Quixotism

Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley writes glowingly of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's quixotic attempt to impeach President George W. Bush for getting the nation into the misadventure more commonly known as the Iraq war. Riley views Kucnich as the solitary voice courageous enough to speak out on the behalf of Americans "sick of war, sick of revelations of ludicrous fact after ludicrous fact" and "tired of counting the bodies of thousands of dead American soldiers." No doubt this is nice stuff but it doesn't square with political realities. First, Bush has little more than 6 months left in what is admittedly one of the worst administrations in the history of the Republic. With the presumptive presidential nominees of Republican and Democratic parties selected, John McCain and Barack Obama respectively, exactly what is the point of moving forward with impeachment proceedings? Second, let's assume that Bush is impeached and removed from office, guess who ascends to the presidency? It's none other than Dick Cheney. In Kucinich's and Riley's view, is Cheney preferable to Bush? I think not.