Some may be missing the point

From Impeach Bush Now by Elizabeth Holtzman, in The Nation.

Impeachment is one of the few ways Congress can draw limits around presidential power and educate the country about those limits. And without the people's support for those limits, they will be breached again and again by future Presidents.

The important things about this question aren't punishment or politics, they are precedent and deterrence. We prosecute the accused to find the facts of the matter, to reduce future crime, and to help determine the kind of society we inhabit. Whether we acquit or convict, we don't turn a blind eye and tacitly condone, or we deserve what we get.