Kick Tink's Corpse

A friendly, older woman I see from time to time emerged from her office cube and sighed about wanting to win the lottery.

"More likely, you'll be hit by lightning while riding a unicorn," was my lazy, unoriginal reply.

She flashed a pained expression. "I'm serious," she said. "It's pretty much all I have to look forward to."

Glancing into her cluttered cube, a human veal crate like all the others, I realized that she wasn't kidding.

Pinning one's hopes on something miraculous pretty much sums up the current desire to see Bush and Cheney impeached. Sure, it's a fine idea, an overdue if understated stab at justice (war crimes trials better suits the two, followed by the requisite breaking of rocks under the midday sun, etc.), but you and I know that it's not going to happen. Not a chance. Not with the present-day Dems serving as "opposition." John Conyers made a few noises ostensibly in favor of impeachment, yet Conyers has little juice and even lesser enthusiasm to actively pursue such a thing. Some activists are angry with Conyers, but it's largely misplaced: Conyers simply lacks the political muscle and backing to make impeachment hearings a reality.

The Dems are waiting Bush out in the hopes of replacing him in '08, so making a serious criminal case against Bush and Cheney is the furthest thought from their minds. Besides, the Dem leadership can't wait to show that they, too, can wage war and bomb "rogue" countries like Iran, so really, what would be their complaint -- that Bush was reckless concerning Iraq? That Bush has hurt the U.S. global image? This is about a far as the Dems will go. They don't want to indict, much less dismantle, the present system. They want control of it, to prove that they're effective managers of empire. Think the global capital-religo war will end should, say, Hillary be elected? As her friend, adviser, and probable Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke put it:

"She is probably more assertive and willing to use force than her husband. Hillary Clinton is a classic national-security Democrat. She is better at framing national-security issues for the current era than her husband was at a common point in his career."

Straight from a top mule's mouth. And while some online libs cling to the hope that Obama or Edwards may overtake Hillary, the smart, inside, big money's on the former First Lady. Once Hillary is the established, undisputed frontrunner and inevitable nominee, the Obama/Edwards libs will come crawling into Hillary's well-fortified camp, ready to wave her flag. Thus does the American system balance itself.

Impeachment? Criminal trials? Clap all you like, kids. Tinkerbell's in a body bag.