In the spring of 2005, Wisconsin Democrats drafted a resolution calling for the impeachment of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” They were upset by the revelations in the “Downing Street memos” which indicated that the Bush administration “fixed” intelligence to justify the war with Iraq. The resolution charged the administration with lying to the American people about Iraq‘s non-existent WMDS and alleged ties to Al Qaeda.
The UN declared the invasion and occupation of Iraq “illegal” and in violation of international law. This was pretty much the verdict around the rest of the world where opinion polls showed that Europeans perceived the United States to be the greatest threat to peace in the world. Of course, the neo-con extremists in the administration want the US to be feared. As Michael Leeden of the American Enterprise Institute put it: “Every ten years or so, the United states needs to pick up some crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world that we mean business.”
So they threw Iraq against the wall, waged a war of aggression, and occupied the country. Now there is a large humanitarian crisis. The Americans plan to stay a long time – if the massive American Embassy in the Green Zone and the numerous new military bases are any indication.
There has never been a stronger case for impeachment in American history. One can only ask – if the strongest case is not pursued, then when is impeachment justified? Will it be when the next President lies about having oral sex in the White House?
The Bush administration lied to Congress, usurped its power to declare war, and violated the trust between the government and the American people. According to the principles of the Nuremburg trials, waging a WAR OF AGRESSION IS A WAR CRIME, AND A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. Bush and Cheney should be impeached for this war crime. It is time to impeach before new war crimes are invented.
This Republican administration also engaged in numerous civil liberty violations in the name of “national security.” It has operated under a veil of secrecy. It has engaged in secret spying against American citizens through wiretapping, increasing surveillance by getting access to millions of phone and internet records. According to Naomi Wolfe, it is building a “fascist” architecture under our very noses. I don‘t believe we are fascist yet, but the sleep is deep and the future threatens. Every thinking person should be concerned.
In sum, the administration in Washington is responsible for imprisoning, torturing, and bombing large numbers of innocents who have never attacked the United States. In the process, the administration has violated the Geneva Accords, the Nuremburg principles, and international Human Rights treaties. Finally, it has violated American laws by attacking its critics, even outing a CIA agent whose husband merely committed the crime of telling the truth.
The Bush administration needs to be impeached. It lies and denies. It is the most corrupt and lawless administration in American history. Impeaching Bush and Cheney before they start another devastating war of aggression against Iran is imperative! They are already propagandizing us and preparing for another senseless war. When will it all end? The constitutional impeachment mechanism is a civil means provided in the Constitution which allows the American people to remove a deceitful and lawless administration engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors.
We have a deceitful and lawless administration that has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. In the process it has done great damage to the image of America oversees, and has wasted precious lives and resources of the American people that could have been used to improve American society. It needs to be impeached! It should have been done long ago.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
The writer is correct. But I can hear the Democrats now, “we can’t impeach, we don’t have time before the next presidential election, to do that and pass legislation that helps the American people in the areas of housing, education and health care.” It was wrong for Nancy Pelosi to take it off the table months ago. Well, I’m a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party and I say the country needs the impeachment process to begin.
While any thinking citizen has to agree with impeachment for all the reasons Rick listed, and others, it just won’t happen. This band of criminals has so convoluted the American mind set, and shown the Democrats for what they are, and whose interests they really represent, that any crimes will simply be ignored. The excuses will be the same as we have seen all along, it would “embolden the enemy”, “take our minds off the real enemy”, “show you’re soft on terror” and every other talking point we’ve been force fed for six years. The Dems don’t even have the spine to force health care for thousands of children. Why on earth would anyone think they would have the spine to impeach King George?
Response to Jeff Stone:
We have to help the Democrats get the spine. And we must continue to “bear witness” on the crimes that our government , the CIA, and the Pentagonians are committing in foreign lands against people that have never harmed or attacked America.
We must stand up for something, speak our conscience, even if our so called “leaders” can’t.
In my view , we may need to strategically vote “democ ratic” in the elections just to get some breathing room. The American unions consider it imperative to get the Democrats elected and in the Whitehouse and they are certainly part of progressive America. They may be right given the practival alternatives.
We need to get the neo-cons and the Republicans out of the White House. I know , I know – we have all heard this sorry story before, and it makes us nauseas. Yet, I may still compromise and vote Democratic just because I fear what another Republican victory would do for the Supreme Court, and frankly, for the American people and the world. Even center of the road Joe Biden said he would work to impeach Bush should he invade Iran without Congressional approval. Like I said: “Should of been done long ago.”
Little wonder that the American people have so little respect for Congress today. They are failing us in as much as they refuse to use the tools available to them to prevent this country from degenerating into a hypermilitaristic and paranoid fortress America. There have been some stirrings of rebellion, and evidence of a division in the American rulng class, regarding the course being followed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is possible we are goners anyway. But if we fail to reverse the current reactionary trend and do what we can to change this country for the better, we will probably really wish we were gone. And we may get our wish.
It’s all true, sadly. And the list goes on and on.
I’ve been trying to follow these hearings about the ‘destroyed torture tapes’, and see what becomes of that. (The COVER-UP brought em down!)….. How I wish.
Hope is pretty hard when Karl Rove is putting out a book of his White House years!!!! And getting a mil and a half. And has the ca-hooneis to say it was Congress that rushed into war, and get away with it, etc, etc, etc….
The very sad truth, I’m afraid, is that the majority of the Am. people don’t even know who Gonzo is, were you to survey the crew at the local watering hole. Only news addicts, intellectual gurus, activists, and the likes, follow the whole and real story. So, are we just talking amongst ourselves? And screaming FOUL to the deaf ear?
202-224-3121……..That’s the number of Congress. Call and holler at them, or tell them good job when he/she stands up. I don’t know if these mass petitions like Move-on, Code Pink, and even Kucinich call for amount to a hill of beans either, but I sure don’t see masses taking to the streets and chanting “Outta the houses, into the streets, free O.B.” (Anyone remember that?)
Frequently you can’t e-mail a congress person if you aren’t in their district…..did anyone know that? I think it’s pretty wierd.(.It’s all about the internet!) But the post office sells packs of post cards pretty cheap, and already stamped, PLUS, you can be anonymous, and stay off of the A list! (chances are you’re already there though if you’re at this web site.)
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Well Rick, we have discussed and argued voting for twenty, twenty-five years, with each other, so what’s changed? To take a quote from the Who “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”, won’t be fooled again…
You say: What has changed? First, the Cold War is over, although a new one may be starting.
Anothere thing that has changed is that we have occupying armies in two countries in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting prtracted counter-insurgency wars in both countries. It just so happens to be a place that has the greatest reserves of oil. We all better learn soon what that means.
I have never claimed voting alone is sufficient to change our society, and I believe we all have to do what we can – for the sake of humanity and the planet with its precious biosphere. We need a people’s social movement which connects what is happening to communities, workers , and the environment, with militarism , war, and what is occuring in Iraq and Afghanistan, never mind what’s occuring in the realm of nukes. Jonathan Schell’s THE SEVENTH DECADE, has a lot to say on that. Too much militarism in a world armed with nukes is in no one’s interest.
So voting is only one strategy, in my view a necessary one, and a necessary responsibility. We must use every avenue available to us and work to change this society for the better. Sitting in our armchairs certainly won’t do it.
Yes, it may be too late, as some say. I have to admit, it looks bad. But let’s not create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Merry Christmas and Joy . Peace on Earth
I don’t think you’re claiming that ending the cold war, and the invasion of the mid east is because someone voted democrat are you? I would agree only if you are talking about the votes cast at board meetings of the multi-national corporations who benefit directly from both your examples.
All I know is that we are in a different period of history, and that the Zi-Cons on the right have consolidated immense and, frankly, unbelievable power. They are suffering a legitimacy crisis right now because of IRAQ and Afghanistan, but soon could send our bombers into Iran if they are not stopped.
So the Dems have a chance to win the Presidency, maintain Congress, and (and this is the tough part) win the Senate as well. We have to hope they succeed, without absolving them of responsibility or falling asleep.
This would create a more favorable atmosphere for all progressive s . I am not promising you a rose garden, which some people seem to need before the’re satisfied.
If you read the positons of the Democrats and the Republicans, there are significant disagreements on the issue of civil liberties and constitutional rights,as well as on labor and environmental, and womens issues. We need to be careful about living in a pure dark night in which all cows we see are black.
While I agree with you that the dems have been pathetic, and are part of the warring ruling class, I am convinced they would reverse some of the more despicable legislation passed by the Repubs -they would at least restore habeas corpus . Also, I would rather have them pick the next few Supreme Court justices then just leave it up to the Republicans.
Does that mean that I think I can go to the ballot box and that’s it? No. Voting for the dems is obvioulsy not enough. I would live to see a real alternative social anti-war movement emerge in the future, but don’t see that serious movement for change on the immediate horizon.
So yea, absent a real alternative I’m willing to compromise while still working for greater and more progressive change. I think the unions are absolutely right on this issue.