Impeachment

Frost/Nixon and Bush
By Roland Hansen

It is wintertime in the northern hemisphere. It is also the time of year right now to hear the popular song Frosty the Snowman. It is also the season in which it is not uncommon to see a whole lot of frost in the colder regions. To top it all off, there is now a popular movie being shown in a theater near you about Frost - David Frost, that is.

You’ve most likely heard of the Broadway play based on a real-life political event that has been made into a Hollywood movie. It’s about a reporter by the name of David Frost and the events surrounding his famous interviews with a lying, deceiving, disgraceful President. No, the President in this story is not George W. Bush. The President portrayed in this theatrical production is none other than Richard Milhous Nixon.

Transcript of Cheney on Fox News Today here.

Excerpts:

WALLACE: During the vice presidential debate in October, Joe Biden was asked about your interpretation of the powers of your office as vice president, and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Vice President Cheney's been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history.

Could We Coverup Watergate Today? And Twice On Sundays?
By Paul Rosenberg | Open Left

The death of Mark Felt (AKA "Deep Throat") has Former Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie, Jr., wondering "Could We Uncover Watergate Today?"

Over at Dkos, LithiumCola notes that Downie had been "executive editor of the Post from 1991 (after Ben Bradlee stepped down) to earlier this year, when he retired. Downie therefore held Bradlee's post for most of the Bush Administration. A point which makes his column in Sunday's edition of the Post particularly mystifying, or maddening, at any rate revealing."

LithiumCola goes on to note:

The recently retired executive editor of the Washington Post is musing about what "would" happen if a "story such as Watergate" were to emerge once again.

A wild hypothetical, to be sure.

Lance Ciepiela noted:

Senator Dick Durbin writes to Governor Blagojevich (attachment) asking him to step down because the charges are so serious, regardless of his guilt or innocence, but Durbin has NOT sent any such letters to Cheney or Bush even though their 39 articles of impeachment pending in the House Judiciary Committee are much more serious.

By Dave Lindorff

A new congressional report is belatedly confirming what many have long known: that the White House and in particular then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, lied to Congress in 2004 when he told them the Bush administration was not repeatedly warned by the CIA not to make the claim that Saddam had tried to buy uranium ore from Niger.

What is astonishing about this report, which documents that the CIA at least four times tried to prevent Bush and other top officials from presenting that lie to Congress and the American public in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, is not that it documents what has long been known, but that Congress and the corporate media are still pretending that the claim itself was an acceptable justification for launching a war.

By Dave Lindorff

A month before he takes office, it has become the conventional wisdom in our conventional media that Barack “No Drama” Obama will not seek or even allow any prosecution of Bush administration officials for crimes committed over the past eight years—not even for authorizing and promoting the illegal use of torture on captives of America’s wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and “terror.”

Speaking of Shoes by John Perry

3 mins.

Please add the Alexandria Democratic Committee (Virginia) to list of local Democratic Party Committes that passed Impeachment Resolutions. Passesd at full Committee meeting December 3, 2007. Text of the resolution is below.

RESOLUTION OF THE ALEXANDRIA DEMOCRATIC
COMMITTEE (“ADC”) CALLING FOR INVESTIGATIVE ACTION
BY THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
REGARDING ALLEGED UNLAWFUL
ACTIONS BY THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT

WHEREAS the American people require and expect their highest officials to follow all laws of the land, in particular the oath taken by them upon assuming the powers of office “to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States;” and

An ornament urging Bush's impeachment has been removed from the White House Christmas tree, but there's no reason you can't have impeachment for your holiday celebration and prosecution in the new year. Watch this video!

For $10.23 at Amazon.com you can have "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush" by Congressman Dennis Kucinich with additional material by David Swanson and Elizabeth de la Vega. This book includes the full articles, extensive documentation, a chart listing all of the statutory crimes that can be prosecuted, and an introduction explaining how we can take the only step that will deter future presidential crimes: placing Cheney and Bush behind bars. Plus statements by Ray McGovern, John Kim, Brad Friedman, and Vincent Bugliosi. And it fits perfectly in a stocking!

Congressman Nadler is opposing pardons but not moving forward on impeachment, as many of his constituents continue to believe he must to preserve the rule of law and the institution of representative democracy. Here's an announcement from Chuck Zlatkin:

GRASS ROOTS IMPEACHMENT ACTIVISTS TO PROTEST CONGRESSMAN JERROLD NADLER'S APPEARANCE AT FORUM AT NYU LAW SCHOOL, THURSDAY

WHAT: PROTEST: Members of a myriad of pro-impeachment organizations will gather to call to task Jerrold Nadler, Representative of the 8th CD in New York and Chair of the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, by leafleting his appearance

By Washington Post

(Photo courtesy of Deborah Lawrence)

When Deborah Lawrence got the invitation from the White House, the Seattle-based artist decided to make a lefty political statement.

But she never expected it would hang on the official Christmas tree.

Laura Bush asked members of Congress to pick local painters to decorate ornaments for this year's 20-foot Fraser fir in the Blue Room. The globes (to be unveiled by the first lady tomorrow) are supposed to showcase something special about each congressional district. Washington state's Rep. Jim McDermott contacted a local arts organization, which asked Lawrence, a collage artist, to create the local entry.

By John Anderson

This email is being sent to you because I believe that the Peace and Justice organization to which you belong may well be going to the UfPJ National Assembly, Dec 12-14. If not, then you may ignore this email and I apologize for the distraction.
This Assembly is likely to be pivotal in determining whether or not UfPJ can be an effective agent for Peace and Justice. Our member organization, Silicon Valley Impeachment Coalition, believes that in order to be effective, UfPJ must wholeheartedly embrace the concept and practice of Accountability. Many of its member organizations, such as The Center for Constitutional Rights, Progressive Democrats of America, and After Downing St, have already done so. The best way for UfPJ to begin to follow suit is to place a strong paragraph on Accountability in its Unity Statement. We propose inserting the following paragraph in the Unity Statement as the first bullet point after the heading To Move Toward this World:

A useful reminder:
Impeach if You Care About Obama, You Have Been Warned
By Ralph Lopez

Democrats need to advocate for impeachment proceedings in the House, before Bush/Cheney leave office
By Karen Rubin

Countless editorials and op-ed pieces have described the flurry of activity in the Bush Administration to cement into law and entangle the incoming Obama Administration with regulations that continues the pattern of pro-Corporation, anti-environment, anti-civil rights rule-making that the electorate effectively rejected in 2006 and 2008.

That is why even in these waning days of the Bush/Cheney Administration, to save the Republic, the House must act to impeach Bush & Cheney now, even in these final days, even in what is called the lame duck presidency.

In the first place, even as a lame duck, Bush is still abusing his powers by signing regulations that will entangle the next Administration, effectively canceling out the will of the people as expressed in this tidal wave election.

Jonathan Turley: "The Dems Will Repair Bush's Legacy...It's an Indictment of All of Us"

"Waterboarding is torture." Starts at about 1:10

For economy's sake, Pelosi needs to push for impeachment now
BY Rochelle Riley | Freep.com

Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s ineffectiveness became clear the day she became Speaker of the House and immediately announced that there would be no impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney.

Guided by politics, she said leading investigations into just how much the Bush administration did – and did wrong – would be divisive. What she didn’t express was her worry that too many Democrats faced elimination from the House if they took on the difficult task of proving who knew what, when.

One last thing before you go
By Harry Lonsdale | www.FightingBob.com

About the time that President George W. Bush started serving his second term, a number of books were published calling for his impeachment. Some grassroots citizens groups also emerged at that time with a similar goal. In 2005, Congressman John Conyers held an unauthorized hearing in the basement of the Capitol to look into the matter.

The headline on January 19, 2009? | Tony Robinson

Will that be the headline on January 19th, 2009? Before he leaves office, will President Bush use his pardoning power to save the members of his administration from legal action?

Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution gives the president “Power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” A pardon removes both punishment and guilt.

Sent in by Hollis Martin
November 21, 2008
Dear Hollis,

Thank you for contacting me and sharing your thoughts about the impeachment of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. I share the outrage that so many Vermonters have expressed over the disastrous policies of this president and his administration. While I believe that impeachment is not the appropriate remedy, I share the goal of restoring accountability to our government.

In the 110th Congress, our oversight investigations, among other actions, have exposed the egregiously substandard care for recovering soldiers at Walter Reed, documented unacceptable accounts of political interference by the Bush Administration over sound global warming science, and uncovered waste, fraud, and abuse associated with the war in Iraq on an unimaginable scale.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts on impeachment. Although we may disagree on this issue, I hope that you will continue to be in touch on matters important to you.

Sincerely,
PETER WELCH
Member of Congress

By David Swanson

Before anybody else Emails me their wise pseudo-informed decrees that nobody can be impeached after they are out of office, please read this 68-page report (PDF) which answers every objection I've ever heard.

My favorite highlights relate to Blount and Belknap. In 1797 the Senate tried Senator William Blount in an impeachment trial despite having already expelled him. He was not convicted, but the reason for not convicting him was not that he was out of office. In 1876 the House impeached and the Senate tried Secretary of War William Worth Belknap, who had resigned prior to the impeachment. The Senate ruled by a vote of 37-29 that it had jurisdiction despite the resignation. Belknap was acquitted, but not because he was not in office.

More

After Torture: Discussing a Plan for Justice in the Post-Bush Era

An Open Forum hosted by the NYC Center on Law and Security and Harper's Magazine.

Witch-hunt To Persecute Warriors on Terror - Lawfare Against America
Useful Fools

Forget bipartisanship. Forget the ability to protect our citizens from terrorists.

Some activists have revenge in mind...unprecedented attacks on former officials and citizens who assisted the government.

They plan to create a whole new legal minefield which can be used to hound anyone whom they dislike. Even if you think that Bush or someone should be prosecuted (which I find absurd), the tactics of these people should bring universal condemnation.

Some of these tactics can be easily used to effectively suppress dissent or otherwise leverage the personal power of activists in government positions to injure those with whom they disagree.

This effort is a neo-fascist attack on the rule of law and on our nation.

The Impeachinator
Watchdog Fein
By Harvey Silverglate | The Boston Phoenix

"...when Barack Obama moves into the Oval Office. Indeed, the über-popular president-elect will inherit an executive branch that has seen unprecedented increases in power over the past eight years, and, in reality, for many decades. It'll be up to the people to hold Obama accountable to his promises of increased transparency and respect for our nation's founding documents."

"Thank you for contacting me to inquire about starting impeachment proceedings for President Bush. As your representative in Congress, I appreciate hearing from you, and I welcome the opportunity to respond. I believe that trying to impeach the President with less than two months left in his term will divert us from dealing with the critical issues facing the nation....

"Sincerely,
CAROLYN B. MALONEY
Member of Congress"

It’s not too late to impeach Bush, Cheney
by Susan Serpa | Worcester Telegram

It is not too late to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for violating the fourth, sixth and eighth amendments to the Constitution, for lying repeatedly about reasons to invade Iraq, for failing to prevent the downfall of our economy, for coercing intelligence information to be fixed around policy, for treason in exposing the identity of important covert intelligence operatives, for illegally violating subpoenas, for failing to provide sufficiently for our forces in battle, and for the indiscriminate abuse of signing statements to avoid obeying laws passed by Congress. It’s not too late. In fact, it’s essential to impeach before Jan. 20.