There are several reasons to Impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Impeachable conduct by the President is a political crime in its nature and amounts to a gross abuse of power and a violation of the public trust.

Below is a partial list of the Executive Branch’s breach of the public trust.

- had prior knowledge of 9-11 attack and may have been part of the conspiracy
- concealed information on how and why the WTC towers collapsed
- ignored the CIA statement that Iraq had no WMD
- created ‘Preemptive War’ to justify attacking a sovereign nation
- lied about Iraq to start a war
- allowed torture of prisoners
- instigated crimes against humanity through mass genocide in Iraq and Afghanistan
- implemented extraordinary rendition, an unlawful practice according to the ACLU
- gave no-bid contracts to their friends and business associates
- wiretapped our phones and emails without a warrant
- nullified laws with signing statements
- leaked the name of an active CIA operative to the public
- ignored the FISA court law
- took away our habeas corpus by signing the Military Commissions Act
- has committed other acts which breach America’s liberty, justice and democracy
- breached his oath of office when he failed to defend the constitution

I strongly disagree with Senator Pelosi (CA-D) when she said in 2006 that Republicans would “just love” the “waste of time” such proceedings would be.

“Making them lame ducks,” she concluded, “is good enough for me.”

The Republican Party are not “lame ducks” as they continue to block important and comprehensive Bills from passing.

Impeachment proceedings must be brought against President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The only way to prevent tyranny is to attack it head on.

As a warmup for the main event, the Dems have been handed a great opportunity. Apparently, Gonzalez has been caught lying to congress in written documents, so this would be a good start on the road to ‘draining the swamp’. If they can handle the impeachment of the AG, then they can move on to the big fish. Why not? The administration is blocking anything coming from Congress, and the population is completely frustrated.

Re #85602 by Point Blank on 7/10 at 10:18 am
(117 comments total)

“Due process?” I call it gross procrastination due to the way our gov’t is run.  I also find it a bit odd that not very many “waves” were made UNTIL election year was growing close.  From all I’ve read there is more than enough evidence to impeach both Bush and Cheney.  Both are thumbing their noses at the laws that are supposedly for one and all.  “Executive privilege” is nothing more than a delay tactic.  That “horse” has been ridden to the ground with previous administrations and it is time -for actions NOT words.
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PB,

For 6 1/2 years we have seen the Cheney administration wipe its ass with our Constitution. Due process and rule of law is the remedy that will restore our democracy.

Impeachment was not a political possibility before November 06. Considering that it has only been six months and the Democrats have only a very slim majority, I would say they are making good progress at this point. You say you want action, not words. Then don’t pay attention to what they say, but to what they do. Nancy Pelosi may have SAID in November that “impeachment is not on the table”, but neverthless investigations that will lead to impeachment are being been energetically pursued. Soon it will be back on the table again, if it is not there already.

Meanwhile, keep calling your congressmen and senators to register your views.

Re #85563 by Point Blank on 7/10 at 7:02 am
(116 comments total)

“Tony, IF what you stated is true then why haven’t impeachment proceedings on both of the despots begun already?  We NEED to get them out of office yesterday.  What they have done to the USA in the names of greed and power will probably take longer than you and I have years left.”

PB,

Due process takes time. After the 06 elections, Democrats barely control the House and with Lieberman in the Senate and one. Of course the Cheney administration is obstructing investigation in every possible way, and it just takes some time to go through the legal steps. But we are getting there.

We also have on our side the very human emotion of revenge. A few months ago Cheney publicly told Pat Leahy to “go fuck yourself”. I can just imagine Leahy thinking, “Fuck me? No, no, my friend. Fuck you!” I am hoping this is going to be the bloodiest anal rape in our nation’s history, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. This is going to make Watergate look like a family picnic. The Republicans have it coming double for that bullshit impeachment they did to Clinton, and I sincerely doubt the Democrats have forgotten.

According to a poll by the American Research Group, 54% of the American people want Cheney to be impeached.  Recall the first democratic presidential debate when every candidate, even Sen. Gravel, stood as stiff as a frozen statue, refusing to so much as raise a hand to support impeachment, then consider that corporatist charletons like Clinton and Obama continue to be the “leading” candidates.

This is a prime example of what Noam Chomsky refers to as a “democracy deficit” that results because the conglomerated corporate media refuse to link candidates to the issues that truly matter.  If you support impeachment.  If you support single-payer health care.  If you support an immediately ending the war in Iraq.  If you want to see an end to NAFTA & the WTO—tools by which a tiny segment of our society, the economic elites, have outsourced America’s manufacturing base in search of cheap overseas labor as what is left of American labor has been increasing Wal-Mart-ized.  If you are tired of seeing the bulk of the hard earned money you pay in taxes flow to the coffers of the military-industrial complex—then the choice is really quite simple.
Go to http://www.kucinich.us

Re #85383 by James V on 7/09 at 1:52 pm

We shall see. I hope you are wrong. I am putting my confidence in constitutional law and those who care enough about it to defend it. If they investigate everything and stop nowhere, the hearings will be public and they will be sensational. The press won’t cover it up. The public DESPISES Cheney already. It will be such an eye-opener for the American people.

Tony,

It’s not that I want to wait or that I think that’s the way it should ideally be handled but rather that with the broken state of our Congress, the broken state of our press and the fact that our citizens have been kept in the dark with so much government secrecy (especially in instances where it is unjustified) that the idea of getting any sort of investigation and criminal proceedings off the ground now seems monumental at best to me. If it were possible to do it forthwith and effectively then I’d be all for that, but I’m skeptical.

The press factor I think is probably most critical reason why this will not happen as it should. The press played an important and critical role in Watergate and that is no longer a role it is capable of playing. And I believe that this White House knows that. Without an aggressive and independent press asking tough questions and reporting the hard facts to keep the public informed as to what has happened, this turns into a he-said-she-said affair and is intentionally painted as a partisan stunt. That’s the light it would be reported in and that’s the light the public would perceive it. And with that, this administration and the Republican party in general (not wanting that stain with an upcoming election) will have an opportunity to undermine the entire process at every step. And in the end the public would likely be left with an even worse taste in their mouths for impeachment then they did with Clinton’s…because in this case the people are actually guilty of some very serious and egregious crimes.

“#85368 by James V on 7/09 at 12:25 pm
(6 comments total)

With the complete saturation of criminality and contempt for the rule of law that permeates every layer of this administration, perhaps it is better not to move forward with impeachment now. To do so provides President Bush and VP Cheney all of the tools and powers that their offices provide in order to circumvent justice. Their entire terms of office prove how shamelessly they are willing to use those powers and positions to do just that.”
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James,

The way to repudiate the Cheney administration is to impeach right now - Cheney first, then Bush. It’s coming, not because of partisan politics but because there are still honest people who believe in constitutional law. Pat Leahy is relentless. Now moderate to liberal Republicans (God bless ‘em) like Arlen Spector and Richard Lugar are joining in.
It does remind me of Watergate. I expect Cheney to resign (like Nixon) when impeachment looks inevitable. And by “impeachment” I don’t mean something like the bullshit Clinton impeachment. I mean a real impeachment. I mean convictions in the Senate and long prison sentences, something that has never happened in this nations’ history. Nothing less will restore our democracy and our good name in the world. At this point I’m wondering if Cheney was behind 9-11. I don’t know, but it’s beginning to look possible. What we must have to restore democracy is unrelenting investigation leading to FULL PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. The people must know everything; otherwise democracy is lost, and the next administration will be implicated in the crimes of this one.

Once Cheney resigns, Bush cannot be allowed to appoint a successor; this can be prevented by Congress while they impeach Bush. That will make Nancy Pelosi president until January 2009, whether she likes it or not. At that point, I hope, we will be swearing in Dennis Kucinich.

Writeand call your congressman and Senators. Put out an Impeach Cheney yard sign. Have a bumper sticker that says “Honk if you love impeachment”. Let’s get this done! 

Of course, if we can’t get Bush and Cheney convicted by the end of their terms, we can and should continue to prosecute them afterwards. But I don’t think it’s going to go that way.

With the complete saturation of criminality and contempt for the rule of law that permeates every layer of this administration, perhaps it is better not to move forward with impeachment now. To do so provides President Bush and VP Cheney all of the tools and powers that their offices provide in order to circumvent justice. Their entire terms of office prove how shamelessly they are willing to use those powers and positions to do just that.

But…once out of office, is there any reason why we can not bring serious charges against them? These crimes are still crimes and charges can still be brought against them can the not? Is there any reason we can not try them and then, in a move that would be sure to garner us some healing respect across the globe, even turn them over for an international war crimes trial?

I know that I think the happiest day in my entire life would be a guilty verdict for many within this administration on those very charges - followed by the appropriate death sentence for each of them. It would be the right thing to do, it would be justice, and it would prove to the rest of the world that we here in the United States are decent people who can admit we’ve made a grave mistake letting these souless monsters run our country and harm so many in the process.

Re #84705 by Ernest Canning on 7/06 at 9:19 pm
(550 comments total)

“What troubles me is that Greenwald put together this little piece without once mentioning the sponsor of the articles of impeachment, Dennis Kucinich.  At the first democratic debate, when the other presidential candidates were asked if they would join with Mr. Kucinich in calling for Cheney’s impeachment, “every” other candidate, even Senator Gravel, stood stiffly like wooden statues.  Only one man had the courage and the wisdom to pull out a small booklet that goes to the core of what this is all about—the Constitution of these United States—a booklet that may well become nothing more than an historical footnote if America does not step forward to impeach both Cheney and Bush.  At stake is nothing less than the very survival of our democracy and the rule of law.”

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Hell, yes!  Come on, my fellow Americans, who are we?
Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who has principles, therefore he is not electable and cannot be taken seriously? Come on. Who has been right on the issues, certainly more right more often than anyone else running? Whose long record of service is more clean and sparkling? This the guy we need at a time like this. He’s the guy that had the guts to lead the charge to impeachment AND CONVICTION of the Cheney administration of more kinds of war crimes and treason than we can even imagine in our current state of blissful ignorance. This guy has proved himself time and time again.

For six and a half years our we have watched our constitution being subverted. Now, in the next 18 months, lets have some constitutional law. Let’s have some due process. Let’s have some investigations. Let’s throw some light on whatever deep dark secrets Cheney is trying to hide. NO MORE COVERUPS. Never mind your scummy politics. Let’s have some rule of law. That’s what we need. I would not trust anyone but Kucinich to try to make the full and complete truth public. Would you? Come on, you trust Hillary that much? Obama? Edwards? Come on, ask yourselves.

To help cleanse America’s image in the eyes of the world we must not only impeach but procecute and audit the beneficiaries of this administrations folly.

Point Blank, There is not a scintilla of evidence that Iraq had any WMD at the time of the invasion, let alone found the means to move them.  There is a very substantial body of evidence, especially that provided by Capt. Scott Ritter (USMC & former lead UNSCOM inspector) that three successive administrations knew that most of the weapons had been destroyed shortly after Gulf War I but carried out first a sanctions policy (under Bush I & Clinton) and then invasion (Bush II) because the goal throughout was “regime change” and only the tactics changed with the last of these three administrations willing to carry out the PNAC goal of establishing a permanent base of operations in the oil rich Middle East via invasion.

There have been innumerable instances during the last 6 years of Bush reign to argue effectively for impeachment.  It’s not happening because in our system of government, the Presidential System, the process is cumbersome and chaotic.

Under a Parliamentary System (take your pick as there are lots of variations of same) a Vote of No Confidence would be sufficient to rid us of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney.  Quick, painless, final - government remains stable while other things change.

As it is now, historians and other informed people are saying it will take generations for the United States to fully recover from Bush/Cheney - some even doubt that we ever will.

Save our beast !

I am for impeaching either one of these bozos, Bush & Cheney, but I fear more evidence is really needed to convict. They have managed to bring along other names like Powell, and the head of the CIA, to fog the details needed. This is why they need to get those subpoenas enforced, instead of all these phony threats by congress. The leaders in congress are stalling in doing what should have been started already. They can’t even get rid of the AG (Gonzalez), who couldn’t remember anything at those hearings! Evidently, the swamp was never drained!

If ever there was a time/case for a hearing into Impeachment – isn’t it now?

I wonder at what point people and congress will think that the illegal acts of President Bush and Vice President Cheney warrant a hearing?  Is lying to the American people and Congress an impeachable offence?  How about unwarranted searches and seizures?  American citizens held incommunicado?  Spying on American citizens?  Torture?  When will we decide enough is enough?

Don’t get me wrong - I support the troops.  I say, “Bring them home now”.
 
WMDs?  Where are they?  Was Iraq involved with 9/11?  President Bush has exploited the Presidency by convincing the American people that Saddam Hussein possessed chemical, biological weapons and nuclear weapons programs.  He also, day after day and before the war repeatedly connected al-Qaeda and 9/11 to Iraq to convince us that Iraq was a threat to the United States.

We now know this provocation to war was based on lies, deceptions and cover-ups after being told by officials from within the administration and others of there falsity.  Based on this false provocation, the House of Representatives should be prodded into initiating impeachment proceedings.  Isn’t this as serious as lying about sex?

As Nazi leader Hermann Goering said during at the Nuremberg trials in 1946, “Naturally the common people don’t want war; ... But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along ... . All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”

Now we are hearing that President Bush ordered the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens without obtaining a warrant in accord with the Fourth Amendment and the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  And, recent FBI targets of surveillance (nonviolent peace and human rights organizations, Catholic Workers Group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Vegan Community Project) prove that his administration’s goals have more to do with politics than with preventing terrorism.  Mr. Bush’s insistence that such surveillance is justified and will continue is further proof of his contempt for the law.

Numerous Bush Administration policies—denial of due process, extraordinary rendition, secret detention centers, and torture at various sites, including Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay—have violated U.S. and international law.

Vice President Cheney attempted to gain a license from Congress for torture, even though it has been proven ineffective for gathering accurate information (e.g., Ibn Al Shaykh Al Libi’s testimony about links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, later recanted).

Congress must investigate whether the White House endorsed the use of outlawed weapons materials such as depleted uranium, which causes radioactive contamination of humans (U.S. troops as well as Iraqi civilians) and the environment; white phosphorus, a chemical whose use in warfare is proscribed by international agreement; and cluster bombs, which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Their use in Iraq is a war crime for which either the President himself or the Defense Department must be held accountable.

The overwhelming position of legal scholars is that Bush and Cheney have violated grave laws protecting the liberties of the American people.

You can get more information about Impeachment at http://www.gp.org.

Join me now.  I say, “Enough is enough”.  Impeach Bush and Cheney now.

I believe there is ample evidence to prove Cheney (and others) did in fact willfully mislead Congress by manipulating evidence in order to get a mandate to invade Iraq.
This is a direct violation of his osth of office.
Impeach Cheney now!!!

What troubles me is that Greenwald put together this little piece without once mentioning the sponsor of the articles of impeachment, Dennis Kucinich.  At the first democratic debate, when the other presidential candidates were asked if they would join with Mr. Kucinich in calling for Cheney’s impeachment, “every” other candidate, even Senator Gravel, stood stiffly like wooden statues.  Only one man had the courage and the wisdom to pull out a small booklet that goes to the core of what this is all about—the Constitution of these United States—a booklet that may well become nothing more than an historical footnote if America does not step forward to impeach both Cheney and Bush.  At stake is nothing less than the very survival of our democracy and the rule of law.

Stop this nonsense of selecting from candidates whom the corporate media insist are “electable” but who represent solely the interests of the corporatocracy and the wealthy elite.  Join the growing ranks of the only candidate who, on issue-after-issue truly represents the vast majority of the electorate—the middle and working classes.  Only when massive numbers of Americans join the Kucinich campaign will the gutless, poll-driven Democratic “leadership” sit up and begin to take note of the need to climb onto the impeachment bandwagon.

Go to http://www.kucinich.us