DON'T WASTE ANYBODY'S TIME IMPEACHING GEORGE BUSH.

He is a waste of time.

He's already in hell, let him be, he's only got an eternity.

RSJ: You add enlightenment to this forum. Thank you for your efforts.

"99% of the people who've commented on this absolutely hillarious story need to get on some kind of medication. You people are completely delusional. All seekers of a secular, socialist utopia need a serious head check. I'm no constitutional scholar, and I may be wrong, but doesn't impeachment require some breach of the law to begin with? I mean, you can't impeach someone who simply "lied," however horrible the consequences. You need to follow the letter of the what the Constitution has set forth, rather than chase Bush on puffed-up, non-existent crimes. He's not the best man in this world, but you elected him by not spreading your message effectively enough."

Gabholli, in fact, a president can be impeached for lying. The term "high crimes and misdemeanors" was made intentionally broad by the Framers to leave room for just such action. But to briefly reiterate some of what has already appeared in this thread that you evidently missed, (a) Bush admitted to wiretapping and other surveillance without a warrant as required by law. That is a crime any way you slice it. (b) Bush has knowingly incarcerated an American citizen (Jose Padilla) without due process of law, violating his oath of office to uphold the Constitution. That is a very serious crime for a president. (c) Bush has violated international treaties, such as the ABM treaty and Geneva Conventions, without Congressional approval. That is also a crime. (d) Bush has used the emergency powers granted in the War Powers Act to fight a prolonged war in Iraq without a declaration of war passed by Congress, another violation of the Constitution. (e) Bush has flagrantly abused his power of his office by using 'signing statements' to contradict legislation passed by Congress. Another serious crime.

If you'd like, I can go on, but I think that's a sufficient number of impeachable crimes without even going into his lies that preceded the invasion of Iraq, or his White House leaking the name of a CIA covert asset for politcal reasons and his failure to hold anyone in his administration accountable for that act by firing them.

BUSH-ZARRO AMERICA

Where everything is done backwards!
Where the Resident:
Heir Shrub,
Steals Elections.
Steals from the Poor,
To give to The Rich.
Loots the Treasury.
Lies to The Country.
Starts Fake Wars.
Spies on The People.
Bombs a hated Northern City,
While reading a Fairy Tale.

Poisons The People with:
Terror
Treason
Torture
Propaganda
Arsenic
Pollution
Franken Foods
All while
Shooting
Nuclear waste
Depleted Uranium
All over the world
Job 1
Well done!
They've got their own Cor-"Pirate"agenda and
You get to play a very important part:
A
Programmed,
Conditioned,
Brainwashed,
Ignorant,
Homeless,
Sicko,
Jobless,
Terrorized,
Victim!

gabholli: and your kindred spirits for whom Ron Paul is not a severe enough Libertarian:

Simple rebuttal to your eloquent musings:

shrub "won" neither election they were stolen .Be smug now in thinking your "boys" are invulnerable.They apparently can stonewall thru 08-but they have committed numerous war crimes and will always have to act in ways to prevent being tried for same. Certainly these creeps have done at least as much as Kissinger did-he can't travel to certain countries without being tried at the Hague.How many "second homes like dick's Dubai property will they need to avoid the fate that most of the world wants for them? Post again with more of drivel-I'd love to respond tomorrow.But realize going in that I'm by far not the most eloquent poster on CD and you'd enter such a debate with about half the intellect and/or logic needed to hold your own.

Impeachment without removal, even a failed attempt at impeachment, serves purpose. It establishes a few things:

* The Democrats aren't spineless after all.
* The Western legal system, and by association our governing system, is built on precedent. If what Bush does is completely acceptable in the eyes of this Congress, the next neocon administration will simply set the ante yet further, citing (correctly so) lack of resistance in the past.
* Sometimes it's important to see where public sentiment really is, and to "rig" a failure such that it becomes a political/electoral embarrassment/liability to the opposition. The Democrats consistently fail to seize such opportunities. Bush's low ratings present a goldmine of such opportunities. They've been hell-bent on self-destruction since at least Nixon. Why's that?

99% of the people who've commented on this absolutely hillarious story need to get on some kind of medication. You people are completely delusional. All seekers of a secular, socialist utopia need a serious head check. I'm no constitutional scholar, and I may be wrong, but doesn't impeachment require some breach of the law to begin with? I mean, you can't impeach someone who simply "lied," however horrible the consequences. You need to follow the letter of the what the Constitution has set forth, rather than chase Bush on puffed-up, non-existent crimes. He's not the best man in this world, but you elected him by not spreading your message effectively enough.

chchicano;
I'd appreciate your input re my 7-24/7a.m. post.Was I just being febrile or fertile as I hoped. Anybody else like to chip in?

I beg to differ with OSUgradstudent. There is power in the process of impeachment even if it doesn't happen. It is dangerous for this President to believe that no one can stop him in this war that has been reduced to whatever suits his ego. furthermore, it is not as if Congress members are spending their time in worthwhile endeavors, they are just fund raising and posturing.

Sorry about attributing the quote to Che that was actually Mao's. The old mind ain't what it used to be. Also re klever's suggestion about getting even drug dealers involved in the struggle: Many years ago there was a guy in our barrio who came back from Vietnam and started dealing drugs. He used to stand in this alley and all us little kids were scared to death of him. Somehow, he ended up going to a seminar in the late seventies put on by some Iranian students at the local university. They got him into politics, and he stopped dealing drugs and became a successful artist and reliable community activist. We have to reach out to everybody, because everybody's looking for something higher to live for.

Impeachment requires a simple majority in the House, and Democrats could EASILY impeach this president and vice president. But it would serve NO PURPOSE unless the Senate could convict Bush and Cheney, and thus remove them from office.

CONVICTION REQUIRES A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY. Please, somebody name me 66 members of the Senate who would vote to convict the president and the vice president. It will never happen. (Democrats hold 49 seats, plus 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats. That's 51 votes, people!) Can you name me 15 Republicans who would impeach the president and vice president?

Impeachment would serve no purpose because Democrats would be unable to convict and remove Bush and Cheney. It would thus be a waste of time and prevent other important parts of the Democrats' agenda. Need I remind you the Democrats have already achieved a minimum wage increase, student loan increase, student grant increase, student loan interest rate decrease, and have pushed for an end to this war and an increase in funding for embryonic stemcell research, both of which were vetoed by this president? Impeachment proceedings would do nothing but waste valuable time for the Democratic-controlled Congress that is working to effect the change we all seek on this discussion forum.

So, mix a little pragmatism with your liberal idealism, and get a freakin' clue! Some of you people are embarrassing me!

dont mourn, organize- from a fellow soul from south queens.

Richard Nixon did not start the war in Vietnam. He did end it however. Of course the impeachment movement against him was based on Watergate and had nothing to do with his part in Vietnam. I never considered the eavesdropping a big deal, knowing that corruption is an integral part of politics everywhere. Nixon's crime has been recently put in perspective, and many now grudgingly admit that Nixon wasn't so bad after all.

Bill Clinton's impeachment was based on an even lesser crime--an office tryst. There is a lesson here. Americans are very hesitant to hold Presidents accountable for their war behavior. Subconsciously we believe that Presidents may be protecting us from some dire threat that they alone know about. We also subconsciously assign some degree of intelligence to our President by default. We invaded Iraq with the approval of the majority of the American people and Congress. The President would have us believe that Saddam would be attacking us anythime with nuclear missiles, and we must go to war quickly, immediately, no time to reflect. I didn't buy it and you didn't buy it, but a lot of people did. Again--"the President must know something"

Snap out of this trance, Congress! Our current President is the most ignorant and delusional the nation has ever had to endure. He led us to war with a country about which he understood nothing.

Nixon was indeed a brilliant man and a genius at foreign policy. He cared deeply about the country, despite of his faults. Senior George Bush was at least intelligent and cautious. He would have stopped short of allowing the country to go plunging off a cliff.

We have the worst possible President at an incredibly vulnerable time for America and for the world, considering globalization, nuclear armament, global warming etc.
Look objectively at this dangerously stupid man and do something real.

The thin silver lining in the impending collapse of the American economy is the fact that the Bush/Cheney/Rove/Neocon agenda will be swept away when it hits. I wouldn't be surprised if Bush and Cheney take refuge in some country that won't extradite them for trial, such as Dubai where Cheney already has a home, as this nation will be an unholy mess for years -- likely worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s -- and no prominent member of the current administration will be safe.

If you doubt that our economic doom is sealed, read Danny Schechter's fine piece here at Common Dreams[1] or even the back pages of the WSJ for the past few years. The dollar's dropping like a rock and investors are quietly moving their investments to more solid currencies, prices are rising quickly, we have a record level of credit card debt, our manufacturing base is nearly gone, most of our good-paying middle-class jobs have been exported overseas, we are deeply in debt to China and Japan, Wall Street is operated like a Ponzi scheme, the formerly blue-chip stock of our top corporations are being rated as junk bonds, and the housing market is tumbling. No economy can continue at this rate and survive.

As the so-far prescient Heather Wokusch writes:

"It's no wonder that China is ditching the US, which currently faces a national debt of almost nine trillion dollars, growing at the rate of $2.04 billion dollars per day. The subprime housing bubble threatens rising defaults and decreased stateside consumption, while the personal savings rate for Americans fell to a shocking negative 1% in 2006, the worst level since the Great Depression.
"It isn't in China's interest for the US to crash and burn economically, but neither is propping up dollar indefinitely, especially if it ceases to be the oil transaction currency standard. The danger, however, is that if China divests of dollars in earnest, other countries will follow suit. The Bush administration's disastrous fiscal policies, not to mention lack of transparency regarding money-supply data, have already caused Central Banks internationally to begin quietly diversifying away from the greenback."
-- Heather Wokusch, "Crouching Tiger, Tumbling US Economy," March 14, 2007. http://www.heatherwokusch.com

As far as impeachment, I'd go with John Dean's suggestion to impeach Alberto Gonzales first -- they have him dead to rights for perjury before Congress and, who knows, he might even turn 'state's witness' if he thinks he's going to be the goat. After that, Rove and Cheney. If Gonzales were gone, and Rove and Cheney were on the griddle, I'm pretty sure Junior would resign.

[1] Schechter article: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/23/2694/print/

How dare anyone call Jimmy Breslin an "addle-headed drunk?! He may be drunk on occasion, but he is never addle-headed.

Jimmy B drunk is better than any other columnist writing today stone sober.

Dave Lindorff
www.thiscantbehappening.net

chchicano;

I posted similar thoughts several weeks ago but the thread was about 3 days old-no feedback. One of my specific thoughts was to work for closer ties with gang members[all but those who were convicted of violating women or children]and yes even major drug dealers would be welcome especially for their orginizational skills.If they could be persuaded to work for political change-in return the outside world would helpthem especially with appeals and support of their families outside.
The idea of asking rappers to get more actively involved is an excellent one.
Also-though I know that the recently passed law to confiscate property of dissenters would be used to thwart this-is a strong effort being made yet to offer stronger support to the troops dying for these warmongers? E.G.counseling-job training-"love bombing",etc.? Maybe that would reduce the number of re-enlistments or the next wave of cannon fodder.
Now for favored method of posting here[and many thanks for the response to my bit about Rove's "dancing]-sick humor! Several posters in last several days have commented on the fruitless wish for any charismatic savior to help us.Au contraire! Such help is on the horizon-if only those rotten Germans would allow it! Our wonderful movie star Tom Cruise wants to star as Klaus von Staufenberg but the nit pickers in Germany are resisting just because he's a Scientologist.Cult-Schmult! Just because you lived thru it-you think that makes you experts! It was going to be Cruise and Cheney forever[unless Bethesda naval Hospital couldn't keep dick's heart going. And with Rove as Goebbels we woule be for sure certain of our glorious American Century.You did see the promo shot of our future Fuhrer[complete with sexy eyepatch didn't you? Beats Bedtime for Bonzo any day. And you would deny us this? Move over Osama-Khadafi-and Chavez I have my new worst enemy. No more bratwurst or VWs.And is this really just because shrub treated your chancellor in a disrespectful way? Sure-with his astonishing manhood[see flight suit during Mission accomplished stunt-er-joyous event-he really needs to come on to her.
For anyone predisposed to criticize my attempt at humor-one it's how I cope-two if you're sincers in wanting change don't forget the long history of jesters and tummelers.

April 2007..Dennis Kucinich filed Artiles of Impeachment against Cheney...Cheney first, then Bush.
HR 333
I take solace in impermanence.
Everything changes.
There will not be martial law.
We will get rid of these two before the 2008 election.
And yes, there probably will be another "terroist" attack. They are busy setting the stage. In the book, IT CANT HAPPEN HERE (Sinclair Lewis 1935) the dictatorship of America did the same thing with Mexico. They made it all up. They always do.....
PEACE

Finally, the country is talking about impeachment.

Contact your Rep. and demand impeachment proceedings start now.

If you need some funky media to help convince your friends and family to do the same, check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNR7EDgWnL4

Very compelling argument--plus, it has a funky-ass bass line.

chchicano,

I am with you. Our only hope is organizing and bringing together the masses. That is how we can defeat these feckless politicians. We need to start consolidating our base. For those who do not want to come along, fine stay behind and keep posting your dreary, hopeless messages on the boards. But there are some of us who want to do something, so get out of our way!

There is already incredible anger and outrage among common folks against the Bush administration. It just needs to be channeled into a ground-swell of pressure on congress, for impeachment to suddenly become "attractive" to the dumbocrats. The people of this country are able and ready to defend themselves against martial law if that is the outcome. There is so much negativity and hopelessness among the people who submit comments on this sort of article, but the reality is that we do have power and we can change things, and most importantly, we can win. If you are poor in this country you are already involved in a life and death struggle just to survive. Staying alive is a victory. But more than that, poor people's movements in this country are winning battles, and taking the world back inch-by-inch, whether the fight is for better housing or healthcare or protecting the neighborhood from economic racism or kicking sell-outs out of government or increasing the exploitative wages we are paid at Wal-Mart by "liberating" merchandise. There is already a guerilla struggle going on--and the tools of that struggle range from occupying and taking real estate that can be used for housing and community centers to driving parasitic businesses out of the neighborhood by continually tagging their buildings with slogans. Don't give up. The empire wants you to think you are impotent. But you're not. One individual can change the world. In the words of Che: Dare to struggle. Dare to win.

The Declaration of Arbroath

(Substitute "English for Neo-Con at it all seems so modern)

Every Scot knows that the Declaration of Arbroath was one of the greatest and most important statements of human rights ever written. Few people are aware that it had as powerful an influence on the USA as it did on Scotland.
This historic document was first written in 1320 - six years after Robert the Bruce's historic victory against Edward II at Bannockburn - as a plea to the Pope to stop supporting the English and recognise Scotland's independence. The appeal worked, but the most profound impact came nearly 500 years later when it was used as the basis for the American Declaration of Independence.
The rousing, central words of the American statement of July 4, 1776 almost exactly mirror the bold sentiments and cry for justice and human rights made in Scotland by the Bruce's nobles and bishops.

It famously says: "As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any condition be brought under English domination. It is in truth not for glory, nor for riches, nor for honour that we are fighting, but only and alone for freedom, which no good man surrenders but with his life."

Why should the founding fathers of modern America use this as their guiding light? More than half of them were of recent Scots descent and knew the importance the Arbroath document had on the old country they hailed from. Scottish influence in the creation of the United States cannot be overstated

It's "WE THE PEOPLE"...not WE the PUPPETS!!!

The US is toast - you are all fools. Get out now while you can.

By Dr. SUSAN ROSENTHAL, M.D.

Alienation and dissociation reinforce each other to create a cycle of social powerlessness. In The Hidden Injuries of Class, a worker ponders this dilemma.
"The more a person is on the receiving end of orders, the more the person's got to think he or she is really somewhere else in order to keep up self-respect. And yet it's at work that you're supposed to 'make something' of yourself, so if you're not really there, how are you going to make something of yourself?"

Perhaps boredom is a sign of learned helplessness?

With due respects to Jimmy Breslin, this story has been told a thousand times and at this point it is just plain boring. Even though the polls seem to indicate that people are opposed to the Iraqi invasion they don't seem to care enough which is evident through Hillary and Obama being the front runners.

Peace activist Sheehan arrested at Congress

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2337983820070723

What do we do with "No, no Nancy?"

Say say no to "No, no Nancy."

Pelosi may become the "Gray Davis" of San Francisco politics.

How come we don't hear more about the poor 18-year-old kid that died in Iraq because of Bush's lies? We've heard too much about the ashhole getting his ashhole inspected these past few days.

I could cry for the poor kid that didn't get a chance to live his life and is so easily forgotten, but we heard enough about King George's medical procedure -- paid for by us taxpayers, as usual -- just as we pay for George's unnecessary war to make himself and his cronies richer.

Whatta country!!

Here are the phone #'s again:

John Conyers Jr. Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

If you live in the district Conyers represents call his office 202-225-5176

Or call the Judiciary Committee & leave your impeach Bush Message for Chairman Conyers: 202-225-3951

Then call all 3 of your federal representatives & tell them to impeach this outlaw president.

Save the flag, IMPEACH.

Does anyone know any hip-hop artists? What if we encouraged artists like 50-Cent, SnoopDogg, and others to join our cause by producing music calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney? If these models for Giuliani and Obama are drawing a large crowd, think what we could do by dispersing rap CD's and educating our youth. Think about how many young people hip-hop artists could inspire to join the impeachment cause (it sure as hell beats stumping for Giulani and Obama).

Impeachment now, then beginning the trial.

However, the trial will take time that is true.

It will be interesting for the American public to see the evidence presented in the prosecution and again in the defense during the trial.

Perhaps we will get to see the US government more clearly.

We have all the time in the world to advance the principles of democracy and work on practicing them.

One thing that ought to keep the Democrats from pursuing impeachment is that we may find that they were very willing collaborators in the crimes of the administration. It thus will make it just as hard to vote for a Democrat as a Republican

So let's have an impeachment and a trial and then let's clean house and find human beings to represent Americans in the Congress and Executive Branch

Amos:
"I hope my country survives these interesting times in which we currently live."
~ It WILL, if we don't give up right now!
__________________

"I took an oath to uphold the president" - Sara Taylor, White House staff.
Why the need to uphold him, -is he drunk AGAIN?

[Personal Note: I took an oath at the age of 17yrs to fight darkness wherever I found it, -inside or out. If that means trampling cowardly oafs like BushCo into the dust, then so be it! ]
___________________

MetalDog:
"... and it seems counterproductive to disseminate such negativity at a forum like this one, where a lot of us seem to be ideologically compatible and already encumbered with an overstock of pessimism and outrage."

Too darn right MetalDog!
Where's your PLUCK guys, and your SPIRIT? Where's courage gone?
Maybe read Henry Thoreau and get it all back again? Try his little pamphlet entitled, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" and get fired up you guys, -don't give up now!
Nb: You can read it online here: www.transcendentalists.com/civil_disobedience.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An old Uncle Sam poster read, "Your Country Needs You!" -Too right it does!
We are on the cusp of success, -a bright era beckons, but some doomsayers are ready to give in and give up at the first signs of struggle. ~ "The darkest hour is just before dawn" and all that.
Maybe think of something POSITIVE to say and do? That in itself is more useful than talk of wimpishly giving in to darkness?

Is Dick-tator Cheney gonna win out over you? Are you really going to let him? He's just a frail, very diseased old man, who's pacemaker is his weakest point, and he's been getting more loopy since he started the many courses of various drugs a year or two back.
Is a clapped out old zombie gonna win out over you? ~ I thought Americans were made of sterner stuff than this!

There's a phrase from the East: "Blessed be the obstacles, -through them we grow!"
Let's rise and do ALL the things we can (actually) do, rather than crying into our beards / beers?

Your kids and your grandchildren's future depends on stalwart opposition to the demons, let's do it for THEIR sake, if not our own?

Someone sobs, 'Oh, but what can we do?'
Answer: Use just a tad of creativity and courage!
You know already of Cindy, and I've mentioned before about the guy in the UK, he is just ONE guy, who, -off his own bat, decided to stand outside Parliament and protest the Iraq war since day one.
He's STILL there, day & night, outside the nuthouse where the fools meet to dispense hot air and vent their vacuous dyspepsia on the nation.
He's even had a lot of his placards stolen by the police in the dead of night.
But hey, -he's STILL there now, with new placards, daily taunting the heads of UK government with his loud hailer...

IS there NOT ONE MAN like him in the US of A?
Here's a link to brave Brian:
http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/

-and here's one to some other UK folk who are doing SOMETHING – (as opposed to nothing!) :::

http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/independent101205.htm

If that's still all too SCARY, well, at the very least, someone could emulate the revolutionaries of 20th Century Eastern Europe and write or screen print 'useful' things on currency notes? A note travels a long way you know! and you could get your 'personal message to Dick-tator Cheney' right up close to people's noses when they open their wallets and purses!

I close with the following rejoinder:

Question: What's to be done about ignorance and apathy?"
Answer: "I don't know, and I don't care!" ;)

Who here would want THAT written on their epitaph?

Amos:
"I hope my country survives these interesting times in which we currently live."
~ It WILL, if we don't give up right now!
__________________

"I took an oath to uphold the president" - Sara Taylor, White House staff.
Why the need to uphold him, -is he drunk AGAIN?

[Personal Note: I took an oath at the age of 17yrs to fight darkness wherever I found it, -inside or out. If that means trampling cowardly oafs like BushCo into the dust, then so be it! ]
___________________

MetalDog:
"... and it seems counterproductive to disseminate such negativity at a forum like this one, where a lot of us seem to be ideologically compatible and already encumbered with an overstock of pessimism and outrage."

Too darn right MetalDog!
Where's your PLUCK guys, and your SPIRIT? Where's courage gone?
Maybe read Henry Thoreau and get it all back again? Try his little pamphlet entitled, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" and get fired up you guys, -don't give up now!
--> Nb: You can read it online here: http://www.transcendentalists.com/civil_disobedience.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An old Uncle Sam poster read, "Your Country Needs You!" -Too right it does!
We are on the cusp of success, -a bright era beckons, but some doomsayers are ready to give in and give up at the first signs of struggle. ~ "The darkest hour is just before dawn" and all that.
Maybe think of something POSITIVE to say and do? That in itself is more useful than talk of wimpishly giving in to darkness?

Is Dick-tator Cheney gonna win out over you? Are you really going to let him? He's just a frail, very diseased old man, who's pacemaker is his weakest point, and he's been getting more loopy since he started the many courses of various drugs a year or two back.
Is a clapped out old zombie gonna win out over you? ~ I thought Americans were made of sterner stuff than this!

There's a phrase from the East: "Blessed be the obstacles, -through them we grow!"
Let's rise and do ALL the things we can (actually) do, rather than crying into our beards / beers?

Your kids and your grandchildren's future depends on stalwart opposition to the demons, let's do it for THEIR sake, if not our own?

Someone sobs, 'Oh, but what can we do?'
Answer: Use just a tad of creativity and courage!
You know already of Cindy, and I've mentioned before about the guy in the UK, he is just ONE guy, who, -off his own bat, decided to stand outside Parliament and protest the Iraq war since day one.
He's STILL there, day & night, outside the nuthouse where the fools meet to dispense hot air and vent their vacuous dyspepsia on the nation.
He's even had a lot of his placards stolen by the police in the dead of night.
But hey, -he's STILL there now, with new placards, daily taunting the heads of UK government with his loud hailer...

IS there NOT ONE MAN like him in the US of A?
Here's a link to brave Brian: http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/

-and here's one to some other UK folk who are doing SOMETHING – (as opposed to nothing!) ::: http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/independent101205.htm

If that's still all too SCARY, well, at the very least, someone could emulate the revolutionaries of 20th Century Eastern Europe and write or screen print 'useful' things on currency notes? A note travels a long way you know! and you could get your 'personal message to Dick-tator Cheney' right up close to people's noses when they open their wallets and purses!

I close with the following rejoinder:

Question: What's to be done about ignorance and apathy?"
Answer: "I don't know, and I don't care!" ;)

Who here would want THAT written on their epitaph?

Ours is a government of laws, not of men.

What reason is there NOT to impeach officials who think they can render habeas corpus inoperative on a whim?

What reason is there NOT to impeach officials who deploy armies, not as a last resort against implacable enemies, but solely to accrue further wealth and greater power to themselves and to their friends?

What conceivable reason can there be NOT to impeach officials who believe that our rights are not ours by nature, but depend on their judgment that our natural rights are too dangerous to permit us?

"WE have to realize that we have been enslaved for way to (sic) long."

This kind of unproductive hyperbole only cheapens the horrific experience of people who've actually suffered slavery. I don't picture them typing about their political views from their office chairs in between whippings and being raped. Do you?

As for impeachment, I agree that it's vital to the future of our democracy. There are bounds beyond which the executive branch, and any of its future occupants, cannot go. This administration has far surpassed those bounds in several important areas.

Here's the clincher:

If Bush were impeached, the USA would have a very good chance of resolving the military crisis in Iraq favorably.

Without Bush, the US military would have successfully carried out the conquest, occupation and re-democratization of Iraq. Get him out of office, and there will be improvement instantly.

(I have always been and am against the war.) It is interesting to note, though, that it is Bush who actually created a war out of a siege and occupation. It is Bush who now is losing that war.

No, impeaching Bush would not create chaos nor disaster, Impeaching Bush would instantly restore order, sanity and some measure of success to the American government and American foreign policy. Scott Ritter had it right when he pointed out that that Bush had to be repudiated by the American public.

He needs to be impeached in order to save face for America and to move ahead with successful foreign policy, Pax, etc.

It really is imperative. As a gesture of good faith towards the world, towards good sense by the American people.

A lot of people are very angry, but the dems seem determined to do only the minimum necessary to placate the more moderate wing of their many critics, and only because it is politically expedient. There is no "fire in their bowels", just calculated cynicism. If they are too chicken to preach fire and brimstone, then they better get out of the way. Either they fight the fascists with conviction or stand back and let 'em take the credit for their crimes and continue shrub's "democratization experiment".
It would be nice to see a flowering of bumper stickers that really reflect the mood of the public. Maybe "Defenestrate Bush, Impale Cheney!" or "Impale Cheney, Impeach Shrub!" or "Bush and Cheney to the Hague!". These criminals deserve worse, why are we so reluctant to call for justice? I have these dreams of Mussolini hanging by his heels from a lamp post.

Why won't a successful impeachment matter? Because before the final verdict, someone's gut feeling will explode in Atlanta, or Boston, or LA, martial law will be declared, and all bets will be off. These murderers will not go down without an all out death match. Or, in the words of Diktator Dick: "Go f**k yourself."

George Bush in the same mould as George III? Unlikely - at least George III reigned (not ruled) as a constitutional monarch through Parliament. If you equate George Bush to Louis XIV of France (who really WAS an absolute monarch) you'd be much nearer the mark.

Do any of you see how pointless all of this is? We must face tyranny by any means necessary. Months before people called for protest, etc. and people yawned. Now the Shrub has ceased everything and instituted a military dictatorship. So people are going to fear everything and cower. If anyone does anything it looks like "anything" has been outlawed! I posted this link many times but in case you didn't catch it these are going to be OUR new COPS here at home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xRTpCieQvo&mode=related&search=

MetalDog - good going; your apology shows class & guts (unlike Shrub).
Also, I recognize your comment of being either a subject or a citizen from Bill Moyers's "Of Impeachment". How about calling your Congressman now about impeaching both of them? You'll feel even better.

Impeach Cheney first, then Bush....

"Only when lions get to write history will hunters cease to be heroes."

African proverb

Dear Jimmy,

I have long been an admirer of yours; read your columns and like the no nonsense way you give voice to the common man (or woman). I'd like to shake your hand someday.

So it is no surprise that I agree with everything you say here, about how this young man being struck down in his youth is an impeachable offense. And I especially agaree that merely mentioning the word impeachment would shrivel up the administration's in-your-face, but hollow, bravado.

Others have said we cannot impeach Bush because Cheney would then be up next for president; but I propose that we do it anyway, and show Cheney what he would be in for if he did not resign, before taking any oath to the presidency.

Keep up the good work, and I hope that Congress will take this advice -- yours and mine.

mastershake: you're right. I apologize. I just get frustrated by all the comments that say nothing more than, 'yeah, that's bad -- but it's just going to get worse.' It's demoralizing (albeit no more so than the facts themselves), and it seems counterproductive to disseminate such negativity at a forum like this one, where a lot of us seem to be ideologically compatible and already encumbered with an overstock of pessimism and outrage.

Mr. Breslin, You are right! Now what?

Right on Jimmy - thanks for your article. And thanks for reminding us all that we've been here before and lived through it. Time we did it again. And not only because we have to get rid of these war-mongerers, but also because if we don't we'll never be able to look in a mirror again. Bush/Cheney et al are the challenge of our time, and we can't evade impeaching them.

Thanks for your hard-won wisdom.

Impeachment? Nixon had aides with a conscience. Bush's people are far more ruthless, gutless and uncaring than the Democrats in Congress. For far too long people have been pressing for impeachment, but no one is listening. We can no longer wait for others to do what must be done. We are the ones who must act. Time is growing short. The Great Decider has already decided he's above anything written in the constitution.

unfortunately, the vast majority of our public is too braindead, demoralized, timid, fearful, paranoid, lazy etc for a revolution. We can always hope though. The president, congress, and even the courts keep pushing and pushing... like James Madison who predicted the gradual dissolution of our democracy, which is currently on the edge of complete collapse.

"Those who seek or want to hold onto their existing power are not about to condemn the man (or his actions) who has done so much to extend its reach." -?
Excessive government secrecy on an unprecedented scale as we are experiencing today does nothing for the people; what it does do is increase and preserve "unconstitutional" governmental power while it covers up fraud and gross mismanagement of U.S. Foreign Policy along with our tax dollars.
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." -James Madison
Ludwig von Mises: "Every dictator plans to rear, raise, feed, and train his fellow men as the breeder does his cattle. His aim is not to make the people happy but to bring them into a condition which renders him, the dictator, happy. He wants to domesticate them, to give them cattle status. The cattle breeder also is a benevolent despot."
If Democrats don't take action to impeach the criminals in this White House after taking the time to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about his sexual encounters, the people of this nation will have no alternative but to believe that Democrats continue to be ruled by the elitist "secrecy team" whose goal is to undermine the freedom and liberty of "The People" in favor of corporate global interest groups.

The dictatorship must be overthrown. Many have before and we have more room to maneuver, at least for now.

mastershake: your resolve to enjoy your facile predictions unfold from your couch makes you a coward and a defeatist.

MetalDog, there's no need for namecalling. I'm not comfortable with this possible and probable outcome. You said yourself, there is nothing we can do about it. And there is in fact nothing we can do about it. I mean, look at the current government! We can't even change that, you think we're going to have influence over an absolute dictatorship?

mastershake: your resolve to enjoy your facile predictions unfold from your couch makes you a coward and a defeatist. Same goes for those repeating the oft-predicted scenario of suspended elections and martial law.

May you find peace in the rationalization that there's nothing to do because there's nothing you *can* do. As for me -- I feel much the same way, and the only reason I'm not hypocritical about it is because I allow it to agonize my conscience rather than attempting to wash away the psychic pain with bullshit predictions that absolve me of any responsibility in my powerlessness.

I wish only that I were as comfortable as others seem to be with the notion of either fleeing my own country or watching my status change from citizen to subject.

What kind of a ding-dong thinks they swore an oath "to the president?"

Are we a country of LAWS or or are we a country of MEN?

May the hammer strike soon on this administration and so end the worst period in American history. (At least with the Civil War we stood for something, no matter how horrible.)

Peace to you and yours.

I notice a lot of commondreamers seem to be skeptical about impeachment. I can tell you that Impeachments proceedings will in fact begin sooner rather than later.

But very shortly, you ought to prepare yourselves for WWIII. The administration has timed it perfectly. Congress actually is currently investigating, and prepating the case for impeachment despite what seems like hesitation from the dems..

Get ready for WWIII as I was saying. Some conservatives already believe it's WWIII, and even more of them are craving another all out war. We already have that third Carrier Fleet heading towards Iran as we speak.

There will be an attack on American soil soon, and i'm not calling it a terrorist attack because it is going to come from within, or be allowed from within. That or we'll make up an attack on forces in the persian gulf like Iran will "attack" one of our ships in the mid-east (Gulf of Tonkin). The government is already blaming them and Syria for all their problems in Iraq. The dictator Cheney will attack Iran, Iran will counterattack... then the governments corperate army will invade Iran- that's one of the reasons the ammount of soldiers were "surged by 35,000 over the past several months. Once they secure Bagdad and the newly built American Superbases and airfields (who cares about all the other cities and internal strife), the "terrorist" attack will occur, and be a pretext for war with Iran.

Turkey just elected an islamist government in a landslide and is Massing 250,000 soldiers on the northern Iraq border ready to invade.

Pakistan (a nuclear power) is on the verge of collapse, and we're on the verge invading their northwestern region, or at least bombing them.

and additionally the situation in Afghanistan keeps deterioating.

I urge you to strap yourselves in for a wild ride over the next 18 months. Don't even think about an election in 2008 because it's not going to happen after martial law is declared and Bush/Cheney assume dictatorial control (as if they haven't already). After they esculate the current clusterfuck that is Iraq, look for the other major powers, India, China, Russia to get involved, and you'll see a marginalized US, failing value of the US dollar etc.

I will be sitting on my couch watching the whole thing... should be very entertaining. I expect this blog to shut down once the dictator assumes absolute control so cheers to everyone.

People need to realize that the impeachement of this administration is vital to the future of this country and to setting limits on the power of the executive. We need to make this clear to our misrepresentatives and turn up the heat.

When even an aging, addle-headed drunk like Jimmy Bresllin can see the need for impeachment, what does that say for the quality of judgement among the Congressional leadership? Pretty sorry, I'd say!

limric,

I think you are exactly right.
I have been saying the same thing for a while now and people just roll their eyes.
I'm doing my damndest to get a few bucks together to get out.

all the best

"I took an oath to uphold the President"-Monica Lewinsky

"I took an oath to uphold the president" - Sara Taylor, White House staff

I would love to know if Bush is requiring people to swear allegience to him personally, instead of the constitution. Would be in character, like the"loyalty pledges" he required of anyone attending one of his speeches

Rebel Farmer July 23rd, 2007 12:29 pm

Check it out...

CONGRESS IS IN ON IT!!

The deceptions began during the campaigning; the lying and incompetence appeared soon after Bush's coronation.
The outright crimes are well stated above by "jmjsgoblu' but he missed one I think is the most aggregious; the the signing statements regarding interpretations of laws and that they are inapplicable to him!
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Just wait. Before the next general election there will be some major crisis or invasion that the administration will use to suspend the elections and \ or they will implement marshall law. "for our protection" Wait and see...........

Ahhhh you guys, If there were going to be anyone impeached it would have been started long ago. All this crap coming down now like the "let them eat cake/go to emergency rooms" stuff is just Bush's way of taunting his enemies because he knows he is untouchable. And my bet is that he will be portrayed in our history books as "courageous and steadfast" against a lame Congress and world opinion in his righteous cause. He will be likened to Lincoln or Washington as a war time President-wait and see my friends

I still read comments from the typical ignoramus asking for the reasons why Bush and Cheney should be impeached, take your pick:
1) Authorizing the NSA wiretapping of Americans in clear violation of the FISA law;
2) Authorizing the torture of prisoners of war in clear violation of the Geneva Convention and thereby placing our own soldiers at greater risk of being tortured themselves;
3) Authorizing and attempting to cover up the outing of CIA spy Valerie Plame (clearly an act of treason) for political retribution (her husband was critical of the invasion of Iraq)
4) For actively and systematically seeking to deceive citizens and Congress about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda and for openly threatening aggression against Iran (as discussed in House Res. 333)
5) Incompetence in their conduct of the war in Iraq (yes they can be impeached just for screwing up) since as Joe Biden rightly put it, "they have not been right about one thing" in regards to their policy in Iraq;
6) Firing U.S. prosecutors for political reasons;
7) Commuting the sentence of law breaker Scooter Libby found guilty of breaking the law by his obstruction of justice… and on and on.

Each of these acts and others justify impeachment on their own merit but together they indicate a clear lack of respect for the people and the laws of our constitution that they have sworn to uphold.
The actions of this administration are fascist.
It is my opinion that to ignore impeachment for such crimes is akin to supporting such crimes and an admission that our constitution is merely a piece of paper with no merit.

Impeachment is the only remedy for the Constitutional crisis that we are in. It is the process that is important, not the impeachment itself. A prosecuter (in this case the House) with convincing evidence against a murderer doesn't stop to think about whether he can win the case. His duty is to bring charges and present the evidence to a jury (the Senate in this case) and let them decide. The trial in the Senate must begin NOW! It is the sworn duty of Congress to protect and defend the Contitution. Period!!!

So, get on the phone and tell your congress critters to sign on to HR333. NOW!

Call your members of Congress now toll free at 866-338-1015, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803

Then, go to their web site and clog up their e-mail boxes. And don't forget to contact Conyers with the same message.

Impeach Cheney NOW!!!

nathan: There can be no peace without justice.

Yea he is going to be impeached what BS

After Bush and Cheney are impeached they should be tried for war crimes in The Hague. Impeachment is just the first step to rid our country of these criminals.

Nathan A: The articles of impeachment would list as many of Bush/Cheney's crimes as Congress is able to prove. This really long list would be widely disseminated. I think it would help, however, to add Atty General Gonzales to the list of those to be impeached. And maybe Condi Rice. We could only hope that the mainstream media would serve the truth instead of the administration and not let it descend into a he said/she said word-fight.

THEN, electing Dennis Kucinich would be the smartest thing America could do. His cabinet-level Dept. of Peace would work to create a culture in which violence as an often-used way of solving our problems would be transformed into one where "peace is the organizing principle" around which we act and make decisions. A la Gandhi and King. See www.thepeaceallicance.org.

I just personally would like to see all activist efforts go into positive movements toward the goal of peace instead of looking back and punishing people for taking us in the wrong direction.

We can punish Bush personally, but there will be another warmonger to take his place. I want to spend my time and energy discrediting all warmongers.

I would support impeachment if the process exposed how the country was mislead into war, but I think the process would be turned into a partisan slug fest that will only benefit the people who want to further discredit the idea that a functioning democracy is possible.

Phone Chairman Conyers at 202-225-5126 and ask him to start the impeachment of Dick Cheney; and phone your own Congress Member at 202-224-3121 and ask them to immediately call Conyers' office to express their support for impeachment. Your Congress Member might be one of the three needed, not just to keep impeachment activists out of jail but to keep this nation from devolving into dictatorship.

This whole letting everything slide thing that congress is into is a disgrace. It makes all the law abiding citizens look like a bunch of chumps.
We're not the one's doing anything wrong yet now we know they are spying on us. While at the same time they classify everything secret for themselves.
This lawlessness by the administration is damaging the American spirit and confusing and frustrating a lot of people.

This is a great point you bring up. The only flaw is, "The Agenda" will move forward with any President who is elected. Bush is only doing what he was told to do by much higher ups than he. He is not acting or making these decisions on his own. Dem. Or Rep. they all follow orders like they are supposed to. They some how continue to make the US citizens think they some how have to vote for Rep. Or Dem. vote for some one who has no ties to the Masons, the Skull and Bones, Ivy League society.

Vote for someone who says what we don't want to hear. Tell us like it is. Which is we have been getting screwed on purpose for over 200 years. These plans are put into place for a reason. Health care, our poisoned foods, making us hate each other for silly things like race, and creed, sexual preference. Making us believe that religion and spirituality are some how the same thing.

They do doing anything to stop people from having sex in order to force the repression of natural desires to come out in Anger and Frustration.

They maintain control of our economy, prices, advertising, taxes, military, and our souls. It's all to forward the "Agenda". The put as much distance between the rich and the poor as possible. Profiting off of death and pain. We fall for it every 4 years, over and Over again. They make us hate other countries that are way better off then us. Places that work 35hr work weeks. 5 weeks Paid vacations. Place that enjoy longer life, less disease and strife, plus lower stress. They make us hate them because they don't want us to want what they have.

WE fall for it every 4 years. WE give in and vote instead of nationwide boycott. We shop at Wal-Mart, we buy blood diamonds, and we use our people up like batteries and through them away.

If you want to make a change, don't vote for either of them. And stand up and take back what was never ours.

WE have to realize that we have been enslaved for way to long.

President Bobblehead's colonoscopy presented a few difficulties until the doctors managed to squeeze the colon camera past those ears.
Amazingly the doctors then discovered Dick Cheney's palm print!

Curtsie!

the bush cabal is truly the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
impeach now--all of the traitors.

"You have to get rid of a government like this."

All of the people who mouthed off about how great Bush is are now to chickenshit to impeach his lying scoundrel ass. Too scared to vote against him and now too scared to impeach him. You have to wonder where all of these damn hero's are in the ranks of the populace. Those people they call hero's are the one's who have borne the weight of the failed experiment that is Bush. The other's who actually voted for him should enlist if they're able and to hell with them. I hope my country survives these interesting times in which we currently live. A pox on Bush/Cheney.

Impeach for a lot of reasons but Impeach for Peace

Claudius:
"Does anyone know any hip-hop artists? What if we encouraged artists like 50-Cent, SnoopDogg, and others to join our cause by producing music calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney? If these models for Giuliani and Obama are drawing a large crowd, think what we could do by dispersing rap CD's and educating our youth."

[If only I was more a fan of rap, I would make my songs in that style as well!] ;)

Come to think of it senor Claudius, where on earth is Bob Dylan in all of this? [zzzzzzzz! snoring his millions away, supporting Zion, and more recently doing TV adverts for women's bras!!] :( Ho hum.

Yooo Hooo! Where is Joan Baez and etc? If the younger muzos won't sing for us, then where the many other / older musicians of yesteryear who once stood proudly in line with our message?
- All comatose? All too rich and self-indulging to now raise their grey beards above the parapet? (and yes, thanks ex-Regan supporter, now anti-Bush maverick Neil Young, -but where are your compatriots??)

________________

Chchicano:
"There is already incredible anger and outrage among common folks against the Bush administration. It just needs to be channeled into a ground-swell of pressure on congress...
~Yup! ~

and: "...There is so much negativity and hopelessness among the people who submit comments on this sort of article, but the reality is that we do have power and we can change things, and most importantly, we can win."
~ Yup, times x20 !

...and taking the world back inch-by-inch,"
~ That's often *exactly* how 'we the peeps' accomplish things, -Right On bro'!

Chchicano again:
"...Our only hope is organizing and bringing together the masses. That is how we can defeat these *feckless politicians*. We need to start consolidating our base. For those who do not want to come along, fine stay behind and keep posting your dreary, hopeless messages on the boards. But there are some of us who want to do something..."

~ Great SPIRIT there pal!
(-but did you misspell 'feckless' by any chance?) ;)

"In the words of Che: 'Dare to struggle. Dare to win.' "
[I always thought that was Chairman Mao, but no matter, -'tis the concept that counts!]

+++++++++++++++++++++++

An idea:
Ensure and pledge that NOT ONE DAY passes by without each of us pledging to do SOMETHING in the cause of bringing 'Dicky-heart Cheney' and Co to their knees!

~To slightly paraphrase Chchicano: "We are taking back our world, inch-by-inch..."

- - - I like that! :)