I have no comment on Mr. Avnery’s essay, but I wanted to make a few points about your opening comment.

First, you should be aware that there is already an effort to impeach Vice President Cheney, in the form of House Resolution 333. Should this effort succeed, the terms of the 25th Amendment allow for the selection (by the President) and confirmation (by Congress) of a replacement Vice President. This replacement would almost certainly be a moderate Republican.

Second, once a replacement VP was established, successful impeachment of Bush would place the new moderate VP in the President’s office. Although this might seem drastic, there is a precedent: This pattern is exactly how former President Gerald Ford took office, after the sequential resignations of VP Spiro Agnew and President Richard Nixon.

We do not have to wait until January 2009 to restore the rule of law in this country. And the Republicans do not have to give up the White House to help Democrats restore justice.