DOES JOE BIDEN-- A REAL LIFE CORPORATE SHILL-- HAVE A RADICAL MESSAGE FOR PELOSI AND THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP?

Biden's bid for the vice presidency hasn't really taken off. Voters seem indifferent to him and his corporate-infused record doesn't light fires among the Democratic base. But he sure lit a fire yesterday when he "stated unequivocally that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without first gaining congressional approval."

Forget for a moment that Biden would probably lead the fight among Democrats to back Bush on a preemptive strike against Iran, popular among neocon-oriented Beltway Dems, even if completely anathema to grassroots Democrats. Biden's moment of glory at a campaign rally in Portsmouth, NH, complete with raucous applause was when he almost stopped talking about himself for a moment.

"The president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach."

Biden said he is in the process of meeting with constitutional law experts to prepare a legal memorandum saying as much and intends to send it to the president.

But Pelosi-Hoyer-Emanuel need not start having fainting spells over the prospect. Biden, as always, is full of shit. When audience members pointed out that Bush has already committed a plethora of impeachable offenses and asked why Biden doesn't act now, the longtime Bush-enabler from Delaware started throwing sand in everyone's eyes. Impeachment now, he said, might not be "constitutionally valid" and it might be [politically] "counterproductive" and there is a need for "clear evidence." Yeah... isn't that what an impeachment investigation would be set up to determine? The applause had stopped and Biden, ever the craven political hack, found himself a one-liner to get back in the good graces of the audience:

"If you're going to impeach George Bush, you better impeach Cheney first."

And, like trained seals, they forgot that Biden is part of the problem, not part of the solution... and they fed him the applause he lives for.

MSNBC has a partial transcript up:

QUESTIONER: “I have a great fear that say you’re elected as the nominee of the party. Next August sometime during the summer, Dick Cheney and George are going to bomb Iran."

BIDEN: "Legitimate concern."

QUESTIONER: "What can you do about it?”

BIDEN: “I am not one, who if you’ve observed me for some time, I am not one who’s engaged in excessive populist rhetoric. [There's the understatement of the year.] I’m not one that pits the rich against the poor. [True, true; he's a consistent fighter for the prerogatives of the rich and powerful against ordinary Americans... just as if he were a Republican.] I’m not one who’s gone out there and made false threats against presidents about, and god love him he’s a great guy, I’m not Dennis Kucinich saying impeach everybody now. But let me tell you, I have written an extensive legal memorandum with the help of a group of legal scholars who are sort of a stable of people, the best-known constitutional scholars in America, because for 17 years I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

"I asked them to put together [for] me a draft, which I’m now literally riding between towns editing, that I want to make clear and submit to the Untied States Senate pointing out the president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran. And I want to make it clear, I want it on the record, and I want to make it clear, if he does, as chairman of the foreign relations committee and former chair of the judiciary committee, I will move to impeach him."

[APPLAUSE]

SECOND QUESTIONER: " ... I say this not to fan flames, and not to sound like a raving lunatic. You did mention something about impeachment, if George Bush does something regarding Iran. I say this as a strategic or tactical question. Do you think it would be useful now to forward an impeachment motion as a signal to the world that we're headed in the right direction?"

BIDEN: "It’s a valid statement to make. It is not as clear constitutionally that articles of impeachment would lie absent his action, which is crystal clear if he acted without congressional authority in Iran. It is arguable constitutionally whether some of the action he has taken thus far amount to high crimes and misdemeanors that could be in fact proven.

"So it makes it difficult. But beyond that, it is counterproductive. Let me make it clear what the impeachment case I made is. I think the best deterrent is for the president to know, even at the end of his term, we would move and move to follow through with that so his legacy would be marred for all time if he acted in what was clearly, clearly an impeachable offense. In the absence of that, what happens is, and you’re gonna think I’m joking about this. I’m not. If you’re gonna impeach George Bush you better impeach Cheney first. Not a joke. Not a joke."