Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) recently attracted attention by serving as Karl Rove's liasion to the House Judiciary Committee, where he made sure Rove didn't look like a scofflaw who wouldn't abide by Congress' subpoena. Thanks to Smith, the weary Conyers can now hang a framed categorical declaration of innocence on his wall, the last bounty of a long and glorious career that began with the ignonimy of being on Nixon's enemies list.
Thanks to Rep. Smith, Conyers has attained his goal of obtaining something to show his grandkids, a souvenir of the time when the target of his numerous sternly worded letters finally answered with a sweetly worded one- assuring him, and the nation, that he (presumably- did he sign his own letter?), Rove, is not a subpoena-defying scofflaw. and that charges of Rove's having a hand in imprisoning Don Siegelman were utterly false, because Rove doesn't know any "government officials" down in Alabama, least of all someone with the name of "Simpson."

But Rep. Smith has done more. At yesterday's 'pseudo-impeachment' hearings, where Wexler, apparently on a cocaine binge, used the verboten word 'impeachment,' Rep Smith came up with a far more creative use for the dreaded term.

"This hearing will not cause us to impeach the President; it will only serve to impeach our own credibility."


Can Congress impeach its own credibility? If it can, Rep. Smith will have had the singular honor of finally taking this option 'off the table.' Rep. Smith, you are my new hero! (That's 'H-E-R-O,' as Karl would say.) Initiate hearings on impeaching Congress itself. The way to restore Congress' credibilty is to impeach it.

After reading this over at firedoglake I think I know:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/07/24/pelosi-appoints-dusty-foggo-and-jose-rodriguez-buddy-to-ethics-committee/

Pelosi Appoints Dusty Foggo and Jose Rodriguez’ Buddy to Ethics CommitteeBy: emptywheel Thursday July 24, 2008 1:17 pm 11

Porter Goss' tenure as Director of the CIA is noted for two things above all--and neither has to do with the collection and analysis of intelligence.

First, there's his buddy, Dusty Foggo, whom Goss appointed to be Executive Director of the CIA. In that role, Foggo is alleged to have exploited the weaknesses of the earmark system--not to mention Duke Cunningham's weakness for whores--to steer millions of dollars in contracts to the company of his childhood friend, Brent Wilkes. In addition, Foggo pulled strings to get his girlfriend hired at CIA.

Then, there's Jose Rodriguez, whom Goss appointed to be director of the CIA's Clandestine Services after Goss ousted Stephen Kappes because he wasn't a political hack. Rodriguez is best known for ordering the torture tapes depicting Abu Zubaydah's and al-Nashiri's interrogation destroyed--in spite of the many court orders and outstanding requests from the 9/11 Commission and Congress for such evidence. Goss says he wasn't involved, but Rodriguez faced no discipline for having the tapes destroyed--even in spite of the fact that then DNI John Negroponte warned Goss to make sure the tapes weren't destroyed. Rodriguez also spiked the internal CIA investigation into why the folks who rendered Abu Omar out of Italy were so damned incompetent--leaving a cell phone trail right up to the CIA's doors, not to mention thousands of dollars in hotel bills because spooks must have luxury, don't you know.

In short, Porter Goss is known to be an incredible hack who oversaw great ethical (and legal) abuses that, at least so long as Goss was in charge, escaped all consequences.

Precisely the kind of guy you'd want in charge of Congress' Ethics Review Board, right? Oh wait, I mean, precisely the kind of guy Nancy Pelosi would want in charge of Congress' Ethics Review Board (h/t John Forde). You and I, of course, would think it an utterly ludicrous idea to put a guy like Goss, with huge ethical stains on his record, in charge of Congress' ethics. But I guess the Speaker of the House doesn't agree.

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I can supplement this with a telling detail from Valerie Plame's book:

"I had my own doubts about Goss and his agenda. Just after Novak's column appeared in 2003, Goss, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, gave an interview to his hometown paper in Florida. He was asked if the committee would investigate the leak. His demeaning response: 

"Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation."' 

That seems to be Nancy's criterion too.

if Nixon had not been impeached?