The recent revelation in an NIE report that Iran had shelved its nuclear weapons program as long ago as 2003 has added fuel to the fires of impeachment.

According to Seymour Hersh, this report has been "in circulation" for almost as long as Bush and Cheney have been lying to us about Iran's non-existent weapons program. Hersh believes that Cheney kept "his foot on the neck" of the report because he didn't "like" the conclusions it reached.

We've been here before. Sexed up intelligence, intelligence tampering, and feverish images of Middle Eastern madmen with nuclear weapons are what shoved a reluctant nation into an unnecessary and disastrous war in Iraq. Then as now, all roads lead to the door of the Vice President's office.

The national outrage has been pushed to the breaking point. On Dec. 7, Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona became the 23rd co-sponsor of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's HR 333, Articles of Impeachment against Dick Cheney. Rep. Robert Wexler, the House of Representatives super-sleuth, polled his Florida constituents and found 61 percent favor impeaching Cheney. Wexler is recommending to Nancy Pelosi and the House Judiciary Committee that hearings regarding the charges against Cheney go forward.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have Jay Inslee (D-WA), who went back to DC this fall with his ears burning. His constituents made it uncomfortably clear that impeachment was on their table. All but one of the legislative districts he represents have passed independent impeachment resolutions.

Inslee not only refuses to respond to his constituents' demands, but has actively worked to capsize grassroots efforts to kick-start impeachment from the Washington State Legislature.

Rep. Wexler is a man with a good understanding of just what his job entails. He is the people's representative in Congress. He asks for their input and implements it. He's not their parent and they are not his children. He is a public servant, not their superior officer.

Inslee operates by a different sort of logic. At a town meeting this fall he told us he believes his judgment trumps his constituents' desires. The fact that his constituents are unlikely to have their judgment clouded by personal ambition, party politics, or the siren song of "K" Street didn't seem to interest him. He was untroubled by the fact that his judgment and his oath of office are in conflict.

So he fills his days pushing an energy agenda that cannot pass because he is shielding the obstacles: namely, Bush and Cheney. He talks about domestic violence, a Japanese Memorial on Bainbridge Island (his home), and about holding our "soldiers close to our hearts" while he votes for the funding for an illegal occupation that keeps them in the Middle East.

Inslee seems content to ignore the elephant in the room: the fact that our government is illegitimate in the minds of its citizens and in the eyes of the law.

Does Inslee think that at some distant time his constituents are going to thank him for "exercising his judgment" in allowing dishonest men to abuse our military and suck up the collective wealth of our nation?

Does he think that we are grateful that exercising his judgment has allowed civil rights to be ripped out of the Constitution and that the Body he sits in believes that thought can be criminalized?

Does he think that we are pleased that his judgment forces our grandchildren to pay off a debt that lines the pockets of war profiteers and enables our military to commit war crimes?

Granted there are other members of Congress equally guilty. But I didn't vote for them. I voted for Inslee thinking he would represent me fairly and honestly. He is my voice in Congress and I'm tired of having my interests subordinated to his "judgment."