Did Murtha Raise Possibility Of Impeachment?
The Politico flags John Murtha's appearance on Face the Nation yesterday and sticks the following headline on it:
Murtha: Dems Could Impeach
This is already generating a bunch of canned outrage in the usual wingnut quarters. But did Murtha actually say this? Here's the full exchange with Murtha on CBS yesterday (via Nexis):
Rep. MURTHA: So we've already compromised, and we need to make this president understand, `Mr. President, the public has spoken.' There are three ways--four ways to influence a president, and one is popular opinion, the election, third is impeachment, and fourth is--and fourth is tighten the purse.SCHIEFFER: Are you seriously talking about contemplating an impeachment of this president, congressman?
Rep. MURTHA: Bob, what I'm saying is there's four ways to influence a president.
SCHIEFFER: And that's one of them?
Rep. MURTHA: And one of them's impeachment...
SCHIEFFER: And that's one option--that's an option that's on the table?
Rep. MURTHA: ...and the fourth one that is on--I'm just saying that's one way to influence the president. The other way, is your purse. And the purse is controlled by the Congress, who's elected by the public. In the last election, public said we want the Democrats in control.
So, yes, Murtha's saying that Dems "could" impeach in the sense that one "could" do any number of things. But it doesn't sound at all to me like Murtha's saying that this is something Dems are actually considering doing, as I think the headline implies.
YES! IMPEACH! NOW!
April 30, 2007 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's just giving a little high school civics class lesson to Bob Schieffer.
Does Congress have the power to impeach the president? Yes.
Entirely non-controversial statement.
April 30, 2007 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
exactly. that headline is amazingly dishonest
April 30, 2007 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, yes and no. The "Dems Could Impeach" but it doesn't mean they will. The headline isn't dishonest; it's the implication of the headline that's dishonest.
Perhaps I'm splitting hairs.
April 30, 2007 1:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you just read the headline, you don't get the impression that Murtha was saying that the Dems have the power to impeach but rather that he was saying that the Dems are considering impeaching the President.
April 30, 2007 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah, I think that one could say that in the most technical and literal of terms, the headline is accurate, but what it's actually saying isn't accurate at all.
pretty crafty headline.
April 30, 2007 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. Of course headline writers are going to choose the most provocative headline to attract attention. Who cares that what the Dems might do is discussed in the context of the multiple options the Dems might take advantage of??
Murtha just said the "I" word!!@#$!!! That's all that matters.
April 30, 2007 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Schieffer seemed to latch on to the word impeachment despite a lack of Congresman Murtha's actuall endorsement of the idea. It was the first question Schieffer asked of Politico's Roger Simon, which potentially drove the headline.
It's as if Schieffer and Simon focused on nuclear first strike after Condoleeza Rice or Vice President Cheney said all options are on the table in dealing with Iran.
Schieffer and Simon's focus on the outlier may have missed the real story.
The story has often been that Democrats would not cut funding a la Vietnam. The Senate, in fact, overwhelmingly passed a resolution to this effect.
However, Murtha seemed to be saying he may be willing to vote to cut off funds. He said the President refuses to honestly discuss possible compromise but that at the end of the day, Democrats in Congress control the purse. A position the voters elected them to in November.
Elections, as Murtha points out, are one of the methods that influence Presidents.
April 30, 2007 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink