Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiThe Why-Haven't-You Impeached-the-President Tour
WASHINGTON -- When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set out to promote her new motivational book this month, she simultaneously touched off her national why-haven't-you-impeached-the-president tour.
As she made the coast-to-coast rounds of lectures, television interviews and radio chats the past two weeks, Ms. Pelosi found herself under siege by people unhappy that she has not been motivated to try to throw President Bush out of office - even if only a few months remain before he leaves voluntarily.
In Manhattan and Los Angeles, at stops in between, on network television and on her home turf of Northern California, Ms. Pelosi has been forced to defend her pronouncement before the 2006 mid-term elections that impeachment over the administration's push for war in Iraq was off the table.
Pressed on ABC's "The View" about whether she had unilaterally disarmed, the author of "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters" said she believed the proceedings would be too divisive and be a distraction from advancing the policy agenda of the new Democratic majority.
Then she added this qualifier: "If somebody had a crime that the president had committed, that would be a different story."
That assertion only threw fuel on the impeachment fire as advocates of removing Mr. Bush cited the 35 articles of impeachment compiled by Representative Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, as well as accusations in a new book by author Ron Suskind of White House orders to falsify intelligence, an accusation that has been denied.
"There's an opportunity now for us to come forward and to lay all the facts out so that she can reconsider her decision not to permit the Judiciary Committee to proceed with a full impeachment hearing," Mr. Kucinich said in an interview with the Web site Democracy Now!
Mr. Kucinich, long a proponent of starting hearings to impeach both Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, earlier this week applauded signals that the Judiciary Committee would look into the claims made by Mr. Suskind in his book.
While the Judiciary Committee might do exactly that, the chances that such an inquiry would culminate in an impeachment proceeding are, according to top Democratic officials, virtually nil.
At the moment, the House is officially scheduled to meet for less than three weeks in September before adjourning for the elections and perhaps the year - hardly enough time to mount an impeachment spectacle even if top Democratic lawmakers wanted one.
And they do not.
Despite whatever resonance pursuing the president might have in progressive Democratic circles, it is not the message Democrats want to carry into an election where they need to appeal to swing voters to increase their Congressional majorities and win the White House. They would rather devote their final weeks to pushing economic relief and health care, even if they thought Mr. Bush and the conduct of the war merited impeachment hearings.
And leading Democrats argue anyway that Mr. Bush has already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion.
"He has been impeached by current history," said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "He is going down as the worst president ever. The facts are in."
Republicans have previously shown some appetite for luring Democrats into what they see as an impeachment trap, a set of hearings they could use to portray Democrats as bitter partisans. But Republican strategists also recognize the political danger in getting too deep in defending Mr. Bush right before the election or in justifying the buildup to the Iraq war. They might not be as eager as they once were for an impeachment fight.
Both parties know full well that the Republican push to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 did not work out for Republicans in the way they had hoped, giving many lawmakers pause when it comes to gaming out the political ups and downs of such an action.
The impeachment unrest among progressives dovetails with their profound disappointment that Democrats failed to cut off spending for the war in Iraq or impose a timetable for withdrawal after winning control of Congress in 2006. It is a disappointment that Ms. Pelosi has acknowledged she shares and one she attributes to the thin Democratic majority in the Senate and Republican determination to support Mr. Bush on the war, explanations that do not mollify staunch anti-war activists.
The disillusionment has crystallized in a challenger for Ms. Pelosi in the person of Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist whose son was killed in Iraq. Ms. Sheehan and her allies collected more than 17,000 signatures to qualify her as an independent for the November ballot in San Francisco.
While Ms. Pelosi has been navigating the impeachment issue on her book tour, House Republicans have been assailing her on the floor for refusing to allow a vote on lifting a ban on oil drilling along much of the nation's coast. Democrats are back-tracking a bit on that stance, opening the door to a September vote on relaxing the restrictions on drilling as part of a broader energy bill that would also include Democratic initiatives to reduce subsidies for oil companies and encourage more use of natural gas.
These have not been easy weeks for Ms. Pelosi as she juggled promoting her book with defending her impeachment stance and fending off the Republicans. But party strategists say she's in a strong enough political position to weather the attacks, while taking some of the political heat off more vulnerable Democrats. She might be under fire from the left and the right, but there is no talk of impeaching her.
© 2008 The New York Times
132 Comments so far
Show Alljclientelle,
A more complete a to your q:
As 'persons'………..(an interpretation they get from cases derived from notes a corporate-employed clerk wrote unofficially in the margins of a case that was never decided in their favor on the grounds in question. See Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights by Thom Hartmann)……….corporations get all the rights we have as persons, (and maybe more) including:
1. free speech (which has been interpreted by some as including the right to lie—without consequences—so say goodbye to truth in advertising, for example.) It has been further extended by the increasingly right-wing Supreme Court in the absurd ruling that money is speech, so corporate persons can give money to political parties in unlimited amounts, thus effectively stealing democracy from us other, suddenly irrelevant 'poor' people-type people.
2. tanks and bazookas. I haven't heard this one yet (so I'm glad to put it out there to get GE and Halliburton lawyers going on it) but as long as gun fetishists refuse to read the whole 2nd amendment the argument could be made that corporations have the right to bear arms, that is, to keep what would be essentially private armies. Instead of Exxon-Mobil , think Exxon-Blackwater.
4. a locked door. Corporations have stretched 4rth amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures to say their property, records, etc. can't be inspected or taken, so say goodbye to the USDA, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, FDA, OSHA, and all the other increasingly toothless agencies we the people created to protect us from fraud, poisoning, maiming, dismemberment and the like. Think you have a right to privacy, in say, your bedroom? Not so much (see recent attempt to equate birth control with abortion, for example www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5935532.html ), but corporations, with $hundreds of millions to hire lawyers, can keep you out of any room in their house. Even if their house is the White House. Say goodbye to the tiny shreds of transparency left, like the FOIA. Our apologies, this section redacted for national security and proprietary information reasons:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxenergy policy meeting;xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxxx x xxxxxxxxxxxx xdxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxmartial xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx x x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxcan't possibly prove xxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxmiltary commissions xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xren xx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xx xx xx xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxerry Nuclear Reactorxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx
5. the right to quote from all those TV lawyer shows: "I plead the 5th, your honor". If a corporation can't be compelled to give up its memos and tell the truth in court, how do you prove it knew tobacco was addictive and carcinogenic, or that it knew Pinto gas tanks were 4-wheeled napalm bombs, or that it knew the current practice of feeding blood and guts to livestock was the thing most likely to spread mad cow disease but never told anyone and refused to stop doing?
14. all the other rights to be a person that human persons can't claim, for lack of money, knowledge, power, ability to stand up to impoverishment, intimidation, imprisonment and immolation. The 14th amendment was passed to give equal rights to freed slaves but it's hardly ever been used by them. Corporations have used it many many more times.
Read the book.
When the Greens get elected after McCain's 2nd term they will do something about it.
Let's hear it for corporate two-ball legation.
Even if Impeachment would not stick due to the thin majority of Dems, at least an impeachment proceeding would have the effect of airing the Bush Cabal's crimes before the electorate in time to prevent another GOP win.
No one is listening to the backroom mumblings on Conyers
By trivializing impeachment or any other important thing, a recurring trick of Karl Rove's, by the way, it's utility is damaged. So, would impeaching Bush when the Senate is chock full of Republicans who would prevent conviction trivialize the impeachment process further? If the Republicans hadn't stolen so many congressional seats through 2006 mid-term election fraud, especially with computers, we likely wouldn't have this problem. Mark Crispin Miller estimates 20 stolen seats based on the evidence. Though, the most disturbing thing about Pelosi to me is that she is smart and knows the truth of Bush, Cheney, etal's violations of our laws yet uses the "big lie" just the way the Republicans do. Cindy is right. She needs to be gone. I can't give Pelosi the benefit of the doubt any longer.
Throw the bums out.
In my view, the worst thing about the impeachment of Bill Clinton was that it TRIVIALIZED the process forevermore. Impeachment is in the Constitution to address grave matters of state, and the GOP used it for a sexual peccadillo.
I don't care what Pelosi's position is. Even if Bush and Cheney were impeached tomorrow afternoon and convicted on Wednesday, all that would happen is that they'd have to forfeit their government positions. THE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY THAT THEY HAVE COMMITTED WOULD NOT BE ADDRESSED. We need to ensure that when they leave office the International Criminal Court gets SERIOUSLY INTERESTED in bringing cases against them -- even if in absentia.
This woman's book should be Titled "Know Your PLACE: A Message to America's Doters".
Nancy Pelosi has been a sell-out. Pathetic. Ours hopes were so high, and fell so far.
"The rest of the criminal gang remains" as stated above. The bigger problem is the behind the scenes "puppetmasters" can and will return, some year, some decade, unless an investigation is launched this year or next and find out who was feeding at the bottom and get them out of control and never to come back.
Pelosi is a disgrace. She will be held responsible for singlehandedly destroying the Democratic party as well as our republic as we know it. "Death to Democracy" must be her secret campaign slogan.
its over folks but like good little liberals we keep beating our chops and will to the end while Corporate
America rules and profits with Nancy a figure head.
Before the roof hits you, if your curious, read the history of Athens, Rome, okay a Goggle overview will do, we are no better, worse,for we tout ourself "educated" and way past the Enlightment much, much more but no better than Athens or Romans who settled for [panem circenses] "bread and circuses" in Amerikasworld id est McDonalds and television.
See Juvenal Satire X.
Paris Hilton has my vote. She's obviously the mosts
qualified and saz what's on her mind?
tailcap.. yeah.. that's for sure..
but isn't there an official one somewhere...? as in.. something by which they can be measured and held accountable, something other than the media/ press and political backrooms...
jc- not an expert here.. but from what little I grasp.. since a corporation has " personhood".. the actual real people are not the ones held liable and accountable for the actions/ activities of the business-entity(?). As I recall from the movie, the corporation- well worth watching-- originally a corporation was a very different monkey... they were limited in nature and scope, usually for a very specific goal-duration, such as building a bridge, at which time the incorporating dissolved. It wasn't until just after the end of slavery that a case was made ( originally intended for full rights for people, including the recently emancipated african americans) that a corporation was also a " person" a full person ( rather than 3/5's of a person as applied to the African Americans prior to being freed).
so what happens now.. is that a corporation, not having a physical body that can be apprehended, questioned, put in jail, etc.. all of the members.. play scapegoat, duck out of responsibility- hide behind dummy corporations and off shore charters etc.
additionally, it becomes harmful because the vested interests (stock holders, board members, all the corporate employees) in protecting a corporation in sheer numbers and dollars.. far outweigh what the individual opposing a corporation can muster.
I'm not sure what it has to do with impeachment, however..
What is corporate personhood and why is it harmful, especially regarding the impeachment issue? Can someone summarize in a few sentences? Thanks. (This is a sincere inquiry.)
Every crime involves the whole society. George and dick don't know this but everybody on CD does.
The problem isn't that any particular person in government is a " bad person" per se ( barring exceptions, of course). The problem is that the underlying structure and mechanisms of how governing works... has gotten completely out of control. so long as that mechanism is in place.. it won't matter what party holds the elected office. There needs to be a separation of politics, from governance. The best way for that to happen- is to bring truth of politics ( not events) out into the light. Our officials need to start putting the ugly cards on the table- the blackmail, arm-twisting, bribery, back door sneakery etc. to stand up and say- I was told if I voted against the war in Iraq, that: the funding for the state highway project would be cut off, my bill for education funding would be blocked by ( insert responsible party here).. etc. not something leaked that may or may not get to the press/print/camera.. but someone who will stand up and make the actual data known. transparency.
and each politician should have a snitch/ watchdog.
no idea how this would work.. but politicians need a better checks and balances on their power ( or lack thereof.. make them USE their power instead of cowering)...they need to DO THEIR JOBS.. instead of playing politics games. Does each politician have a job description that outlines what their responsibilities are, to the government, but also to their constituencies? not to mention the declaration and constitution- which they are sworn to uphold.
Anderson
You appear to have a problem with differentiating between the potential majority of those who practice any religion in the authentic and creative spirit out of which the religion was born, and the governments that have instituted a propaganda that uses religious rhetoric to further their claims to territory, resources and mass population control at any cost... i.e.: the shadow side of religious identity and practice.
Unless you consistently and fervently make that distinction (a distinction, by the way, that the Israeli government fails to recognize as well, but only to further their own ferocious evil. In that way you have something in common with them) your argument, no matter how loud you shout it, fails; you become mere fodder for the religious propagandists to use for their despicable purposes of mass imprisonment and torture, death and resource plunder.
The refusal of Non-Speaker Pelosi to impeach Bush and Cheney for their actions in office speaks volumes about her complicity in undermining our Constitution and her self-interest in maintaining the rotten status quo. What good is a Democratic majority in Congress, even a veto-proof majority (which seems to be her goal for the next Congress), if its leadership has already failed its first and most important test--protecting the Constitution. Infuriating me even more is her audacity in going around the country on a book tour after having permitted the current Administration to shred our constitution with impunity!
"Both parties know full well that the Republican push to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 did not work out for Republicans in the way they had hoped, giving many lawmakers pause when it comes to gaming out the political ups and downs of such an action."
Huh?????
Didn't work out by them gaining congress and the white house?
Hello Paul Magill Smith,
Amen to your notation on "corporate personhood", and to the rehabilitaion of the Department of the Treasury, by way of sacking the Federal Reserve.
Shall we place our bets before the revolution?
RE: Doom n Gloom August 18th, 2008 2:33 am
The answer you seek can be explained in two sentences, Doom n Gloom.
1) Who controls the 'mass communication' you speak of?
2) "Follow the money".
Two suggestions I have to remedy the situation:
1) Rescind corporate 'personhood'.
2) Return control of our monetary policy to the Department of the Treasury by dismantling the Federal Reserve System.
Admittedly, I haven't read every comment in this scroll, so I may have missed someone else's observation [just one more time, please] about the fairly simple reason for the confounding unwillingness of our "elected representatives" to pay attention to us - the "CRYING OUT LOUD" of their constituents.
It seems to me, clear as melted snow, the reason they can't hear us is because the roar of the cataracts of corporate money cascading into their election campaign coffers renders their ability to hear us unprofitable - effectively IMPOSSIBLE.
"No Corporate Stockholder Left Behind!" That's the "in-House battle cry" of something near, or exceeding, 90% of our "Representatives". Certainly, this is true for my own "Representative", Cathy McMorris Rogers, here in Washington State's 5th Congressional District. A rubber stamp riding a tin whistle fueled by money.
Publicly-funded elections ( see www.just6dollars.org.) is hugely important to regaining a measure of democracy in this virtual-fake democracy we're floundering in.
To twist a familiar phrase from James Carville's politically keen playbook for the presidential election of 1992:
It's the money, STUPIDS ! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! IT'S THE MONEY! THE MONEY! THE MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, money!! MONEY!!! Money.
civil behavior 5:58 pm
right on. the revolution starts in our backyards. we must extricate ourselves from the dominant economic system as much as is feasible, create alternatives, decentralize...
It's curious that in an age of mass communication reaching a consensus on crisis such as global warming, impeachment, energy independence etc., cannot be accomplished. Does anyone have a reasonable idea that explains this anomaly?
Fran,
You asked for ideas.......I am only a citizen with not much power. All I know to do is write to the editor of my local paper...which I do regularly, speak to people as I go, try to interest a large organization. I don't have the means to initiate a major PR blitz but MoveOn.org does and they won't. They are playing too centrist. In 2004 I voted for Kucinich in the Primaries. Not many people know he ran for President till the very end. He got no media coverage. Why? No money. Too progressive...Too independent. I heard Kucinich speak. Everyone was expecting the usual political rally. Well, out came Kucinich...mild mannered, soft spoken, but what a speech he gave! I was so impressed and touched. This man is for real. He is too good for politics. He should be...... something else.
I signed Kucinichs' petition in support of impeachment. Look where that got us.....Stuck in Committee. I even voted for Kucinich when MoveOn.org was having an unofficial election for Presidential candidates among their members....Dean got nominated at that time. Look where that got us. The power at the top will stop at nothing to continue their own agenda of remaking the U.S. into a NeoCon New America, all revolving around Corporate control of government.
civil behavior,
I agree with you about starting a parallel government. Co-ops will be the future. Permaculture's--where people are off the grid and self sustaining will begin to sprout up even more....and they won't be just an experiment. They will be a survival tactic. My fear is that it will take a major catastrophe for this to finally develop.
Is it time for action.........yet? Again I ask, what will we then do? Is it too late to take back our country? Are progressive leftists ready to be martyrs?
RE: djnoll August 17th, 2008 12:11 pm
Any words I could add to what you said would waste my time & that of others. Very succinct & well put, hear, hear!
Having lived in San Francisco four years in the past myself, it would be very shameful for such a liberal progressive major city to re-elect such a Republican stooge as Pelosi. If I lived there now I would proudly display a bumper sticker like "Boot the Bitch...Treasonous Pelosi I mean".
Usually, I read all the comments before posting, but there are a couple points worthy of skipping ahead, then going back to finish reading. Trolls will probably take exception to them:
1) Could one of the reasons our troops haven't been brought home is the right suspects they are highly pissed off at being coninually lied to, put in harm's way trading blood for oil, and many brought back to the states would finally reveal to the American public what a poorly planned/executed/fools errand the pre-emptive invasion & occupation of Iraq was/is? Didn't Rome keep troops out of their capitol for fear the troops would join the populace and turn on the administration?
2) Is the reason the Congressional Republicans are pulling this stunt of staying in DC, trying to bully/propagandize America into believing "drill, drill, drill" is our best energy policy option, really because they are terrified of returning home to face their highly irate constituents? Are they 'hiding' in Washington? Are these right wing warmongering chickenhawks actually chickenshits?
Perhaps everyone's afraid to put Dubya in the position of defending himself without his speechwriters & Cheney to speak/explain what the simpleton has done while occupying the WH.
They don't want the world to find out how we all have been fooled, deceived and manipulated by the corporate media for 7 long years.
Can't they be held accountable after they leave the WH?
"The Republican push to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 did not work out for Republicans."
Really? Look who controlled Congress after the next election - 2000. AND the White House for the next eight years AND the Supreme Court for God knows how long.
Yeah - Go, Cindy.
you are spot on liberalwithanaattitude..keep typing
ali hussein was just 2 when america dropped a bomb on his head!
can you imagine if this happened to your child in your back yard?
what would you do
The rich and powerful want us just where they have us. They are on top and we are on the bottom. Something like they being the kings and lords and us the lowly serfs.
Do you think for one minute that if the Republicans got the majority back and we were to have Obama elected and he pulled the crap Bush and Cheney did or even they thought he did something wrong, they wouldn't bring impeachment charges against him? They would without a doubt! Pelosi and most of the rest of the Democrats are pathetic.
bvance, Bravo on your comments, I don't get the level of anti-semitism on Liberal sites, my father was Jewish and he was certainly no Zionist in way the philosophy of Zionism is being portrayed today, So what if Peliosi is married to a Jewish man? So was my mother!! You antisemites need to find out what makes you hate!!
Turce what on Earth what are you talking about? And what does you being a muslin have to do with facts?
Zbignew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor, explained that Jimmy Carter signed an order on July 3 of 1979 authorizing aid to the mujahadeen and that he (Brzezinski) wrote Carter a note that same day saying "this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention", which is what happened.
The CIA gave mountains of weapons and money to the fanatic, women-despising "freedom fighters" who gave us 9/11.
bvance and others:
I have no disrespect for the basic Jewish religion. But when power hungry gangsters hide behind ANY religion (be it Judaism, Christianity, whatever) I WILL NOT yield to their anti-semitic, anti-Christian line of propaganda.
Listen up, and listen up good. It is NOT ANTI-SEMITIC to despise and condemn the country which is currently running the world's largest concentration camp. And despite what is shoved down our throats by the US media, I find a country wanting to preserve it's "Jewishness" as abhorrent as the Third Reich protecting the Aryan way of life.
If that offends you, so be it. I make no apologies, and in fact, will shout out even louder.
PS: Check out the Free Gaza project. Two boats will be sailing very soon.
Mr Anderson and others:
Unless you consistently make what is a very clear distinction between the Jewish community and Jews in general and the government of Israel your complaints about Pelosi are no better than the kind of Fox news claptrap that uses racist invective and bullshit fascist rhetoric propaganda to do battle against every progressive ideal that the Founders planted the seeds of in our seminal documents.
So shut your filthy anti-semite mouth please. It's sickening and it does nothing to amplify and legitimize any focus on the crimes that the married governments of Israel and the US continue to commit.
Dear Nancy: If you have read the above messages from many concerned citizens you will have found that your stonewalling an impeachment proceedure is pure folly. It is not only the process of impeachment that needs to be addressed, but the fact that while creating the offences worthy of impeachment the Constitution has been trashed. By refusing to face this issue head on we are marching into the next administration with a lot of bad baggage that is going to need to be cleaned up immediately. Or, is it true that the Democrats really like the idea of unlimited executive powers. That is the scary part. Sincerely, A concerned and disgruntled citizen who fully understands the significance of the least effective Congress in decades.
What's with all this badmouthing of Nancy Pelosi?
I mean, who gives a damn about the US Constitution, or Americans' civil rights, or punishing war criminals? It's ALL about that "shitty little country" of Israel.
(From the National Democratic Jewish Council) "Pro-Israel, great on Jewish domestic issues, attends Passover seders and her grandchildren sing Happy Birthday to her in Hebrew. Talk about a perfect Speaker of the House for the Jewish community."
Ralphini August 17th, 2008 5:50 pm writes, "...electing a Republican in place of Nancy....No wonder Rove could drive the country to where it is now; he's smarter than we are.
-You have a good point, Rove is certainly smarter than you are. Here, Rove has YOU on a progressive website advocating voting for Republicans. Man, the guy is a genius!
IMPEACH PELOSI
Impeachment too divisive?
Pullease...
What are the measurements and who are the measurers of this alleged prediction of divisiveness?
How do these predictors of divisiveness measure their predictions against the degree of divisiveness already incurred by the illegal shenanigans of the current occupants and their yes men and women in the legislative and the courts?
How does one compare these predictions of divisiveness against the very real occurrence of the divide that splits wider and wider due to using those predictions to prevent what the constitution mandates must be done?
How can the current congressional leadership justify and remain blind to how their refusals to enact the required tools of checks and balances actually crack the divisions apart even further?
Do they dream that some bizarro prediction of a perfect presidency can be blissfully ignorant of, and unfettered by, the previous occupants' murderous lawbreaking? Married to the fantasy of a post-election resolved and at-peace legislative, will it somehow bridge that ever widening chasm? Kinda like franticly drilling for and using more fossil fuels to put the tools in place to stop arctic ice from melting.
Oops... I didn't mean to bring up hydrogen and bio-fuels fantasy land.
How will they re-train themselves fast enough to stop the runaway train they co-conduct and engineer after this pie-in-the-sky election hits the reality of what is actually happening in order to put the brakes on before the whole thing falls into the gap they have first ignored and then pushed apart wider and wider, faster and faster?
How to switch from throttle to brakes before the edge is breached? Or is it already too late? Are we already living our own Locomotive Breath… has "Charlie stole the handle and the train it won't stop going no it won't slow down"??
Well, at least the working poor will be forced to carry the lion's share of the load of propping up our ailing health care system. A lot of people will probably be even more sick and tired than they already are.
Corporate America owns both party's.
When the Republicans are in the White House the Democrats are their bitch.
When the Democrats are in the White House they are the Republicans expensive whore.
You wont get these money grubbing johns and whores to rat on each other, best thing we can do is sink the the USS Congress and watch the rats drown.
BornFreeMen
Unfortunately, this article doesn't point out that what Bush and Congress did in launching two wars was an illegal war crime.
The Democratic Party's argument (not just Pelosi's) that impeachment would just divide the country and diminish the Democratic Party's agenda is a distraction from a major Constitutional crisis, in which most of what's left of the republic and civil rights is nil.
It's troublesome for this article to frame this story along Pelosi's views, making it just another story about routine partisan politics. Doing so gives some space for the Democratic Party loyalist voters to just think this all about practical politics, rather than treason by their own party.
The New York Times had a role to play in this mess too. It aided and abetted the Bush administration's crimes with its Judith Miller-penned articles about weapons of mass destruction - an uncorrected fraud on its readers.
Will the Times ever just plainly state, like they do about street crimes, that the President and Congress broke the law and continue to trample the Constitution? I'm not shooting the messenger here. It's just a fact. Why can't it be plainly spelled out?
Here's a link to an interesting article on Pelosi's book signing appearance at San Francisco's Cowell Theatre:
The dead, wounded and tortured of America's illegal wars attend Nancy Pelosi's "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters" book signing at San Francisco's Cowell Theatre
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/08/15/18526612.php
As a Democrat and activist for the party who worked for Kennedy in his election in 1960 and as a former Nader Raider and public interest action group organizer in the late 60s and 70s, I have witnessed a strong decline in public interest action from the 70s on. Most, if not all of the gains we made in the late 60s and early 70s we've lost; but I can't say the party has become corrupt to the core. There is some hope and a lot of good people now being energized. There may still be some sort of revolution of hope, although perhaps not among the general public.
The Democratic and Republican parties are simply the two wings of the Corporate Plutocratic Party which has been running the show since Andrew Jackson's day. The "Liberals" claim to oppose the Corporatists, but their antipathy towards private ownership of guns makes them simply another tool of the oppressors.
-OUD
I prefer the idea of a "national referendum" on Pelosi, even though formal "impeachment" does not apply nor is needed here. Certainly any effort to Impeach Pelosi should also be a formal endorsement of Cindy Sheehan. But Nancy Pelosi, who would not consider the impeachment of Bush/Cheney, should herself be "impeached" on principle.
tetti_tatti August 17th, 2008 2:10 pm
Why would the War Party impeach Bush when 99% of his crimes were aided and abetted by them?
That would be like sending themselves to gas chamber.
The Democratic Party is corrupt to its core, it has always been. It's started more wars than any other since WW1, they also started WW2, Korea, Vietnam. Carter and Brzezinski trained the Jihadists who ultimately repaid us with 9/11.
***********************************************************
As a Muslim I take issue with the Jihadist garbage! tetti-tatti, read the REAL Qur'an, not the House of Saud, Taliban, al Qaeda bastardization by men that want control over women version, then open that mouth. WTF is GD jihadist?????? Is it akin to, Iraq WAR, SURGE, Islamofascist, al Qaeda and Taliban are Muslim, , Which? Exactly, each is a lie and Propaganda promotion is unwelcome. And do not start with me, I will not tolerate garbage being used to demean anyone I have a big ass mouth, too. Difference being I actually read proper information re;subject I speak of before opening my yap.
Pelosi is on video saying, "Oh, the 35 Articles of Impeachment, well I never read them, I, no." I have toyed with the wording because I am not going to navigate away now, go to YouTube or http://www.afterdowningstreet.org and you will find a link calling for her head petition, this was on the infamous "Book Tour", of course I would F%%king take that complicit filth of a pig's advice on raising my daughters. They are already raised, enyway, 19 and 31 should be anyway.
The elites, the class war aggressors, being under dire threat of massive losses in their failing global campaign against the people, ordered Comrade Pelosi to fuel gender conflict in the people's camp with this book about how to grow your daughters into gender nazis. This is the elites' standard divide and conquer strategy against the people. Time and time again they've used it.
Now it's a good thing Cindy Sheehan is running against Comrade Pelosi to give San Francisco's 8th District a special opportunity to elect a non-divisive servant of the people with a powerful mandate to end the wars and round up the war criminals.
Ralphini,
I see a couple of problems electing a Republican. First, Pelosi's district is more liberal than conservative. Second, given the mess Republicans with the help of the Democrats have bestowed upon this country, it would be difficult for people in Pelosi's district to vote Republican. Finally, third party candidates stand a much stronger chance given how disgusted people are with politicians. Does that mean they will win, we will have to see. My support goes to Cindy Sheehan because I would rather vote someone who has integrity and the peoples' interests in mind instead of someone who has compromised his/her principles to screw the people. I realize that we have a difference of opinion, which is fine, but I still will support Cindy.
I am glad the NY Times mentioned Cindy Sheehan! That's a lot for them!
Great posts: LITTLE BROTHER (alas, what passes for virtue these days!), HAKORI, LIBERAL with an attitude, & ARMCHAIR.
Others have made the points I might have. Thank you.
IMPEACH THOSE WHO REFUSE TO IMPEACH!!!!
We demand that these criminal warmongers be thrown out of office NOW!
On another article's comment section, a person was talking about last evening's tv sessions in which a cleric of some kind talked to the main pres candidates about faith and politics. This person suggested a session on hte protection of the constitution.
Sounds like a do-able forum...get the candidates in there and ask them about the protection of the constitution(it's the main part of the oath the winner takes, isn't it?)
' Everyone I talk to has a remarkable understanding of the crisis at hand. They know we've been had. They may not know the extent to which this has been perpetrated by Pelosi and Rahm and Reid and the DLC and the DSCC and the Judiciary and the rest of the crooked politicians but they know they've been had.
ONE SMALL PROBLEM.
What to do about it that will make a difference.
I see the federal government as one big Mafia entity. Each of them has something on the other so NO ONE and I mean NO ONE including Obama is going to be making changes large enough with enough impact to really change the direction. at this point he is cornered. His life is in their hands.
Pelosi and her gang never meant to get too serious about the whole war or economy or energy or impeachment because NOT ONE of them lives the lives we lead. NOT ONE. They don't live on the same planet as we do.
Impeachment? Ha, they laugh in our face. Energy? Drill for more.
This isn't about us. It's all about them. Their money, their power, their needs.
The smartest thing most of us can do is start to co-op, build local groups to help each other survive. Maybe at some point in that endeavor we will find a way to bring about a parallel govt. Until then don't expect anything. Nothing. Stop believing. Stop believing them.
OK, it seems that lots of people are emotional about electing a Republican in place of Nancy. I would ask those people to think about the notion for at least a few minutes.
We seem to have tunnel vision and we keep doing the same thing, which is losing.
No wonder Rove could drive the country to where it is now; he's smarter than we are.
What can we do about Pelosi?
1. Go to her book promotions and ask her why she took impeachment off the table.
2. And ask her what she thinks about the books by Vicent Bugliosi and Ron Suskind
3. Ask her if she thinks Cindy Sheehan would be a good role model for our daughters
4. Contribute to, work for and vote for Cindy Sheehan
But of course Pelosi won't care at first. She has her face lift, her millions, her bi-partisanship and her narcissitic tranquility. But maybe her well-polished ass will be kicked in the elections. I can hope.
some one else is going to save you going to make things right.....hey just feel good you have typed... maybe even conversed within a few...and then continue to watch and complain
for they had ears but couldn't listen and they had eyes but didn't see and the vile filth was so retched they they didn't smell and out of their mouths came not wisdom or answers but useless complaint they got and put up with what they deserved
Ralphini August 17th, 2008 1:26 pm writes, "Nancy doesn't have to be impeached. Just vote in a Republican in her place this November."
-this is about the most unprincipled and stupidest idea I have heard in awhile. Let's throw out the traitor and replace her with the enemy! Oh hell no! Vote for Cindy because she hasn't sold out, stands for progressive values and is against the war.
GO CINDY SHEEHAN!
While the Judiciary Committee might do exactly that, the chances that such an inquiry would culminate in an impeachment proceeding are, according to top Democratic officials, virtually nil.
-virtually? How about absolutely zero!
Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "He is going down as the worst president ever. The facts are in."
-and he is going down as as being part of the worst Congress ever. The facts are in!
Democrats are back-tracking a bit on that stance,
-a bit? the cowardly and despicable Democrats have being laying down prostrate before the Republicans for at least 8 years!
but there is no talk of impeaching her.
-the traitorous Democrats will stick with the sold out Pelosi because that is who they are!
Screw both Democrats and Republicans! Go Cindy! Go McKinney! Go Nader! Go anybody but a God-damned Democrat!
Time to Impeach Pelosi, the old fashioned way: campaign against her. Encourage folks in her district to vote against her. Encourage a national campaign to oust all unproductive and counterproductive incumbents everywhere. Someone start a MOVE-OVER.ORG or something similarly provocative.
Re. revoltnow's comments, and this is not a criticism of revolt or their comments,"I don't think the American military would fire upon unarmed American citizens."
They have done it throughout the entire history of America.
In my dream, both G.W. and Pelosi were arrested for war crimes. G.W. bush refused to cop to anything. Pelosi, being the weak-kneed snitch in the dream, made a deal.
Pelosi was wired and placed in a cell next to G.W. Bush. Not only did Nancy help reveal the crimes of G.W. Bush, she helped reveal unknown crimes of her own doing.
It was July 4th when Nancy made her last statement to the press. She said, "I'm so sorry to the American People for not doing my constitional duties and for conspiring against them. It was never my intention for this to happen".
She wasn't referring to her own imminent execution, she was referring to George's the day before.
"Both parties know full well that the Republican push to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 did not work out for Republicans in the way they had hoped, giving many lawmakers pause when it comes to gaming out the political ups and downs of such an action."
Ah, there's the operative word -- 'Gaming out'. These elected representatives of We The People, the only voice of the people, are wont to consider this entire matter but a game, one of careful political calculus, in which the wisest politicians engage in a version of playing this 'game' in an effort simply 'not to lose.' Any person who has ever competed athletically know this to be a strategy usually ending in a loss.
In this case, the most important 'game' of all, such a loss is perilously close to becoming an irreversible reality, and that loss will be the very country our forefather's fought against King George to establish.
The longer we wait for Madame Speaker to act, and clearly she is 'running out the clock' here, the closer we inch toward a precipice into which once we have fallen we may never rise again. There is not time to allow this group of bellicose barons of bureaucracy free rein to inflict global havoc. (The word bureaucracy is inapplicable and used here for alliterative purposes only). There is still plenty of time for a strategic and 'controlled' nuclear strike against Iran, the notion of which is oxymoronic on its face (As is the conjunctive President Bush (Quod vide:DR. Strangelove, or why I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb. Kubrick may prove himself more a soothsayer than imagined.
My fellow patriots, we must cease the infighting which we have been duped into waging, always the right against left, conservative vs. liberal, republican vs. Democrat. We are but Americans, no more, no less, and our America is being stolen from us while we -- and Madame Speaker's Congress -- sleep, work, drink/ingest and watch television. The nefarious devices of this Plutocratic cabal are more entrenched and numerous than any of us can conceive, and their is no time on the proverbial clock to run this lame duck out of power and reinstall a government that puts it citizenry first. A very wise Republican President once reminded us of the imperative that we must all unite as Americans, telling us "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Another Republican President once said: America is a shining city upon a hill, whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.
Madame speaker I implore you; do not allow that light to be extinguished forever!
Yo Claudius,
Cindy is a heroine for her "in your face" challenge to Bush in his own Texas county. However, I don't see that she could beat Nancy in a district that has been electing Mrs. Pelosi for years. You may feel very supportive of third party candidates but their track record on election has been dismal. I think that you can count the national figures on one hand. Saying that you would never vote for a Republican is short sighted. It comes down to electing a weak Republican newcomer to the House, who probably would only stay for one term (note: Nancy is gone) or voting for Nancy who will likely be returned by voters to cause more grief. Sometimes you choose to sacrifice a pawn so that you can capture a more powerful piece.
The democrats won't impeach because they are complicit. They buy into the same policies as the Repugs despite any rhetoric that would suggest otherwise. Just look at Obama's more recent pronouncements. He sounds more and more like the standard Republicrat every day. The rule of the two big money parties which are actually the One American Party is caution. Don't rock the boat, even though the boat is clearly sinking. This country is dysfunctional on all levels nowadays, and there is little evidence that any self-correction is on the way. Present day politicians of both parties are all beholden to their campaign contributors, and the few who are daring like Kucinich don't generally get to become eternal incumbents.
HOW MUCH CLEARER MUST IT BE!!!!!!!!!
The entire government has shown nothing but UTTER CONTEMPT for the will and well being of the vast majority of Americans !!!!!
The BUSH/CHENEY administration and the Republicans have shown contempt for Americans,but at least they represent a core value of their abominal constituents.
The DEMOCRATS on the other are beneth contempt as they have demonstrated utter contempt for even their core constituents .
Pelosi and the DEMOCRATS have betrayed their oath of office,are theirfor tratiors to that office,tratiors to the constitution,tratiors to America,traitors to their constituents, and in their complicity to war crimes are international war criminals.
DEMOCRATS that have not voted to IMPEACH are complicit traitors,those DEMOCRATS that remain in the treasones DEMOCRATIC party are enablers to treason and war crimes,and those citizens who vote for them are also enablers,and part of the problem,it's as simple as that - end of story!!!!!!!
Following her first several months as Speaker in 2007, I had very high hopes that Ms. Pelosi would DO as she SAID. Those hopes have been thoroughly dashed. We are still at war in Iraq and the worst president in U.S. history will not be impeached, even though history will show that his impeachment SHOULD have served as the precedent for all future impeachments. George W. Bush is the poster child for "high crimes and misdemeanors" -- REAL ones, not the imagined and trumped up ones used by the Corpublican-Theocrats in 1998 against Bill Clinton. It is a shame that just staying in office has become more important to our elected "leaders" on both sides of the aisle than leading with integrity. Rome fell because its senate could not make decisions and abdicated its responsibilities and powers more and more to a powerful executive. If our congress continues to follow the same path, it will assure the fall of the United States. Go Cindy Sheehan!!
Inanna
I agree we really have no choice but to vote independent or write-in.
A few years back, someone with that idea took out full-page ads in major cities newspapers to spread the word. How can this be organized? At that time, I believe he was calling for a boycott, but voting for any other party or independent would have a better chance of happening I believe.
Any ideas?
PS Of course, I still think a million signatures on Kucinch's petiton will support in a big way his determined and continuing resolution for impeachment. If we're not willing to put our names on this, how can we criticize Pelosi, et al? She may have a gun to her head for all we know.
Ralphini,
Do you have some inside information that the rest of us don't know? How do you know Cindy can't win the election? If you use the traditional "third party candidates never win" excuse, that won't work. Please explain. I sure as hell will never vote for a Republican!
from peolosi's ordering of police to remove the homeless people from the streets of her wealthy elitist neighborhood in sanfrancisco, to her refusal to recognize bush's war crimes, and crimes against the american people and constitution, pelosi has repeatedly stood for elitist fascism while ignoring the will of the progressives who elected her. SHE should be imprisioned, not impeached.
cindy sheehan is our man in SF now.
Bush said it the constitution is just an old piece of paper and the actions of the rest in this so called government show he is right. Maybe not in the minds of you or I, but in those who govern the constitution no longer has much to do with 'merica. How long will it take for we to see and understand this? Maybe, they rule under a differing set of rules...under a different system than we the people sheeople are aware of?
What is UCC for example........is common law even that which we are under. Did we some how without even being aware give up our God given rights?
And for those of you whom seek a revolution, I would recommend you arm yourselves with Laws and Facts and Love and Peace for weapons will only place you and yours up against the same...and to not understand that you are out gunned and they will use them on you means you no nothing of history including present day history.
And hey while we are talking did you see the article with the ICE Agents in Iowa ....they are starting to come, first they take the illegals and put leg bracelets on the woman and children left behind...of course they are not you or I so what do we have to worry about? Oh yeah who is determining what is and isn't illegal these days
it isn't the Constitution that was just an old piece of paper remember.
Time to awaken yet?
passion unspent August 17th, 2008 11:00 am:
"should we "impeach-wanters" have pushed even harder, i sometimes wonder."
We have been pushing. What else can we do? I'm all for all out revolution...
Forget the Hague, Bush has that in his pocket too. Remember Milosovic? Carla Del Ponte the Hague prosecutor wrote an entire book about how the Americans corrupted that tribunal too, the same way they corrupt everything else:
August 16, 2008
Don't Forget Yugoslavia
by John Pilger
http://www.antiwar.com/pilger/?articleid=13303
The reason we didn't impeach the president...
The reason Pelosi didn't support The Constitution...
is because this generation, across the board, doesn't understand The Constitution and the history of the world, particularly the history of England.
Yo Amos, as likeable as Cindy Sheehan is, she can't win the seat and Nancy will still be there. Vote for the Republican!
blowjob-impeach!
murder and oppress-a ok!
no impeachment, well America does not control the gov anymore. Impeachment is there for one reason to stop a gov from doing what it is doing right now and has for the last 8 years.
Never mind Impeachment......Arrest the whole administration and send them to the Hague !!!!!!
don't forget, nancy enjoyed a private lunch with george the day after rising to speaker status. wonder what discussion ensued out of media earshot? a deal? blowjob? impeach the wealthy bitch too, i say. her multimillion dollar mansion in s.f. could be one more headquarters for the revolution!
p.s. one way only to real change; take to the streets people. tomorow. sept. 1. every day with signs. millions of us... go!
jj, please, Democrats aren't 'almost' as bad as Republicans, they're as bad or worse, cut the 'almost.' And I meant that Democrats started the American involvement in WW1 and WW2, not that they started the conflict themselves.
Here's what you asked for, a substantiation from something other than a hard-core reactionary source that Carter was responsible for training jihadists:
http://www.counterpunch.org/heller12262007.html
All Progressives and Leftists, Independents and Environmentalists: Vote Independent or Write-in ONLY....then we'll see after election day how or whether our vote matters at all. Do we have the nerve to take this chance? We can organize a major PR campaign and push for every aware and awake person we know to follow this protocol. Several things can happen. 1. We can make major history. 2. The election will be rigged anyway and no one will even hear about the write-in and Independent votes. 3. We will help elect the Republicans once again.
What we do after this election and it's results will determine our future.
"if Bush had committed a crime we would impeach him"??????????
are you f'ing kidding me. There are sufficient validated crimes committed by the Bush Crime Family to have them all hung. Over 750 constitutional laws broken (source-the Boston Globe), War Crimes, the Iraq occupation was deemed an illegal war by Kofi Annan, the downing street memo, the firing of US attorneys, man I could go on for days and fill pages, but you know all of this, someone should have accused Pelosi of being bought and paid for, would love to have seen her response to that.....
Wjawsk wrote:
"We must assure people that no one is above the law, and that pardon's are as unacceptable as not impeaching criminal acts."
Impossible! When a country become a dictatorship (no matter what it calls irself) it operates above the law, or, it doesn't have a law. When the law enforcement officials become law brakers, who will enforce the law.
Bush declared sometime ago that the Constitution was nothing but a goddamn piece of paper. Now it seems that the Congress, DoJ, NSA, and other other depts. in this admini. share his view. Bush sees the Constitution as an obstacle that bars him from carrying out the agenda assigned to him.
Meanwhile, Polosi (who had more important work than impeachment) had plenty time to debate and pass laws to make the Bush crimes legal.
You're correct, tetti_tatti. Democrats are almost as bad as republicans.
I have a couple of corrections. The Dems did not start WW1, WW2, or Korea.
Also, I'd like to see some substantiation from something other than a hardcore reactionary source that Carter was responsible for training any "jihadists."
jj
Congress has created a dangerous precedent by not impeaching Bush/Cheney. What exactly will future presidents have to do before anyone takes notice? If what Bush/Cheney have done doesn't constitute high crimes and misdemeanors, what does? Our democracy may very well pay the ultimate price for congress' inaction.
Why would the War Party impeach Bush when 99% of his crimes were aided and abetted by them?
That would be like sending themselves to gas chamber.
The Democratic Party is corrupt to its core, it has always been. It's started more wars than any other since WW1, they also started WW2, Korea, Vietnam. Carter and Brzezinski trained the Jihadists who ultimately repaid us with 9/11.
They blame Nader for the 2000 election and blame Bush for stealing it, but never blame themselves.
Utter, utter scum.
Why should we be surprised at the way the democrats and the republican promote their own agendas, and not of the needs of the majority. Its no longer "for the people, by the people" ..... or "liberty and justice for ALL" or even about majority rule. Its more about the winning party climbing higher up in the Corporate Tower of Babble. Its very much like Nazi Germany in 1936, the Black Shirt verses the Brown Shirts, the winner sets at the right of the top chess master, and either way America losses. Corruption is like alcoholism enough is never enough. Pelosi is playing both sides. Clinton got the hell beat out of him over a blow job, while Cheney and his puppet have driven this nation to the very edge of destruction all for themselves and the oil industry. Just shows how much corruption and organized crime have moved up in the Tower. I'm voting for Nader only because he's never lied to us. Or mayby I'll write in Paris Hilton, why not what have we got to loss at this point.
Yeah Amos, unfortunately SF is far too expensive for old retired folks. All I can do is send encouragement and an occasional buck or two.
What I would like to see is the plucking of feathers, the manufacture of tar, and the splitting of rails to become a growth industry in DC and other political capitols around the nation.
Crooked politicians of yesteryear knew all about that, up close and personal. Now, we just re-elect them, or retire them on huge pensions and make them lobbyists for the companies they supported as elected officials.
Nancy Pelosi is a lying sack of shit. This is not new information.
freeheeler says,"...if Buchanan, Johnson, Filmore and Pierce had had access to the intelligence and other resources this president had, would they have been so bad?"
No, and can you imagine an "I've hit the trifecta" response to an attack on American soil? Of course not.
If you were living in SF you could vote for Cindy Sheehan
If you have ever sent your alleged representatives a letter concerning the Constitution, I am sure you have gotten the same answer I have. NOTHING! No acknowledgment, no answer.
I think we will find, to our dismay, that the Democans do not want to touch Bush's illegal and criminal government with a ten foot pole because they intend to inherit it intact for their own use.
Think about it. CheneyBu$hCo shredded the Constitution and Bill of Rights in 2001. There has been no major legal action beyond an occasional wrist slap, mainly to convince the people that "See, we're trying!" while the Unitary Executive steadily increases its power with no real effort on the part of the Legislative Branch to curb it.
The result of this is eight years of legal precedent that this form of government is legal!
We are to vote in one letter or the other "D" or "R" next election, who will then inherit this horror and continue to disinherit We the People of the rights our ancestors fought and died for.
We, as good, loyal Americans, are expected to be quiet, heil our new leader, whomever it will prove to be, then wait quietly until "Nacht and Nebel" rides again, and those who disapprove, the thinkers, the writers, the educators, will disappear into the camps and the darkness, the Red Lists and the Blue Lists.
If you who still read, will read London's "The Iron Heel," Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm," you will have some ideas of what to expect for perhaps another century.