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Article 2, Section 4–”. . .on impeachment for, and on conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors.”

This implies that the impeachment process is not tightly linked to the criminal law. The test is not satisfied by all crimes. With only two named offenses to provide context for the inclusive phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the standard remains undefined. The language suggests, however, that criminal action may be required. It is worth noting that the term “misdemeanor” does not correspond to the modern definition of a less serious (sub-felony) statutory or common law criminal offense.

In the case of Andrew Johnson, the House accused the President, among other things, of speaking disrespectfully of Congress “in a loud voice.”

http://www.law.cornell.edu/bac…..mpeach.htm

What is Impeachment?

Technically, impeachment is the Senate’s quasi-criminal proceeding instituted to remove a public officer, not the actual act of removal. Most references to impeachment, however, encompass the entire process, beginning with the House’s impeachment inquiry. The term will be used in that broader sense here. By design, impeachment is a complex series of steps and procedures undertaken by the legislature. The process roughly resembles a grand jury inquest, conducted by the House, followed by a full-blown trial, conducted by the Senate with the Chief Justice presiding. Impeachment is not directed exclusively at Presidents. The Constitutional language, “all civil officers,” includes such positions as Federal judgeships. The legislature, however, provides a slightly more streamlined process for lower offices by delegating much of it to committees. See Nixon v. US, 506 U.S. 224 (1993)(involving removal of a Federal judge). Presidential impeachments involve the full, public participation of both branches of Congress.

Sign up list: who is your favorite civil officer for postfacto impeachment for whom there are credible IG delivered grounds, because moral ones dont matter, sniff:

Mine, For starters
Doan/GSA
Johnson/EPA

then you won’t be interested in this tidbit from wiki

On October 5, 2007 It was announced by Comedy Central, that Lewis Black will be the host of his own television series in March of 2008. The show, titled Root Of All Evil, will pit two people or pop-culture topics against each other as a panel of comedians argue which is more evil, two examples being “Paris Hilton vs. Dick Cheney” and “Internet Porn vs. YouTube”. At the end of the argument Lewis Black will make the final decision as to which is more evil

Sigh. I am now resigned to no impeachment until after 2008, but hope fervently that once we have a Democratic candidate President, the netroots will coalesce again around a ginormous pressure campaign for retroactive impeachment of all the impeachables so that they never run for public office or in Toddler-in-Chief’s case, Baseball Commissioner.

I would be happy to see the bastards impeached just before they leave and before they have a chance to pardon anyone else.