Are U.S. Senators "Above the Law"??? I found this on Impeachment

[Up2Late]

At <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0764613.html>

"The first official impeached in this country was Senator William Blount of Tennessee for a plot to help the British seize Louisiana and Florida from Spain in 1797. The Senate dismissed the charges on Jan. 14, 1799, determining that it had no jurisdiction over its own members. The Senate and the House do, however, have the right to discipline their members, and the Senate expelled Blount the day after his impeachment."

:wtf:

I don't like this legal president.

[GetTheRightVote]

1. Congress had a mock Impeachment trial of * this week as well

Has this been brought up on DU yet ?? I heard about this on one of political shows on Sunday Morning, today. I do need to say I was happy to hear of it.

:kick:

[earthboundmisfit]

2. What a step in the right direction! A rehearsal, I hope!

I haven't seen this anywhere till now - got any kind of link? If you can supply one it will be a happy, happy day for this old girl!

[Up2Late]

3. I hope you mean a "Practice" Impeachment, I hope they are not...

...now Mocking the Impeachment process now, that would NOT be good. :banghead: :crazy:

And to answer you first question, No, I haven't seen this talked about, You should post this and ask if anyone else has info or links.

[ISUGRADIA]

4. Article mocking "mock impeachment inquiry"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/16/AR2005061601570_pf.html

Democrats Play House To Rally Against the War

In the Capitol basement yesterday, long-suffering House Democrats took a trip to the land of make-believe.

They pretended a small conference room was the Judiciary Committee hearing room, draping white linens over folding tables to make them look like witness tables and bringing in cardboard name tags and extra flags to make the whole thing look official.

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) banged a large wooden gavel and got the other lawmakers to call him "Mr. Chairman." He liked that so much that he started calling himself "the chairman" and spouted other chairmanly phrases, such as "unanimous consent" and "without objection so ordered." The dress-up game looked realistic enough on C-SPAN, so two dozen more Democrats came downstairs to play along.

The session was a mock impeachment inquiry over the Iraq war. As luck would have it, all four of the witnesses agreed that President Bush lied to the nation and was guilty of high crimes -- and that a British memo on "fixed" intelligence that surfaced last month was the smoking gun equivalent to the Watergate tapes. Conyers was having so much fun that he ignored aides' entreaties to end the session.

[Up2Late]

6. Oh, is that the one? Good to know it was just that stupid DM story

Just for info: Harry Shearer's on his radio show "Le Show" compared the DSM to "The Pentagon Papers." More info about "Le Show" at the post link below.

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1867871&mesg_id=1867871>

[ISUGRADIA]

5. Senators can be tried for crimes like anyone else

It's only the Senate itself which can remove a Senator from office.

[Davis_X_Machina]

7. The remarks made on the floor of the Senate..

...are privileged, i.e they cannot provide the grounds for an action for libel or slander.

To that limited extent, they are not bound by the law.

[ISUGRADIA]

8. This is true, Senators and members of Congress have this protection

[Up2Late]

9. Kick n/t

:kick:

[Up2Late]

10. Kick n/t

:kick: