I am just amazed at the amount of venom being displayed, and dumb choices being advocated, here by people who simply don't understand how the world works.

Nothing, except impeachment, gets through Congress without at least 60 votes in the Senate. There aren't that many Democrats there. Therefore, nothing the Democrats favor gets passed.

If you think there are not enough Republicans in Congress, vote for more. If you think there are too many, vote for Democrats.

If you vote for what you don't want to prove a point, you are going to get what you deserve. And, you are going to deserve what you get.

Always look on the bright side of things: between Shrubya and Lyndon Johnson, it will be a very long time before the US elects another corrupt, corporate Texas warmonger to the white house again.

My head is spinning trying to make sense of all this back and forth discussion about corporate owned parties; impeachable offences; end of the world; Nazi Germany all over again; don't vote at all; vote third party; vote Democrat - it's the best we have; I even saw someone suggest to vote Republican(!); vote out incumbent Dems; Greens vs Dems; Dems vs Dems; Greens as puppets of Repubs....geeze people. It's no wonder Bush could go ahead and write himself a nice little ditty "in case I need to be King".

The facts are smack in front of one's face. We have a serious problem with our government right now. Sure, the Republicans are supporting a near-dictator and his cronies and the party always had a lovefest with big business. That's old news. But now average Dems are realizing that their party is not listening to their progressive wishes (and never really did, only used them as votes to gain or remain in power). It must be terribly frustrating for a man like Kucinich. So what does this all mean? Simple. Our government has been hijacked by corporate interests (old news for some of you) and anything disrupting the day to day functioning of transnational corporate dealings and world finance dealings will not be put "on the table". War for oil, environmental issues, single payer not for profit health care for all, anything that could effect the earnings of the corporations that our government lives on will never be acted upon in the progressive fashion that needs addressed. Impeachment? Please. Spare me the miles of discussion. As if that would even be considered by huge mega-corporations who stand to make even more money while Republicans and Corporate Dems are in office.

Alternatives? Some, like myself, would love to see a real third party take over through peaceful electoral means. That ain't gonna happen. The largest third party in the country is the Green Party - the only party not willing to accept corporate donations in any form or amount. Oh yeah, like the corporations are going to sit back and watch that one happen. And from the sound of some posters, it wouldn't be given a chance because of the nightmare of Leftist politics - suspicion of the other guy's intentions!

Don't vote at all? Oh that would really hurt the corporations and corporate puppets in government, wouldn't it? Like watching TV while your house burns down.

I won't even touch "vote Repubican" to teach the Dems a lesson. Maybe that was Mr. Rove putting in his two cents.

If change is to happen short of all out revolution (oh, try to pry Joe America away from his couch for that one too) we as progressives must realize that we are only as strong as our combined numbers allow us to be. We all want to restore our civil rights, end war, give our people equitable health care, end bigotry, hunger and homelessness, and on and on. Unfortunately, we all have our own ideas to reach the end result. So here we are pecking away at our keyboards while the corporations rule and our corrupted two party system remains intact carrying out the wishes of the rich and powerful. And so it will remain because we aren't willing to become united.

As a frined of mine said the other day when my neck veins were popping from the Dems sellout on the war vote. "Hey settle down. Remember, 2012 is coming when the big shift happens in the world. All will be fine after that."

Just to be sure, I'm looking at real estate in Nova Scotia.

I think that one reason why Pelosi has said no to impeachment is because she currently needs the cooperation of the Clinton supporters, and Hilary certainly does not want Pelosi to become preident through impeachment of Bush and Cheney because that would almost automatically insure that Pelosi would be the party's nominee for the 2008 election.

Buy new, only what you must.
Buy local produce to support Americans in your community.
Buy from small American owned businesses only.
Buy used and vintage items from other Americans through yard sales, ebay, and auctions.
Recycle everything you can.
Burn as little fuel as possible.
The only way

YES YES YES.

What was it the colonists said to King George - "No taxation without representation?"
We have no representation it seems.
What are we to do if we have the spine of our founders in 1776?

I am sure glad the Democrats got control of the House and Senate. Let's see. They couldn't pass a bill to allow cheap imports of medication from Canada because they "couldnt gaurantee the purity of these medications." Right. Canadians are dropping dead in droves because their phamaceutical companies can't figure out how to make Lasix and Digoxin. Of course, they also ignore the financial rape of American citizens by the pharmaceuticals. They have ignored very impeachible offenses such as obstructing justice by firing federal prosecutors who wouldn't go after Democrats, the outing of a CIA operative, and lying us into an uneccessary war that has been and expensive and bloddy catastrophe. THey haven't uttered a peep about the "decider' appointing himself dictator should we have another catastrophe, (wanna bet something happens in say..September '08?) have been mute on passage of trade bills that will further siphon off jobs and send them to Mexico or Taiwan and are hot to trot to grant fast track authority to der Preznit, seem to not mind that our southern borders are awash with illegal immigrants, seem not to mind that these illegal immigrants are depressing wages and benefits for Americans and don't mind at all that by granting these people amnesty that it is a signal to everyone waiting patiently to get here legally that the smart way to get here is just slog across the Rio Grande, lay low and in a few years all will be forgiven. Sure! they will go back home in two years when their visas are up. And OF COURSE no more illegals will wade across the Rio Grande in the mean time. So why bother fixing the border and getting the machinery in place to enforce the expectation that they leave in two years? I'll tell ya why. The corporation that have bought the Democratic Party WANT the illegals here, and they want more of em to come so wages and benefits can be kept low. So, neither the Dems or Reps have any intention of enforcing the border or work visa regulations. And they are sure doing a bang up job proposing a way to develop an Apollo type program to wean us off foreign oil and onto renewable, non polluting energy sources. The last straw was blithely handing the preznit 100 billion of our hard earned tax money which will mostly wind up in the coffers of Halliburton. Yeah, its just great the Democraps got voted in. I have had enough. I will either NOT vote, or vote for a 3rd party candidate, and if it splits the vote and a repuke gets in again, well aint that tough tittie? If the country is going over the cliff, and it is, I would just as soon it be a Republican leading the parade. Disgusting.

I'm mad as hell too; but for all you people wanting to bring in a third party or vote against the Democrats, I say the only chance is to get the Democrats into both houses and the Presidency, join the World Court, and try the whole rat pack of the Bush administration for war crimes. Then after that, when we have an honest AG (compare Janet Reno with Gonzogate), try them again for treason. Re-electing Republicans would be lunacy. We really don't have another chance to save America. The People's Republic of China already own us; we're just too lulled by the media into unawareness. And remember Ross Perot. A Green Party won't succeed. It will divide Liberals and give the Republicans another victory. Do we really want that!
Let's get those voting machines fixed so they're tamper proof. It's a simple matter of printing receipt forms with consecutive numbers so each voter can look up his/her vote to ensure it was cast the way he/she voted. Provide a "right to alter" if the vote cast doesn't match the receipt. This isn't rocket science, people.
Let's get a law that says the states are required to distribute voting macines in proportion to the population served.

Iolellity claims the Democrats support free health care and free education. Since WHEN? Even Edwards' plan protects the insurance industry which Dennis Kucinich exposed in the first debate. Ever since 1980 it hasn't mattered whether the Dems or Repubs controlled Congress or the Presidency, health care and education costs have shifted to the consumers with skyrocketing costs putting both out of reach (and not by accident - the corporations aren't at all interested in an informed educated voting public) while economic policies such as NAFTA and GATT have been destroying the middle class.

And I can understand Iolellity's concerns on social issues. I share those, but the Dems aren't exactly rushing to protect those freedoms (Alito and Roberts anyone?). While the Republicans are stealing us blind, the Democrats are perfecting the art of looking busy while acomplishing nothing.

I just read excerpts from Thom Hartmann's new book "SCREWED: The Undelcared War Against the Middle Class" ( http://www.mythical.net/screwed/excerpts.htm ) and Thomas Jefferson studied Iroquois societies for his democracy model. The real leaders, by the way, were the women. But, there were no rulers. Decisions were consensus based. And he saw that created a strong "middle class" and wanted that for us. It's a fascinating read.

Every time people vote for the lesser of two evils, the situation gets more and more desperate. And now we're wondering if Bush is going to turn the US into a dictatorship with his executive order. Why else would he write it? What amazes me is that he didn't keep it a secret. What's next? We need to refuse to play their game, take our pain and create change. We can start by refusing to vote for the lesser of two evils. Pull the rug out from under those Democrats who have taken over the Party and betrayed us.

And by the way, Bush is doing everything in his power to provoke another Al Qaida attack. Or a devastating war with Iran. Either will do.

Didn't mean to keep repeating myself, I kept getting WordPress errors each time I tried to submit my post. They finally caught up to me. In spades.

To Funky P:
See Dave Lindorff's recent CounterPunch article at http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff04032007.html

He says, "If Democrats will not impeach this president, if they in fact actively undermine attempts to express the popular will of the party's grassroots membership, I quit.

"I'm giving my party notice. Effective immediately, I'm going to my local voter registrar's office and changing my registration to Green Party, and I won't be back to vote for Democrats until they take a stand of principle and begin impeachment hearings to remove President George W. Bush from Office. I will be sending word of my resignation to the Democratic National Committee, and to Speaker Pelosi.

"I urge every Democrat who cares about the future of the country and the survival of the Constitution to join me. It doesn't matter whether you join the Greens, the Socialists, the Populists, or just go unaffiliated. What matters is that you quit the Democratic Party."

He closes with:
"If you do decide to quit, and to notify party leaders of your decision, please also send me an email with just "I quit" in the subject line (no messages please!) at: I_Quit_This_Party@yahoo.com

"I'll be publishing the results at my site, www.thiscantbehappening.net, on a weekly basis, and if the numbers get large enough, I'll be going to the mainstream press and the DNC with them."

A similar idea is expressed by the folks at http://switch2green.org who state that "If 50,000 voters switched to Green registration tomorrow, there would be a "No to escalation" vote in Congress in a week, and Impeachment would be back on the table in two!"

Naturally, Democrats want to keep impeachment off the table.

They also want to keep withdrawl from the conquest of Iraq off the table.

They're in on the scam.

The evidence is overwhelming.

Iolellity claims the Democrats support free health care and free education. Since WHEN? Even Edwards' plan protects the insurance industry which Dennis Kucinich exposed in the first debate. Ever since 1980 it hasn't mattered whether the Dems or Repubs controlled Congress or the Presidency, health care and education costs have shifted to the consumers with skyrocketing costs putting both out of reach (and not by accident - the corporations aren't at all interested in an informed educated voting public) while economic policies such as NAFTA and GATT have been destroying the middle class.

And I can understand Iolellity's concerns on social issues. I share those, but the Dems aren't exactly rushing to protect those freedoms (Alito and Roberts anyone?). While the Republicans are stealing us blind, the Democrats are perfecting the art of looking busy while acomplishing nothing.

I just read excerpts from Thom Hartmann's new book "SCREWED: The Undelcared War Against the Middle Class" ( http://www.mythical.net/screwed/excerpts.htm ) and Thomas Jefferson studied Iroquois societies for his democracy model. The real leaders, by the way, were the women. But, there were no rulers. Decisions were consensus based. And he saw that created a strong "middle class" and wanted that for us. It's a fascinating read.

Every time people vote for the leser of two evils, the situation gets more and more desperate. And now we're wondering if Bush is going to turn the US into a dictatorship with his executive order. Why else would he write it? What amazes me is that he didn't keep it a secret. What's next? We need to refuse to play their game, take our pain and create change. We can start by refusing to vote for the lesser of two evils. Pull the rug out from under those Democrats who have taken over the Party and betrayed us.

And by the way, Bush is doing everything in his power to provoke another Al Qaada attack. Or a devastating war with Iran. Either will do.

The only choice between two corporate parties is fascism.

one thing that was said last night was that we must drive home the notion that bush and cheney are criminals. if my cousins and my brothers thought criminal every time they thought bush or cheney, they would not be so reluctant to consider the possibility that we could survive under a different president. hammer it home the same way the media jumped on clinton and everything he did in his whole life.

i sent my rep and senators a why did you do it email. this is what rep. john dingell said:

Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) released the following statement in support of the Iraq funding bill:

"I voted in favor of the Supplemental Appropriations bill today, not because it was perfect, nor that I agree with the President's Iraq policy. I voted for it because it will provide our soldiers, who are serving in some of the most horrible circumstances, with the equipment and supplies they need to keep safe and to come home. Let me be perfectly clear, this bill is much weaker than I would like it to be on holding the Administration accountable. I voted for three different bills in the last six weeks that would have been much better in my eyes; one would have begun withdrawing the troops almost immediately. But unfortunately, we do not have the votes necessary to override the President's veto.

"If we continue to have bills vetoed, and Congress defaults on passing a bill the President can sign, then the President would likely use his powers as Commander in Chief to fund the war without constraints, without standards, and without meaningful oversight. We cannot let that happen. Passing nothing, or voting against this stripped down bill, would literally mean a blank check for President Bush. At the very least, this bill begins the process of reining in the free hand of President Bush and providing benchmarks for the Iraqi government."

i don't know why they couldn't pass a better bill, but i already gave them all heck for it. as for impeachment, we cannot have peace until we get the criminal usurpers bush and cheney out of office. the impeachment panel last night was at central methodist church, which is overshadowed by detroit's baseball stadium. we should have had the stadium full of people ready to do whatever we have to do to get bush and cheney impeached.

It seems to me if we all voted for a 3rd party we'd be back to the 2000 elections. Vote for the Dems but hold their feet to the fire when they have the majority in both houses and the oval office. The repugs will completely destroy the constitution if we do not vote for the Democratic party on 08...it is our LAST BEST chance to change everything.

Here's a scenario for you...the dems screw up the next election, Fred Thompson or Rudey gets elected -- then the GOP reverses all BUSH's criminal actions and gives us a VERY conservative government while the the idiots in the country who don't pay attention THINK the country has been SAVED. We'll be stuck with a revitilized GOP for decades...and be in this mess for the rest of our lives....

We MUST insure the next election that every office up for grabs goes democratic. If votes are stolen, it will be way past time to get our collective asses out on the streets.

First, congressional investigations have to be held, expose the crimes of Bush and Cheney and their ilk, THEN file for impeachement when facts are available and unavoidable for the people to see. Then try, convict, detain, imprison at the very least. To repeat some others here: this is NOT a game. Politicians have to be careful. There is a crime "family" running this country, do you want to remove them from power without protection?

I have no doubt that al queda wants to attack us before Bush leaves office. If that happens hold onto your hat. It will take a coup to get them out of office.

I warned people at my church recently that my greatest worry was that if or when Al Qaeda attacked us here again, Bush would declare martial law, and so would end what freedoms we still have left. The May 9th Executive Order is the set-up to the inevitable final constitutional crisis.

With the May 9th Executive Order signed by Bush this year, any national emergency real, fabricated or engineered will give Bush complete control of the entire government unless a significant number of the military refuse to take orders.

Its a weird mathmatics indeed when
1933 = 2000

This is a high tech dark age people.

The Democrats want to keep the American People off the table. Corporations only need apply.

Impeach for justice... What good are all those cowboy movies without the pursuit of justice now... Impeach for justice: Eat a Peach for Peace

No incumbent votes, end the two-party corporate bought system, take over the Democratic Party, leave the Democratic Party, blah, blah. Until it's broken beyond all ability to be endured it's going to carry on. Why? Because this was all predictable and nobody cared to talk or even think about it until it has become a seemingly obvious problem. Yet even now, as obvious as it is, the critical mass for sweeping revolutionary change just isn't there. You can't work within the system, playing by the rules 'they' created to beat them at their own game. We are sheep, ineffective and easily manipulated by a manking structure. Siouxrose is on the right track, but it is much deeper and reaches much further. There are many basic presumptions of our inner humanity, of social structure and order, of morality and mores that govern how we act and behave, instilled in us generation after generation with little or no contemplation for where they came from, who they serve, how well they serve us, or where they can take us. These involve the nature of our individuality and principles of spirituality, the meaning of life and congruent social structures, the purpose and administration of government, the intent and spirit of law versus the letter and strict interpretation of it, the essential character of interpersonal relationships and the legal institution of marriage, the history and nature of money and banking, creativity and free enterprise versus profiteering, usury, and power, educational methodology, etc. In each of these, and more, we presume to fix them in accordance to what we think we know from the past rather than by what they will provide us in the future. We are, as a people, so easily bamboozled because our future vision is blinded. We are led down false paths because we are dazzled. And we submit our will because we fear, as Mandela said, our own light and power. So shepard on our flock oh great mankings!

sioux rose-thanks for your post it was very informative. same for many more here.

The only kind of impeachment that would make ANY kind of difference is the impeachment of the government en masse.

Kick 'em ALL out. Every Senator. Every Congrressman and woman. Start over from scratch.

The system didn't fail. The people failed the system.

sioux rose-thanks for your post it was very informative.

Add Oberlin, Ohio, (as of last week) to the list of city councils (unanamous vote) urging impeachment of Bush/Cheney. First city in Ohio to do so.

There is a quick and effective way to deal with changing the Democratic party failures, without forming a third party in this short period of time.

There are Democrats in each state of the sellouts in the lower level of politics with a record of where they stand and the monies they accepted, keep in mind independents and republicans like Ron Paul that demonstrate a strong concern for the Constitution. Speak to them and give them the support to run against the present malfunctions. Under no circumstances allow Pelosi, Reed and others who are obviously shields for the shot callers to remain in office.

Use mathematics to swing power; I am sure there are more than (10) million Americans angry about the present situation that exists. If each would pledge to themself, they will do all they can to speak to (10) other voters and potential voters to explore the reality of the times.

Organize in small or large groups to save America now or become a part of history, describing how weak minds surrendered the greatest experiment of Democracy in history failed, because of fear and ignorance.

We are in serious times and to ignore the evidence of facts, is as suicidal as the suicide bombers. To embrace the present group of decision makers is the same as strapping TNT to your body and family. (Think about it)

Drex & Raoul, as per the nazi ("good Germans") question, insights can be drawn from Wilhelm Reich, and his contention has a lot to do with sexual repression of a society. Leon Uris' fiction work, Armageddon, speaks of German mysticism, the "worship of the oily muscle" (as Nietschze termed it) and other macho-masculine role models that in a perverse way Hitler, as grand father, personified. George Lakoff's work on the strict father family model and how it aligns with conservative thinking (on the part of adults raised within such family models) adds further material. When church and family both make their goal socializing the individual to UNNATURAL standards, the individual is left in a sort of civil war with his innate self. When people are thus dispossessed they often seek an authority figure outside themselves to tell them what's "right." It's not so different from the Christian fundamentalists in our midst who adhere to the strict father-family model, push the "abstinence" agenda (while the mmass media is pulsing with sexual cues), are making inroads to guard against both birth CONTROL and abortion rights (for women), while ironically supporting war, military adventurism of the most heinous sort, and the continued abstraction of "defense," a paradigm of waste so enormous and so "sinfully" based on the goal of killing that it confounds the imagination to envision a more sinister belief system. If this was just some 300 or so Jim Jones style followers I'd say little; but this is a HUGE movement in our midst and it represents those that support the Bush presidency and the considerable wounding its directly imploding upon the world, our own nation, and sustainable ecosystems. Sex, taken as original "sin" has caused a chasm in people's thought processes. It's seen in Islam, too, where women even flirting may be punished for "honor crimes." In certain Arab and/or West African nations the female clitoris is taken out WITHOUT anesthesia. God forbid the female come to KNOW pleasure. This anti-nature, anti-sex, anti-pleasure stance has a LOT to do with the collective anger, pain, aggression, angst and perversion of societies that then channel all that dark, dis-eased and disturbing force on others, or themselves. America is pretty sick these days... 40% are now obese and where I live, we're talking MORBID obesity! People are so alien to their own bodies, twisted in part due to the fear of their own God given natural urges the church has turned them against. Alcoholism is rampant and I suspect at a higher rate in Florida (the state of escape) then other places. I've read that 25-30 million Americans are on anti-depressants and then there are all kinds of street drugs. Porn is a drug, so is sugar, so is violence. How many of our citizens are spiritually, mentally and physically healthy? Advertising, which the film Bedazzled wittily termed "the new 8th sin" has a lot to do with creating these false appetites that sicken the populace of our land and others. When mankind sets up societies that work against nature, they cannot be ultimately sustained. Due to environmental collapse, we are facing that truth and for those who survive the changes ahead, a complete rethinking of the human being's relationship to Spirit, the opposite gender, and society at large will ensue. Great strides in that debate are being made by The World Social Forum and its foremost thinkers. Many on this site have a role to play...

The charges against these two criminals go on and on. This is the easiest case to document in our nation's history. The Democrats need to recognize that this is the best chance we have to derail future illegal wars (Republican and Democratic)and to restore the checks and balances in the Constitution.

"Slander of the Democratic Party by supposed 'Greens' is clearly nothing but Crypto-Republican propaganda designed to help the Elephants continue to trample us over, pirate all our national assets into the hands of the oligarchs, and knock us down if we dare get in the way."

There's nothing slanderous about pointing out how the Democrats have followed the Republicans further and further to the right.

"Real Greens are be willing to share the power with the Democratic Party for 2008, which has the power-base already established to win."

First of all, I'm not going to take lectures from a Democrat on what a real or fake Green is. Contrary to popular opinion, simply being a liberal Democrat does not make one an expert on the Green Praty. Second, what kind of power would Greens have to share with the Democrats? Right now, a Democrat-Green alliance is for all intents and purposes a Democrat alliance.

"Fake Greens are fake and on the payroll of the Republican campaign machine."

That's really rich, when you consider that the Democrats in Congress almost always give Bush enough votes to make his agenda look bipartisan. Who's really helping the Republicans?

"A third party of any value has got to have some substance and a power base that can defeat the iron-clad Republican machine, which is The Most Critical issue RIGHT NOW for the United States. The Greens don't have it.. come back when you have something that can win an election and run a country."

But that's what Democrats always say, and we keep getting worse and worse choices from the two-party system. Third parties gather strength from running candidates, not from sitting elections out. They are built by people who are willing to give their votes and volunteer time. Refusing to support a third party until it can win all but dooms the party to failure.

Drex May 29th, 2007 2:25 pm
As a young man I gave a lot of thought to the question: "how did Germany, with an educated public by the standards of the day, allow itself to slip into a fascist State? Not only a fascist state but one bent on genocide". Unfortunately I have the answer as I watch the United States beg to go there consumed with hate and fear mixed with apathy.

Drex,
I asked myself those same questions over FORTY years ago while stationed in Germany. I'd read many of the Nurenburg War Crimes Trial documents and was amazed at how an entire group of people could be swayed into doing such horrific deeds. Like you I now have the answer. We are in the middle of a Civil War in THIS country (forget the one in Iraq). The only difference is that we aren't shooting at each other (yet).

Thus the western empire crumbles on in slow motion, a babble of voices scarcly heard above the groaning weight of crime. The world is running fevers while multitudes huddle in their cubbies typing out their frustration, "... anyone out there know how to set up an online petition?", "corrupt!", "impeach!", "dummies,chickens!!!" I, too have taken the time to make a password to raise my voice to you instead of making paper flowers with my daughter who plays alone in the room. Looks to me like the Adams, Franklins, Jeffersons are fighting my government's tyranny in Iraq... if we went out and met our neighbors, made little teams...(a feudal system?), and, even if its only to pool for solar panels, they'll call us insurgents, cells- In the end, our 'enemies' have shown us how to fight. But suicide ? Not me. I don't see any fervant christians going for it either. You have to believe you're going to heaven to do that, or that you would do ANYTHING to have justice.
Blah, I'm going to make flowers- too late, she's gone. Cindy ?

Dave 955, The only one who actually replies is Akaka - Usually a couple of months after I've forgotten I wrote him...

I use the Big D on purpose - to me it stands for the Washington pros. The "little d's" are just the deez and doze guys I grew up with. It doesn't take long to turn a 'little d' into a BIG D - There are very few who retain their little guy stature more then one or two years.

I also write the letters and make a phone call now and then just to irritate the staff and remind them there are actually people who care,

"No president gets to be the worst in American history without a bit of help from the other side."

Impeachment is not enough. It gives this incomparably corrupt Bush an opportunity to be declared innocent. Too little, too late.

As worthy as impeachment is, too many Dems are wearing Republican boots and would vote him as acting within the powers they themselves have given him. The system, all three branches of our government, is too corrupt for redemption, me thinks, and beyond redemption...

A very popular idea among liberals who have recently woken up to the idea that something is seriously rotten in America is the fantasy that "we should just hijack the Democratic Party," like the neocons supposedly hijacked the Republican Party.

This notion is wishful thinking, & can only be sustained if one ignores the the salient facts & actual history. The Repub Party was not really "hijacked." There was never any real resistance to the rightwards move, because the party's real character was always such that it would do whatever was required to advance the interests of the US financial oligarchy.

The Dem Party, on the other hand, cannot be "hijacked," and a great deal of care has gone into assuring that the party will remain impervious to any attempts to change it. The consultants, apparatchiks, pundits, elected officials, & big donors who make up the party's ruling sections are perfectly well aware of the idealists on the fringes who would like to "change" the party. You can be absolutely certain that they will only allow such change over their collective dead bodies.

Today's political corruption is widespread without precedent. This is because it's a SYSTEMIC problem, not just wrong-doing by some limited number of individuals. No solution can be found inside the framework of the 2-party system, because that system is a direct cause of the massive corruption. A 2-party system is inherently undemocratic; it allows our ruling class to blithely ignore the popular will; and it's precisely because of this feature that our rulers insist that we endure this system at all costs.

All attempts to "take over" the Dem Party to make it perform as a "party of the people" are doomed to failure, because they accept the 2-party framework imposed by the ruling class to guarantee that they control everything while the rest of the population controls nothing.

I wonder if we could convince all the Republicans and just enough of the Dems to vote to impeach all the Democrats for not doing their constitutional duty and impeaching the Republicans? Or would that be spun as "playing politics"?

"No, Mr. iolellity, the Democrats most definitely do not "acknowledge the war in Iraq is wrong." Otherwise, they would not have given Bush $100 billion with no strings attached last week, to continue that war."

We are talking about the presidential nomination, and for the sake of argument Obama and Hillary, along with a few others who might have been posturing less voted "no." They also say they have plans to end the Iraq war while republicans say they won't end it. My point stands; that is, after all, a difference. I don't deny that congress could have stopped the war already.

"Are the Dems against Bush's tax cuts for the rich? No, they actually helped Bush pass them in 2001. No leading Dem is seriously talking about repealing them."

Actually, John Edwards has said that his universal health care plan will be funded by repealing those tax cuts. But ultimately, you haven't disproven my assertions; you haven't said that the republicans actually are going to give any positive health care reform. That is where the difference is. I haven't tried to claim the democratic party is the green party or that Obama, Hillary, and Edwards are Kucinich; just that they are different than mccain, guliani, and bush. Obviously you don't care about that.

In conclusion, you responded to my post with a small set of arguments which were not evidence based and outright wrong when you entered into specifics about tax cuts. But in any case, as I said before, those who actually care about those issues and will be effected by them (those of us homosexuals who don't want to have the constitution amended to say we are scum, etc) will care and be able to see that a democratic president is better and different in lue of a third party or green coup.

I'm really not going to bother with you about this again, or anyone else who acts like they are debating facts but doesn't put out any themselves.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042401542.html
Dennis Kucinich introduced Articles of Impeachment for Cheney on April 24, 2007, in House Resolution 333, yet there's not one mention of it in this article, nor in the 79 comments following it. I don't understand why Kucinich and this resolution are so invisible! He is one of the few people with the ability to lead this nation to honest and peaceful greatness, but if his incredible actions, including introducing HR33, aren't even acknowledged by the alternative media, I don't know how his word will ever get out! I know Common Dreams wrote about it when it happened, which is awesome, but without constant daily reminders, it appears that nobody remembers HR333 is even there! Call your reps today and insist that HR333 be passed! It's in there! All they have to do is vote on the darned thing!

I've nearly lost hope that Americans will ever get off the couch and take back their country, but I imagine if Kucinich did get noticed by citizens and became a viable threat to the criminal powers that be, he and his beautiful wife may very well end up in a mysterious plane crash, which has been the fate of more than one viable peaceful leader in the last few years.

OK, Got it.
The Republican moles sending in messages want us to either vote Green, or give up and not vote at all... they play the same trick every election starting about a year beforehand.
Not convinced? One year is absolutely not enough time for the Green or any other third party to defeat the Republicans when the votes are counted.
The Democratic Party reflects the various regional ideological and cultural differences of the United States and maintains unity nonetheless. The Republican party is dogmatic, unthinking, and driven by greed and disgusting religious pretenses. Period. The Repub party pays lip-service to liberal jargon on occasion to get votes and deceive, but always ends up serving the ultra-rich and White Males Only.... all else servants of the masters, crypto-fascist, Military Industrial Complex mall rat trainers. And they routinely play the sleaziest of political campaign games.
A third party MUST first consolidate power and have a coherent platform on issues addressing the needs of a wide range of the American population. The Green Party isn't there yet.
Slander of the Democratic Party by supposed 'Greens' is clearly nothing but Crypto-Republican propaganda designed to help the Elephants continue to trample us over, pirate all our national assets into the hands of the oligarchs, and knock us down if we dare get in the way.
Real Greens are be willing to share the power with the Democratic Party for 2008, which has the power-base already established to win.
Fake Greens are fake and on the payroll of the Republican campaign machine.
A third party of any value has got to have some substance and a power base that can defeat the iron-clad Republican machine, which is The Most Critical issue RIGHT NOW for the United States. The Greens don't have it.. come back when you have something that can win an election and run a country.
IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY, AND BEGIN THE PROCESS A.S.A.P. Thank you Kucinich for actively pushing for this, and for being a real statesman and public servant.
DEMOCRATS must stand united and Not Give Up ship (as the Republicans want us to do), as only 1 year is left before the election.

xntrk,
Mazie Hirono is my congresswoman as well. If you can get anything out of her other than a generic auto-reply email. let me know how you did it. Otherwise, she's just another democrat (lower-case 'd' intentional).

"The California Green Party is even staffed with former Nazis at its helm - there's where you need to look for hypocrites."

Such as?

- Republicans are campaigning to get Democrats to vote Green because when the elections come around, it keeps Republicans voting for one candidate, and Democrats splintered to lose. This is how Schwazinazi stole California, how Gore lost, and how Nixon won.
And you know it, CIAMarc.

Gore won Florida, and the reasons why the election was close enough to be stolen had much more to do with the shortcomings of his own campaign than Nader.

I'm not sure what you're talking about with Nixon. George Wallace, who was the only third party candidate on the ballot in most states, campaigned to the right of Nixon in 1968.

As for Arnold winning California because of the Greens, you just pulled that one out of thin air.

Call Nancy Pelosi's office: 202-225-0100 (provided by newageartist above), and leave a message saying you're mad and you want
those two dictators IMPEACHED NOW and that you're not going to forget about this. Enough public outcry will change their minds.
It will. Don't give up.

I was hopeful about the Democrats for about five seconds after the turnover in Congress. Right till Pelosi said they wouldn't attempt impeachment.

iris, I've just ordered that book from the library; thanks.

I wrote my Congresswoman [Mazie Hirono, Dem/HI], Impeachment is mandatory with Bush's latest National Security Policy Statement signed on May 9th [NSPD 51].

Under NSPD-51, Bush has the sole authority to govern in a National Emergency, usurping not only federal powers, but also those of the states.

The Administrative Branch controls not only the Military, but ALL Police Powers.

Congress is only a debating society unless, and until, it uses the two powers granted it in the body of the Constitution:
1) The Power of the Purse; which it tossed out last week; and
2) The Power to Impeach.

If Bush and his friends steal a 3rd election, which seems likely, the sitting Congress is finished. It will have no powers after the 2008 election is certified.

If these idiots are going to do anything they'd better get busy - The clock is running. Calling a hearing in the Judiciary Committee to investigate what happened will be ludicrous, but par for the course that Pelosi has laid out.

I think she is so impressed with the FIRST Female Speaker of the House, that she's forgotten what the job entails!

Let's examine iolellity's feeble attempts at 10:02 pm above, to respond to my challenge that he spell out the Democrats' supposedly large "differences" from Republicans.

He writes, "The democrats have stances which support things like free health care, free education, gay rights, pro-choice, environmental issues; they acknowledge the war on Iraq is wrong. The republicans are against free anything and want to keep Bush's tax breaks for the rich, they want to make legislation against homosexuals, they want to make abortion illegal, insist global warming doesn't exist at all, and openly insist they won't end the war or occupation in Iraq."

Let's take the funniest assertion first. No, Mr iolellity, the Democrats most definitely do not "acknowledge the war in Iraq is wrong." Otherwise, they would not have given Bush $100 billion with no strings attached last week, to continue that war. The only Democrats who have actually said that the war is "wrong" are Kucinich & Gravel. By no coincidence, neither of those 2 has the slightest chance of being nominated.

And actually, Democrats do not support "free health care." You can be sure they don't really support it, because it would involve stepping on the toes of big drug companies, HMO's, and giant insurance corporations. So what the Dems really do on this issue, is occasionally drop suggestive hints about universal health care. But the only Dem who's really serious about it, Dennis Kucinich, has zero chance of being nominated. That's because he's serious about universal health care (among other things). The 3 Dems who have a real chance of being nominated are very careful to structure their suggestions in such a way that the aforementioned corporations do not get their toes stepped on. Naturally, this guarantees that enormous profits will continue to flow to them. Guess who pays for those profits.

Do the Dems "support gay rights?" Not really. It would be more accurate to say that they are less opposed to gay rights than the Republicans, who are of course vicious bigots & homophobes.

Are the Dems against Bush's tax cuts for the rich? No, they actually helped Bush pass them in 2001. No leading Dem is seriously talking about repealing them.

Are the Dems determined to preserve abortion rights? No. If they were, they would filibustered against Bush's 2 Supreme Court nominations in 2006, both of whom were known to support the repeal of Roe v Wade.

In sum, Mr iollellity tried to respond to a direct challenge,& simply couldn't do it. This is partly because he's poorly informed, but mainly because the facts are not on his side. In almost every area, there is little or nothing of real substance that distinguishes the 2 big business parties. They have a few cosmetic style differences.

starofthesea:

I'm 61 and I agree with what you said and come from a similar place. It amazes me that the vast bulk of progressives, moveon.org, and the other groups have not actively campaigned for Kucinich. He's on the money on every issue and is even a Democrat (so they can't lynch him like they tried to lynch Nader, who was also correct on virtually everything). Progressives seem to whine and then accept the "conventional wisdom" put forward by the same pundits who knowingly accepted and cheerled the lies that got us into Iraq and who now predict a catastrophe of biblical proportions if we pull out the vast bulk of the arms and military in Iraq (us). The pundits and the front runners all say Kucinich can't win, so the progressives say the same thing -- even though if you vote for him, you're NOT voting for the lesser of the evils.

Kucinich supports impeachment of Cheney and Bush. Kucinich supports universal health care. And on and on. Why then do progressives accept the always wrong pundits' and "send-them-to-war-despite-the-intelligence Democratic front runners' analyses and act as if the alternatives are between, as Adam Clayton Powell used to say, tweedlee dee, tweedly dumb and tweedly dumber? Hillary and Edwards lost their right to be seriously considered because they demonstrated profoundly horrendous judgment by voting for the war against more than half of their party in Congress and the overwhelming intelligence that Saddam had no WMDs and was an enemy of al Qaeda at the time. Obama started off well, but then bought in to a strategy that gradually, as opposed to rapidly gets out of there, at the expense of lives and limbs of Americans and Iraqis. But Kucinich's position is and always has been solid. Yet there's minimal support among progressives for him and for impeachmant of Bush and Cheney, even though it's the only way to end the war quickly.

Even the progressives have become so caught up in the hype, they've given up on doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing.

Although I do get it, I don't get it.

Take care.

A rabbi - who lived and preached a life of virtue while his congregation ignored him and went on with their selfish ways - was asked, "Rabbi, why do you bother? Nobody listens. You're not changing anything." And the rabbi replied, "But you misunderstand. I don't do it to change them. I do it to keep them from changing me."

Iollelity

"I noticed that Hillary was chosen as the next president back in 2004, but I'm not confident that the election won't be stolen somehow."

Have a look at Greg Pallast's book, "Armed Madhouse", to see the game plan for stealing the 2008 elections. It's all planned out.

I was wondering, back in the run-up to the 2004 presidential race, why Bush was so laid back about the whole thing. Despite Kerry's mistakes -- and they were grave ones -- and the Rovian smear campaign's effectiveness against him, he actually won the popular vote by 3 million votes. The Democrats worked night and day to get out the vote, and they succeeded in doing that. They were not defeated at the polls. Check out the book. The name of the game is racism, right here in America, purging the lists, throwing away ballots, and more.

With only 2 parties, political speech is controlled and managed; only certain ideas are allowed to be discussed.

With only 2 parties, political action can be controlled: only certain strategies are followed.

Freedom for America demands more political voices, more political parties with seats in congress. 2 party control must end.

Disgusting! These nutless sacks with shit for brains think of Impeachment like any other piece of legislation before before them. It's not a new law or budget! It's an essential part of our Constitution! They have no higher calling then to defend and uphold the Constitution.

Now this "new congress" has death and blood on their hands. I'm so pissed. The time and money I gave in the hope of real change with moral authority behind it is squandered.

At the start of each new U.S. Congress, in January of every odd-numbered year, those newly elected or re-elected Congressmen - the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate - must recite an oath:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.

THEY ARE FAILING US.

If you decide to vote for the lesser of two evils, the outcome is still gonna be EVIL. I am 60 years old and I will no longer let anyone convince me that THAT is a genuine choice. It is not!!!! Vote for what you truly believe in and let the damned chips fall where they may. At least then, you can eliminate the outrage and disgust that so many of us feel in the face of this failed two party system. Apart from Dennis Kuchinich, there isn't a Democrat in Washington worth voting for. Third parties do not succeed overnight. I'm working toward change for my children and grandchildren. Our current system is a nightmare I wish I could awaken from.

There is a dnynamics of organizing. If you take a snapshot of where things are at now, impeachment and removal appear to be impossible tasks. The anti-war organizations need to unite, make it a common demand and also draft very clear Articles of Impeachment, so the Dems don't go to the lowest common denominator when the broad movement forces them to seriously take up impeachment and removal of Cheney/Bush.

The actions of the Bush clique have seriously eroded what most Americans love about America and they most Americans know it, but don't know what to do about it. If the Dems want to win, they must offer the alternative. They don't know what to do, but when the case is presented coherently and intelligently, a large majority will support it. The 20 Republican Senate seats up in 2008 will put the majority of Repubs running for reelection to those seats in a quandry -- either they vote to remove or their educated constituencies will vote to remove them. That's how we get 67 votes in the Senate.

As none of the Dem front-runners want Nancy Pelosi to become President in 2007 (the result of a successful impeachment/removal of Dick Cheney, they will throw impediment after impediment in the way. The anti-war groups and their constituencies must make it clear to them -- do it or else we don't care who wins in 2008, as it makes no difference. Some of us may go third party. Others may not vote, but try to build a third party. When our numbers are reflected in real polls, they will back down and do it.

And remember, this really is speaking truth to power and they are experts and deflecting and diverting -- doing the minimal amount necessary in order to get the vote. Anti-war groups that don't join in are simply front groups for the Dems or provocateurs anyway. Just stop contributing to them (and the Dems if they don't take up the fight).

Cindy Sheehan was right today. Many of us have ridden her courage and sacrfice. Now let's give her something to cheer about. Nancy Pelosi for President in 2007. Impeach Bush/Cheney now and end the killing and maiming of Amerians and Iraqis.

iolellity seems to be saying that the only option to the republicans is the democrats. This is the logic that keeps our corrupt two sided bad penny of a system in place and is of course non sense. Bill Clinton was the best republican president this country ever had. Voting for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or any of the other Dems being considered "front runners" is a vote to keep the corrupt system in place. If everyone who votes would vote for a third party, I don't care which one, then we would see real change in this country.

I will never waste my vote by voting for someone whom I do not believe in again. I will vote my conscience. If the Democrats can not manage to win the election on their own merit, by putting forth a real alternative, then they do not deserve to be elected.

"I challenge iolellity to spell out some of these alleged "huge differences." Do any of the Democrats' platform planks call specifically for ending the Iraq war? For cutting Pentagon spending? For exposing the fraud of the "War on Terror"? For ending US concentration camps and US torture of its detainees? For restoring habeas corpus? For putting Bush & Cheney & all their minions before a war-crimes tribunal? For repealing the Bush tax-cuts for the rich? For repealing the PATRIOT Act? For prosecuting Bush-Cheney for spying on the phone calls & emails of American citizens? For outlawing the Bush Doctrine of "pre-emptive war"? For opposing the trend towards ever-greater media concentration?"

Do you really think that these are somehow the only important issues? The democrats have stances which support things like free health care, free education, gay rights, pro-choice, environmental issues; they acknowledge the war on Iraq is wrong. The republicans are against free anything and want to keep Bush's tax breaks for the rich, they want to make legislation against homosexuals, they want to make abortion illegal, insist global warming doesn't exist at all, and openly insist they won't end the war or occupation in Iraq. Those are the differences, and those are the reasons why having a democratic president will be better (that the democrats stance on all of them is not up to my personal standards is moot because it is a two party system and the repugnicians, as I said, don't share any of these perspectives.) If you can't see any of that, then I think you are a right wing troll here campaigning for the republican party; and apparently one who is not a member of a minority.

I won't accept a right wing dictator destroying the planet while a third party starts its long journey to influence. That is not democracy.

mbruton,

I noticed that Hillary was chosen as the next president back in 2004, but I'm not confident that the election won't be stolen somehow. The Article V sounds interesting, though I doubt that a bloody revolution would lead to restoring the constitution, or that this is even the best that can be done (writing a new one would ideally be better depending on who penned it.)I am not optimistic about America, or Earth, but I'm sure that the republican party will destroy everything faster.

Greens are not trying to "divide and conquer". Dems did it all by themselves. They've taken us for granted too many times and are still doing it. Who can settle for corporate Repug lite? Can corporate government be fascism lite?

The PDA and any progressives left in the Dems might consider gathering around the real progressive party, the Greens, and claiming the power to control the corporate parties before its too late.

"We The People" need to start a Third Party now:
THE PEOPLE'S PARTY!
Anyone out there with the skills to set up an online petition?

- "they fear a political backlash from voters similar to the one that punished Republicans after they impeached Bill Clinton" -

They need to begin to fear us right now. If the Dems to not put impeachment on the table they will be out of office after their next election.

Pelosi is all talk and no action. We gave her a chance to prove herself and she turned her back on us. Speaker Pelosi, I no longer have confidence in you.

Keep the momentum going, support your local Bush/Cheney impeachment organization, just $20 a month. Keep sending emails to your representatives until they blacklist your address, then start writing letters.

And one last thing, it is time to take a serious look at term limits for congress.

TWISTY MAY You have it right on.

I can understand that Pelosi and the rest of the "leadership" want to use Bush & Co. to beat up on in the next election, but what they are not acknowledging is that there might not BE a next election if they aren't kicked out now. DaveG pointed out what is in the offing, but it bears repeating.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

Then there is the problem of voter suppression, voting machine manipulation, and other campaign dirty tricks. Because of the slim Democratic majority in the Senate (actually a republican majority when you think about Lieberman), Bush and Cheney will never be convicted, but at least they need to be twisting in such hot water that they don't have time to engage in other nasty tricks. I just hope that the observation made above that impeachment may be waiting on more investigations is true. Maybe investigations will make it so blatantly obvious that Bush and Cheney are traitors to the country that all but the religious right will realize that impeachment is the only way out.

Democrats need to be accountable to their constituencies, the majority of which are calling for impeachment of Bush AND Cheney - or they will find their constituencies vanishing. I am ashamed of my party for not having the courage to support this issue, save for a few patriots in Washington - Clinton had a zipper problem, and got impeached for it - Bush is screwing America and the Middle East and no one does a thing. I'm disgusted.

iolellity writes, a few posts above this one, "I greatly question the authenticity (not to mention intelligence) of some of the people here who are suggesting that one way or another we hand the presidency to the repugnicians. We cannot have another gop president in the white house; there are huge differences between the platforms of the democratic party and the gop."

- I challenge iolellity to spell out some of these alleged "huge differences." Do any of the Democrats' platform planks call specifically for ending the Iraq war? For cutting Pentagon spending? For exposing the fraud of the "War on Terror"? For ending US concentration camps and US torture of its detainees? For restoring habeas corpus? For putting Bush & Cheney & all their minions before a war-crimes tribunal? For repealing the Bush tax-cuts for the rich? For repealing the PATRIOT Act? For prosecuting Bush-Cheney for spying on the phone calls & emails of American citizens? For outlawing the Bush Doctrine of "pre-emptive war"? For opposing the trend towards ever-greater media concentration?

Of course not!! The Democrats HELPED the Republicans enact all those measures. There's not one bit of it, in which the Dems were not complicit. They even let the Republicans stack the Supreme Court with extreme rightwingers who belong to the Federalist Society & support the theory of the "unitary executive" -- in itself, another assault on the Constitution.

The only difference between the two parties is cosmetic & superficial, and has more to do with the particular bases they need to appeal to, to get votes. For instance, the Democrats can't win without support from labor & African Americans. So they devise some rhetoric that's more pleasing to those groups' ears (before betraying them at the earliest opportunity). That's the only difference between the parties.

After snooty reactions from state political leaders when presented with 11,000 signatures supporting impeachment and request that the state legislature pass a resolution to introduce articles of impeachment at the federal level, we have decided to introduce our own anti-terrorism legislation aimed at all those pols who by doing nothing [or actively working against the constitution] but fiddling while Rome burns are doing more to foment terrorism here and abroad than any Afghan hiding in the hills. Afraid for the Republic, me thinks the time for a tea party is perilously near at hand.

- iolellity

I think your assertion is a bit ignorant if you don't mind my saying so. A platform guarantees nothing. It is merely a collective campaign promise and about as likely to be adhered to as long as corporations are allowed to financially dominate politics. Actions speak louder than words.

Elections like the constitution have become relatively meaningless. If you're afraid the republicans will win the presidency - don't be. Our next president has already been selected for us and will be Hillary Clinton. She will help to fix a few of our less meaningful problems caused by the republicans while continueing to stab us all in the back.

No doubt you will be happy to have someone in the white house who will put a more democratic facade on the treasonous actions of our collective misleaders. I for one see no alternatives that will put our nation back on track except for:

A) A long bloody revolution to restore the constitution and put a legitimate and responsive government into power..

B) An article V convention call that removes corporate money from politics altogether (at the very least).

Please consider joining us at foavc.org - Friends of the Article V convention. Many of us are republicans (not me) many of us are democrats ( not me again). Personally I am an independant though very liberal and progressive leaning. I would also rather embrace and band together with honest enemies rather than lying backstabbing friends.

The only reasons the Dems could possibly reject impeachment and removal are: (1) their complicity in the overwhelming evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors on the part of the Bush/Cheney Administration; and (2)the fear of the frontrunners for the Democratic nomination in 2008 of having Nancy Pelosi as an incumbent President in 2007 and 2008.

Because of the lawlessness of the Administration there is no way to get us out of Iraq expeditiously except for impeachment/removal. Bush/Cheney won't budge. Impeachment/Removal places Bush/Cheney on the defensive. Anna Nicole diversions and traitor baiting by Republicans would be subordinate to the gripping, uninterrupted story of cronyism, obstruction of justice, misuse of the war power, lying us into the war, no-bid contracts, etc. as the Dems get the bully pulpit to prosecute well-drafted Articles of Impeachment.

The Dems look like cowering, visionless wimps right now, and if this goes on for the next 18 months the Republicans will hold their own in Congress and possibly win the Presidency. Impeachment/removal provides a vehicle to fully expose Bush/Cheney and the equally telling story of the Republican Congress that supported all of these high crimes and misdemeanors.

The failure to vigorously and aggressively move impeachment/removal of Bush and Cheney simply means the Dems are not opposed to the actions of the Bush Administration. It's the only explanation.

I am actually surprised it took Cindy Sheehan so long to make this decision. I thought it would happen when Hillary Clinton treated her like something stuck on the bottom of her designer shoe, but she still managed to hang in there while the rest of the Democrats figured out new and creative ways to allow more young men and women to share her son Casey's fate.

My hope is that now that Sheehan is no longer affiliated with the decomposing Democratic party, she will say some of the things she couldn't say before.

Both parties stink. But by the lights of any reasonable person, one stinks a LOT more than the other.

If you don't vote for the Dem, the Republicans will win.

Hello prayer in school. Good bye reproductive rights. Good bye the teaching of evolution. HELL NO.

I'd also really like to know: just how were the Dems supposed to get around the fact that they could not hope to muster the votes to impeach Bush, and that the attempt to do so would burn political capital and take time from things that perhaps COULD be accomplished? Did you want them to keep fighting a battle they could not win? Did you want to have the odious Mr. Lieberman OFFICIALLY join the GOP caucus?

I WOULD, however, like to know why Congress has not restored habeas corpus.

i know they must watch tv news. that must be the problem. and they're so freakin nice! where are the men and woman with some guts, like the ones who took the beach on DDay!

Republican=Nutzoid
Democrat=Nutless
They finally reached across the aisle. As they say up nort an down south: Ow you like dat?

(another voice from the 'rat race choir'). how is it that an administration who is responsible for an illegal war, violating the constitution and for torturing people not brought to justice? why are the democrats not trying to cripple this administration? are they all shopping and redecorating? it must be a bubble thing. they live in a world of financing elections and go to the same parties or something. I've given up on 'em except for a handful like my rep Barbara Lee.

This should make it clear to everyone how worthless most of them are. They have no business in positions of government leadership. They're a bunch of MISLEADERS.

The high crimes and misdeamenors of Bush and Cheney meet the criteria for impeachment and removal from office. it seems to me that by not impeaching them, the consitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law would permit any liar, swindler and serial murderer to go free.

RestoreDemocracy is quite right. I greatly question the authenticity (not to mention intelligence) of some of the people here who are suggesting that one way or another we hand the presidency to the repugnicians. We cannot have another gop president in the white house; there are huge differences between the platforms of the democratic party and the gop. But honest people here will be able to see that, and they will make sure that the gop does not take the white house in 2008.

You Democrats in Congress are destroying the party and millions of the party faithful will not vote Democratic in 2008. We voted you to power in 2006 and you have done NOTHING! Where's the candidate who can declare that he/she will push for repeal of the Patriot Act? We have a bunch of gutless sheep in Washington. We have NO one with courage to set America back on it's traditional moral grounds in the face of this fascist movement. Where are the Jeffersons, Paines, Adams and Franklins of today? Wake up and IMPEACH, that is after we get Pelosi to step down. Her, we don't need to be next in line.

Well, it really is her office number. I couldn't get through because her inbox is filled!!!!! I couldn't even leave a message. I'll try later. Hope everyone else does too. Spread the word.

Okay, maybe I'm naive but I actually just received an email from a friend who is frantically contacting everyone she knows about a sudden new phone tally being recorded at none other than Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. Apparently the House Dem leadership is taking phone calls to see if there is enough outrage and interest by the public to IMPEACH BOTH BUSH AND CHENEY. It could be nothing...then again, it could be the beginning. I'm one of the loudest complainers about the wimpy congressional Dems but I'm going to try it anyway. At this point, anything's worth a try. Here's the phone number that was sent to me. Speaker Pelosi's office: 202-225-0100

Well, what to say? As a recent x-democrat, I can only hope for a viable third party. At this point even a non-viable third party will probably get my vote in 2008 just as an exercise in the historic feel of voting.

I really didn't expect miracles from a Democratic majority, but I didn't expect such craven acquiescence either. Impeachment off the table? No forced withdrawal? Someone tell what difference it has made to have the Dems in office.

Not impeaching war criminals is making members of congress accessories after the fact. I can't vote for accessories to war crimes of any party.

The Green Party should maybe be courting Gore to run. Not that Gore is perfect, but he's apparently got 44% of Americans supporting his candidacy--and he could run almost exclusively on the global-warming issue. It would therefore be a good way to make a third party viable. (Unfortunately, Gore has a loyalty problem--in his case, TOO loyal to the Democrats.)

Note to Restore Democray: The republicans don't need to try too hard to demoralize and demotivate Democratic voters. The Democrats are doing a great job of that all by themselves.r

There are sound reasons not to seek to remove the most dysfunctional president in history via the most dysfunctional clause in the Constitution. The task of Congress at this moment in history is to end the war in Iraq and redress the innumerable assaults on the Constitution under this administration. The word "impeachment" has an almost magical ring to it, but it is a cumbersome process that may show the door to the president and vice-president, but will not do anything at all to undo their handiwork. Impeachment proceedings customarily begin in the House Judiciary Committee, and while procedures are far more free-wheeling than those in a federal court, the necessary focus will always be on just two men -- and not the nature and extent of each harm and how to address it.

So you think Congress can do both, hmmm? Think again. An attempted impeachment of a president (it works pretty well against federal judges) will drive all partisans to their home corners. The Republicans we need to build coalitions to act against this war will not lightly do so in the midst of impeachment-related hearings and investigations.

And please stop referring to impeachment as if it were the only response of an alarmed citizenry to a despotic president. Congress has many tools -- separate tools for separate ills -- and should surely have more courage in using them. (Hooray for my state's delegation, all of whom voted against the war supplemental.) But the chief beneficiary of impeachment proceedings would be the planners of the Bush revolution and the enablers of this war. Find your issue -- the war, habeas corpus, the NSA eavesdropping, the politicization of the Justice Department, the campaign to keep people of color from the polls -- and get to work on it. It will be hard, frustrating, time-consuming work.

Or you can go with impeachment -- it feels so good; it will do so little.

The Impeachment Clause was based on English law and practice at a time when Parliament had too few tools to use against a head-strong monarch. As Parliament gained in strength, impeachment declined. There has not been one in the United Kingdom since 1806. If I thought for a moment that impeachment would restore the Constitution and repair the Republic, my name would be at the top of the petition. It will not bring us out of the mess we are in. Only hard work and organization, issue-by-issue will do that.

Are you ready?

There is a way to expand the support for impeachment and pressure the Democratic leadership at the same time. Demand that the Democrats in Congress not give one more dime for the war until we find out the truth about how the Bush administration lied us into the war. Practically speaking, this means expanding and deepening the investigations into their lies about Iraq and Al Queda, and weapons of mass destruction; and making these investigations the number one priority for Congressional oversight. Issue subpoenas for testimony and documents; and don't give them any more money for the war unless they comply. Their lies have killed hundreds of thousands; and their refusal to tell the truth now will make them responsible when the troops aren't funded. A poll more than a year ago showed that a majority of voters would support impeachment if it were proved that Bush lied about the reasons the U.S. invaded Iraq. Just demanding impeachment in the face of this cowardice on the part of the leadership will not get us very far. We need a strategic approach that will help create public opinion in favor of impeachment hearings. It is time to stop simply complaining about their cowardice. Make them face a demand for a course of action that they have said they will do! And these should be televised hearings, under oath - subpoena Bush and Cheney. This is a strategic demand on the Democrats that can be backed up by local resolutions, by city councils, state legislatures; and hopefully by civil disobedience in Congresspeople's offices. This should not be in place of continued organizing to cut off funding to the war and for impeachment; but be seen as a way to bridge the two.

I think this shows how utterly confused Democrat politicians are about the current situation, either that, or they are all cynics. It could be argued that with the current balance of power impeachment is unlikely, but I would say that we're talking more of cowardice and lack of vision. If one cannot make a convincing case for impeachment with the lies and distortion so far, I don't know what will. We need leaders, not jaded political players.

The Democratic leadership remembers what happened to the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Mel Carnahan, Paul Wellstone and others.

Half of the D's leadership are complicit, the other half are silenced.

www.oilempire.us/jfk.html

www.prouty.org

www.theassassinations.com

THE ASSASSINATIONS
Probe Magazine on JFK, MLK, RFK and Malcolm X
Edited by James DiEugenio and Lisa Pease

"The cumulative effect of these assassinations is quite clear. They resulted in the death of the old Democratic Party and the birth of the new Jimmy Carter-Bill Clinton-Al Gore Democratic Party. ....
"Imagine if you can, that if in the mid-1980s, at the height of the GOP Revolution, Ronald Reagan, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich, and George Bush Sr., had all been assassinated in the space of five years. Would the Republicans and the media not suspect something more than coincidence or happenstance? Would their party and their causes be able to sustain the loss? Would Dan Quayle and Bob Dole have been able to pick up the baton? Would history not have been quite different? Certainly, the Democrats were not able to sustain the loss. Nothing comparable filled the gap, nothing even came close. So the constellation fell from the sky and without any pressure from the left, our public debate shifted slowly, inexorably to the right."
-- p. 635, 638

Impeach Cheney! Impeach Bush!

Who says the Dems are not an effective opposition party and that they won't fight hard?
They've been opposing and fighting their own state officeholders who are trying to put impeachment back on the table.
They fight Ralph Nader.
They fight Cindy Sheehan.
They fight the Green Party.
They fight the people who elected them to office.
Too bad they they don't fight the Damn Republicans with as much dedication and singleness of purpose.
Once again COMarc is correct. The Dems are a bunch of hypocrites.
Never has a political party been handed so much ammunition by the other party. Now watch the Dems shoot themselves in the foot with it!
Another ex-Democrat

Here's the hypocrisy:
- NAFTA, Welfare Reform, WTO, war in Yugoslavia were started under George Bush I and left for Bill Clinton to grapple with. - Eisenhower started the Indochina war covertly and then left Kennedy to take the blame and deal with the mess.
- CIA Republicans made the deal to keep the hostages in Iran and then blame Carter - Numerous proactive bills were passed during the Reagan disaster and left for Democrats to spend all their energy counterbalancing later on - The Republicans are doing everything they can, once again, to disillusion Democratic voters, split the vote, and pave the way for more Republican political victories.
- The Green Party in some countries has turned into a party of pro-corporates in environmentalist clothing... as in Germany, and increasingly more here. The California Green Party is even staffed with former Nazis at its helm - there's where you need to look for hypocrites.
- Republicans are campaigning to get Democrats to vote Green because when the elections come around, it keeps Republicans voting for one candidate, and Democrats splintered to lose. This is how Schwazinazi stole California, how Gore lost, and how Nixon won.
And you know it, CIAMarc.

Good points DeFairley, Restore Democracy & CO marc... can't you hear Marvin Gaye singing, "What's Going On?"...

I can't blame Cindy Sheehan one iota as I am also disgusted with the Democratic party as well for caving in to Bush and his family of thieves.
It's OK to institute impeachment proceeding against a President who had a fling with a consenting intern of legal age yet not against Bush and Cheney and their ilk who are responsibles for the deaths of thousands of our own Military not to mention the innocent Iraqi's.
Where in the Hell is the justice here? If nothing else, they should be tried before a World Court in the Hague and be forced to answer for their crimes against the human race.
Bush and his band are no much better than the Nazi's of WW2 who stood trial in Nuremberg and
were held accountable for their acts and the same thing should apply to these lying law breakers.