Think Progress has started a petition campaign urging Members of Congress to consider impeaching Ninth Federal Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, who was the author of several of the Bush Administration memos released by the White House last week.  Here’s the image they’re using:

The gavel over Bybee’s head is a bit much — after all, Think Progress, you want to impeach the guy because he favored whacking other people on the head — but it’s good that they’re trying.  You can find the link to the petition here. The New York Times also has called for his impeachment:

[The] investigation should start with the lawyers who wrote these sickening memos, including John Yoo, who now teaches law in California; Steven Bradbury, who was job-hunting when we last heard; and Mr. Bybee, who holds the lifetime seat on the federal appeals court that Mr. Bush rewarded him with.

These memos make it clear that Mr. Bybee is unfit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution. Congress should impeach him. And if the administration will not conduct a thorough investigation of these issues, then Congress has a constitutional duty to hold the executive branch accountable. If that means putting Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales on the stand, even Dick Cheney, we are sure Americans can handle it.

After eight years without transparency or accountability, Mr. Obama promised the American people both. His decision to release these memos was another sign of his commitment to transparency. We are waiting to see an equal commitment to accountability.

To be clear, Bybee deserves a full and fair hearing.  But it would be a travesty were Congress to take no action.  The question, I think, isn’t whether someone will take the steps necessary for the House to begin hearings.  The question is whether the right person will do so.  To put it bluntly, if it’s Dennis Kucinich or John Conyers, we can forget about Congress taking the effort seriously.

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