It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. His resignation should not be accepted as an appeasement. Senate Judiciary Committe Chairman Patrick Leahy absolutely should continue with his investigations into the misdeeds of the Justice Department up to and including ex officio impeachment of Gonzales. Unchecked and unpunished, they cause irreparable harm to the balance of power institutionalized by the Constitution.
The same continues to hold true for the high crimes and misdeamenors of the President and Vice President. There can be no more willful disregard by the Democratic leadership. Last week in Slate, Constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein wrote that Speaker Pelosi should be removed from her office if she continues to leave impeachment “off the table” (he also recently made the case for impeachment in this op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle).
Allowing this administration to run out the clock, letting its most nefarious actors scuttle away without sufficient investigation into their crimes against the Constitution, failing to follow through on Iraq, wiretapping, or any of the other issues that they should be fighting tooth-and-nail on indicts Pelosi and Reid nearly as thoroughly as the growing list of complaints against Bush and Cheney.
