I have a (political) dream

One of my labbies, Italian postdoc SM, has a political theory (actually more like a political dream) that some bomb is going to drop about President Bush that results in his impeachment. Looking up the details of impeachment this afternoon, we reminded ourselves that you need a simple majority in the House followed by a two-thirds majority in the Senate to dislodge the standing president from office. And then we talked about some of the different House and Senate elections coming up at the midterm.

As an avowed Democrat, I'm finding it difficult to contain my excitement as one-by-one Republicans get called on some hypocrisy that's just salacious enough to get the public interested: first Katherine Harris in Florida, followed by George Allen in Virginia, and now Mark Foley, again in Florida. (Que pasa, Florida?) Mix in there a leaked National Intelligence Estimate that says the WoT is failing in terms clear enough that it's difficult to spin the other way and you're practically icing the cake for the We Took Back Congress! post-election celebration.

But we've seen this all before: Republicans apparently self-destructing while Democrats stand by to reap the benefits like a group of Dickensian orphans waiting for the soup pot to come its way. To invoke the words of Han Solo (and Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia and, if you count the prequels, Obi-Wan Kenobi): I've got a bad feeling about this. And then comes this report in Time Magazine that the Republicans have patiently stashed away money to build a metaphorical beaver dam against the swelling tide, and I'm now waiting for November with equal parts dread and excitement. (I know, I know: beavers live on rivers and rivers aren't affected by tides -- it's a metaphor!)

But that's one thing about dreams. Even if you know you're having one, it can turn on you in an instant -- right into a nightmare -- and leave you grabbing at the sheets.