Daryl Metcalfe seeks to impeach attorney general over gay rights stance

Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe
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Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe is circulating a memo calling for the impeachment of the state's attorney general, Kathleen Kane, for her "misbehavior in office" and "violation of her constitutional, statutory, and ethical duties."

Some of you may remember Metcalfe as the state representative who, following the Supreme Court's ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, blocked Rep. Gary Sims, an openly gay legislator, from speaking on the floor out of concern that he would make remarks that were "just open rebellion against God's law."

It should therefore come as no surprise that Metcalfe's allegations of "violation of her constitutional, statutory, and ethical duties" by Kane stem from a pro-gay legal decision.

Specifically, Kane recently said that she "cannot ethically defend the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s version of DOMA" because "it is wholly unconstitutional." To this end, Metcalfe is now seeking her impeachment.

"Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane recently made a public declaration that she would not defend a federal lawsuit challenging the statutory definition of marriage," Metcalfe's memo reads. "Ironically, Attorney General Kane explained that she could not 'ethically' defend a law that she believed to be 'wholly unconstitutional,' but making such a public statement that hinders the defense of the litigation violates the ethics rules that all attorneys are bound to follow.

"In the near future, I will be introducing a resolution containing articles of impeachment against Attorney General Kane. Impeachment is a rarely used, but extremely important, tool to address misbehavior in office. Attorney General Kane’s violation of her constitutional, statutory, and ethical duties cannot be tolerated if our system of government is to work properly."

The only thing Metcalfe got right is that impeachment is a rarely used tool, and not just a toy for wannabe fundamentalists to use to punish any and all ideological opponents.

Which is precisely why, if anyone should be worrying about impeachment for ethics violations, it's Daryl Metcalfe.