Danny Westneat talked to Congressman Jay Inslee for a column this morning about the state Senate Democrats' hearing tomorrow on impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Inslee has made his opposition clear before, but he told Westneat that one reason impeachment is not a good idea is because it would tick off Congressional Republicans.

"These are my friends," he says, "so this is difficult to say. But all impeachment would do is rally support for George Bush. Among Republicans, it would make him a hero. And it would make it that much harder to end this war."

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But he also acknowledged what anti-war activists won't: Republicans are key to getting American troops out of Iraq.

"We're trying to get them to vote against the war," Inslee said from Capitol Hill Tuesday. "They're coming around. You don't hear them singing the virtues of George Bush like they used to. But nothing will turn this into a partisan lockdown faster than impeachment."

Westneat was covering D.C. for The Times when Bill Clinton faced impeachment. What he saw then has him siding with Inslee and others who say impeaching Bush would do more harm than good.

I saw the atmosphere become so hostile that Republicans and Democrats wouldn't even get on elevators together, let alone cooperate to do anything important.

Regardless of whether Clinton deserved to be impeached for lying under oath about an affair, there's no question the proceedings turned Congress into a dysfunctional mess.

Chad Shue has heard that before. He writes at The Left Shue about attending Congressman Rick Larsen's town hall meeting last weekend:

During the Q&A he was asked if he would support impeachment hearings against George W. Bush. The short answer was "No" but in his explanation it became clear why this, as with all things in government over the past six years, it is Bill Clinton's fault. Larsen said that he felt that the bar for impeachment should be set extremely high and that, while he felt the Republicans had lowered the bar significantly for the Clinton impeachment, he believed that impeaching Bush would only make the Democrats (paraphrasing) 'appear to be seeking revenge and not justice and, therefore, simply returning the favor.'

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So there you are. Damn you Bill Clinton! Because you were impeached for sex, Bush walks free for lying to Congress, illegal wiretapping of American citizens, violations of international laws against torture and kidnapping — all of this while ordering thousands to their deaths in a "war of choice."