On Monday night, Congressman Michael Burgess--who represents Dick Armey's old district--addressed the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party. He suggested that it might be a good idea to impeach Obama just to tie up his agenda.
"It needs to happen, and I agree with you it would tie things up," Burgess said. "No question about that."
When asked about the comment later, Burgess said he wasn't sure whether the proper charges to bring up articles of impeachment against Obama were there, but he didn't rule out pursuing such a course.
"We need to tie things up," Burgess said. "The longer we allow the damage to continue unchecked, the worse things are going to be for us."
A day later, Burgess backed off somewhat. He told the Dallas Morning News that he wasn't really calling for impeachment--but he was trying to "honestly answer" a question from an attendee. Uh huh. Which is it, Congressman?
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram felt it had to give Burgess a lecture on what impeachment is for.
Impeachment by the House and a trial in the Senate is the Constitution's mechanism for removing a president, vice president or other civil officer who is found guilty of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
Impeachment must never be allowed to become a political tool.
[snip]
The last thing this country needs is another crisis. Wars, worldwide economic calamity and severe drought add enough to the current deep political divide. A member of the House should know better than to indulge talk of adding a frivolous use of the Constitution's solemn power.
Even if you allow for the fact that Burgess comes from what is, for the moment, an R+13 district, it tells you something about the nature of the Repub majority that Burgess can say something this tone deaf.