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Remove Bush Over War Lies
There had been the sound of many feet on a Brooklyn street at the first funeral, of firefighter Joseph Graffa-gnino, and at the second funeral, of firefighter Robert Beddia, a fire engine sounded in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. In my office about an hour later, slips of paper came silently out of a machine, the slips coming from the Department of Defense and carrying the names and ages of the 14 soldiers who were killed in Iraq when their helicopter crashed. Four were under 21 and nine 25 or under. Of course the first thought was how the city at this time could handle such calamity if the 14 dead were New York firefighters or police officers. This gives a good view of the catastrophe that happens in Iraq, day after day.
But as the soldiers die at a time of national Alzheimer's, there was virtually no reaction to the 14.
When anybody you elect tries to end the war, Bush blocks all intentions with a veto or threats of a veto that prevent it. And his Supreme Court is ready to validate whatever he does, this court with its five Catholic justices, and a chief who falls on his face a couple of times that we know of.
Our politicians despair that there can be no way to override Bush and save our young and everybody of any age in Iraq.
Of course there is. By all the energy and dignified disgust of a nation that needs it to keep any semblance of greatness, there is an extraordinary need for an impeachment of this president and his vice president.
You start an impeachment with an investigator who starts to develop a case. That's what got Nixon out. He had the most expensive, elaborate defense in the world, and when they were pressed his assistants folded and Nixon quit. I wonder whether Bush and his people can do any better when pressed.
I have here in front of me a large number of pages that I keep for their significance. They are from a United States Senate hearing and are titled, "In Re Impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton."
He was only the 42nd person in our nation to make the commitment to "faithfully execute" the Office of the President and to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution."
He was being impeached over lying about girls.
Bush the President is our 43rd. He lied to the nation to get us into a war in Iraq that is without end. Every young person who has died leaves drops of blood on Bush's hands and those of everyone around him. He lied to the nation and daily he tries every greasy way to undermine the Constitution he is sworn to uphold. Thus making his oath false.
Clinton's charges seem frivolous. But Bush appears to have committed high crimes and misdemeanors and must be thrown out of office in the disgrace that he is.
Bush, reminiscing the other day over something that further scatters the mind, compared the end of Vietnam with the Iraq war that thrills him so much because it makes him a wartime commander.
I don't know why Vietnam is on his mind. He skipped the thing to have his teeth fixed in Texas. Showing such utter confusion causes questions of how much evil he carries in his mind and how much of stimulants.
He raises the end of Vietnam. If you want to know what that was like, Bernie Edelman, who went from Flatbush to Chu Lai, yesterday opened the book, "Dear America," that he compiled with the New York Vietnam Veterans. The pages consist of letters written by veterans of Vietnam.
One is by Air Force Lt. Richard Van de Geer, a helicopter pilot assigned to assist in the evacuation of Saigon in 1975. This letter is on 15 May 1975, the day he was killed.
"The aircraft that landed on the Midway - landed about 50 feet away from mine - and the man who got out of the aircraft had been quoted approximately a week earlier as saying that any South Vietnamese who had left the country was a coward and that everybody should stay in South Vietnam and fight to the bitter end. This very same man was the first man to arrive on the USS Midway and to my knowledge the first to be recovered by the 7th Fleet. The man was Gen. Nguyen Cao Ky, vice president of the Republic of South Vietnam. Now I really don't have any personal feelings about the war here. I really don't care one way or the other in regard to who is right and who is wrong because that is a waste of time, a waste of thinking. But I did find myself feeling that I wish he had been shot down."
Officially, Lt. Van de Geer was the last man to die in the Vietnam War. His name is listed as last on the memorial in Washington. If Bush wonders from his dentist's chair about the end of Vietnam, Van de Geer gives you a fair idea.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
88 Comments so far
Show AllYou are correct. This has to be done for national sanity.
America has been hijacked.
I'm depressed because I can see through the smoke screen. It's like the Shadow's evil twin has taken over and clouds men's minds. Sorry, women, you've been clouded too.
Ed Graham
Born again Christians don't lie.
Do they?
Bush et al need to be removed from office as quickly as possible via the impeachment process. However, I doubt the Dims have the drive to do this. Time after time they've shown no backbone. Like their Republican counterparts, they're corporatists to the max and lack the will or desire. Cowards they all are and we pay the price, not them.
Regardless of whether one believes that Bush is not any more dishonest or corrupt than Clinton, Bush is such an obvious buffoon and his corruption and crimes are so blatant and extreme that he not only embarrasses the USA, he embarrasses Western civilization and even the whole human race. It is doubtful that many third world tinpot dictators could hold on for this long with such incompetence and scandal. Some say Bush's problem is the lack of transparency in his administration. I believe he provides great transparency, as he tells the most transparent lies in US history.
Everybody knows it. Most want it. The Democrats won't do it. But they will join in on beating the drums against Iran.
Where does that leave us?
I doubt if there are many presidential candidate who are willing to impeach anyone in this administration. Just look at all of the doors that have been opened up and power that has been absorbed into the office they are seeking. Makes it possible to do just about any darn thing they want and get away with it.
'It is the mythology within the Declaration of Independence we speak of, the fiction that tells us we are endowed with rights, and that those rights are unalienable.' Burning the Law in a Riot of Treason
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Columnist
Monday 27 August 2007
no need for an investigator to develop a case. it is all been done in the open. start now.
I fully agree, but first things first.
If you want to impeach Bush for the high crime of launching an illegal preventive war of aggression on Iraq, based upon lies and fixed intelligence, then the first order of business is for Congress to repeal the 2002 Use of Military Force Resolution. And to do the impeachment job right, Congress should then also repeal the torture authorization provisions of the Military Commissions Act, and the warrantless NSA wiretapping statute that was enacted right at the end of the last legislative session.
How can you convict a man of committing a high crime, when the allegedly criminal acts are expressly declared to be legal, according to Congress's own enacted statutes?
This is not just some picky technicality.
Bush/Cheny should indeed be impeached for lying us into war, and for engaging in torture and illegal wiretapping.
But repeal is the necessary first step in that Constitutional process.
Bill from Saginaw
Maybe this will help. Doesn't Breslin more of a reputation of being a more middle of the road, average American guy, than a lot of progressive journalists? Maybe this will cause some ripples with the Dems. I think they won't make any moves to impeach until they are absolutely sure that it is the will of Middle America and not just that of a bunch of red (or green) progressives like us. Then again, maybe they won't make any moves to impeach no matter what happens because they are so worried about the 2008 election and grabbing power. (Except, as always, for Kucinich, the man with integrity and a sense of the Constitution).
With the majority of both sides of the Senate & Congress having supported Bush's invasion/occupation every step of the way, it's very unlikely that they're going to suddenly go against him.
We need a revolution. We should throw all those national politicians who have supported the invasion/occupation in jail for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity. We should let those few like Conyers, Kucinich, & Bird who have had the wisdom & courage not to support Bush, to take charge of the ship. Maybe call on Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Noam Chomsky, & Howard Zinn (and others) to help out.
Nice story and idea.
Now, how do you get Reid and Pelosi to stop protecting Bush and let this proceed? You'd have to chop down a forest to print all the possible impeachment charges against Bush. There's no shortage of possible things to charge him with.
The problem has been all this year is that Reid and Pelosi are committed to propping Bush up and making sure he stays in office until the end of his turn. So how are you going to convince them to go forward on this.
And if you don't have an idea on how to convince Reid and Pelosi to stop protecting Bush, then just file this one away with the thousands of other articles that all give very good and legitimate reasons why Bush should be impeached.
Vote Green. Vote Sheehan. Vote for someone and something different if you don't want more of the same-old, same-old.
PS ... its not that the Dems 'lack the drive' to do this. Its that its the committed policy of the leadership of the Dem party not do this. Its not because they are afraid, or they lack drive, or they didn't drink enough coffee this morning. ITS BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS AND THIS IS WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN!
Christian Zionists and Bush are bringing have brought us to the brink of disaster and are more than willing to continue. Clinton's follies look so innocent compared to the crimes of G. W. Bush and company.
Support the Greens on the local level and the great programs they espouse but let's take over the DEMS and make them accountable. (It is my party, too, I say!)
In the meantime, remind the Dems that impeachment doesn't mean conviction. Let's get Bush and Cheney impeached, whether or not they get convicted. But once the facts get portrayed in the rightist mainstream media as their trials should certainly cause them to be, even the Senate members of the Republican Party of corruption might then be forced to vote to convict. The people will demand it.
Try Cheney first and when convicted replace him with a reasonable (there are a few) Republican acceptable to both Repubs and Dems. (Check out John Nichols of the Nation and author of The Genius of Impeachment on this.) Then they can't say we are being partisan.
If anyone ever deserved impeachment, Cheney and Bush do. CONTACT your Representatives (again) and tell them to impeach the son of a Bush and his puppetmaster.
Thanks.
Kate Anne for Peace
The Republicans are still, in the fifth year of this monstrous crime, nothing more than a bunch of two foot tall strutting storm troopers. The Democrats are the very definition of the word craven. The so-called two party system has hit bottom and no longer has anything whatsoever to offer this country; yet the vast majority of this nation's people will not create the political atmosphere for a true change that will rid us of the Republicrats. That's where we are now as George Wanker Bush, the real life incarnation of the Travis Bickle character in "Taxi Driver", lays the ground for an attack on Iran. "You talkin' to me?"
The democrats and republicans are just doing the "Good Cop - Bad Cop" trick. They're in cahoots. As long as you THINK that one will be better for the country you keep the nation divided. A divided nation cannot resist tyranny. They have done an excellent job at keeping us pointing our fingers and arguing about "who's better for the country".
Accountability must come first. Until we can hold ANYONE accountable, we may as well not even have an election. There can be no change without change if you understand what I mean.
Simple "talking point", say it over, and over, and over:
To get the US out of Iraq, you must first get Bush (and Cheney) out of the White House. Period.
Impeachment is neither enough nor fast enough, not that the GOPathologicals and their loyalbushieDem cohorts would ever dare to even initiate such a thing.
No, as JB makes abundantly clear above, the Loonitary Decider has become Domestic Enemy Number One to our Constitution and must be removed by force, immediately. Colin Powell, are you listening? Time to atone for your sins against us and the world. Hook up with Scott Ritter, all the Vet orgs against the illegal invasion/occupation, and as many of the more than 60% of military volunteers who are more than prepared to uphold their oath to defend our Constitution - and storm the f**king White House already!!
Think anyone in the SS or Capitol Police is going to bother to stop you? Most of them are operating under a sworn oath as well, remember? And the rest of the GOPathologicals and loyalbushies are all wimps and pussies - if anything, they'll form a line to squeal on the guy next to them faster than you can say "perp walked to an undisclosed location."
Forced removal is the only option "We The People" have left.
Maybe the first thing that has to have happened in this country in order to bring on revolution, or at the very least break the 2 party system once and for all, is for vast progressive left wing in this country to be completely disillusioned with the Democrats. We all knew that the Republicans were nasty, but a lot of us believed at one time that the Democrats were progressives. No more. They have indeed revealed their true colors. It has been a lengthy process, but it is coming to a head now. Now that so many progressive Americans know they cannot turn to the Dems to rescue us from the Repubs, it is indeed time for something surprising to happen: a revolution? a new party takes a lot of seats? (Hell, it's sort of amazing how Hamas won in Palestine!)
frnk1569,
I totally agree with you.
for the obvious reasons.
I think it is way past time for The People to be just as Blatant to these criminals.
" we stand and watch like old ladies getting our bag stolen,
it's time to chase these criminals,
I see the devil, and the devil is running....."
--The John Butler Trio
don't forget bush turncoated a cia operative in deep cover.
REMOVE THE MSM MEDIA FOR MAKING IT ALL POSSIBLE... ONE BIG CORRUPTION, ER, CORPURUPTION, ...
Pelosi and the rest have destroyed the Democratic party by not following the will of the people who elected them. They will go down in history as co-conspirators with Bush in the ruination of our country. Their acquiescence and support of his criminal policies has been disastrous.
Nothing is going to work unless we realize the depth of the Great Political Depression we are in, a '30s failure of government--with no FDR in sight. We must act as a people against the corruption of our political system by politicians and businesses. We must turn to the ideas of those who successfully fought that corruption, but have been largely ignored since, like the visionary pragmatist, Ralph Nader. He taught us that the dollar is the people's power; in other words, what we buy, we support. Even if, for one day, most of the people boycotted one national chain business, like Wall Mart, the rest of the business world could not ignore the implications for themselves. And if the boycott armed itself, for example, with a list of demands for salary and health benefits--specific changes in the distribution of profits equitably, with the goal of establishing an economic democracy, a goal that motivated many of the framers of the Constitution, especially Franklin and Jefferson, we might have a chance of saving our country and those original hopes as inscribed in its Constitution.
JOHN CONYERS, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, SPOKE AT A TOWN MEETING IN DETROIT ON TUESDAY. HE SAID HE IS WILLING TO PUT IMPEACHMENT ON THE TABLE IF HE THINKS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL SUPPORT IT. EMAIL HIM AT
JOHN.CONYERS@MAIL.HOUSE.GOV AND LET HIM KNOW THAT WE NOT ONLY SUPPORT IMPEACHMENT, WE DEMAND IT.
Let us not forgit about the U. S. Army anthrax attack on senators Daschle and Leahy. Everyone and their issue will be paying an extra three cents postage to clean up the mess. That little stunt to put Bush's toadies in the courts murdered and maimed American citizens.
How is it the 'leader ' of the U.S. House is allowed to say an investigation is off the table. THAT IS ALL an impeachment is.
It is an investigation into whether charges should be brought against a federal imployee, and in this case TWO - CHENEY AND BUSH.
If the impeachment proceedings are begun, BUSH will fold like Nixon did and Cheney is too smart to hang around. He will probably be out of the country before we know it.
We must all demand of Reid and Pelosi that they do the obvious and get the investigation underway. Too many funkies have seen the writing on the walls of the White House, packed their bags and vanished.
Congress can do NOTHING OF CONSEQUENCE anyway because the Psyco In Chief will simply use a signing statement to change WHATEVER, Congress sends to him and change it to his liking.
SO, WHATEVER THEY THINK they can do, THEY CANNOT until these criminals are out, impeached, resigned, overthrown, whatever.
I choose impeachment.
Bill Moyers for President and Colin Powell - V.P. Let's have a national movement. If Powell is willing to walk into the White House and assume control, we can deal with that. At this point, he could probably do it, hands down. At the very least, he should walk in and encourage the lame smirk to hand over the reigns to someone more capable of salvaging what is left of our military, our respect around the globe and our infrastructure beginning with bridges to New Orleans.
to impeach these assholes is the right thing to do. that is exactly why they won't do it.
UMM, that's "employee" NOT "imployee"...
U.S. Citizens want George W. Bush to be impeached. U.S. Citizens want the legislation giving Bush war powers to be repealed. Our elected officials, save for a few are not listening to us. We will remember come election time.
I was so encouraged by the Democratic "sweep" last year... how wrong can one man be! We need someone in office who, unlike Ms. Pelosi, is not afraid of their job.
I agree wholeheartedly that we need to impeach both frick AND frack, especially after the saber rattling over Iran and the report from the UN that the level of Uranium Enrichment is not that of weapons mongers.
I truly believe that Speaker of the House Pelosi has only one reason for keeping impeachment "off the table", After the Pres. & Vice Pres are gone, the Speaker of the House is in charge. Is that correct?
We blamed all the German People for what Hitler did, in responce, they said they did not know or that they were powerless. What will we tell the
Iraq People? That we were Cowards? We are supposed to have a free press to tell us what is going on. Has the press become a prisoner of
Cheny-Bush-Rove also? The press like the dems are complicit by the black out on the truth.
The Pelosi followers could at least tell us about the War Merchants in the Middle East..
Halliburton, Kissinger and the others..
Colin Powell for V.P.??? Are you outta your mind? Do you remember his lies about WMD? He's as guilty as George and Dick.
The number one reason why the Democrats won't impeach Bush over lies leading into the Iraq war.
--- The Democrats were telling exactly the same lies.
And the number two reason is
--- The Democrats have supported these wars from the beginning. They voted for the approvals to launch them. They've voted for all the funding bills. And they vote to fully fund the bloated Pentagon budget requests above and beyond the war money.
Coyotita.............well,now, that is IF you get an election time; if Bush bushwacks you with martial law, no elections, per se!
In all this talk don't forget that Clinton killed half a million Iraqi children with a ten year embargo. Doesn't seem to insignificant to me although Bush will certainly surpass him in bloodletting soon. Of course its the Christian thing to do.!!! Gotta keep us safe from the evildoers!!
I thought it was interesting that the article pointed out that five of the Supreme Court justices -- a majority -- are Roman Catholic.
It was not so long ago that Roman Catholic bishops were putting pressure on a certain Roman Catholic presidential candidate regarding his stance on abortion.
Why on earth are the US Catholic Bishops not putting pressure on the Justices for their anti-life and anti-poor stances on, well, everything, which are totally inconsistent with Catholic social teaching?
Breslin is right, of course, only why did it take him so long to publish this? Bush's lies were well documented by 2003.
It's easy for a columnist to write this when most Americans are against the war and Bush has a below-30% approval rating. It would have been courageous and insightful in 2003.
Thanks,"Bless the Beasts," for this bulletin:
DETROIT ON TUESDAY [8/28/07]. HE SAID HE IS WILLING TO PUT IMPEACHMENT ON THE TABLE IF HE THINKS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL SUPPORT IT.
E-MAIL HIM AT JOHN.CONYERS@MAIL.HOUSE.GOV AND LET HIM KNOW THAT WE NOT ONLY SUPPORT IMPEACHMENT, WE DEMAND IT.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Passed the above on to my lists and added this:
EVEN THOUGH ALL THE POLLS SAY THE MAJORITY OF THE PUBLIC NOW WANTS IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS TO BEGIN, LET'S SAY IT AGAIN LOUD AND CLEAR!
PASS ON.
There is a campaign that Bush has used to justify the Iraq War and scare Congress into passively accepting his fraud. It is called The War on Terror. Allowing this language to be employed to describe the American policies for domestic security gives Bush limitless scope and authority to do anything he wants to "protect innocent lives". Convince Congress and the media to drop such a destructive, vague slogan when discussing policy and we can start having a meaningful dialogue about how to preserve our democracy.
It's not only Bush who needs to be removed, add Pelosi, Reid, Conyers, 100% of the GOP and 99% of the scummy Democratic Party to the list.
On Democracy Now two days ago, Conyers said "I've got the constitution in one hand and a calculator in the other." He won't impeach because there aren't enough votes.
Mr. Conyers, the Constitution doesn't order congress to impeach only when there are enough votes. The Constitution orders congress to impeach when crimes and misdemeanors are committed, do you think we are a nation of 2 year-olds? PRESENT YOUR CASE TO THE HOUSE FIRST, MR. CONYERS, PERHAPS YOU'LL GET YOUR VOTES THEN.
Hey Blessthebeasts, thanks, that's be best information I've seen yet. My e-mail to John Conyers has already been sent.
Conyers is just as brain-addled as Bush. He needs to step down or be replaced as House Judiciary Chairman. I think we need someone a little more articulate to make the case.
Impeach Cheney / Bush Now, BEFORE war is declared on Iran. It is possible that many lives can be saved if President Cheney / Bush is discredited BEFORE he can declare war on Iran. War on Iran will endanger our troops in Iraq, leave us weakened in the world and our stature greatly diminished. It's obvious that the same propaganda techniques are being applied now as with the buildup to war with Iraq. Only this time we can expect to see even worse results.
Please fellow Americans, urge congress to act.
Impeach first then get the crooks who stole and are still still stealing out tax base...GOOGLE COST OF WAR
$500,000,000,000
GOOGLE COST OF WAR...AND get them to pay back ALL of the $$$ taken or
WE THE PEOPLE WILL NOT PAY ANY TAXES ON 4/15/2008!!!!!!!
I was at the town hall where Conyers spoke and indeed he said impeachment was still on his table, but to get to him the call to impeach will have to be by the People through their personal representatives.
Also, considering the impeachment poll that touted 54% in favor of impeaching Cheney and 45% for Bush...those numbers are way too low and indicate their still needs to be work done educating friends and neighbors as to the hideous nature of the crimes and the betrayal committed; as well as who their Congressional representative is.
Mr. Conyers,
I am sorry,but You have NO GUTS. How do You know, there is not enough votes for impeachment? Present our case to the House.Even if We don't have enough votes, Dubya & Co. will be exposed to the world. War crimes must be exposed and punished!!
Sincerelly,
name and adress
COPY OF MY EMAIL TO MR CONYERS
Before impeaching President Bush, Vice President Cheney must be impeached and convicted. Can you imagine a President Cheney? It is important to do, not only for this presidency, but for future presidencies.
Even if impeached and convicted, they will just leave office. Some type of class action should be brought against them, Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld to hold them financially accountable to the nation, the soldiers and their families and the Iraqis. Otherwise, they'll just leave office and enjoy the financial benefits from their actions. Prosecution for war crimes is also another possibility.
So simple, Impeach. It's what the populace wants, it's what Bush/Cheney deserve.
Before you asshats throw out the government, consider that it is just the rule of law that keeps the population from running you out of town on a rail. Read the latest stats on gun ownership and guess which side of the curve owns the most?