Pelosi and Reed must go. Go Cindy!

Of course, Impeachment is off the table by the do-nothing democrats, other than support corporate agendas.

What message does this send to other people who want to rob, steal, and torture? As long as you do it to thousands of people it's okay.

so it goes...

I think what is needed is a non-violent, citizens arrest of Bush,Cheney and Pelosi for starters. If several million people formed what in the old days was called a vigilante group and took control of the situation they would have about 100 million Americans behind them. It use to be in the wild west that when the criminals took over the town and owned the Sherrif, the citizens would say enough! Maybe a U.S.Marshall and Chief Lanier could lead the arrest.

Everyone in our sad country should read this.

It should be on the front page of the NY Times and USA Today.

If it happens on the street, they call it a crime.
JJCale

Arrest, trial, imprisonment of Bush and his cronies. That will get us on the right track.

Thank you Ted Rall for an informative and stimulating article.
What we have learned about our paranoid, ego-maniac, pompous
hypocrite President will no doubt be forgotten and deleted from future papers. The crimes that this administration has committed should awaken our populace and they make every effort that it won't happen again.
I don't know the process of the law, but if there is any way that Chief Lanier or the Justice Department can charge G.W. Bush with crimes against humanity, do it!

Call the cops on the President? John Doe Dimslow keeps trying that. No luck. So far:

Dimslow Calls the Cops

I called the police. Sometimes you have to. I called the police on the President of the United States. I called the police when President Bush invaded Iraq. That was illegal. I called the police when President Clinton bombed Iraq, and elsewhere — all illegal under international law, not least. I asked the police, "Aren't you going to do something about it?" Even if breaking laws is nothing new for presidents. And what did the police say down in Dimslow Hollow?

"Sir, that's a bit outside our jurisdiction."

Just what they always say.

"Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free," I pronounced, putting on my best mock preacher's voice. "Or is the truth outside your jurisdiction, too?"

"Look, we're all up against a lot of bigger truths, Sir. There's no standard operating procedure for that, you see. Not in these parts anyhow."

"No truth?"

"No, I guess not."

"Then you won't arrest the President? He commits crime after crime for all the world to see."

"Would you like me to send a squad car all the way to Washington to circle outside the White House just to have a look? Check for disturbances?"

"No point. The crimes are committed all across the country and world. They only originate in that Whitest of Houses."

"Well that may be."

"So no arrest?"

"Not by us, Sir. You?"

"A citizen's arrest? Believe me, I've tried."

"Oh, yes, Sir, I believe you. And if I recall correctly, you still have the right. Unless it was tossed out in the Patriotica Act."

"They always say I don't have the authority."

"The authority — or the power?"

...

http://apragmaticpolicy.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/dimslow-calls-the-cops/

We need to get the phone number to Cathy L. Lanier and post it, and this article, all over the internet.

We need to call every radio show and do the same.

We must be relentless.

You and/or yours may be very much alive because of the information found during the interogations of these killers.

By the way, let them tap my phone all they want. They'll find out which one in the family has a runny nose, and also what's on the menu for supper.

Only those with something to hide live in such fear and cynicism.(like guess who?)

Don't you people like anything (besides big salads, low fat curds and tofu?)

Geepers!!!!! Your existance must be horrible…get happy for once. Such anger here…YOU ALL FEED ON EACH OTHER..like sick, self-sustaining voodoo symbiotic canniballism. (true or not????) WELL, IS IT??????

I do not agree with everything he does, but I support our president, but if you say that here, prepare to be verbally evisirated. Lets see now once....

your friend banjoman

How utterly corrupt must the chain of command in the military be to arrest and convict the grunts in the Abu Ghraib images and paint them as just a few bad apples when the all of the brass was hiding behind Jay Bybee's "Golden Shield." Not only should Bush, Rice & Company be arrested so should every officer in the chain of command from the Joint Chiefs to the officers directly above Lynde England & Co.

And remember that England & Co were not allowed to present that they were following what they thought were acceptable treatment of their prisoners as a defense.

bj - Only a dupe or a fool is happy while his unconstitutional government destroys his country and his world. Ignorance truly must be bliss.

Maybe you'd like to explain what, specifically, you support about this president. So far, I see you agree with torturing, and with illegal wiretapping. That's two. Anything else? I really can't get behind either of those. Can you give me any other reasons to support the man?

Oh - Are ya gonna send 'em to Bush's neverending war? Still waiting...

Yeah, I'd like to see D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department's chief try to arrest the self anointed king of the land. His goons would shoot her down like a mad dog. It's a shame to put the moral inevitability on her shoulders while Congress shirks its duty on a daily basis. I would like to see Bush and his minions get their comeuppance – which is a nice way to say they are flogged publicly for what they have wrought in both the world and here at home – but I would rather see our institutions do their sworn duty than to put it on one individual such as the chief of Metro DC police. Either way, somebody has got to step up and stop this madness. Best of luck to Cathy L. Lanier with her city. It's just a shame that a bona fide war criminal has taken up residence in the city where she works but his AWOL ass has its own army and there is probably little she can do to get around that. Small but telling detail… Impeachment and imprisonment for the traitors that now hold sway over the land would be a good thing overall. Bush can't pardon himself so there's a cell waiting for him as well.

Her phone: 202-727-4218 Fax: 202-727-9524

Here, I just found the number for Cathy L. Lanier :

1-202-727-4218

I will be calling later today, maybe if enough people call it will at least make SOMETHING happen!

Banjoman,
You must live in that area od Disney World as Fantasyland. By the way, there's a "Leave it to Beaver" marathon on TV-Land this weekend. Why don't you go watch it? and let the adults have their conversation.

The very sad truth is that America IS banjoman. There's nothing anybody can do, peasefully, about that.

dear banjoman,

if you support the president-select, it means you don't understand the constitution, the bill of rights, or international law, for all of which his administration has demonstrated its utter contempt.

these people you call "killers" have never even been arraigned, much less tried and convicted, so you obviously don't understand the concept of "innocent until proven guilty."

you insult the people who post here, practically beg to be flamed, and then sign off as "your friend," so you plainly don't understand the concept of respectful give and take.

go find another sandbox to play in, child. the grownups are having a discussion about matters of grave import, and your noise is tiresome and distracting.

Won't Bush just hide out at the ranch he recently bought in Paraguay since Paraguay doesn't extradite criminals ?

See what I mean?

Respectful give and take? Well, I guess hazmat sort of was.

Other people have different views. Why can't you accept that and also accept them?.

You won't win any converts the way it's been going here, well will you?

There must be someone lurking who understands that much...let's here from them, instead of the same ones waiting to nail poor old banjoman...come on...be a sport now there....

y.f. banjoman

As the Democrats have made perfectly clear, Bush and his cronies are above the law and untouchable. Accept it.

Hi Banjoman,
As you flitter from cloud to cloud, it is difficult to avoid all the material that is available to you that could keep you better INFORMED! The only reason we could come up with is that you were watching a game show or some other nonsense,unrelated to anything that would turn your attention to the plight of the country and the world. Sorry, there isn't enough room here top call them to your attention.

Do you think for one minute that someone who has lost all connection with reality, is going to tell you anything that will reveal where TERRORISTS ARE HIDING?

I'm almost 90 years old, a veteran of WWII and nothing to hide, except that I love America, as it was, and I do care about anyone listening in on my phone calls!!!!

You're probably smug at the present, but you'll have an awakening and blame it all on someone else.

Banjoman: It isn't about a difference of opinions... it's about violations of the LAW. You basically are saying that you support the US torturing people on the grounds that "it's making us safer"... but that's really a misconception... By the US showing itself to be the rogue state that it is, it's making you LESS safe. It's destroying the regime of international law that has been painstakingly created over the past half century.

You are also basically espousing the myth that Americans are superior and more important than anyone else... That's really ignorant my 'friend'. That just tells me you're still living in the bubble of American exceptionalism. How can you possible cast off the chains that enslave you when you can't even see them?

bj - I asked you for a give and take. I asked you to tell me why you support Bush, and why I should.

You need to think for yourself rather than listening to Rush, et al. If you can't, then you have been duped. I have to believe someone who supports torture and domestic spying (both illegal activities) without any evidence that they have benefitted our country in any way, may thus be a dupe by definition. I have to believe that someone who was fooled by Bush lies about Iraq and WMD, and continues to believe the preposterous claims he makes, is by definition a fool.

I'll even start the give-and-take. We do have evidence that legal wire-tapping yielded actionable information. Defense Sec'y Mukasey testified that information about an attack on the USA was intercepted from a safe-house in Afghanistan, but this was BEFORE 9/11, so it seems Bush knew we were in danger but continued his Texas vacation. We all saw Bush continue sitting, very unpresidentially, in that Florida classroom after being told his country was under attack. He appears on TV game shows while Americans are dying in Iraq, instead of dedicating himself to concluding the never-ending conflict he has started. These are just a few of the reasons why I cannot support Bush. What have you got to convince me otherwise?

Since George W. is a veteran, and didn't complete his full tour of duty, maybe the D.O.D. could "stop-loss" him to active duty in Iraq.

I'm never surprised to see these "Please spank me" repug trolls like "Banjoman" within these comment sections. They wander about the internet (no job? Bitter and retired?), peeking into the windows of progressive discussions and get their thrills transparently codescending, coming out from under the bridge just long enough to infer that everyone else is being unreasonable and one-sided. Like "Banjo's" Repugnican party hasn't pretty much redefined subjective thought and killed the last vestiges of bi-partisanship within the government.

Here's a "different view": I say arrest him, too.

I'm never surprised to see these "Please spank me" repug trolls like "Banjoman" within these comment sections. They wander about the internet (no job? Bitter and retired?), peeking into the windows of progressive discussions and get their thrills transparently codescending, coming out from under the bridge just long enough to infer that everyone else is being unreasonable and one-sided. Like "Banjo's" Repugnican party hasn't pretty much redefined subjective thought and killed the last vestiges of bi-partisanship within the government.

Here's a "different view": I say arrest him, too.

"Do you think for one minute that someone who has lost all connection with reality"

Frank, I doubt that he ever had a connection with reality; however, I do totally agree with your posting.

I'm only 60, and I have used the term "bizarre" more in the past 7-8 years, than in all of the years prior.

In the movie version, a small group of Cheneybush's personnel Secret Service agents, with assistance from like-minded Spec Ops and Seals, disappear "the principals" in the middle of the night to a few undisclosed locations. Including those presently roaming free, and even the ones we've forgotten about, like Ari and Karen and Harriet, etc.

The next morning, America is shocked by the headlines: "Domestic Enemies of the US Constitution Apprehended! Bush, Cheney, Gates, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rest Held At Secret Locations By Military Police"

The Supreme Court steps right in and, aware of what the hell's happening, agrees to shut the fuck up for the time being. Pelosi fills the power vacuum and immediately orders a special election for July 4th and assures the world all is well. The world is too busy celebrating to care what happens next...

That same evening, our new Attorney General reads the list of charges for which "the principals" are accused - this lasts over two hours and costs the Networks billions in lost ad reves. Except FOX, where the choice is made to air "Bedtime for Bongo" during the AG's broadcast.

Later that night, a special session of the UN is called in order to thank the American people for finally waking up and saving themselves before it was too late...

re roncypert 2:40pm

i think Frank Lieb's post refers not to shrub, but to some poor sucker in the pit at gitmo---drugged, beaten, waterboarded and sleep-deprived for who knows how long. the intel you'll get from interrogating such prisoners may fill in the blanks and make your superiors look good, but it would be pure random chance if any useful data resulted---as any honest person with experience in these matters will tell you.

If Bush and his friends are arrested I'll be very suspicious that it's just another charade. Here at the end of his term, or even better a while after he's out of office, it will make no difference to the corporate bosses who run the system. They will have had their use of Bush and then he can be sacrificed. Their next stooge will be firmly their thrall to carry on where Bush left off, and all the American people, even most of world, will be duped into thinking that something positive has been accomplished.

I'm pretty sure that our demands for impeachment or arrest will be satisfied before long, because even the puppeteers who created Bush are thinking that his arrest is a useful idea, one that will leave a grateful and relieved public fooled again.

Now George Bush must be arrested and punished if he is convicted, I agree. And the event will be cathartic for the national consciousness. But as far as turning this country in a positive direction, as far as bringing peace to the world and rationality to the U.S., well, Bush's arrest will be no more effective than digging up Nixon and arresting him too.

The rule of law is currently a fiction.
Starting with the Re-establishment of the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law needs to become a reality. The
Mafia/ oligarchy/thug-ocracy/plutocracy/media-ocracy has to be reigned in. The U.S. Constitution is the tool We The People have to do just that.

I would argue that the rule of law is most importantly applied to those in power. If I go off the deep end, what kind of expense and damamge to society in terms of lives and dollars could I as an ordinary citizen (And I claim that title citizen, it is afforded me that power by the Constitution). Maybe at best a few lives and a few million dollars if I were clever and lucky. What kind of damage can president do if he goes off of the deep end? The end of civilization? Indeed. Those in positions of power are the most likely to claim to be exempt, when in fact they need such constraints more than anyone else.

Ted Rall this is an excellent article...make no mistake about it....

The comments about Reed and Pelosi are not informed. It takes 2/3 of the 100 member Senate to confirm. There are 49 Republicans, you would have to get 9 of them to bring it to a vote and another 7 in addition to convict.

They could do a meaningless exercise like Henry Hyde did against Clinton and have a small majority in the House bring it over, but that is meaningless and everyone should know that.

If you want meaningful lasting change for the better in the future, make sure everyone you know votes for a Democratic Senator come this November.

What if a Secret Service agent happened to observed George Bush secretly whacking off to torture tapes? Would that be enough of an outrage to get the Secret Service to protect the presidency by arresting this impostor? Or does the Secret Service only serve to keep secrets?

We can't imagine Bush in leg irons, Saudi Arabia wouldn't permit it. This is the proper perspective in which to evaluate the progression of our Nation State, in a globalized multinational "state" of affairs. We're killing for oil in Iraq partly at the request of our business interests throughout the world. "We'll rent your killing machine"
So a King in another land has far more control over your quality of life then you do. You can play nice, not complain, and equate freedom with parts for F-18s. Support your Kuwati's Ferrari habit, the poor of Sadr City will be liberated by concrete walls and death.

It comes down to this my friends: We launch a Million Americans March on Washington for the purpose of initiating a citizens' arrest on Mr. Bu$h and the "principals." We surround the White House and prevent all supplies from going in until they surrender. Fact is, bu$h and cheney and all their disgusting cronies have been squatting in our houses and office buildings in our government for years. Time to throw them all out. Arrest the bastards. They have undermined America and deeply damaged our interests. Oh what a release that would be! To arrest these criminals and see dispassionate Justice done to them. Oh, the release. We could breathe again.

I do not support President Bush and will hopefully be voting for Obama and a change of direction this November. That said I have to comment on hazmat's rebuke to bj:
"if you support the president-select, it means you don't understand the constitution, the bill of rights, or international law, for all of which his administration has demonstrated its utter contempt."
And you do hazmat? What credentials entitle you to trump the Supreme Court? How many law degrees and years of study and practice- more than the nine justices together? Many learned Constitutional Scholars do indeed think that Bush has demonstrated contempt for certain parts of the Constitution; many others believe he has simply acted in line with other imperial presidencies and certainly has not gone as far as Adams, Lincoln or FDR. Your above statement is absurd and arrogant.
"you obviously don't understand the concept of "innocent until proven guilty.""
Does this apply to the President? You're joking about understanding this concept-right? I mean with your righteous conviction of the criminal Bush? And by the way, if you did understand this concept you would know that it applies in US courtrooms; it is by no means universal being absent in France and many other Democracies.
The DC Police Chief arrest the President- this is Jon Stewart material and worth a good laugh, but you guys are just joking right? Nobody is that stupid! The President is not going to be arrested by anyone- not today, and barring something new, not ever- GET OVER IT.
He should be and will be soundly condemned by history as blindly leading us into the worst foreign policy disaster in American history as well as spending us near the brink of financial ruin (with his Reagan worshipping Republicans!!!).
Bush sucks and it's time to throw the Republican Rascals out! So let's get to work on that and stop all this crazy nonsense like arresting Bush that makes the rest of the country look at progressives as some kind of emotionally challenged, hysterically ignorant fanatics.
I know people in the hedge fund business worth hundreds of millions of dollars and they pay a lower rate on their taxes than you and I do- now that is something to get hysterical about!

clarity April 30th, 2008 4:09 pm -- He should be and will be soundly condemned by history as blindly leading us into the worst foreign policy disaster in American history as well as spending us near the brink of financial ruin (with his Reagan worshipping Republicans!!!).
No doubt that will be the typically narrow view of history taught in US classrooms. I'm inclined to think that the world's historical perspective may be somewhat broader, perhaps even taking some account of the impacts on mere "foreigners" and on global stability generally resulting from the total disregard for international laws and covenants that were so painstakingly established following two world wars. Conceivably, they might even comment on the irony of having fought fascism elsewhere only to establish it at home.

And your best advice is "GET OVER IT"!? Somehow I doubt that everyone everywhere is likely to heed that admonition.

clarity April 30th, 2008 4:09 pm ...Naive!

Hasn't anyone been listening to me for two years!? I said then and I say it again 3 pair of handcuffs! If you need instruction in how to proceed go to New York Times International Europe January 17, 2006. Step by step procedure. Handcuffs! at least 3 pr. before they escape to Barain or Dubai who by the way have no extradition policy. I think there is even a cell waiting for them in the basement of the Congress!

Last night I watched as Jay Leno and Tonight Show guest "Dr". Phil were both all aghast and their panties in a wad over the girls who violently beat-up another girl and posted it on YouTube. "How could this happen? What were they thinking? What made them do it?" they both asked, (all in a tizzy.)

Hmm.. do you think it was our "leadership" simply setting the example, and honed and goaded-on by our, media?

Duh!

If this nation is to ever be "normal" again, these criminals in the White House need to be imprisoned -- for life.

Banjoman,

You don't mind being under surveillance because you assume that no one will ever object to anything you do. What if those in power decided that Christianity is unacceptable, or that children should be removed from their homes and brought up in dorms by the state, or that (as described in Margaret Atwood's book 'A Handmaid's Tale') because of declining fertility in women, all women of childbearing age should be taken under state control and forced to reproduce? Under conditions like those, would you still be happy to be under state surveillance?

There's a reason why most people in rich nations, who are able to think about more than simple survival, demand the right to privacy. And that is that we have seen the effects of totalitarianism and most of us don't want to live like that. Hence the vigilence of most of the people who monitor and contribute to Common Dreams.

I agree with Rall here insofar as Bush needs to be held responsible. While no legal authority within the United States can arrest and charge Bush for war crimes we could

a. impeach Bush-- which of course congress will not do as they are implicated in a lot of this crap and because torture is integrally related to America's perception of itself as global police thug. As long as folks accept this hegemonic conception of America, torture won't seem like a major issue.

So my first proposed solution is to start an Anti-Imperialist league akin to the one Mark Twain was involved in during the Phillippine War.

or
b. Follow Thomas Jefferson's words:
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

banjoman, the people demand privacy and a lot more protections because the elites' relationship with the people is predator/prey, or parasite/host, or master/slave.

But the issues you raise are mere pretexts for your little game pressing the buttons of progressives. You learned how to use pretexts from your heros the elites? Tell us how much Lockheed stock you own - c'mon - who needs secrets?

Bring some more elites over here to debate with us! The door's open!

Somebody who still believes in the rule of law and the constitution prevail in the US. How sad. You probably believe they report vote counts accurately too.

Anton Scalia made if very clear that Bush is his friend and all of his friends are above the law. When a justice of the Supreme Court advocates torture and everybody shrugs you know America is a nation of zombies.

None of this is going to change until global warming or bird flu or something starts killing the wealthy and they notice that they need the rest of us as something other than cattle.

This is pretty freaking sad all around.

The whole damn mess of criminals should be tried convicted and executed. That includes Pelosi and the whole bunch of other wimps in Congress. Let's clean house and we can't do that with Liar Hillary and Perjuring sidekick Bill. Obama is change and Truth versus Lying and sell-out Clinton. It's a simple as that. Just post photos with LIARS under Clintons' and TRUTH under Obama's. No more need be said.

A little word excecise for Bajoman and his ilk:

Free countries arrest and imprison people with out charge.

Free countries torture people to obtain information and confessions.

Free countries have rulers that are above the law.

Free countries ignore thier own people in favor of corporations.

Free countries execute prisoners.

Free countries monitor thier citizens and their communications.

Free countries arrest or Taser(tm) people for speaking out of turn.

Frre countries fire teachers speaking non-government approved thoughts.

Free countries have large private armies to protect the business or political elite.

Free countries have very large per capita prison populations.

Free countries allow opposing political speech only in approved speaking zones.

America is a free country......

Banjoman, have you been in Rush flabber mouths bottle of pills?

Hi America...........I just sent the following to chief of police in Washington DC - i expect a knock on the door at 4am now...in UK from MI5....um!

"There is a very live debate in your country (and in mine) regarding the statement by President Bush that he approved of "enhanced" interrogation techniques on detainees in Iraq and Afganistan White House records of meetings can prove this as can the statements of federal officers and agents. In view of the fact that the USA is a leading signatory to the UN Convention against Torture it is not unreasonable that President Bush should indeed be arrested ; you, madam would appear to have due authority to act in such manner.

Will you do so?

The following commentary might be helpful in assisting you to reach a decision. Doubtless you will pass this email to the security agencies in my country. Fine. My email is simply an enquiry as to whether you are of the opinion that you should, or should not act to bring the gentleman and his associates to answer charges.

Thank you

Roger Carter