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TechnoratiPelosi Needs To Put Impeachment On The Table
President Woodrow Wilson recanted his no-war pledge, President Franklin D. Roosevelt disowned his balanced budget promise and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., should learn from those examples. She should reconsider her "impeachment [of President Bush] is off the table" pledge. As Ralph Waldo Emerson advised, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."
The speaker's reluctance is understandable. The president's tenure expires on Jan. 20, 2009. An impeachment inquiry could embolden al Qaeda, the Taliban, Iraq's insurgents and Iran's nuclear-minded mullahs. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and a majority of Republicans in Congress would attempt to portray the exercise as naked partisanship. Their enthusiasm for impeaching President Bill Clinton over lying under oath about Monica Lewinsky would be no deterrent.
But countervailing constitutional concerns are more compelling. Bush has crippled checks and balances and protections against government abuses. If these claims and practices are not repudiated, the precedents will lie around like loaded weapons, ready for use by any White House incumbent to intimidate rivals or to destroy the rule of law.
The president has reduced Congress to wallpaper. He has asserted executive privilege to foil the congressional power of investigation - the most important because sunshine is the best disinfectant for lawlessness or maladministration. Thus, Bush has claimed inherent constitutional power to prohibit former presidential adviser Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, among others, from testifying about perjury, obstruction of justice or the politicization of law enforcement in conjunction with congressional scrutiny of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. Even President Richard M. Nixon, whose signature creed was "if the president does it, it's legal," shied from such a monarch-like claim. When former White House counsel John Dean was implicating him in the Watergate coverup by reciting chapter and verse of Oval Office conversations before the Senate Watergate Committee, Nixon never insinuated he could silence his accuser. In contrast, Bush is claiming that secrecy, as opposed to transparency, is the constitutional rule for the executive branch. Government by the consent of the governed, however, requires the people to know what their government is doing to enable them to adjust their political loyalties accordingly.
Bush has hidden from Congress details of the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP). It involves the National Security Agency's spying on Americans based on the president's say-so alone in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which requires judicial warrants. The president has declined to share the number of Americans targeted by the TSP, the intelligence yield, the earmarks employed to identify American targets, or other facts needed for Congress to evaluate its legality or advisability. Indeed, if it were not for an executive branch leak of the TSP to the New York Times, the spying would have been concealed forever with no public discussion or congressional hearings. Sister spying programs remain secret to this very moment.
Bush has claimed constitutional power to gather foreign intelligence by breaking and entering homes, opening mail, kidnapping, or torturing in violation of federal criminal prohibitions. He maintains that every square inch of the United States is a battlefield, where military force or tactics are legitimate, including killing suspected al Qaeda members or affiliates. He has endangered every American traveling abroad by establishing the international law principle that nations are entitled to kidnap, imprison and torture noncitizens who they suspect of sympathy with domestic rebels. He has claimed the United States is in perpetual war with international terrorism that justifies arming the president with perpetual war powers.
Bush routinely issues signing statements that declare his intent to disregard provisions of bills he has signed into law because he asserts they are unconstitutional. The signing statements lacerate the congressional power over legislation. They are indistinguishable from line-item vetoes that were held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Clinton vs. New York. Members of Congress vote on an entire bill, not on a Swiss cheese version. Signing statements entail the enforcement of a law, expurgated by the president, which Congress never passed. The Constitution obligates the president to veto bills he believes are unconstitutional, which offers Congress an opportunity to override by two-thirds majorities.
If House Speaker Pelosi neglects to put impeachment back into the Constitution, an omnipotent, repressive and secret presidency is inescapable. If her constituents voice that concern, it should concentrate her mind wonderfully.
Bruce Fein is a constitutional lawyer, chairman of the American Freedom Agenda, and author of the forthcoming book "Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle of Our Constitution and Democracy" (Palgrave Macmillan).
© 2007 The San Francisco Chronicle
63 Comments so far
Show All"The avalanche has started, too late for the pebbles to vote."
More is at work here than Nancy's reluctance. She has frustrated a large part of the nation not because she has not introduced artcles of impeachment but because took her big stick, her ace in the whole, her key bargaining chip off the table thereby rendering her and the Congress powerless. One doesn't do that unless one is a 'fool' or there is something in it for her. I doubt Nancy is a fool so I must ask what she is getting for rolling over for the President. Especially in this time when the President has literally usurped the entire mechanisms of government for himself.
Speaker Pelosi's own name needs to be put on the table for impeachment. All of our representatives need to keep their positions by way of justified trust, i.e., met promises. Their chief duties are to dust off the Constitution; come to understand it; bring it to the forefront in reuniting Americans in a common social contract; and see that it is rigorously enforced.
Such behavior done in earnest would bring our kids home. It would make this "great economy" something available to the citizenry-at-large and not just the rich and "super rich." It would bring the possibility of home ownership back into the realm of possibilities for a good many Americans who grow more marginalised each day. And it would start justice moving to act against the swindlers on behalf of the swindled.
Folks want to be citizens again, to speak out and know that their voices are heard out of concern, not for purposes of political measurement and manipulation.
People want to be citizens, not consumers.
People want to be employees, not part of a ready (and readily disposable) work force.
Congress needs to understand its constituents and work on shaping the 'America' they envision. Our representatives need to back constituents and communities, not corporations or whatever-industrial complexes.
The shell game is over.
Good people don't like not having jobs or money or homes. And they're not so blind as to miss the fact that very many of our representatives have, for all intents and purposes, shifted loyalties for financial gain and personal power.
The elections, themselves, are an obscene waste of money, hence, dominated by the wealthy, and, simultaneously, a filtering process that keeps our offices from being filled by a spectrum of people that is truly representative of all Americans.
The American people will not forfeit their dignity and livelihoods. When things feel corrupt, as the do increasingly daily right now, they will stop believing the myths they are being fed and come together and correct things.
We neighbors traditionally unite behind the concept of 'America.'
We are growing more aware now that spin, hype, marketing, and political "necessities" (decided by "fellow citizens" who feel that they somehow are higher minded or more "in the know") have created many alternative "meanings" for this once commonly revered term.
We realise that citizenship education has been seriously minimised, altered, and even removed in many cases in our educational process and what 'America' "is" is getting to be really vague to our children.
'America' is more ambiguous when uttered now.
There currently seem to be a great many 'Americas.'
Genuine citizens just won't suffer this ambiguity much longer; and we certainly will not long stay affiliated with any meaning attributed to it that is associated with national (governmental) immoral actions; failure to act when an ethical imperative to do so is obviously present-at-hand; or generally represented to the world in a way that conflicts with the national character we continue to adjust but always demand is based upon principles of compassion, courage, and justice.
Ms. Pelosi and most of her peers in Congress need to understand they must do their duty in order to hold at bay that ancient, primal, and especially American impulse to "eat the rich."
splamco
"Congress has tried and utterly failed at being legislatively productive. The Republicans & Bush just won't let it happen"
Well, no, it isn't the Republicans and Bush who stand in the way of turning America onto the right path now that the Democrats have the majority in both houses. Nobody can force Democrats to do what they don't want to do, or conversely, nobody can prevent them from doing the right thing. Since they are the masters of their own ships, it was futile to have elected them to that majority a few months ago.
Oregon, that IS good Rebel. Oregon is one state where good people will have a better chance of surving a depression.___Do girls farm? When I was a kid on the farm, my girlfriend's name was Hope. She didn't work in the fields or milk cows on their farm. Hope raised turtles to sell for pets. She'd fasten little springs on their feet so they could be put on a leash and taken for walks.
That's where the phrase, (Hope spung a-turtle) came from.
Congress has tried and utterly failed at being legislatively productive. The Republicans & Bush just won't let it happen, it's all they've got. The consequence is a Congressional approval rating now worse than Bush's. The only thing Congress can do that's productive is to impeach Bush, Cheney, Gonzalez. It is not only necessary for the reasons outlined by Fein (ie: precedents) but it will educate the American public as to the depth of the corrupt manipulation of our democracy, it will show the world that we still function and as a bonus, it may even get them removed from office!
Gong!! Guess again... I'd love to be from Vermont. Those small farmers and their communities there really have their act together. I'm from a much less enlightened state - Oregon. But I'm trying to put together a campaign for Community Food Sovereignty here. For all the rest of you, support local agriculture! Join a CSA, shop your local farmers market, and don't forget you local co-op.
P.S. Why does everyone here assume that farmers are guys?
P.P.S. On 9/11, is it O.K. if we shop at a farmers market or roadside stand?
The latest is in (around noon, Eastern time): the White House is getting ready to declare the Iranian National Guard a "terrorist" entity (the Senate, meanwhile, has already weeks ago voted unanimously to monitor Iran for terrorist activity, even while experts say that most suicide bombers in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia) and to discuss a 30 billion military aid package to Israel (I think I heard that about 19 billion is going to Saudi Arabia--oh yeah, the home country that even in the official version of the story was the home of 13 of the 16 9/11 terrorists). Here is why we must impeach now. The writing is on the wall. It seems as if the war, believe it or not, is soon to be escalated to include Iran. How can we possibly work diplomatically with Iran while declaring them "terrorists" and imposing sanctions? This also does wonders with our poor relations with Russia.
I also think a general strike on 9/11 is a great idea. It worked in France in May '68, for awhile, labor joining hands with students, shaking things up, raising awareness, making the government quake in its boots...the only problem was it was followed by disillusionment and conservative backlash. But it's worth a shot, at this point.
What's saddest of all is I write this wondering if one day it will bring the secret police to my door, or that of anyone on here speaking out, a la East Germany after WWII or the opening scene in "Brazil." What a sad "state" we are in.
Only 175 yesterday Ken. Injured? Who in hell cares? looks like we are getting into the body count like we did during the Vietnam War. That might help? Guess we'd better do something to shock and awe us out of the Iraq stories, we need a different subject to sell the news. Can anyone think of anything we could do to boost poll ratings for the Bush?
You know - there are bodies all over the place.
250+dead in Iraq today. Wonder how many injured.
How much longer do we really think this w & chains inc. "murder for oil" campaign can go on without the karma coming back so hard on the us of spiritually bankrupt A. Seriously?
Later,
Ken Hausle
Abbywood: Great post as always.
Take 9/11 off. No work. No shopping. No buying of gas. Get together with your neighbors and honor the dead and dying from that day. Also mark the day and mourn the loss of our country and it's Constitution.
joed: Your post was offensive. It's not over until the fat lady sings. YOU are the whiner. You quit fighting for your rights and for America. And you don't get any cheese either........
We, the people of all parties, are going to continue to work to make our "representatives" represent US. We are going to continue to demand that they do their damn jobs. We are going to keep on telling them that their oath of office DEMANDS that they defend and protect the Constitution. If they don't do their job, than WE are going to fire them!
Vote Kucinich in the primaries. Vote for Cindy if you are in Pelosi's district. And continue those e-mails, letters, and phone calls to DEMAND impeachment.
Keep on keepin' on.
Thanks
kucinich will stop the bloodshed...
Why do people keep writing stupid articles like this.
Pelosi and Reid were very clear long BEFORE the last election that they would not impeach. They've both been very clear that they regard it as their mission that Bush and Cheney complete their terms.
I've seen absolutely nothing that indicates either is any less firm in their determination not to impeach.
So why do people keep writing this stuff? It ain't gonna happen. Quit dreaming.
The truly bizarre part is that most of these idiots voted Democrat in 2006 expecting impeachment which was months after Reid and Pelosi both made it very clear that if the Democrats won there would be no impeachment. It takes a large amount of skill in denial of reality to be a Democratic voter these days.
The bottom line here! If we as a nation have literally no control over a dysfunctional President and his administration? Then we are in deep s... as a country! It's that simple. No doubt, we can expect far worse in the near future from other Presidents who chose not to obey the law. I can assure you no one wants to obey the law if they don't have to. We need to solve the problem of a 'out of control' executive branch or suffer the consequences in the future.
How do we get these "demorats" to put impeachment back on the table?
HR-333. Take two and call me in the morning. Dennis, I'm pushin for you brother. Your the last freakin Demabutt I"ll vote for. Ever! EVER! I really wish you would go INDY. Shake things up. We are primed and ready. Your party (which was once mine) may not have blood on their hands, but they were in the same room when it all went down, and the smell of shame reeks in this house of America. Democritters now eat only the scraps of what the rePUBICans choose to throw at then. Don't lick the boots of death born out of fear! This is important and this is OUR FUCKING COUNTRY! HB-333! See ya!
Joed: Ignoring the government and creating the "community we want" is just as naively Utopian as demanding that a more humane, socially conscious economy be developed in the US in 2008. Get real man. If you want true change in this country, change that effect every person, not just you and your "community", you need to influence the government. Government is not inerrant evil. That's where you have gone wrong, and frankly that is where anarchy goes wrong too. It all sounds really cool and different and interesting, until you look to the future a bit and realize that there will be no cohesion in our country. Everyone would be living in little communes, but with little communes in which success would depend upon the smarts and abilities of the people therein. Where would people be educated, and how would they pay for it? How would the sewers be maintained? How would we get rid of our solid and otherwise waste? The questions go on and on.
Government, if operated in a humanistically conscious way, can do these things without infringing on the basic freedoms of being a human being on this planet.
Finally, I find it very ironic that you are idealistic enough to suggest ignoring government and making our own communities, yet you think it is silly for millions of Americans to unite in a very simple action that will create potentially billions of lost revenue for the very corporations that are making government work only for the tyranny of the bottom line, instead of the tyranny of social justice, as it should. Very weak reasoning you have presented here. We need you on our side, please join us on 9/11.
We should all take the day "off" on September 11th, 2007 to remember what happened that day in 2001.
Maybe download some videos regarding September 11th, like "Loose Change 2nd Edition" etc. and take your laptop to Starbuck's with a "small" sign....that says "Patriot Day Commemoration video shown here", etc. Just "be cool".....and be prepared to drink LOTS of lattes..... Then around 5pm take the "Patriot Day" video to your local watering hole for a beer and more conversation. Ya'll get the idea.
And as a reminder to everyone, we should have the "right" to take September 11th off anyhow, since it was officially declared as "Patriot Day" by President Bush:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030904-7.html
Pass it on to everyone you know. Because, truth be told, no matter what, we should ALL reflect about what happened that day, and honor those who lost their lives and keep their heartbroken families and those who responded (and have since then suffered and possibly died from their 9/11 related illnesses), in our hearts and minds.
Bruce Fein's arguments are indeed brilliant. Everyone should watch him on Bill Moyer's show on impeachment. He makes the crucial point that the illegal, expanded powers that Bush and Cheney have claimed will create a precedent and transform the executive branch forever, no matter who occupies the seat of the presidency, Democrat or Republican. Thus, impeachment is important in order to put limits on the office itself, not just on the individuals who occupy the office. The whole point of having a government that is a republic rather than a monarchy is that in the former power inheres in the position, not in the body of the person who occupies the position (BTW: tyranny was defined in the Enlightenment as the executive usurping the powers of the legislative branch, enacting laws that serve the king's purposes. See Rousseau's "The Social Contract").
On another note, Kucinich is the only Democratic candidate running for office who has made a serious commitment to impeachment (he is having house parties this Wednesday to discuss it) by introducing the bill to impeach Cheney. NONE of the other Democrats have made a commitment to impeach, or even censure, and so this means that if elected, they (Clinton, Edwards, etc.) will be happy to inherit the new, expanded, unconstitutional powers that Bush and Cheney have handed them. Only Kucinich is saying they are illegal, and therefore would not accept these powers. Why should we trust the others? Why should we trust that things won't just continue as they are if no impeachment takes place?
Pelosi's a Bush outlaw accessory. Time to switch to Kucinich!
Give me a frigging break! Can aybody tell me why Bush and his people have not been impeached or brought up on war crimes charges? This is simply incredible the it keeps going on and on and on. Where is the outrage in this country? These people are criminals!
LET US, EACH AND EVERYONE, SHOVE A KUCINICH VOTE
UP MS. PELOSI'S ATTENTION DEFECIT
I gave $100 to the Dempublicans last october because I hoped they had finally learned that not going after the fascist Republicrats only sent the message they were weak pansies. I was wrong to do so. "Impeachment off the table" tells me they have been bought off like all the other so-called representatives who cater only to the interest of corporations and the wealthy who have given the really big money. Since then I have been plagued with phone-bank solicitors for more money and when I try to engage them in a discussion on what seems to be the true demo agenda, they hang up on me. That I continue to receive these calls after they have refused to answer my questions shows me they are not listening to me...otherwise they would not call me anymore. They want my money and they want me to shut my fucking mouth. I pray for their enlightenment.
frank1569, you make some very good points.
A few weeks ago, Colleen Rowley and other members of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) published a paper entitled 'Dangers of a Cornered Bush.' The paper makes some extremely cogent arguments for why we need to begin impeachment proceedings immediately.
One great point the VIPs make is that simply holding the impeachment hearings will embolden whistleblowers who are now too frightened to come forward; more importantly, hearings might give cover to some generals, who see an invasion of Iran as imminent and horrific, to refuse orders to invade.
Here's a link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/dangers-of-a-cornered-geo_b_58429.html
This bunch of milquetoast Democrats gives us a snowball's chance in hell of seeing impeachment proceedings.
Agreed--to insinuate that Pelosi, Conyers, and the Democrats in Congress are "afraid" of BushCheneyCorp for any reason, or to suggest blackmail is the issue, is to expose childish naivete.
The rank-and-file Democrats are not afraid of being "soft on Terror". They are constitutional ignoramuses who don't care whether the President is an Emperor or not, as long as their party controls the Throne.
As for Pelosi and Conyers, their behavior pattern strongly suggests they were bought off by the opposition.
Congressman Conyers needs to put HR-333 ON the table. That is where the buck has stopped.
Since Pelosi won't impeach the Prez and Veep why don't we start with her??
It's amazing how many posters here seem to know EXACTLY what Democrats in Congress are thinking! Clearly I have not been eating enough Cracker Jack or I would have eventually gotten the same brilliant decoder ring you all seem to have.
Forget it.
Democrats = Bush enablers
Impeachment proceedings, both House and Senate, are also a means of CONTROLLING the executive, while in office. So, the argument, about the (assumed) ending of Bush's and Cheney's terms in office, has little force.
Democrats are reluctant to curtail Bush's power because they believe they will inherit it in the next election. This struggle is between totalitiarians of both political parties, on the one side, and lower-case republicans and democrats, on the other.
Well what I want to know is where is God in all this? Doesn't he care at all. How could he allow these things to happen to our country? Oh, I forgot were supposed to pray!
Silly me.
The only strategic explanation is that if Bush were to leave early, the Democrats would be running against an incumbent in 2008. Big time fear factor!
The main reason Pelosi and the loyalbushieDems need to put impeachment "back on the table" is for the fear factor only, because in reality it's wholly meaningless to a gang of wannabe dictators who consider themselves above all laws of man and God(s). But having it out there, alive and kicking, is enough to keep 'em on the ropes and distracted while we attack from every other angle - indictments, show trials, leaked truths, a shut down of the money flow to corporate enablers and economic terrorists, and lots of non-violent monkeywrenching from both inside and out.
BTW, thanks, Mr. Fein, for handing the GOPathologicals the one talking point they've been searching for which we're sure to hear 24/7 the moment impeachment is raised on FOX:
"An impeachment inquiry could embolden al Qaeda, the Taliban, Iraq's insurgents and Iran's nuclear-minded mullahs." Or, as the cult will soon be chanting: "If the President is impeached, the terrorists win!" Just great...
It would also have another beautiful consequence: watching the GOPussies suddenly jump ship in droves, confessing their sins and squealing on their fellow loyalbushies just before they slam into the cold, icy waters below...
VOTE SHEEHAN. Change your party affiliation to Independent TODAY. Run for office YOURSELF an a Independent against the Bush accomplices, the Democrats.
Remember, historically, Democrats started more wars than Republicans. They started Vietnam. They dropped two atomic bombs in Japan. They started the Korean war. Clinton himself bombed Iraq for 8 years and six other countries. Clinton tried to provoke Saddam into a conflict with the illegal no-fly zones for 8 years. Bill Clinton enforced the economic embargoes that killed millions of Iraqi children for 8 years, with his Secretary of State saying 'well, that's just too bad." He destroyed the American middle-class by exporting their jobs overseas, with NAFTA, GATT, WTO. He destroyed the American poor by implementing the welfare 'reform.'
Democrats and Republicans are pieces of the same rotten cloth. Switch TODAY.
Conspicuous silence on break up of American system of government by either Pelosi or all leading Democratic presidential candidates only confirms beyond any reasonable doubts that the American Republican Project is Kaput, over, done with. Instead, we have New American Imperial Project, which requires military like chain of command, responsible to the top General only.
All our whining about abuse of, and appeals to, Constitution are in vain. Imperial Project is here to stay until higher authorities will make final decision about future fate of this once great country of ours. I am not ruling out that one of those higher authorities will be Its Majesty American People, albeit I doubt it. Most likely we will go through collapse of current international economic and financial system, unsustainable as it is now.
As for this writer, I stopped worrying and hoping for better next American President. Unlike Roman or even British Empires, American one has neither Julius Caesar nor Wellington. So, let us collectively hope that mediocre Generals will produce mediocre Emperors and Empire will not last.
coffeelover - Your last sentence says it in a nutshell. If Hillary is elected, we'll have both her and Bill acting just like the Republicans that they really are. If Pelosi will not put impeachment back on the table, I'll support Cindy for her job, and I'll bet a lot of Californians will, too.
I am for impeachment, but judging by Bush's past he will use delaying tactics and hide all evidence until he is out of office even if the Demopublicans decided to stand up for the people and what's right instead of what's left after Bush's Gang Of Pirates have finished their looting.
It's up to the people. What would happen if someone called for a million citizen march to rid the nation of Bush and Cheney. Everyone bring their own citizen's arrest warrant to serve, or a pink slip saying, "You work for me, you're fired". Congress could walk out, declare Republicans have taken over the country, and hold a nonstop press conference with a split screen display, one showing Republican statements, the other the facts exposing their lies.
Bruce Fein's arguments are brilliant. He converted me via the Bill Moyers show a few weeks ago. Every week I send emails to my Rep., Anna Eshoo, my Senators Boxer and Feinstein, and to Speaker Pelosi urging them to support impeaching chaney & bush. All Dems. When I receive any response at all, it's the generic one about "impeachment would further divide the country." Written by a staffer, no doubt. They just don't get it. As Mr. Fein points out, "it's" about preserving the Constitution. The first step would be for them to educate the voters about the real meaning of impeachment.
It is, at this point, close to criminal for the members of Congress not to impeach. They do, after all, take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, which Pelosi's menu proscription prevents them from honoring,,,,,
Well said Dave! Could not have said it better. The other reasoning which I have not yet seen, but skirted about, is the issue "Do the Democratics believe they will win the White House in 2008, and thus retain and inherit the criminal ill-gotten unchecked power for their means.
Coffeelover,,,,,
Bruce Fein is saying what Barbara Olshansky and I have been saying loud and clear since spring of last year (back when Nancy Pelosi first uttered her vow to violate her oath of office, and put impeachment off the table).
Fein didn't even mention the treasonous lying that Bush and Cheney used to put the country into an illegal and endless quagmire of a war in the middle east, dangerously damaging the nation and its national security for their personal gain.
It is, at this point, close to criminal for the members of Congress not to impeach. They do, after all, take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, which Pelosi's menu proscription prevents them from honoring. That in itself is grounds for ousting them all from their seats in Congress--perhaps the wisest move at this point if she doesn't see the light and get out of the way of impeachment.
Dave Lindorff
author: "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition)
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
Well, of course Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats *should* follow their oaths of office and therefore pursue impeachment of Bush, et al. Unfortunately, they fundamentally do not believe in holding accountable this administration. The actions of the Dems have been complicity and enabling from the very beginning.
What are you going to do about it?
Indeed! As Chalmers Johnson writes:
Even though large numbers of voters vaguely suspect that the failings of the political system itself led the country into its current crisis, most evidently expect the system to perform a course correction more or less automatically. As Adam Nagourney of the New York Times reported, by the end of March 2007, at least 280,000 American citizens had already contributed some $113.6 million to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Mitt Romney, Rudolph Giuliani, or John McCain.
If these people actually believe a presidential election a year-and-a-half from now will significantly alter how the country is run, they have almost surely wasted their money. As Andrew Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism, puts it: "None of the Democrats vying to replace President Bush is doing so with the promise of reviving the system of check and balances.... The aim of the party out of power is not to cut the presidency down to size but to seize it, not to reduce the prerogatives of the executive branch but to regain them."
http://aep.typepad.com/american_empire_project/2007/05/evil_empire.html#comments
"It was by the sober sense of our citizens that we were safely and steadily conducted from monarchy to republicanism, and it is by the same agency alone we can be kept from falling back." --Thomas Jefferson to Arthur Campbell, 1797.
Ms. Pelosi, "We the People" have been speaking. It's your duty, and right, to place impeachment back onto the table. Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. Are you listening?
Fat chance. Gonzales probably has a lot of dirt on her and Reid (gathered through illegal wiretapping). Not gonna happen.
The Democrats don't care--they want that secret presidency for themselves, and if they let the criminal finish his term, any Democratic presidential candidate has a lock. The Democrats are satisfied with being the lesser of two evils. (Although now that they've legalized illegal wiretapping and thrown out the Fourth Amendment, "lesser" is arguable.) They're pathetic.
It would take a really BIG revelation of criminality for them to bring up the idea of impeachment. Since there have been so many of them and lots of them have been covered up, I would not rule out this happening within the next year.
My post was just a bit of lamenting how in many parts of "america" folks don't even know or get along with their nearby neighbors at least not how I remember it when I was a kid living in Buffalo, NY. Plus I was questioning the "of america" in the US of A. I guess the name america comes from that "vespucci" fella, but why does it all have the name of some Italian hombre. I don't think it is appropriate.
Also, for the sake of being safe and sort as a "just in case" kind of thing, I suggested that folks store up some supplies, maybe a bit of cash, and work hard to get to know their neighbors better. I think we are going to need each other.
Lastly, as much as I appreciate this site, I chastised whomever is running it because there is some sort of "editor" behind the scenes, but this editing "policy" is not defined and it ought to be. Otherwise, the fairness of the forum is suspect.
Anyhow, I keep letting myself get sucked back into posting here even though I have reservations. I appreciate the intelligence, wit, and humor. It is a relief, but sometimes it is good to take a break.
Peace,
Ken Hausle
* All you San Fransisco folks - maybe one of you can talk some sense into politician pelosi.....
I just tried it a third time and it still wouldn't post even though it is accepting my comments here
Lobo Gris
Pelosi would resign if she had to impeach. Her loyalty is not to the citizens of the USA.
Ken Hausle
Re-post your comment?
When wondering why Pelosi won't put impeaching Bush back on the table the first thing that should be asked is why she and her husband were at a private dinner at the White House with Bush and his wife a few weeks ago.
Lobo Gris
Hey don't forget to invite Rep. Conyers to one of your Stand Up for those Fallen and Constitution gatherings Michigan.
If We show them numbers on 9/11 and We do it Patriotically for the Constitution and all those fallen....maybe our Arousal to the cause would be taken seriously? We could do petions and make more videos stating our believes ....and maybe those who couldn't take off could participate before or after their essential jobs. There are many who can type and ask what can be done.......well if WE show up this can be done PEOPLE.
The Rebel Farmer? I was guessing North Carolina. He don't sound like a Connecitut Yankee. He is a fighter though, could be from either. Raise some King pidgeons Rebel, easy to take care of and good eggs. You can mix them in dog food too.
Hi Paul, how ya doin? The key is Conyers, he don't need Pelosi's permissin. get Conyers tanked and have him do his duty and pit HR-333 on the table, the impeachment process can then begin.
Rebel Farmer: You're not by any chance a rebel farmer in Connecticut, are you?
As my friend, KEM, implied HB 333 is the crux & solution of this matter.
Pelosi should resign. Immediately. She has abdicated her responsibility.
People! We are at crisis point in this country. There is no leadership and the administration in the White House is certainly less than intelligent. And, we are allowing those responsible for this fiasco of the last six years walk away without punishment. We need to step up and do something. Otherwise, Bush, Cheney and the rest of these assholes are going to walk away scott free and never be held acountable for the incredible destruction they have reaped on our country, our constitution and our military. We must do something!
If not the Constitution under what auspices do they claim to rule or govern? Without the Constitution what are the rules and laws? So, if there is no Constitution, which some of those in office ( Bush et al ) are showing We The People by their actions, because it is very hard to understand their words since they don't seem to relate to English and the dictionary, and then we have the Congress not paying attention to their Constitutional duties, just what are we We The People to do?
I wonder if maybe We should all take this 9/11 off and contemplate and look into what might be done? Stay home in a Patriotic Stand for our Constitution no work no shopping no school. Hmmmm wonder what percentage of We The People care enough to find out and I wonder what we might find?
The bottom line here we are in deep trouble as a nation. When we have no control over a dysfunctional President and his corrupt Administration. When the executive branch of our government is so 'out of control' then our government is no longer working the way the framer's intended. Something needs to be done about it. If something isn't done, we can expect far worse from some other 'out of control' President who doesn't want to obey the law. I can guarantee you it will happen in the future.
Plantman13
"I gave $100 to the Dempublicans last october"
Ask for your money back.