Ray Meier Will Not Hold Bush to Account

Republican Ray Meier will never vote to impeach George W. Bush. Michael Arcuri might, if the circumstances are right.

The case for the impeachment of President George W. Bush recently got a lot stronger. The New York Times has obtained a letter that Congressman Peter Hoekstra, a Republican from Michigan who is the chair of the Intelligence Committee in the United States House of Representatives, sent to President Bush a few weeks ago. In that letter, Representative Hoekstra wrote:

"I have learned of some alleged intelligence community activities about which our committee has not been briefed. If these allegations are true, they may represent a breach of responsibility by the administration, a violation of the law, and, just as importantly, a direct affront to me and the members of this committee who have so ardently supported efforts to collect information on our enemies."

There you have it. Peter Hoekstra, a Republican member of Congress, is accusing President Bush of "a violation of the law". This is no minor crime either. It is against the law for the President not to keep Congress informed of domestic surveillance programs of this type, and, according to Peter Hoekstra, there more secret programs in addition to the several we have already learned about that involve massive spying efforts against the American people, without the search warrants that are legally required by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

When specific information about these programs to spy against Americans is made public, it will make the case for impeachment that much stronger. We don't know whether a Congressman Arcuri would vote for impeachment, but we know for certain that Congressman Meier would not. Meier is a follow-along Republican, and won't challenge the crimes of his party's President, no matter how serious they are.