Sunday, January 06, 2008

BUSH AND CHENEY SHOULD BE IMPEACHED

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Today's Washington Post carries an op-ed by George McGovern, callin, eloquently for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Let's hope Pelosi and her detestable Insider cabal are paying attention. McGovern's premise, that the Bush Regime is far worse than Nixon, should be apparent to anyone who has been paying attention since 2000, and McGovern reluctantly comes to the conclusion that the only honorable way for America to move forward is for Bush and Cheney to face impeachment. He seems as dismayed by the ruthless, narrow and blind partisanship of Republicans as by his own party's "lack of courage and statesmanship."
Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world. These are truly "high crimes and misdemeanors," to use the constitutional standard.

From the beginning, the Bush-Cheney team's assumption of power was the product of questionable elections that probably should have been officially challenged-- perhaps even by a congressional investigation.

In a more fundamental sense, American democracy has been derailed throughout the Bush-Cheney regime. The dominant commitment of the administration has been a murderous, illegal, nonsensical war against Iraq. That irresponsible venture has killed almost 4,000 Americans, left many times that number mentally or physically crippled, claimed the lives of an estimated 600,000 Iraqis (according to a careful October 2006 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) and laid waste their country. The financial cost to the United States is now $250 million a day and is expected to exceed a total of $1 trillion, most of which we have borrowed from the Chinese and others as our national debt has now climbed above $9 trillion-- by far the highest in our national history.

All of this has been done without the declaration of war from Congress that the Constitution clearly requires, in defiance of the U.N. Charter and in violation of international law. This reckless disregard for life and property, as well as constitutional law, has been accompanied by the abuse of prisoners, including systematic torture, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

I have not been heavily involved in singing the praises of the Nixon administration. But the case for impeaching Bush and Cheney is far stronger than was the case against Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew after the 1972 election. The nation would be much more secure and productive under a Nixon presidency than with Bush. Indeed, has any administration in our national history been so damaging as the Bush-Cheney era?

How could a once-admired, great nation fall into such a quagmire of killing, immorality and lawlessness?

It happened in part because the Bush-Cheney team repeatedly deceived Congress, the press and the public into believing that Saddam Hussein had nuclear arms and other horrifying banned weapons that were an "imminent threat" to the United States. The administration also led the public to believe that Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks-- another blatant falsehood. Many times in recent years, I have recalled Jefferson's observation: "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."

The basic strategy of the administration has been to encourage a climate of fear, letting it exploit the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks not only to justify the invasion of Iraq but also to excuse such dangerous misbehavior as the illegal tapping of our telephones by government agents. The same fear-mongering has led government spokesmen and cooperative members of the press to imply that we are at war with the entire Arab and Muslim world-- more than a billion people.

Another shocking perversion has been the shipping of prisoners scooped off the streets of Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other countries without benefit of our time-tested laws of habeas corpus.

Although the president was advised by the intelligence agencies last August that Iran had no program to develop nuclear weapons, he continued to lie to the country and the world. This is the same strategy of deception that brought us into war in the Arabian Desert and could lead us into an unjustified invasion of Iran. I can say with some professional knowledge and experience that if Bush invades yet another Muslim oil state, it would mark the end of U.S. influence in the crucial Middle East for decades.

Ironically, while Bush and Cheney made counterterrorism the battle cry of their administration, their policies-- especially the war in Iraq-- have increased the terrorist threat and reduced the security of the United States. Consider the difference between the policies of the first President Bush and those of his son. When the Iraqi army marched into Kuwait in August 1990, President George H.W. Bush gathered the support of the entire world, including the United Nations, the European Union and most of the Arab League, to quickly expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The Saudis and Japanese paid most of the cost. Instead of getting bogged down in a costly occupation, the administration established a policy of containing the Baathist regime with international arms inspectors, no-fly zones and economic sanctions. Iraq was left as a stable country with little or no capacity to threaten others.

Today, after five years of clumsy, mistaken policies and U.S. military occupation, Iraq has become a breeding ground of terrorism and bloody civil strife. It is no secret that former president Bush, his secretary of state, James A. Baker III, and his national security adviser, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, all opposed the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq.

In addition to the shocking breakdown of presidential legal and moral responsibility, there is the scandalous neglect and mishandling of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe. The veteran CNN commentator Jack Cafferty condenses it to a sentence: "I have never ever seen anything as badly bungled and poorly handled as this situation in New Orleans." Any impeachment proceeding must include a careful and critical look at the collapse of presidential leadership in response to perhaps the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

Impeachment is unlikely, of course. But we must still urge Congress to act. Impeachment, quite simply, is the procedure written into the Constitution to deal with presidents who violate the Constitution and the laws of the land. It is also a way to signal to the American people and the world that some of us feel strongly enough about the present drift of our country to support the impeachment of the false prophets who have led us astray. This, I believe, is the rightful course for an American patriot.

As former representative Elizabeth Holtzman, who played a key role in the Nixon impeachment proceedings, wrote two years ago, "it wasn't until the most recent revelations that President Bush directed the wiretapping of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)-- and argued that, as Commander in Chief, he had the right in the interests of national security to override our country's laws-- that I felt the same sinking feeling in my stomach as I did during Watergate. . . . A President, any President, who maintains that he is above the law-- and repeatedly violates the law-- thereby commits high crimes and misdemeanors."

I believe we have a chance to heal the wounds the nation has suffered in the opening decade of the 21st century. This recovery may take a generation and will depend on the election of a series of rational presidents and Congresses. At age 85, I won't be around to witness the completion of the difficult rebuilding of our sorely damaged country, but I'd like to hold on long enough to see the healing begin.

This morning's Times of London carries two unrelated stories that Americans still on the fence about impeachment might want to think about. One involves former FBI whistleblower/translator Sibel Edmonds who has given the Times some startling information about Bush Regime officials involved with treason, including selling nuclear secrets to Pakistan. It is also widely believed that Edmonds heard tapes showing that then GOP House Speaker Denny Hastert was taking huge cash bribes from Turkey.

Bush's perverted and criminal Justice Department "has imposed a state secrets privilege order on her, which prevents her revealing more details of the FBI’s methods and current investigations. Her allegations were heard in a closed session of Congress, but no action has been taken and she continues to campaign for a public hearing... One of the CIA sources confirmed that the Turks had acquired nuclear secrets from the United States and shared the information with Pakistan and Israel. 'We have no indication that Turkey has its own nuclear ambitions. But the Turks are traders. To my knowledge they became big players in the late 1990s,' the source said."

The other Times story isn't about criminal or impeachable offenses. But it's one that may help Americans make up their minds about Bush. In the 1800s people in England enjoyed a higher standard of living than Americans. Since then America has eclipsed the U.K.-- until Bush, who never paid any attention at Harvard Business School, came along. After 8 years of economic mismanagement, likely to result in a severe recession, the American standard of living will have dropped below England's.

Bush has been a failure his entire life. Everything he has put his hand to has turned to shit. There was never any reason to suspect the same would not be true of the United States government. That may make him unpopular enough for an impeachment trial based on his impeachable activities, and for criminal trials for his cronies, to move forward. How much longer will the execrable Nancy Pelosi keep impeachment off the table. Voters in San Francisco owe it to America to remove this disgraceful political hack from office.
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36 Comments:

At 10:13 AM, Blogger Timcanhear said...

I'd like to offer this in wake of Howie's great writing on the case for impeachment.
Kabbalah teaches me that
the damage from just one individual soul can wreak havoc for lifetimes for all people.

"It starts with you and me"
Friends, I must tell you, at the rate we're going, mankind is headed for disaster. Evidence of the decay of humankind is all around us. In order to reverse the trend of hate and destruction, it's dependent on every person to dig deep within, change our approach and learn to share and to receive, not for ourselves, but for the love of sharing with others. It's going to take one person at a time. And again, at the rate we're going, mankind will be destroyed. We've got to work extra hard to accept the light, push away darkness and understand that all negativity stems from ourselves, our ego and our lack of desire to change. One person can affect positive change within another, who can then affect another until the level of negativity on earth is turned around and our spirituality raised to the level of Godliness. There is no way out friends. To save mankind and to raise the consciousness of humanity, it starts with you and me.

 
At 10:27 AM, Blogger woid said...

I just pasted the McGovern essay into an email to Pelosi and my representative, Howard Berman (a member of the House Judiciary Committee who could begin impeachment hearings, but, like the others, won't).

Howie, as the great organizer you are, maybe you can get thousands of people to flood Congressional mailboxes with this essay. As I wrote in my email, they need to read it, and read it again -- and then explain to all of us why they still refuse to impeach.

 
At 10:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is the biggest bunch of nonsense I have seen in awhile. Now wonder George McGovern was so overwhelming defeated by the American people!

I guess he never read any of the UN resolutions or the votes in congress authorizing military action or the reports from the intelligence agencies from around the world. Of course, don't let the "facts" get in the way of some good ole Bush Bashing!

You guys just stay "soaked" from "pissing in the wind"

Nobody listened to his anti-war rants back in the day and we are talking Vietnam! Everybody knows how unpopular that war was. Still, ole George lost in one of the most lopsided elections in our history.

He was and still is a "laughing stock"! Yes, send this essay around to congress, they will all get a good laugh out of it.

Hey look around maybe you can find something from "Cooter" Jones to use in your impeachemnt argument.

 
At 11:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Apparently with his head deeply buried in the ground "al" didn't bother to actually read McGovern's essay. The votes in congress would have been significantly different if BushCo had been telling the truth -- hence the need for impeachment.

a modern human

 
At 12:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, I read the essay, have you read anything outside the Democrat talking points?

Bush did not lie and he never said Iraq was involved in 9/11. All the major intelligence services around the world thought there were WMD's in Iraq, was Bush behind all those "lies"? Congress saw all the intelligence reports that Bush saw. Have you ever read the UN resolutions on Iraq? These tired of liberal lies have been debunked years ago.

Like I said, don't let a little thing like the "facts" get in your way!

Go find and "cut and paste" a lie that Bush told. I double dog dare you!

 
At 12:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Isn't it interesting that despite your allegations Bush was elected to a second term! If it didn't keep him from being elected, it certainly wont get him impeached!

 
At 12:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pelosi does not have what it takes to impeach , she seems to be a waste of my tax dollar , Bush and Dick have made enough profit from this war so what do they care about the American public or this Country , its all about the mighty dollar for these thieves , America has been lied to , raped of its freedom in exchange for fear impeachment is not enough try them in court and then hang them both for the cowards , thieves ,murderers,and lying bastards that they both are ...

 
At 5:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In 1972, I campaigned door to door for McGovern. Nothing I have seen or heard since then has given me the slightest doubt that I did the right thing.

Just as at that time, I was astounded and bewildered that so many people could not see how evil and crooked Nixon actually was, so today I am astounded and bewildered that people cannot or will not see the depth of depravity of today's republican party and their Democratic enablers.

 
At 5:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

james_boston,

Actually, I'm beginning to think that al may be more than just a dumb fuck, maybe even more than a major dumb fuck...he might actually be their king.

Don't worry al, we'll wait while you struggle out of those wetsuits and into your lingerie before you reply.

 
At 5:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry Al, you ancient dumb fuck, I don't know what a 45 rpm is.

cbear, I always thought W. was the king of the dumb fucks but you might be right. Al is at least giving him a run for his money (and I did not need the image of another Republican male in lingerie...though I guess he needs to wear it before he trolls the airport rest stops.)

 
At 11:09 PM, Blogger Bruce said...

al, George McGovern was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross defending your right to be a fool. He also earned a PhD, and served his country well as a U.S. Senator. Calling him a "laughing stock" because he lost an election because he was ahead of public opinion on the Vietnam War, public opinion which later changed, says more about you than him. Once again, he is trying to serve his country by speaking out against thugs who have violated their oaths to defend our Constitution, all in the name of personal profit for themselves and their backers.
Keep in mind (if you have one) that when Congress began hearings on Nixon's impeachment, the vast majority of Americans were not in favor of it. As the facts came out, that vast majority changed their minds. Don't worry, if Bush and Cheney are impeached, I wouldn't expect you to change your mind, even if you could. You have allowed yourself to become a programmed robot.
I have a lot more respect for George McGovern than I do for Dick 5 Deferments and "I had other priorities" Cheney and his lap puppet George "AWOL" Bush who distinguished his own "service" by snorting coke off of hooker's butts in New Orleans. What the HELL is wrong with you?

 
At 4:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Somehow I doubt that folks are going to listen to McGovern. Some folks I talked to were actually surprised the man was still alive! Even McGovern himself admits in the essay that impeachment is probably not going to happen. The Democrat Party will have to try and get their political revenge in some other way!

 
At 3:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Come on Bruce, heroism 65 years ago doesn't buy you a lifetime "free pass" from become a senile laughing stock. I appreciate and honor his service. I also served and fought; are you going to give me a free pass? Somehow I don't think so.

You may have someting against National Guard service, I don't. I had several friend that served in the guard and escaped Vietnam, they still served their country honorably. Of course you have to dishonor all Guardsmen in order to dishonor your President.

 
At 10:08 PM, Blogger Bruce said...

al, I have no problem with the National Guard. If you could read properly, you would learn that nowhere did I dishonor the National Guard as a whole. I didn't even do that when they shot those kids at Kent State. I only expressed my disrespect for ONE guardsman who failed to complete his duty. You make yourself a fool, at best by saying I said otherwise. Perhaps that is how you like to go through life. Unlike, McGovern, the guardsman I referred to has failed at everything he has done in his entire life. He couldn't even find oil in Texas. He would be a laughing stock if not for the fact that he has so adversely affected us all, dishonored, and, endangered his country in so many ways, not the least of which are not heeding the warnings about Bin Laden, abandoning Afghanistan, the Iraq war, and plunging us deeply into debt to China. He has taken two oaths, one as a guardsman and one as a President, to protect this great country. He has laughed at those oaths and us both times. Those few who still support him are in severe denial or deluded beyond repair. Goodnight.

 
At 6:10 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bruce, you can shout your lies and distortions for as long or as loud as you please, it doesn't make them true.

You have been reading these fringe left-wing websites for too long, you actually seem to believe everything you read here!

 
At 11:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Please excuse my son. I hope that once he accepts the fact that he's gay, he'll stop being such a right-wing jerk.

 
At 11:52 AM, Blogger Bruce said...

Like I said, "deluded beyond repair". I'll also put it another way; "none so blind as those who will not see".
One thing I am not, al, is a liar. You may even really think that those who say things that don't fit your world view are devoid of character enough to be liars. If that's the case, you have my sympathies, even if you don't want them.

 
At 12:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill, you in fact are a liar!

Abandoning Afghanistan – LIE

He has laughed at those oaths – LIE

Failed at everything he has done in his entire life – LIE

Dishonored his country – LIE

Endangered his country – LIE

You are so consumed with your hatred for George Bush that you have to create a fasle reality to justify that hate.

I feel sorry for you.

 
At 1:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry Bill, I of course meant to say Bruce!

 
At 1:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

al, you are delusional to the point of being completely crackpot.


> Abandoning Afghanistan – Of course that's exactly what he did. That's why the taliban are taking over again. That's why the entire country is unsafe, still dirt poor, and back in the opium business in a big way. That's why Osama is still loose.


> He has laughed at those oaths - "It's just a goddamn piece of paper!"


> Failed at everything he has done in his entire life – Well, he did make it to the White House. But every business venture he was in either went belly up or got bought out by arab sheiks as a favor to his dad. And everything he has done as president has been not just a failure, but a complete disaster.


> Dishonored his country, endangered his country – Both are obviously and very painfully TRUE.


al, you are out of your gourd. Seriously. Get help.

 
At 2:03 PM, Blogger woid said...

I think this is the longest comment thread I've ever seen at DWT -- and all because of some delusional schmuck named Al.

By this late date in the dismantling of our country, I think that ANYONE who still supports the Republicans and their fascist tendencies is delusional. You'd have to be.

There's no point in arguing with them, they don't live in the real world. They don't need logic, they need meds.

Maybe washed down with a bit of that harmless waterboarding they're so fond of.

 
At 2:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Step away from the keyboard folks--me and james_boston are the only ones qualified to handle Al when he gets like this.

al...Al...AL!!! you dumb fuck.

There, that should do it for awhile. Its the only language he understands. Feel free to resume your discussion.

 
At 7:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In Feb of this year, troops in Afghanistan were at their HIGHEST LEVELS of the war - Bruce and Me LIED

Sorry me, quoting other left-wing website stories don't get it. Find a legitimate news story for you quote - Bruce and Me LIED

Failed at everything he tried except that 1st Texas governor elected to consecutive 4 year terms, Rangers had highest attendance ever in 1994, elected President for 2 terms - Bruce and Me LIED

Dishonored his country how? - Bruce and Me LIED

Endangered his country how? -Bruce and ME LIED

Any objective person can see that BRUCE and ME LIED!!!!

Oh, and cbear is still SOS!

 
At 7:37 PM, Blogger Bruce said...

Looks like the stress is getting unbearable for al! KEEP THE THREAD GOING! HE'S ABOUT TO BLOW!!!!
Elected President?????? Try appointed.
Texas Rangers? The bozo traded Sammy Sosa! Genius. If he'd kept him, he might of won a World Championship. What a l-o-s-e-r!!
Dishonored his country how?
Endangered his country how?
You're right al, how could he do it? Why? Shrinks will be writiing about him for centuries! Hell, Bush is pissing all over you and you don't even know it!

 
At 11:19 PM, Blogger woid said...

Dishonored his country how?

By lying, spying, bribing, stealing, torturing, kidnapping and murder.

By making war on THE WRONG PEOPLE, and so killing and maiming untold numbers of their men, women, and children, as well as bringing early death, injury, or trauma to thousands of our brave troops, following orders from the worst, stupidest, most venal, psychopathic commander-in-chief in history.

That's a start.

Endangered his country how?

By ignoring all warnings of an impending terrorist attack in 2001, not even reading the report titled so a child could understand it, "Bad Man About To Attack Us!!!!" in neon ink on phosphorescent paper, presented to him in an atmosphere of deep crisis, through which he chuckled.

By telling the man who delivered the report to him, "All right, you've covered your ass now," while throwing him out of his fake ranch house office.

By then going out into the Crawford pastures and fucking a cow. And not very well.

(How'm I doin, Al?)

 
At 6:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Unfortunately for you woid, there are only a few of you on the very left fringe of our society that believe as you do.

Bush never lied, not once. Spying on our enemies may be a problem to you, but not to most Americans.

Bush never called for torture and those poor soldiers who were "mean" to a few prisoners in Iraq went to jail!

Who exactly did Bush kidnap I must have missed that story. I bet that came from a real reputable site!

Who did Bush bribe, I missed that one too!

I think if Bush had murdered someone he would have been impeached!

Right, Bill Clinton had 8 years to see the threat and fight terrorists and only chose to bomb an asprin factory and you think Bush should have solved the problem in the 1st 7 months of his administration. But I will give you partial credit on that one. I'm sorry, but you are going to have to quote a credible source on that last one. Pardon me if I don't take your word for it.

Please, even Nancy Pelosi would impeach if all you say is true. The Democrats would vote Nancy out and impeach if all you say is true.

It is so obvious that the country and the congress both Democrats and Republicans don't believe your LIES!

Do you know how stupid these comments make you look?

 
At 6:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Al, you dumb fuck.

Shoo, shoo, go away.
James and I don't have all day to slap you around like usual.

 
At 11:01 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another brilliant post by cbear, glad to see you are still SOS. For those of you new to the board that is Stuck On Stupid!

Does your mommy know you are playing on her computer?

 
At 8:56 PM, Blogger Bruce said...

al comes off as the proverbial 6 year old little boy who just got told by his mean older brother that THERE IS NO SANTA CLAUSE. His face scrunches up as this shocking new reality hits his young mind, and all he can muster is a scream of LIAR! LIAR! YOU'RE LYING!!!!!! .....as the tears stream down his face and the shaking hysteria seizes him.
Sleep well little al. The day of rude awakening is coming. Sleep well. Try not to think of that big bad spider with Cheney's face on its head that resides under your bed. He'll probably stay under there all night. Probably.

 
At 11:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lord...is Al crying again? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Somebody call Al the WAAAAmbulance!

 
At 5:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bruce, ain't it nice you have you buddy deleting my posts?

Let's try again. Can't you do anything original? I do the "mommy" thing and you follow up with the "little boy" thing. That's OK, you can copy-cat me, we all know you don't have any original thoughts.

I posted my facts concerning my LIAR claim, can you post any evidence to back up your claims? I won't hold my breath!

I bet you would be a big fan of Welcome Back Kotter!

 
At 5:45 PM, Blogger woid said...

Al,

Please DO hold your breath.

The rest of us will be back sometime next week.

 
At 7:28 PM, Blogger Bruce said...

al, I've never seen a single episode of the show you mention. As for facts your defense mechanisms call lies , you have been told before that they have been well laid out here and elsewhere. They just don't get from your eyeballs to your brain. That's all I can say for now. Your nurse has just informed me that visiting hours for you are over. I'm not a medical person, but, more meds might be in order.

 
At 8:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Come on Bruce, dispute my facts, give us a source showing how Bush abandoned Afghanistan.

Come on Bruce, defend just one of your lies! That should be pretty easy to do. There should be all kinds of info the the net!

Come on Bruce, it don't hurt to use your own brain to research a subject, you should try it!

 
At 8:53 AM, Blogger Bruce said...

Thank you, al, for giving us all further proof that you cannot comprehend the written word. I told you that visiting hours are over. Now take your meds. When you "wake up", I'm sure you'll find a different thread, maybe even a little something under your pillow.

 
At 12:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bruce,

Come on Bruce, that visiting hours and meds thing was old and tire the 1st time you used it? Don't you see how stupid you look using it again? Just like cbear, you are stuck on stupid.

However I am not suprised that you don't have the skills or intellect to actually defend even ONE of your "talking points" lies!

 

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