Congressman Lou Barletta (R-Hazleton) claimed while talking to a radio host on Monday that he thought a vote for the impeachment of President Obama could pass the House of Representatives, though he admitted that he was not sure that the American people would be in favor of such actions.
“He’s just absolutely ignoring the Constitution, and ignoring the laws, and ignoring the checks and balances,” Barletta said. “The problem is, you know, what do you do? For those that say impeach him for breaking the laws or bypassing the laws. Could that pass in the House? It probably, it probably could. Is the majority the American people in favor of impeaching the president? I’m not sure.”
In explaining why such a dramatic move could be plausible, Barletta referenced the recent defeat of Majority Leader Eric Cantor by little-known Tea Party candidate David Brat in thestate’s Republican primary.
“What happened in Virginia you’re going to see happen around the country,” he said. “If [constituents] don’t feel that you’re standing up for them they’re going to throw you out and they’re going to send someone else in … There’s a big message here that people in Washington better pay close attention to.”
The Democratic National Committee picked up on the comment quickly, sending out a reactionary press release.
“So while Republicans are confident a political vote as outrageous and ill-founded as this could pass, let’s not forget all the commonsense initiatives they refuse to even bring up for a vote,” the release claimed, mentioning immigration reform, raising the minimum wage, and ensuring equal pay for women as issues that more than two-thirds of Americans approve of.
“Republicans in the House are clearly committed to playing politics and relying on outrageous rhetoric instead of doing the job they were elected to do – standing up for the interests of the American people,” the press release concluded.
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10 Responses
Actually, if memory serves, “high crimes and misdemeanors” can mean pretty much whatever they want. I’m of a similar mind to John M., though – I would love to see those nutjobs impeach the president because it would solidify in the minds of average Americans just how out of touch with reality the Republicans in Congress are and there’s no way the Senate would vote to convict.
They should do it while also threatening to burn the house down with their deadbeat attempts not to pay the debt they accrued. It would be an excellent combination right before the mid-terms and clearly demonstrate how the Do-Nothing Republicans have no interest in actually governing.
‘Reactive’….. not ‘reactionary’.
The Constitution addresses “high crimes and misdemeanors”. Partisan discord s not grounds.
Barletta & Tea Party whackos continue their rhetoric fomenting partisan discord which hurts the nation from moving forward.
No reference to treason, bribery, or any high crimes or misdemeanors. With that said, I don’t doubt that ignorance could prevail among House Republicans.
Barletta is a whAcko as proven by his stand on Hispanics in Hazleton and now on impeachment. The American electorate is disgusted with politicization like this crap espoused by Barletta.
Barletta is whacked…would be nice to beat him and restore a little piece of sanity to our delegation.
I fully support, and assume that many non-rightwing voters would support, the right’s ATTEMPT to impeach President Obama.
It worked so well with President Clinton.
I would hope they get proceedings underway soon, so as to inflict the most damage upon themselves before the upcoming election.
Honestly, do stories such as this one (yet another effort at destroying the presidency rather than an effort to actually DO anything) even register on the public radar anymore? “Oh, look, a rightwing radical doesn’t think President Obama is legitimate! What are the chances?” The only purpose these stories serve is to further illustrate rightwing angst at their own failures, and the resulting unpopularity those failures caused. Ego prohibits the extremist from even recognizing his failures exist, so the alternative is to insist on the defamation of the victor.
Yes, a rightwing nutjob wants to impeach the president. In other news, the sun came up this morning.
This Republican congress couldn’t pass a kidney stone.
If Barletta was worried about being kicked out by the voters for not standing up for them, then he’s forgotten about all the 40+ times the GOP voted to take away their health care.
President Obama won Pennsylvania twice! I don’t see how Barletta can vote to impeach the President. With the exception of Barletta and company, the President is well liked in Pennsylvania. As far as immigration, my ancestors were not born in this country and with a last name like Barletta, I’m sure Barletta’s ancestors weren’t born in this country. How do we know our ancestors came to the United State legally? The United States is a land of opportunity and should be open to everyone – Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
When weighing the gravity of this observation, one must know that its source is not a hot-head; indeed, he hasn’t been perceived as having been aligned with the TEA [Taxed Enough Already] Party Movement.
A few years ago, I heard him speak @ Temple U regarding [then-]pending litigation promulgated in Hazelton regarding whether the city could regulate employment/housing of Illegals; he “debated” the issue with a lawyer who clearly was driven more by ideology than by facts and, of course, his measured-approach prevailed.
Thus, the best way to conceptualize the impact of this type of observation is simply to view it as a harbinger of the electoral-tsunami that seems increasingly likely to transpire in less than five months; supplanting BHO with Biden would be akin to flipping America from the skillet to the fire.