I am not alone!

remember mcclellen

For national self respect to be restored, it would take more than impeachment. Read Vincent Bugliosi's new book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder ( see Amazon). A bit overwrought and belabors many points, but he's right.

Only it won't happen. Too many Democrats have been in cahoots with the whole thing. The Democrats remind me of what in boxing is called an "opponent" -- someone you put up against a rising contender who will appear to be putting up a good fight but is guaranteed to lose to make the contender look better.

The whole political system needs a major revamp, but that won't happen before peak oil, the collapsing dollar, global climate change and all the other chickens rapidly coming home to roost hit the homeland square on.

Self-respect? Our nation has Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Chickens will roost, one way or the other.

Call Conyers this Tuesday, June 3....DEMAND HE STAND BY THE CONSTITUTION...DON'T STOP NOW..WE ARE CLOSER THAN EVERYONE THINKS...202-225-5126, 202-224-3121, 202-225-3951, 313-961-5670, 734-675-4084.

Impeachment does take too long. A day to bring charges. A day for the pro forma evidence. A day for obligatory rebuttal and conviction. A day to deny the frivolous appeals. A day to say goodbye to the family before the public hangings. This shit could end up taking a whole work week. To save the Republic and restore some crumbs of dignity to being American citizens, we have to to cut out or consolidate something to speed up the process.

I think we should focus on moving forward in a positive way.

Certainly we must understand what has happened and make ammends, but the best way we can do that is to move forward in a positive way.

Instead of putting our attention on the failures and crimes of the past, we need to focus on what this nation can and should be. This is where I'm trying to spend my time and effort.

We can litigate and complain about the past, but we will repeat our errors unless we motivate this nation and world to be everything we have the ability to be.

We have the ability to live in peace. We have the ability to maintain legitimate governments, fair markets, and healthy environments. It is our choice to make.

peace coup June 1st, 2008 1:09 pm......May I ask why you do not see a Constitutional mandate as a positive step?

peacecoup, second that, i almost agree that Impeachment would be a waste of effort at this point in time. The Democratic leadership should have begun this on the first day of office circa 2006, when swept to power on a very big anti-war vote. But alas, they only voted for more funds for this for-profit war. What is a progressive to do, you ask? well for starters...

dont buy big box store crap
buy secondhand, garage sales a good place to start
sell your car(s), ride a bike
eat out less, and less meat for sure
(option not available to everyone, but still, MAX YOUR CREDIT CARDS, then stiff em) your credit score stinks anyways...
and also quit smoking and drinking for a week,
run a mile a day during this time, remember what it was like to feel healthy, and vital.
go back to school, take a political science or economics class and refute any bs theories that the professor claims as "the way"
ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS FELLOW PROGRESSIVES? The above list is just a start, gotta run!

homeward-angel June 1st, 2008 1:21 pm ...This country is coming apart at the seams ...the Constitution is trashed, we are rendering and torturing innocent people, we hire mercenaries to help us with our dirty deeds, our Marines are protecting poppy fields in Afghanistan, we are killing women, children and infants in Iraq, we have no accountability for the money being squandered in these illegal wars, habeas corpus is gone, Americans are being spied upon without just cause and we are on the verge of invading Iran, another sovereign nation for NO reason, this selected president has lied to the American public uncountable times and has called the Constitution a G-D piece of paper and you are telling us to go ride a bike, eat less meat, quit smoking and drinking? Are you OK???????????

Wow, has this subject of impeachment ever been brought up before now? This is a swell idea. We should write or call Nancy Pelosi about this. She has a lot of power and probably would get right on it.

I'm going to write a nice letter and send it to her and maybe send a copy to John Conyers. Yeah, that'll do it. Should I send it special delivery, overnight express?

Agree a 100% with Linda Boyd. But as I know as an activist for the last 5 years is that even the most ardent politically "aware" and "involved" citizens believe that Impeachment is too much trouble. It appears that many of these "wise" citizens are approaching the issue of Impeachment from a commercial business perspective; measuring return of investment of time and money and the 'what's in it for me' mindset. Many argue the extreme as an excuse to do nothing. One attorney asked me, "so you think impeachment is going to resolve everything?". It was a miracle that I did not pass out from the idiocy of that question. I believe we have come to this state of apathy becuase we have collectively in very significant majority forgotten the spirit and essence of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. I can guarantee that a majority of citizens who have or will respond to Linda's article will not be able to paraphrase our Preamble and/or Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is like the 10 commandments of US citizenship and most US citizens don't know it therefore do not appreciate it and follow it in their lives as US citizens.

Forget it, proles. Your voices don't count, not in this administration, not with this congress. Bow down to the superiors you elected to serve you.

For those in the SF Bay area - here is a chance to express your views on impeachment:

"The Silicon Valley Leadership Group has amassed quite a lineup for its 30th anniversary luncheon Monday, which is expected to be attended by more than 600 people at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be joined in a panel discussion by U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Anna Eshoo and George Miller."

RichM, I think you might have found your niche. With your energy and invective behind an impeachment movement, who knows what could happen.

Too bad you and your friends will be too busy trying to pre-impeach Barack Obama and either undercut his chances of building a movement for real change or perhaps even putting McCain in the White House to continue and redouble Bush's crimes.

We as a nation are enduring a fatigue of spirit from two failed and expensive occupations, and a congress unwilling to investigate, subpoena, and prosecute those parties responsible for the destruction of basic human rights and international norms. The destruction of the nation by the neoconservatives has been established and we are completely impotent now to reverse our very troubled future. I vote to impeach immediately otherwise eliminate that clause from the Constitution.

The Democrats and the idiots who keep voting for them are the reason we're still in Iraq and Bush isn't impeached.

These Bush c*cksuckers have blood on their hands as much as Repugs do. Case closed. I'm glad this primary season has divided DUMBOCRAPS as much as it has, since the best hope for the left is a McCain victory in November. At least we'll clearly know who our enemy is.

Impeachment is urgently necessary to restore the rule of law. Failure will result in the right wing's further twisting and manipulating of our institutions to aid further plunder, destruction and enslavement. It's likely that failing impeachment this year, we'll see world war over Iran when the right wing installs its next little dictator in the oval orifice. Failing impeachment, we have nobody to blame but ourselves as future administrations continue the established tradition of directly creating or enabling almost all of the man-made disasters on this planet. There is no excuse for allowing the dark side of human nature to occupy and dominate such a gigantic, dangerous institution as the US government.

I agree with Rich M but did get a giggle from Homeward Angel and Willy Bill. Impeach!

"Why bother with impeachment if charges for war crimes will eventually catch up with the torture team? . . .
"Impeachment establishes legal precedent, so that future public officials will not be able to abuse power in the same way. The American people can signal to the world that they have taken responsibility for their own government, and ensure that torture will never again be this nation's policy.
"We must demand that Congress make ending torture the top priority. They know about torture, and their silence makes them complicit."

The eyes of the world are upon us. There's plenty of time to impeach. Our self-respect as a nation demands it.!!!"

Play it again, Sam! Play it again!

It is way past time for citizens of the United States to stand up and be counted! We must, for the sake of our country and our own sanity continue to demand Impeachment!

Impeach! Impeach! Impeach! Does anyone get that? Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!

i'm with kem patrick. i say, tongue in cheek, impeachment sounds like a great idea; why did nobody think of it before?

everybody read up on detroit's mayor. his city council voted to remove him and requested that the governor of michigan begin the removal. if there is such a thing as playing dance music while watching an iceberg hit and the boat sink, kwame kilpatrick is doing that.

in my true voice this time, i say let the impeachment hearings begin!

The mistake is in anyway assuming that what's good for the nation is at all considered by the Democrats when they craft their agenda.

The Democrats want power. That's it. They don't care what they do to get it (witness the last primary season). They have no principles that they won't give up to get power. There is nothing so immoral that they won't do it to get power (like continue a war that's killing thousands).

The Democrats want no change in the current system. What they want is to be the ones holding the power. They want to be the ones being paid off by the lobbyists.

peace coup June 1st, 2008 1:09 pm
"I think we should focus on moving forward in a positive way.

Certainly we must understand what has happened and make ammends, but the best way we can do that is to move forward in a positive way.

Instead of putting our attention on the failures and crimes of the past, we need to focus on what this nation can and should be. This is where I'm trying to spend my time and effort."

Oh, right! Let's make it legal to launch wars based on lies, to get thousands of people killed, spy on citizens, out CIA agents if you don't like her husband and just about anything else you'd like the powers that be to get away with. I agree, it's too messy to hold our "leaders" accountable to the laws of this country. After all they are big, important people and can be forgiven their trespasses.

Let's just make sure everybody else is accountable to the law or else we will have a society completely run amok. I just paid $470 (fine+traffic school) in LA for failing to completely stop at a red light before turning right. Do you think the judge would have bought my argument about the need to move on, forgive and focus on what a good driver I can be instead of wasting time on my past crime? Why not?

The one thing I don't get is that the Democrats clearly said well before the last election that impeachment was off the table. Yet millions voted Democrat expecting impeachment?

Its like there's a fantasy Democratic party in people's minds that they think if they vote Democrat that this is what they'll get. They seem immune to obvious facts as to what the Democrats really are. So oblivious in fact that when Reid and Pelosi come out months before the last election and say there will be no impeachment that they still vote Democrat and still expect impeachment.

You see it this year too. There's this very strange myth going around that Obama is a secret revolutionary that can't say what he's really going to do in order to trick the powerful into letting him be President. There literally seems to be a belief that Obama is going to do the opposite of what he's saying when he's elected.

Just like Reid and Pelosi saying there will be no impeachment long before the last election. Can't people watch the actions of these Democrats and see what they really are?

Things will change when people stop voting for the corporate backed candidates that they see on TV. None of these care about us or our country. They are already bought to serve corporate interests. We have to stop electing them.

tailcap .... you've just caught what we be the Obama line come Jan. Look forward, don't look backwards. Lets not be divisive.

Its the same lines the Clintons used to let the last batch of Bush-Reagan crooks off in the early 90's. Its the new role of the Democratic Party. When the Republicans self-destruct, the Democrats come in and make sure they don't get indicted.

Samson: Of course! The Democrats and Republicans are like a wrestling tag-team and we are the dupes getting tossed around the ring while the audience sits and enjoys the show. When the Republicans get disgraced enough they reach and tag their team mate the Democrats so they can come in and take the heat for awhile till the next round. Then it just repeats.

Samson June 1st, 2008 3:30 pm -- 'The Democrats want no change in the current system.'

Of course not. Why would any participant in that very profitable system want to change it any way, except perhaps to further enhance its benefits to themselves.

In the circumstances, one might expect Dem supporters to wonder just a little about what 'CHANGE' Mr Obama has in mind, but apparently the solution is simply to vote for Dems and hope they'll all doublecross their paid sponsors in favor of voter interests. The fact that they've given no sign whatever of actually doing so is to be ignored.

Dear Brother Kem Patrick
Sitting here adoring and worshiping my new grandson, Jonah Patrick...
I thought the impeachment idea was peachy, too and I wish I would
have thought of it about 8 years ago!

But I am not going to waste my time writing my congress-criminal, Nancy Pelosi, I am just going to defeat her.

xoxo
Cindy
www.CindyforCongress.org

if we do not impeach them, we make ourselves complicit in their deeds, deeds which will become the model for what will befall ourselves.

You rarely ever succeed if you move against the planets.
Bush has done just that in the last eight years.
Thanks, Largely to Carl Rove.

The problem is, Bush's stars are about to get better.
Much better.

That means squat if somebody has him in their legal cross hairs.
But remember the power that Bush and Cheney weild.

We will have a very tough time impeaching this guy before his term is up. And any chance at all of bringing him before the courts will evaporate by 2011.

Karl Rove, on the other hand, might find himself in jail being someone's little bitch, in the next few years.

If the Celtics loose the NBA championship, ignore this message.

support Shirley Golub and Cindy Sheehan in their unseating of 'impeachment is off the table' Pelosi.

http://www.shirley08.com/

http://www.cindyforcongress.org/

In case you stop by later, Cindy: congratulations! I gather that the wee procrastinator indeed emerged alive and kicking, as the saying goes.

I'm sure you've been appropriately furnished with "Number One Grandma" T-shirts! ;)

♥ Go Cindy! ♥

Go Cindy! I know this may sound corny but YOU are one of my heroes! I hope you defeat that sell-out, war crime collaborating, excuse for a human being Pelosi that so well symbolizes the decayed Democratic Party.

A men!

Again, what the hell..call Conyers Tuesday and DEMAND impeachment...202-224-3121, 202-225-5126, 202-225-3951, 313-961-5670, and 734-675-4084.

RichM, I would be delighted to see Bush impeached. By all means, put all your heart and mind and energies behind this noble cause. Will you do this, please?

No, I didn't think so. The little red revolution cults win more recruits by attacking Democrats and "liberals." Today's prime target is the skinny kid and the hope of real change. Obama himself tells us that change cannot happen simply by electing him, but only by building a movement - one you will never support, because it isn't your style and you've got some other thing going on.

Obama is the consummate sell-out! Sold out his own spiritual adviser (Wright) he has known for over 20 years because he was worried it might cost him a few votes~!

NO courage, no change. Just talk. Move the troops from Iraq and send them to Afghanistan (change). No impeachment, no end to war.

YES to letting Dick Bush get away with murder. Yes to 100,000 more troops to fight and die for Big Oil, Big Profits Inc, Haliburton, KBR, Raytheon, and a host of other profit seekers to numerous to list.

From his website:
Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.

We all know this is pure bullshit because al Qaeda isn't leaving. What this means is we stay there until we suck every last drop of oil out of her. To believe otherwise is to delude yourself. The troops need to stay so Obama can have them carry out their "targeted" strikes which always seem to get our troops killed along with many an innocent child looking out the window. A vote a Democrat or a Republican is immoral based on their record. Suit yourself.

Obama is part and parcel of the establishment. He is supported and backed by the powers that be because he puts a minority's face on imperialism. That's what's needed now, a new face, darker, younger, but in the tradition of Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice. Oreos.

Mark Abram June 1st, 2008 4:24 pm -- "The little red revolution cults ..."

Love it! The establihment parties must really be getting desparate if that's their current answer to those favoring a return to some form of constitutional rule of law where the perpetrstors of crimes against humanity face appropriate punishment. Now we're reds. When can we expect the HUAC hearings to begin?

Impeachments not going to happen, let's face it. But what about a citizens arrest? Is that just a term thrown around half-jokingly? Or can a citizen or group of citizens, possibly including members of Congress perform a citizens arrest as Bush is leaving the White House in Jan '09? I'm serious here? Is that a possibility?

"Impeach the Bastards, Put 'Em Both on Trial, Let's Tell the U.S. Congress to Play Grownup for a While . . . "

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/32849

Umm, is there a way we can impeach the public, or deport to the center of the ocean the 75% of the public that, like dysgenic apes, bought into this scam?

RichM is manifestly as pink... ssszzz...[click]

Whoa! I started to type something-- can't remember exactly what, now-- and all of a sudden I felt as if I were channeling the spirit of William F. Buckley; I heard him say inside my head, clear as day, with that trademark patronizing rictus, "RichM is manifestly as pink as a beeftongue. Write that down."

And luckily, I snatched my fingers away from the keyboard and used a pair of chopsticks and a pencil to ctrl+alt+del.

Things seem OK and back to normal-- but a word to the wise, if you know what I mean...

Impeach Bush/Cheney.

Don't vote for anybody who thinks violating international law and basic principles of the constitution is "not worth fighting for."

Yeah, that includes Obama. He will not even recognize the grave breaches of the law. Sorry, but for somebody with a constitutional law background, that is genuinely dishonest and just shows his loyalty to the establishment. He is the opiate of the movement you Dem apologists speak of. Prepare to be fooled. Politics as usuaaaaal.

If that makes me a "red", fine by me. Your attempts to marginalize those who are able to draw a line in the sand and say no, I will not compromise my integrity, are meaningless.

peace coup -- and other 'Have A Nice Day' dreamers:

How can our county as a whole move forward while our democracy-enabling institutions now stand on ever-deepening quicksand?

Our government's legal groundings --- plus most of our country's privately owned news mediums (our non-governmental truth vetting processes) -- have now become nothing but bog after bog of quicksand.

Before any durable "positive steps forward" can be taken, these bogs first need to be drained and filled in with renewed, firmer democracy-supporting ground.

Self-described 'positive thinkers' who are so terribly worried about mass-negative vibes arising from official accountability processes, might do well to recall that Impeachment does not need to be about hate-filled punishments of elected officials who've flaunted the Law.

Impeachment can just as well be, and in the end arguably only should be, about average citizens acting positively in their own behalf to reaffirm the democratic Rule of Law.

actually, the title says it all, our nation's collective lack of self respect is totally acted out in the lack of respect which we show to others and this is nothing new . . .

when i was a child, i really liked the 'Little House' series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, it was not until recently when i read a biography of the Ingalls family that i realized her father (PA) was part of the first wave of white land speculators who moved in on the heels of the vacating natives . . . that is why they moved so much . . .

one hundred years earlier, we have Thomas Jefferson importantly pursuing (on paper at least) the right to
'life, liberty and the pursuit of property' (the latter later defined as happiness) -- for white landowners --

sad to say, no mention of the rights of the children which he secretly fathered with a teenage slave girl --

this entire nation has been built on secretly (or not) disrespecting others' rights and america's self respect stands subject to be impeached by the facts which have been so erroneously yet ingeniously hidden by history . . .

"Our Nation's Self-Respect Demands Impeachment"

Really? Helllooooo Madam Pelosi, did you hear that?

Helloooooo Obama/Clinton supporters. Did you hear that? What have your candidates done to make this happen?

As for me, this November it is ANYBODY BUT THE TWO PARTIES.

peace coup June 1st, 2008 1:09 pm
"...Instead of putting our attention on the failures and crimes of the past, we need to focus on what this nation can and should be. ..."

=============================================

The problem with this attitude is the fact that unless you have processed the past, the past will keep on haunting you, and will provide legitimacy for future crimes.

Impeachment, followed by war crimes tribunals for all actors is the only way forward.

Since the Dems are not willing to do this (because they are complicit, yes complicit) my vote this November will go to ANYBODY BUT THE TWO PARTIES.

Timothy McVeigh was tried, convicted and executed for a tiny fraction of what the Bush Regime unleashed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Impeachment is going nowhere. The majority of Democrats don't want it, because it would anger their Republican brethren. GWB, Cheney and company need to stand trial for war crimes.

Regardless of how anyone feels with the issue, this article's headline points out the obvious. Too many citizens are unconcerned and oblivious to politics, law, and the degradation of accountability by the representatives who are supposed to work for us. Unless the citizens participate and take neccessary action, conditions in this nation will worsen.

RichM: I second your reply to Mark Abrahm. My compliments!

This is a compelling discussion about a very difficult problem. I admit that I think impeachment is a long shot. A long shot to get under way and to have it occur in any time frame when it will make a difference over the short term. But unless America shows an insight and a willingness to _right the ship of state_ then the actions of the Bush Whitehouse will be complicitly accepted by all Americans.

So while I do not think that impeachment is the only thing that can be done, Americans need to do SOMETHING. As one current author has pointed out impeachment was the founders cure for _royalism_. It really is the intended tool, I believe. I think Americans could ask the Hague and the Intenational Criminal Court to intervene. Because the Hague mostly interacts with official heads of state, I think talking about and supporting impeachment is more practical though ALL OF IT is far from easy.

But, be clear, we as Americans must do something to signal to future presidents and congressmen that we repudiate these activities and we want in no way to let the actions of the Bush Whitehouse stand as legal precedents. We have to, people, or we lose that thing that made America something to be proud of. It slips from our fingers as we talk.

Peace coup, I understand your wish to not have devisiveness that seems to tear us apart as a people. We've seen that divisiveness all through the Clinton Whitehouse and through Bush's term, too. Tired, tired, tired. I understand. But I believe that we Americans must do some large action that signals our absolute rejection of the policy actions of the Bush Whitehouse.

The last 4 presidential terms have had countless squabbling over things that were not worth fighting about or for and all too often they provided political cover for something else, often something unsavory.

But I believe this is the last hill. If we don't stand on this hill, our democracy dies.

Indeed, it may be too late.

If we did not register our public displeasure with the horrible, destructive policies of the Bush Whitehouse with impeachment or trial by the International Court, what would equivalently accomplish that?

It's a compelling question for those who reject impeachment. How will we signal to the world that we (the US) recognize the error of our ways and will not let so many actions of the Bush Whitehouse stand as precedents?

Let's hear some discussion on that.