RUSH: John in San Francisco, great to have you, sir, on the program. Hi.

CALLER: (whispering) Good morning, Rush, or good afternoon where you are. Rush, I just have one question for you. If President Obama decides that he is going to circumvent the Constitution by executive order, uh, would he be liable for impeachment under the Constitution — or, I should say, an offense against the Constitution? After all, he did take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, and he’s about to do it again. And with your kind permission, I’m going to hang up on myself and take your answer on the air. Thank you.

RUSH: All right. That’s John in San Francisco. Interesting that he brings that up. A congressman from Texas named Stockman has actually suggested that it is an impeachable offense if the president starts using executive orders to in any way alter the Constitution, particularly the Second Amendment. But, John, let me tell you, it’s like the commission of any crime. If you are not prosecuted for it, then have you committed the crime?

If you rob a bank but nobody prosecutes you and nobody charges you, do you get away with it? You do if nobody finds you, if nobody prosecutes you, in any crime! So if the president of the United States wants to find his way around the Constitution, and if he thinks that his opposition is so cowed and so afraid to oppose him that they won’t stop him, then yes. He can do it. The citizens cannot bring charges of impeachment. It has to be done in the House of Representatives, and it’s like a legal case.

Charges have to be filed, presented, voted on. If it comes to it, there is a trial that takes place in the Senate. It’s an arduous process, and it is obviously never done haphazardly or taken lightly. It very rarely is a procedure taken. So your question is, “Can he be impeached?” Yeah. “Will he be?” is an entirely different matter. I don’t get the sense, John, that outside of Congressman Stockman in Texas there’s much energy to take that route in dealing with Obama right now.

Not among elected Republicans. Impeachable offenses are listed, but they’re not inclusive. In other words, it’s not a list that’s specifies it has to be one of these particular things. It’s like anything else. The case has to be made. The prosecution has to make the case for it, and they have to get the votes for it. The desire to do something like that in the House of Representatives at large isn’t there. It’s not a factor. Nothing of the sort, outside of Congressman Stockman. But I don’t get the sense it’s something you ought to hold your breath for.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I got another name to add to the list of people suggesting the president could be impeached over potential executive orders on the Second Amendment. That would be Ed Meese, who is an emeritus official at the Heritage Foundation. He became the latest conservative to warn that Obama could risk impeachment if he takes executive action on reducing gun violence. Ed Meese, no casual figure here. Ed Meese, a lot of weight he carries. He made these comments in an interview on Monday night.