I've said it before and I will say it again. They believe laws are for bad guys.

"noblesse oblige: the honorable, benevolent obligation that is the supposed responsibility of those of high rank."

In the military, this idea is enshrined in the idea that an officer is also a gentleman, who has the privileges of rank, but the responsibilities and burdens of that rank as well. In politics, one would hope that those with the high responsibility for representing their districts, their states and, at the highest levels, their country, would feel even more the burden of "benevolent obligation" to those that they not only represent, but those that are below them in rank.

Unfortunately, as one author once observed, noblesse oblige is an emotion felt only by those who are truly noble. This President--who winks at the Queen of England and feels that he can tell her when it is her turn to speak; who gives derisive nicknames to everyone from members of the press to CEOs; who when pressed multiple times cannot for the life of him think of a single mistake that he has made during his term of office--this man, despite his Yankee blue-blood heritage, clearly has no nobility of any kind whatsoever in him. His only impulse is to enforce strict compliance to his cult of personality, and to put down and drum out anyone who does not adhere to it, no matter their years of service to the party or the realm.

It is unsurprising--although profoundly distasteful--to watch the smirk on the face of Alberto Gonzales as he gleefully points to his former deputy and attempts to pin the U.S. Attorney scandal on him, now that he has "betrayed" the only principal that these men respect, which is loyalty, for they have no nobility at all. (One cannot help but be amazed at how quickly Gonzales regained his memory of events, once Comry testified; suddenly, he seems able to "recall" everything.) Gonzales, after all, takes his cues from his boss, and as his boss displays no noblesse oblige, why should he?

The question at this stage is, what can we do to limit the damage to our country while these blatant criminals finish their terms of office? And let us hope against hope that the next batch that we elect does show some slight glimmer of that earlier-quoted attribute, or we're going to be in an even worse spot than we are now.

(as devoutly wished for as that might be), I'd like to see the Democrats and real Republicans tear a page out of the Rove playbook and go over the heads of this woeful administration directly to the American people.

No more collegial blackslapping in the corridors of wealth, privilege and power. No more faux bipartisanship. Build an alternative, better bully pulpit. Use it to say (more in regret than anger) that it's clear the Executive Branch has now become dysfunctional. Make it clear that to cooperate further with them is to put the Constitution itself in danger. Clear enough for an eighth-grade civics class, explain exactly why they're deserving of impeachment - without coating it in the smarmy sludge of self-serving politico-speak - what rules have been broken, what ethical lines crossed, what rights infringed upon, etc.

You'll quote Jefferson and Paine. Evoke a new enlightenment, the rise of 'The Real America' when these miscreants and criminals are gone and someone sane is in the White House again. Reference Jefferson and Paine. And quote Ben Franklin: "A Republic - if you can keep it." The TV spots - directed by Ken Burns, music by Aaron Copeland - will be great! After that, you'll see volunteers in every hamlet ready to hand out torches and pitchforks.

Then, instead of enduring the national trauma of impeachment, we can just move forward like they're already gone.

If the Republicans were really smart about it, at about this point THEY would initiate impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney.

Well, it still looks as if the GOP still has plenty of time to consider such a move, as it obviously does not appear that the Democratic party leadership has any intention of initiating impeachment any time soon. The Democrats, after all, would rather have Bush to kick around until 2008. There are two probable reasons for this: Crass electoral calculations and the underlying fact that they appear to have no fundamental disagreement with the Bush Administration's illegal spying program themselves.

Should the GOP initiate impeachment proceedings, it would not only distance them from an administration that is starting to more resemble a mafioso operation than the executive branch of US government, but they would make the Democrats look rediculous as they then followed suit gradually jumped on the impeachment bandwagon too, before long trying to tell us it was their idea all along.

So, if I may, I would like to offer some friendly political advice to the GOP, because it is virtually assured that the Democrats won't take it: Initiate impeachment now.

I tried to explain this to someone over at Democratic Underground about a week ago, but he was having none of it.

For one thing, it won't work as long as there are at least 34 Republicans who will defend the Bush regime to the last, no matter what the offenses are, no matter how obviously guilty they are, and no matter what the voters in their home states think about all of this. A Bush impeachment would probably get fewer votes than Clinton's did, and where would that leave our newly Democratic Congress?

Instead, as others have suggested, run the Congress as if the Bushies were already gone. Pass commonsense bills and have Bush veto them. Have Democratic candidates hold these bills up as examples of what they can expect if they put a Democrat in the White House, and more of them in the Congress. Make it clear that the Republicans are hindering much needed progress.

Better to build the case against the key players - Cheney, Gonzales, Rove (especially him), and Bush himself, as well as a majority of his Cabinet, and let the next Attorney General prosecute them. Let the image of these people, representing the core of the Bush criminal cabal, being hauled off to Leavenworth become burned into our collective memory. Only then will we have a chance at restoring our Republic.