On the house floor yesterday, Dennis Kucinich presented 35 articles of “impeachment against George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanor.” Kucinich’s persistence with these motions, despite poor odds, raises the question of whether he is simply a troublemaker. But the United States’ history of impeachment proceedings seems rather to reinforce his claims.

His articles and arguments were in line with the common rhetoric of accusations against Bush. In his first article, he accused the president and his administration of a “years long domestic propaganda campaign.” This article, as well as the other 34, were broad strokes of attack against Bush and his administration. In the past, on the other hand, impeachment has been debated with far more consideration, even though those past impeachments were, by comparison, mild charges.

Motions of Impeachment were brought against Andrew Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act; Clinton was charged with perjury after lying about details of the Lewinsky scandal; before he resigned, Nixon was nearly impeached for lying to the FBI during the Watergate scandal. Because of the size and scope of its accusations, Kucinich’s motion is in direct contrast with those historical impeachments.

The vagueness of these accusations suggests that Kucinich does not have a viable case against the President, yet they are symptomatic of the whole public outcry against Bush. While so many people have accused Bush of falsifying information and creating an unnecessary war, no one has been able to level exact charges against him. He slips under every direct attack.

Is Kucinich, then, really just being divisive? Or is his motion for impeachment, like the one against Cheney last year, a reflection of the problems with the administration, of their talent for evading direct criticism? The Bush administration, unlike those historical executives, has given the executive branch too much power. As a result, checks of power like the congress’s right to impeachment are powerless and nearly meaningless.

-Josh Fishbein