There's big impeachment news from the Great State of Washington - here's the report from our amazing stay-at-home mom, Linda Boyd:

A great day for Democracy in Olympia! Eric Oemig announced his resolution to investigate Bush and Cheney to a full room of vocal supporters. Thank you to co-sponsoring Senators Harriet Spanel, Darlene Fairley, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Margarita Prentice, Karen Fraser, Debbie Regala, Claudia Kauffman and Adam Kline for also having the courage to stand up for accountability in government. They deserve to receive huge loads of loving Valetine's Day emails for seeing the truth with a clear eye, and demanding a look into the many high crimes and misdemeanors of Bush and Cheney.

Here are those email addresses, just copy/paste and send your love!

oemig.eric@leg.wa.gov, spanel.harriet@leg.wa.gov, fairley.darlene@leg.wa.gov,  kohl-welles.jeanne@leg.wa.gov, prentice.margarita@leg.wa.gov, fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov,  regala.debbie@leg.wa.gov,  kauffman.claudia@leg.wa.gov, kline.adam@leg.wa.gov

In two weeks - March 1 - the resolution will be heard in Darlene Fairley’s Government Operations Committee and is expected to pass. From there it will go to the full Senate, which Democrats control 32-17. Then it would have to pass the House, which Democrats control 61-35.

So if the Washington State legislature asks Congress to begin an impeachment investigation, how will Washington's Democratic Congressmen respond?

Josh Feit of The Stranger got the latest Democratic excuses for avoiding impeachment. Here is Mike DeCesare, spokesman for Rep. Jim McDermott (D-7):

“We know when the President is leaving office. We don’t know when the troops are leaving Iraq. We know what we have to do. Focus.”

And here is Rep Jay Inslee (D-1):

As much as I despise what this president has done to the country, my job is to find a way to end the war in Iraq, which I voted against. We should do nothing whatsoever to hinder our effort to end the war. Grandstanding that prevents us from growing a coalition against the war is a luxury we cannot afford. We don’t have the votes to remove Bush from office. Bush is leaving office. We need to make sure our troops are leaving Iraq.

It sure sounds like McDermott and Inslee are comparing talking points, doesn't it?

We're back to the pathetic "Democrats can't walk (get our troops out of Iraq) and chew bubble gum (impeach Bush and Cheney) at the same time" excuse.

That's not even an excuse - it's a Big Lie, and an insult to every voter who voted for Democrats.

When Democrats took over Congress in January, they promised to pass six bills in 100 hours. In fact, they passed them in just 42 hours. Democrats can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time - if they want to. We know that and they know that - so they should stop insulting our intelligence with brazen lies.

Here are more reasons why that excuse is a lie:

1. There are 20 House Committees, all of which handle multiple issues at the same time. Getting troops out of Iraq is the job of just a couple of those committees: Armed Services and Foreign Relations. An impeachment investigation would be handled by the Judiciary Committee - or a Special Select Committee modeled after the Senate Watergate Committee led by Sam Ervin.

2. It will be impossible for Democrats to bring the troops home as long as George Bush and Dick Cheney are in the White House - they've said so repeatedly! Obviously a non-binding resolution won't have any impact, but neither would a binding resolution because Bush would veto it or nullify it with a signing statement. Even if Congress cut off funds, Bush and Cheney would steal money from other programs (education? environment? health care?) to keep their war going. So the only serious way to bring our troops home is to impeach Bush and Cheney.

Share your own thoughts (politely of course):

Rep. Inslee (202) 225-6311 or http://www.house.gov/inslee/contact/email.html

Rep. McDermott (202) 225-3106 or http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/contact.shtml

I have emailed their staffs to invite replies from Reps. Inslee and McDermott below.

Update 1: Washington House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, apparently wants to block House consideration of Oemig's resolution. On Wednesday he said "It's unlikely we will do that." Call (360) 786-7920 or email him - politely as always!