Freddie O’Connell over at Liberadio notes a recent press release from Democratic Michigan Senator Carl Levin addressing administration claims as to Iraqi training of al Qaeda operatives in the use of chemical weapons.

Now, I actually do respect Freddie - he’s one of the few liberals out there who make cogent arguments worth discussing (even though, at times, he’s not been a fan of how I discuss them). But the chaser to Levin’s release in his post is a call for investigations into the impeachment of Bush.

I think that is, well, a bit rash. In referring to “If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.”

An astonishing 42 percent of Americans agreed.

I thought 42% was a striking figure, but now we’ve got a majority of Americans seriously considering the fact that impeachment proceedings might be appropriate alongside a Senator claiming that the very issue that these same Americans consider an impeachable offense is revealed by newly declassified information? The question is whether new media will step in where old media has dropped the ball and let Americans discover for themselves how troubled they are by so much of what has been happening under the Bush administration as culminated in the war with Iraq.

This is predicated on the legitimacy of Levin’s claims. A close reading of the press release shows that the senator’s conclusions are based on opinions, not fact. Just today Levin’s claims were brought into doubt by new documents being unearthed in Iraq (I hate linking to myself, but I just did it).

Believe me, if the media thought blood was in the water on this issue, they’d be all over it. What we’re seeing here is a Democratic grasping at straws, and in this case by an extraordinarily partisan Democrat.

Here are some things Carl Levin has said “The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror.”

and has said “The terrorist attacks of September 11th and the courageous actions of our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq remind us that friends of tyranny and enemies of freedom still exist. ”
and said

“We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them.”

Of course, the intelligence Senator Levin had was the same as President Clinton, and as President Bush (after all, he is on the Armed Services Committee). Despite his words, Levin voted “No” in the October 11, 2002 resolution, for reasons only known to him. The Senator either came to the same conclusion based on the same intelligence and voted against his better judgment, or he is guilty of extraordinarily poor oversight. Either way, it looks like nothing more than political opportunism and is hardly cause for calls for impeachment.

So…not so fast.