Washington – Two years ago, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) held a mock impeachment hearing. It was in the basement of the Capitol. Only Democrats were present. The news media, aside from a few progressive bloggers and the Capitol Hill newspapers, barely noticed.

What a difference an election makes.

Yesterday, the cameras were whirring, the lights were glaring, and the eyes of the nation were on Chairman Conyers as – at precisely 9:00 a.m. – he gaveled into session the first formal House Judiciary Committee hearing into impeachment proceedings for President George W. Bush.

Chairman Conyers started the proceedings by calling them “long overdue” and pledging to hold President Bush accountable for “wrongdoing unlike any we have seen in the history of our nation.”

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, called the hearings “nothing more than a show.”

Democrats, however, disagreed, as did legal experts.

Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who is scheduled to testify before the committee later this week, praised Conyers and the Democrat leadership for having the bravery to move forward with hearings.

“The actions of this Administration are abominable,” Clark said. “This President has made a mockery of democracy.”

Attorney John Bonifaz, author of Warrior-King: The Case for Impeaching George W. Bush and co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, accused President Bush of purposely deceiving the American public to start a war in Iraq.

“Among his many offenses, this President lied to the American people to go to war. If this is not an impeachable offense I don’t know what is,” Bonifaz said. He added, “I hope they go after [Vice President Dick] Cheney and [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld next. If we do this right, we can remove the whole cabal and be swearing Nancy Pelosi in to serve out the remainder of Bush’s term.”

To many members of Congress, the hearings represent promises kept.

In 2005, Judiciary committee member Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said, “If we had an honest Congress, we’d be considering impeachment.” Today, he told America Weakly, “I am thrilled to say we finally have an honest Congress. The American people knew exactly what they were voting for last November. We told them that if we won, we would move forward and make this President accountable. Today, we’re keeping that promise.”

Democrat National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, now mentioned prominently as a presidential candidate after successfully leading Democrats back to the majority in Congress, has been enthusiastically promoting the hearings at appearances across the country, from Iowa to New Hampshire.

“For years we have watched the Republican majorities allow the President to get away with whatever he wants. It is about time he was held responsible,” Dean said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) continue to be unavailable for comment.

Some Republicans have questioned the timing of the hearings and wondered if they were payback to party activists for helping the Democrats regain the majority. Before the November elections, more than 10 Democrat state parties had passed resolutions calling for President Bush to be impeached and many groups aligned with the Democrat Party – like MoveOn.org – have long supported impeaching the President.

For some, this is just the first step.

“Justice won’t truly be served until George W. Bush is tried by the International Criminal Court at the Hague for war crimes,” a MoveOn spokesman said.

Minority Leader Dennis Hastert (R-IL) called the hearings the “most ridiculous” thing he has seen in Congress and vowed to fight the Democrats.

Rep. Sensenbrenner accused the Democrats of being tied to special interests. “Once again the Democrats have bowed to the pressure of Hollywood liberal interest groups,” he said.

Democrats, however, are unbowed.

“Elections have consequences,” Conyers said. “The Democrat Party was elected for a reason. If Republicans had won, impeachment would remain nothing more than a daydream. But this is no dream – it’s a nightmare for the Bush Administration and the Republicans, because they didn’t win, and my committee will move forward to impeach this President.”