While discussing Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s attempt to impeach Vice President Cheney, CNN’s Tom Foreman called his effort “sincere” but added, “I can be sincere about becoming Miss Teen Ohio; it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.” But contrary to Foreman’s cynicism, a majority of Americans actually would like to see Cheney impeached.

A recent American Research Group poll shows that while Americans are evenly divided on whether to impeach President Bush, a clear majority (54 percent) supports impeaching Vice President Cheney. According to this poll, there is more support for impeaching Bush and Cheney now than there ever was for impeaching President Clinton even at the peak of the Lewinski scandal.

If you listened to Tom Foreman, you would think that the people who want to impeach Vice President Cheney were “hardly a mass movement.” While this could not be further from the truth, Kucinich’s introduction of articles of impeachment against the vice president were still greeted with outright mockery by the media. The reality is that a majority of Americans agree with Rep. Kucinich.

On a similar note, The New York Times published an editorial this past Sunday recommending that the United States leave Iraq. Tellingly, the editorial begins by recounting the numerous ways the Times was misled by the Bush administration before. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me five or six times in a row, shame on me.

Everything the editorial says is true. Bush is incompetent. Our presence in Iraq is making things worse. Our military is being weakened. Our troops are stuck in a civil war. We do need to leave Iraq soon. The problem is that all of this was just as true last year when the Times was attacking Democrats for proposing then what they are suggesting now. While it is good to see the Times come to its senses about Iraq, this editorial is too little way too late.

Whether or not impeaching the vice president or immediately pulling out of Iraq are good ideas is another debate entirely. But the fact remains that if a clear majority of Americans support either proposal, then the media should at least be giving these debates more coverage. A group of 150 million Americans can’t be wrong.

Instead, those who support impeachment or believe the United States should pull out of Iraq are tarred as left-wing extremists by so-called “serious” journalists such as The Washington Post’s David Broder. The polls show that the American people have long been aware of the corruption of the Bush administration and of the deteriorating situation in Iraq. It is our politicians and the media who have been perpetually behind the curve.

By dismissing or mocking the arguments for impeaching Cheney and for withdrawing from Iraq in the face of public opinion, the media have decided that they know better.

The elite opinion makers have been perpetually wrong about this administration and about Iraq. It is about time that the opinion of the American people counted for something.