Those who remember the proceedings that would have led to the impeachment of Richard Nixon may recall that the hearings weren't limited to the crimes committed relating to Watergate -- they also probed Nixon's escalation of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. For a variety of reasons, these actions weren't included in the articles of impeachment that were eventually drawn up. Nonetheless, this is the historical context in which George Bush's subtle promise to attack both Iran and Syria should be considered.

There is, I think, no chance that the Democratic Congress would approve any action against Iran or Syria barring some exogenous event (e.g., one of those countries opening attacking U.S. troops in Iraq). There is also, I think, no chance that the Bush Administration cares. If they decide it's time to shock and awe Tehran, then it's going to happen. In that eventuality, there is only one recourse: impeachment. More specifically, double impeachment, since President Cheney would hardly be inclined to change course just because half the House and two-thirds of the Senate said he ought to -- after all, he's already got 88% of the American public against him on escalation.

The rub of removing both Bush and Cheney is this: Next in line for the Presidency is Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat and a woman. This sets up the Republican noise machine for the only thing it's really good for: counter-whining. The opportunity to spin such a move as a coup -- notwithstanding the fact that it would take the help of at least 16 Republican Senators -- would give them a chance to take the focus off Iraq and put it on the perception gang that the Washington media love to play. So here's the solution. Impeach them both simultaneously, with the proviso that Pelosi promises not to run for a full term in 2008. This is not because there's anything necessarily wrong with her as President (though I suspect she would rather be a long-term Speaker than become President), but because it takes the long-term coup question off the table. The double-impeachment move then becomes about the steadying and securing of the ship of state for the next 18 months or so. Pelosi could pledge to appoint Chuck Hagel as Vice-President or something, but the details of such a compromise aren't especially important in the big picture. That's the kind of bipartisan moxie that every can approve of.