This is the kind of politics I like:

House Democrats on Tuesday beat back a Republican attempt to force them to vote on a divisive resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney for "fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" to justify the war in Iraq. ...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and her lieutenants maneuvered to avoid a bruising floor fight. Such a clash would have forced Democrats to choose between their liberal base, which might cheer a Cheney impeachment, and a broader electorate, which might view the resolution as a partisan game in a time of war.

There's better coverage elsewhere, but we'll use the LA Times for now. For years the Democrats have whispered that Cheney ought to be impeached, but when they get the chance they don't follow through. Why? Because they don't want the open discussion. They want the benefits of a whisper campaign without the drawbacks of actually finding facts.

Sure, calling on people to apologize for inappropriate comments is a national past-time, and when the Anti-Defamation League invokes Godwin's Law, it's news, but there's something elegant about parliamentary maneuvering. Of course, sometimes forcing the other side to show up for their filibuster just turns things into a sleepover. And sometimes playing bait and switch with "consensus candidates" isn't a good idea either. Although "Congress has managed to outrun Bush to the bottom of the approval ratings," they still have a chance to play politics intelligently.

Of course, right now Congress is debating what the Democrats call "warrantless wiretapping" and what President Bush calls "the Terrorist Surveillance Program." Every time Congress considers requiring warrants to wiretap international phone calls, they decide to rubber stamp Bush's proposals. Why? Because swing voters overwhelmingly side with Bush on this issue. So why is Congress dragging it out again? It could be an attempt to get some support from "the base," or it could just be more proof that Pelosi and Reid really don't know what they are doing. You can be the judge of that.