When Dick Cheney surfaced on Feb. 15 long enough for an interview with Fox News eminence Brit Hume -- an event that CNN’s Jack Cafferty promptly likened to “Bonnie interviewing Clyde” -- the vice presidential spin emerged from a timeworn bag of political tricks. Cheney took responsibility. Whatever that means.

The New York Times website swiftly made its top headline “Cheney Takes Full Responsibility for Shooting Hunter.” Just before Fox News Channel aired interview segments at length, the summary from anchor Hume told viewers that Cheney had accepted “full responsibility for the incident.” Hours later, the Washington Post’s front-page story led this way: “Vice President Cheney accepted full responsibility yesterday...”

Ironically -- while news outlets kept using the phrase “full responsibility” -- the transcript of the interview posted on FoxNews.com shows that Cheney never used any form of the word “responsibility.”

Whatever their exact words, the politicians who can’t avoid acknowledging culpability are often the beneficiaries of excessive media plaudits for supposedly owning up to what they’ve done wrong.

THE FACTS

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot his hunting partner, mistaking him for a covey of quail.  As of this writing, the victim remains in the intensive care unit.

This is the first time since 1804, when Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, that a sitting vice president has shot anybody.

The shooting occurred at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, about 60 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, where the vice president and several companions were hunting quail.  The shooting victim was a 78-year-old man named Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, Texas.  Whittington was reportedly 30 yards away from Cheney when he was hit in the cheek, neck and chest.  Cheney was using a 28-gauge shotgun.  Each of the hunters was wearing a bright orange vest at the time.

The Attorney General is supposed to be America’s top lawyer. His job duties require him to direct the law enforcement efforts of the federal government. Alberto Gonzales seems to think that he works for Bush and Cheney instead of the American people. When Gonzales was first advanced for his position by the Bush White House, Democrats feared that Gonzales would politicize the Justice Department and overlook or excuse law-breaking by the Bush Administration.

Attorney General Gonzales has demonstrated in his recent testimony before Congress concerning the illegal NSA wiretapping authorized by the Bush White House that the worst fears of his Democratic opponents were justified. The performance of Gonzales before Congress was a clear example of excusing political abuse of office. He reminded many observers of similar performances by Nixon’s former Attorney General John Mitchell. Mitchell disgraced his office by trying to cover-up the crimes of the Nixon White House. Both Nixon and Mitchell were eventually forced from office.

The media buzz about impeachment may be at 1 percent of the level it was during Monicagate, but guess what? The imperial presidency has less public support right now than the promiscuous presidency did at its lowest point - and as this administration's outrages pile up, George Bush seems to be losing his mandate simply to finish his term.

In two recent polls - one in October, just before the Scooter Libby indictment, and one in January, in the wake of the domestic-spying revelations - a majority of respondents considered impeachment the proper course of action for the crimes Bush is accused of.

The emperor may not be naked, but he's down to his fig leaf.

The October poll, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, which was commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, presented 1,001 U.S. adults with the statement: "If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable by impeaching him." An astounding 50 percent agreed with the statement; 44 percent disagreed.

Simple acts and a little courage have worked wonders in the world.  Nonviolent people's movements won democratic reforms in Russia, booted the British out of India, resisted the Nazi occupation in Denmark, drove a dictator out of El Salvador and another out of the Philippines, ended Jim Crow, crushed Soviet power in Poland, toppled military regimes in Argentina and Chile, ended Apartheid, and brought democracy to the Ukraine.  George W. is no match for a force this powerful.

As powerless as we may feel in the United States right now, we have at our disposal the tools needed to end the war in Iraq and to impeach the criminals who began it.  The impeachment may have to precede the peace, but, in one order or the other, we can achieve these two goals.