Absolutely Brilliant

Have been watching C-SPAN and the drama unfolding with Dennis Kucinich's impeachment resolution. Steny Hoyer tried to table the resolution, but the Republicans all switched votes to keep the resolution alive. This was to embarrass the Democrats who are already under fire for the endless and fruitless investigations. Currently, there's a motion to send it committee, where it could be kept low-key (and unembarrassing to house Dems). Looks like that motion will pass.

Had the Republican's gambit worked, the house would have debated for an hour followed by a vote. Republicans would have had a field day shaming the ludicrous assertions in the resolution, such as "Keeping all options on the table" meaning that Cheney was conspiring to wage war with Iran.

Back later with more...

Update from Yahoo/AP:

Debate on Cheney impeachment averted

WASHINGTON - House Democrats on Tuesday narrowly managed to avert a bruising debate on a proposal to impeach Dick Cheney after Republicans, in a surprise maneuver, voted in favor of taking up the measure.

Bruising indeed. It would have been fun to watch, too. Statement from the White House in the same article:

The White House, in a statement, said Democrats were shirking responsibilities on issues such as childrens' health insurance "and yet they find time to waste an afternoon on an impeachment vote against the vice president. ... This is why Americans shake their head in wonder about the priorities of this Congress."

And I managed to make it all the way through the post without exploiting the extraterrestrial angle!