intelligence, and there is a lot of common ground here on holding the president and vice president accountable. The major question is the best way to make that happen.”

Welch said the current investigations on everything from the war to the firing of U.S. attorneys are potentially the beginning of further action, not the end. He said the current probes into the Bush administration are akin to the congressional investigations into the Nixon administration.

“Those investigations weren’t the end, but the beginning of the end and brought out the facts that led to articles of impeachment,” said Welch. “It didn’t begin with filing articles of impeachment. My fundamental concern is ending this war.”

Democrats need to use these investigations as a way to chip away at Bush’s support in the GOP, and convince Republicans that the administration needs to be held accountable, Welch said. (From the Vermont Guardian website.)

Now, Leahy is working with Harry Reid to push through this bill with retroactive immunity for the telecommunications, thereby undermining the very investigations that we Vermonters were promised. That's how craven and irresponsible this Democratic Congress has become. Unlike the days of Nixon, when the Democrats actually had a backbone, this Congress will do anything to appease George Bush and their own corporate sponsors. What a disgrace.

Because it cheats other athletes, the ones not taking them. And it puts pressure on the athletes who would otherwise choose not to take them to use them. If you're a marginal pro prospect competing for a job against guys who are using performance enhancers, you're going to feel pressure to take them too just to keep your job.

It's the same reason we should care about job conditions in factories. With your approach we can dismiss a company with bad safety records by saying, "Hey, the workers know it's dangerous, they can work somewhere else."

Regarding Marion Jones specifically, she knew that steroids were banned in her sport and she took them anyway... are you saying you don't care about that? Really?

...that the media and a good percentage of the American public see the Republicans as the tough guys, when in fact they are a bunch of cowards willing to throw away the very foundations of our democracy and spit in the face of our founding fathers to gather a little extra security.

If you don't have the guts to honor the Constitution get the hell out of the White House and turn it over to someone who does.

However, Spitzer had to know what disclosure of his activities would mean. Yet he put his own appetites above that of the needs of his constituents. Even above his own stated principles. This is what it is hard for me to forgive.

hasn't said anything insightful in 20 years. Yet she remains a regular commentator on NPR. Now we know she is a liar too.

McArdle's whole posting is riddled with arrogance and condescension, but this passage is especially juicy and illustrative of the standards of today's journalists:

You can lead a consumer to stories of vital national importance, but you cannot make him care. You can just make him pass over your paper in favor of the Enquirer.

Glenn,

You are so right about our political media. Anyone whose beat is Washington or International Affairs who did not write about what was happening in "the dark room" was condoning those acts, whether they personal supported them or not. It is like that famous case in the '60s when a young woman was assaulted and murdered while several people looked on. None of bystanders would admit to wrong-doing, but each of them was responsible because they didn't intervene and they didn't call the police.

If your job is to write about what the government is doing and you don't, by definition you've condones its actions. Simple.

The absurd comments of Meagan McArdle at The Atlantic only demonstrate how timely and important your book is. I'll be looking for it at my local bookstore.