Oops

It seems that every now and again elected officials will actually go out on a limb and perform duties their founding documents suggest they do.

West Virginia's House of Delegates, analogous to the U.S. House of Representatives, passed 11 articles of impeachment against the remaining justices on its state Supreme Court. The articles charge the justices with abusing their authority and using taxpayer money for personal gain. Most of the allegations center on extravagant spending by the justices, on their own offices and perks as well as on semi-retired colleagues for their limited work.

The matter is now in the hands of the West Virginia Senate, which will hear testimony and then vote to convict or not. Some political shenanigans worked their way into the mess, mostly involving the timing of the votes relative to deadlines for elections.

Some might suggest that West Virginians have shown their federal counterparts what they should do with President Trump. Many might certainly wish for that to come to pass. But unfortunately, while the president is guilty of boorishness, childish pettiness, incompetence and a complete lack of good character, none of those are impeachable offenses.