It’s Never Too Late to Impeach Bush
"A moment I've been dreading. George (Bush Sr.) brought his ne're-do-well
son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political
one who lives in Florida: the one who hangs around here all the time looking
shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real
job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll
hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."
-- Ronald Reagan in his recently published diaries , written May 17, 1986
It’s good to know there are still at least some politicians who are trying to oust the president. Dennis Kucinich gave notice on 6/9/08 that he intended to introduce 35 Articles of Impeachment to the House of Representatives (Congress). The next day he was joined by Robert Wexler. Reports say the House chamber was almost empty when he introduced this resolution. In order to get an impeachment of the President, the House must agree to pass a resolution that Bush is a traitor or guilty of other high crimes. The House presents these to the Senate and only the Senate has the power to try all Impeachments. If two thirds of the Senate agrees through votes then the president is found guilty, convicted and removed. Even though the House can impeach you, the Senate can acquit you. Democrats .com is circulating updates on Kucinich and his movement and some notables whom are with him and who are not:
“After more than three years of grassroots pressure from true patriots like you, Congress finally took step 1 towards impeaching George W. Bush for his High Crimes by holding a ‘non-impeachment hearing’ last Friday. Witnesses led by Dennis Kucinich, Elliot Adams, Rocky Anderson, Bob Barr, Vincent Bugliosi, Bruce Fein, Maurice Hinchey, and Elizabeth Holtzman presented an overwhelming case for impeachment. Most of the Democrats who attended the hearings were excellent . If one of these is your Representative, or if you contributed to their campaigns, please call 202-224-3121 to thank them for supporting impeachment: Dennis Kucinich, Robert Wexler, Tammy Baldwin, Keith Ellison, Maurice Hinchey, Sheila Jackson-Lee, and Hank Johnson.” Chairman John Conyers-who started the whole impeachment dialogue like a lion and now he’s a lamb said this was not an impeachment hearing. "I believe the evidence on these matters is both credible and substantial and warrant the response of the executive branch, under oath if at all possible... Let me add, we are not done yet, and we do not intend to go away until we achieve the accountability that Congress is entitled to and the American people deserve."
According to Democrats.com this is what is needed for Ws exit strategy: “1. 228 Democrats (and 199 Republicans) who have not co-sponsored Articles of Impeachment against George Bush. Tell your Representatives to co-sponsor Rep. Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment:
2. Key Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who do not support impeachment.
a. Impeachment Hamlets: Bobby Scott, Zoe Lofgren, and Jerry Nadler believe Bush committed impeachable offfenses, but they are terrified to support impeachment. Call them to find out why they can't make up their minds: b. AWOL Democrats: These members showed their contempt for the Constitution (and their constituents) by not even attending the July 25 hearing: Howard Berman, Rick Boucher, Artur Davis, Bill Delahunt, Luis Gutierrez, Linda Sanchez, Betty Sutton, Maxine Waters, Anthony Weiner. Call them to find out why they failed to do their jobs - and when they will support impeachment: c. Impeachment opponents: Adam Schiff, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Mel Watt believe none of Bush's High Crimes are impeachable. Call them to find out why they have betrayed their Oath of Office. House Democratic "Leaders" who oppose impeachment: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel, Whip Jim Clyburn, and DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen believe impeachment would hurt Democrats in November.” How they figure that one is beyond me. Nixon’s didn’t hurt Carter when he beat out Ford.
Ideas and proposals regarding impeachment of President Bush officially began back in late winter of ’03 with people like former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark and John Conyers of Michigan, who was the only Congressman to attend a 2-hour session in mid-March. Conyers was said the have hosted the event at an undisclosed location. Back then the panel looked at the Tony Blair intelligence reports (revealed to have been plagiarized by a college student), the claims of a defector and member of Saddam Hussein’s family who stated that all of Iraq’s WMDs were destroyed after the first Gulf War and former Secretary of State Colin Powell nationally-aired “smoking gun” speech. Next: Impeachment and the media.
The Cover-up of the Impeachment Coverage.
A 7/31/08 report by F.A.I.R. shows even the most token coverage of the impeachment hearings as receiving no respect: “CNN's Election Center program devoted a July 25 report to mocking a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee investigating White House abuses of power. ‘Believe it or not, there was a congressional hearing today about impeaching the president,’ scoffed host Campbell Brown, who added: ‘It was all stagecraft, though.’ Brown went on to introduce the report by CNN correspondent Erica Hill by saying, ‘Tell us about this piece of Kabuki theater, Erica.’’ According to FAIR Brown is married to Dan Senor; a former deputy. press secretary for Bush.
The word Kabuki derives from the verb Kabuku; “to lean” or “to be out of the ordinary” as in avant-garde or bizarre theater. Attributing the word to the Kucinich’ hearings is a shot at his lack of coverage and political support. Hill explained: "The Democratic leadership made it clear impeachment is not on the table at this hearing today for two reasons. Not only is there not enough time left in President Bush's term, but also they know any real impeachment hearings at this point could cause a major backlash." This goes deeper than partisan issues, when any firm bombards their colleges and clients with corruption, there will be those who’ll find ways to defend it. What the Bush Administration has done is inspire or give license to all the difficult personalities within various sectors of government and secular industry from civil rights divisions to law inforcement, to oil, real estate etc., to play fast and loose with the public’s rights, liberties and priviledges just by their watching him.
Former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holzman who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during Richard Nixon’s impeachment proceedings, is the author of HR 23 which is the article to remove Bush for a similar crime as Nixon; wiretapping. I say forget the time issue and why let all that writing go to waste? Democrats.com said a couple years ago that Conyers took impeachment off the table because he was afraid “Fox News” would attack him permanently and at that time he needed 218 votes. I wondered then if he and Pelosi thought this was going to be easy.
FAIR continued: “The report closed with Hill assuring voters that George W. Bush was not threatened by any of this: ‘As for the president today, clearly, not too worried about this hearing. He was in Peoria, Illinois. As you can see here, kissing babies, smiling, taking pictures.’” Sadly Bush can afford to relax, the efforts to remove him have obviously been sporadic.
A recent interview by Katrina vanden Heuvel; the editor of “The Nation” with Nancy Pelosi on why she dropped the impeachment issue, instead of admitting she got cold feet, she hinted this would risk national unity. “When I interviewed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about her new book, Know Your Power , I asked her the question all of us have been asking for two years: how could she take impeachment ‘off the table’? Her answer: she wants Democrats to control the House… and in order to stop the wealthiest 1% from "sucking the money out of the middle class" and creating a "caste system."
According to democrats.com “Many progressives disagree with Speaker Pelosi because they believe holding this administration accountable for its staggering abuse of power is essential for preserving our Constitution. They also believe the American people would reward those who defend the Constitution.” Since I take it personally when the right are trying to push W as one of the all-time great presidents, this in itself should be enough incentive to oust the one whom even Reagan called “shiftless” looking. Bush needs impeachment on his permanent record; a record his Daddy can't expunge. Like I said, the impeachment movement needs players, not acclimated zombies who went from disregard to indoctrination due to over-exposure to corruption.