An impeachment of President Bush is the quintissential wildcard — it is highly uncertain in terms of probability, but very high impact in the unlikely event that it should happen. So far, only the far left of the Democratic party has called for an impeachment, and the incoming Democratic leadership has made it clear that it will not consider calls for impeachment. Which is a good thing, because regardless of justification, if the Democrats initiated impeachment proceedings, then it is a safe bet that every president hereafter would face impeachment in an endless tit-for-tat. After all, no small motivation behind the Clinton impeachment was to settle the score for what conservatives believed was an injustice done to Nixon.
So impeachment isn’t going to come from the liberals, but that does not mean it is entirely impossible. Another scenario to contemplate is an impeachment proceeding that is initiated by Republicans and for some action that Bush has not yet committed. Which is why this is such a fascinating wildcard, low-probability but not out of the question. The last few years have seen the unlikely come to pass, so though the clock is quickly running out on the Bush administration, it would be premature to dismiss the possibility of a Bush impeachment.