Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney

Suggested host intro: Yesterday (Tuesday) Cleveland Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. Matt Laslo reports from Capitol Hill.

NARR:

KUCINICH1-DEC OF IND :10 “We hold these truths to be self evident . . . (fade)”

Kucinich believes the Declaration of Independence is grounds enough to impeach Cheney.  

KUCINICH1-DEC OF IND “And whenever any form of government becomes destructive towards these ends – it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.”

Kucinich originally planned to introduce his articles of impeachment last week. But he postponed it due to the shootings at Virginia Tech. He almost got derailed again. News was circulating that Cheney was seeing a doctor because of a blood clot in his leg. So Kucinich canceled the event. Hours later Cheney showed up at the Capitol, walking with a slight limp.  

CHENEY1-Leg's good :02 “Leg’s doing good.”

Cheney had been told by doctors his blood clot was getting better. He even did something he hasn’t done at the Capitol in his six years as vice president: he spoke. He lashed out against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his call for US troops to leave Iraq.

CHENEY2-UNFORTUNATE “I thought his speech yesterday was unfortunate and that his comments were uninformed and misleading.”

And with that it was on. Senator Reid lashed back.

REID1-NAME CALLING “I’m not going to get into a name calling match with someone whose approval rating is at nine percent.”

After this Kucinich pulled out all stops. But his comments weren’t aimed at Congress’s current Iraq war debate. Kucinich went back to the beginning.

KUCINICH3-ACTIVELY SOUGHT :13 “The Vice president actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and the congress of the US about an alleged threat about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.”

Kucinich says he wants Cheney impeached for another reason too. 

KUCINICH2- CHENY BAD :18 “It became obvious to me that this vice president is once again rattling the sabers of war against Iran and once again under false pretenses.”

But things are lonely for Kucinich. He’s a long shot presidential candidate and he doesn’t have the support of the Democratic leadership on the issue of impeachment. They have repeatedly said that impeachment isn’t an option. A nameless key Democratic source says that the leadership wants to “work on the war through means that have a chance.” Many members of the Ohio Caucus refused to comment on this story. But Dover Democratic Congressman Zach Space did. He doesn’t like the war. But Space also doesn’t like Kucinich’s idea.

SPACE1-INAPROPRIATE :12 “While I may not agree with every thing Dick Cheney has done, based on the information I have at this point I think it is inappropriate – well, I mean, I don’t support it.”

Space has another plan.  

SPACE2-DIVISIVENESS :11 “I really feel that now is a time to focus on what we can do together rather than focusing on divisiveness and a spirit of acrimony. “

Kucinich would not say if any members supported his plan to impeach Cheney. Rather he said he has the support of the American people. He added that he’s still working on convincing the leadership.  

For Eighty-nine seven WKSU, I’m Matt Laslo on Capitol Hill.

This is an NPR script for this feature that aired on Kent State University’s WKSU public radio.