On Thursday Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who had already introduced 3 articles of impeachment against Cheney and 35 against Bush introduced a single article of impeachment against Bush charging him with misleading Congress into a war on Iraq. Also on Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the media that she expected the Judiciary Committee to consider the matter. And Kucinich held a press conference at which he said that what he wants is an opportunity to present his proposals to the Judiciary Committee.
Let's make sure that Committee Chairman John Conyers grants this request. Phone him now at 202-225-3951. Post here what he tells you.
If you're able to speak with Conyers or his staff at any length, please remind them that Bush and Cheney and members of their administration are refusing to comply with numerous subpoenas and even contempt citations, as well as refusing to answer questions by claiming "executive privilege." During an impeachment hearing, there is no executive privilege. The Judiciary Committee should hold an impeachment hearing of Bush and Cheney on refusal to comply with oversight. It's the fastest way to justice and the only chance of establishing any oversight.
Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people: IMPEACH
DAVID SWANSON is a co-founder of After Downing Street, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.
Article 1: Deceiving Congress w/ fabricated threats
Excerpted from Press Release linked above:
Statement by US Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich Presenting an Article of Impeachment of the President
ARTICLE ONE
DECEIVING CONGRESS WITH FABRICATED THREATS OF IRAQ WMDs TO FRAUDULENTLY OBTAIN SUPPORT FOR AN AUTHORIZATION OF THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ.
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," deceived Congress with fabricated threats of Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) to fraudulently obtain support for an authorization for the use of force against Iraq and used that fraudulently obtained authorization, then acting in his capacity under Article II, Section II of the Constitution as Commander in Chief, to commit US troops to combat in Iraq.
To gain Congressional support for passage of the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, the President made the following material representations to the Congress in SJ Res 45:
1. That Iraq was "continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability.…" 2. That Iraq was "actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability. . . ." 3. That Iraq was "continuing to threaten the national security interests of the United States and international peace and security." 4. That Iraq has demonstrated a "willingness to attack, the United States...." 5. That "members of Al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq.. . ." 6. The "attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, underscored the gravity of the threat that Iraq will transfer weapons of mass destruction to international terrorist organizations. . ." 7. That Iraq "will either employ those weapons to launch a surprise attack against the United States or its Armed Forces or provide them to international terrorists who would do so, . . ." 8. That an "extreme magnitude of harm that would result to the United States and its citizens from such an attack,. .. ." 9. That the aforementioned threats "justify action by the United States to defend itself; . . ." 10. The enactment clause of Section 2 of SJ Res 45, the Authorization of the Use of the United States Armed Forces authorizes the President to "defend the national security interests of the United States against the threat posed by Iraq. . ."
that Dennis Kucinich is an incumbent Democrat, and undeserving of inclusion in a "House cleaning" effort. There are many Democratic congresspeople who have ill served the nation, including the Speaker of the House and the House Majority Leader, but there are many dedicated public servants worth keeping on. There may even be one or two Republicans worth keeping, although that's more problematic.
Anyway, before anyone mounts an effort to dump their congressperson, check to be sure that they deserve such treatment. Term limits are to be applied to the bad ones, and the founders gave us an opportunity to limit their term every two years, if we so desire.
by
John Sanchez Jr. (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 1174 comments)
on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 6:48:42 PM
"This is the part where justice rolls down like a mighty stream."
Not very likely. A more likely outcome is that this is where the subject of impeachment is squashed for all time. If Congress impeaches the President, they are morally obligated to impeach themselves as well for their complicity. We've already seen the articles of impeachment whittled down from 35 to 1. if Pelosi was really serious about this, she would have let all 35 articles stand. There's a better chance that it would pass that way. Pelosi is doing nothing more than paying lip service to those who know what's really going on in the Congress to make it look like she's actually doing something before the elections. Nothing will come of this impeachment. Even if the House passes it (which I doubt), the Senate will not act. Trust me.
by
Watching (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 313 comments)
on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 3:19:11 PM
But the hearings will have at least been held. History will have to treat these criminals the same as they treat Clinton....the media propagandists still have people thinking he was impeached although the Senate did not convict...To do nothing is a crime in itself.
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Dennis Kaiser (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 229 comments)
on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7:02:29 PM
BushCo has got too many trumps which they can play. First and foremost he can call the state of emergency after a -- obviously staged -- disaster, like a new 9/11 and get full dictatorial power. Actually that was what he was planning all along so that will happen anyway. But he'll loose whatever credibility he has ever had. Mugabe has been ruling Zimbabwe for ages now but only after the recent 'victory' over Tsvangirai he lost all credibilty towards his people. Whereas Bush has had at least some credibility among the people of the US. The impeachment proceedings he would survive even without a staged event, the mugabe way, but not without having to rip of his mask of stupidity.
by
Han (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 196 comments)
on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 4:28:56 PM
Dubya won't be able to pardon witnesses against him while impeachment proceedings are underway. That leaves him wide open to criminal prosecution for any time in the future this side of the statute of limitations. There is no statute of limitations on murder and treason.
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John Sanchez Jr. (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 1174 comments)
on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 6:53:03 PM
Here is Dennis' refutation, with evidence, of the first lie: ---------------------
Each consequential representation made by the President to the Congress in SJ Res 45, in subsequent iterations and the final version was unsupported by evidence which was in the control of the White House.
1. Iraq was not "continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability. . ."
"A substantial amount of Iraq's chemical warfare agents, precursors, munitions and production equipment were destroyed between 1991 and 1998 as a result of Operation Desert Storm and United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) actions. . . . There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons or whether Iraq has--or will--establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities." Defense Intelligence Agency. Iraq--Key WMD Facilities--An Operational Support Study. September 2002. Available: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2003/06/dod060703.pdf
"Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq's chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community's uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing." Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq By U.S. Government Officials Were Substantiated By Intelligence Information. June 5, 2008. Available: http://intelligence.senate.gov/080605/phase2a.pdf
"In April and early May 2003, military forces found mobile trailers in Iraq. Although intelligence experts disputed the purpose of the trailers, Administration officials repeatedly asserted that they were mobile biological weapons laboratories. In total, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice made 34 misleading statements about the trailers in 27 separate public appearances. Shortly after the (mobile trailers were found, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) issued an unclassified white paper evaluating the trailers. The white paper was released without coordination with other members of the intelligence community, however. It was disclosed later that engineers from DIA who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons. A former senior intelligence official reported that "only one of 15 intelligence analysts assembled from three agencies to discuss the issue in June endorsed the white paper conclusion." House Committee on Government Reform- Minority Staff. Iraq on the Record: Bush Administration's Public Statements about Chemical and Biological Weapons. March 16, 2004. Available:click here chief of CIA covert operations in Europe, Tyler Drumheller, has said that the CIA had credible sources discounting weapons of mass destruction claims, incuding the primary source of biological weapons claims, an informant who the Germans code-named “Curveball” whom the Germans had informed the Bush Administration was a likely fabricator and including the Niger Yellowcake forgery. Two other former CIA officers confirmed Drumheller’s account to Sidney Blumenthal who reported the story at Salon.com on September 6, 2007.
"In practical terms, with the destruction of the Al Hakam facility, Iraq abandoned its ambition to obtain advanced biological weapons (BW) weapons quickly. The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) found no direct evidence that Iraq, after 1996, had plans for a new BW program or was conducting BW-specific work for military purposes. Indeed, from the mid-1990s, despite evidence of continuing interest in nuclear and chemical weapons, there appears to be a complete absence of discussion or even interest in BW at the Presidential level. In spite of exhaustive investigation, ISG found no evidence that Iraq possessed, or was developing BW agent production systems mounted on road vehicles or railway wagons…. ISG harbors severe doubts about the source's credibility in regards to the breakout program.” Duelfer, Charles. Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence on Iraq’s WMD. Available: http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/duelfer.html
“While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991. There are no credible indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter, a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad's desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered." Duelfer, Charles. Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence on Iraq’s WMD. Available: http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/duelfer.html
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this morning that the House Judiciary Committee may hold hearings on an Impeachment resolution offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
Why may Nancy, are you afraid of the Truth? Impeachment should have already been on the table where it belongs! Menanwhile, this pernicious Bush cabal continues to undermine and make a mockery out of the judical process in this country.
Pelosi is a dam fraud who could care less about her country. Her statement today is pure rubbish and is meant only to keep the publics short attention span off of what happened yesterday with the FISA bill and the collapse of our Constitution.
by
Munich (0 articles, 67 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 831 comments)
on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 5:54:05 PM
Didn't This Author Make The Same Claim 30 days ago?
LOL
Without direct action, republican democracy is truly disempowering: our only means of influence are to beg the Very Serious And Important Intermediary - the congressman, the governor, the president, etc. - to do something on our behalf. But there are many different methods of direct action - ie. taking matters into our own hands - that can wield a tremendous amount of power.
The Establishment wants us to focus all of our energy on elections because elections are the controlled space whereby popular ferment can be contained by rules, regulations, etc.
But surely after passage of the Patriot Act, War Funding request, covert and overt acts against Iran, REAL ID Act, refusal to impeach and now FISA it should be more than evident our government is out-of-control.
Today Bush looks for any excuse to attack another oil-rich nation. And should we now believe that the same Congress which eagerly authorizes everything that Bush ask for can or would impeach Bush/Cheney.
When you want to get REAL about impeachment join the strike at
are you kidding me? david swanson has been engaged in direct action for years against the bush administration AND against democratic members of congress.
by
Cheryl Biren-Wright (19 articles, 23 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 351 comments)
on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7:24:50 PM
THAT's why we didn't hear more about the longshoremans' strike.
It was all over the foreign media.
Guess that's where Americans have to go these days for decent reporting!
We need to lean on these Media bloodsuckers and bootlickers as hard as we can. Even PBS is corrupt. I had to write a letter to C-SPAN complaining about their using a blatant partisan HACK like Jack Torrey (Good name for him, eh?) to "Introduce" Kucinich the other day before he read his impeachment articles. Both the C-SPAN moderator and Torrey were practically ridiculing him.
It was disgraceful, and we should have been able to expect better from them, at least!
by
Bia Winter (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 328 comments)
on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 8:47:44 AM
If hearings occur and Bush and Cheney are impeached.
The Democrats have already funded the war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq until 2010.
So Pelosi would become President for a few months until Obama or McCain took office.
There would be absolutely no change in foreign policy.
The wars of aggression, the crimes against humanity, the torture, the secret prisons, the lack of habeus corpus, the wire tapping, the national debt, the job outsourcing, the destruction of the environment, and every other aspect of corporate rule by the military-industrial complex and the wealthy elites would continue without missing a beat.
And while everyone's watching the impeachment hearings my guess, if we've already paid them to do it, is that Israel will nuke Iran. Watch closely now, nothing in my hands, nothing up my sleeves, keep your eyes on the pendulum, you are getting sleepy, your eyelids are getting heavy, just relax and....BOOM! What was that? Oh, just another one of those little disaster capitalism shocks, nothing to see here, think about the cost of gas, think about the elections, go back to sleep.....
Do you really want to punish Bush and Cheney, or do you want to stop the war crimes and the torture? Don't you think that Bush and Cheney would be warned in time to pardon themselves if impeachment was going to occur?
Besides, this is the Congress that exempted Bush, Cheney, and themselves from prosecution for war crimes when they pass the Military Commissions Act.
Do you people pay per view for every dog and pony show Congress puts on?
Gee, if they impeach it will prove that they never really voted for war, didn't really support the Bush/Cheney agenda, really loved us all along, and we can all go out and vote in the rigged elections to reward them for their stellar record and show our support for their commitment to continue the wars of aggression which they've already paid for no matter who becomes president.....
And if impeachment succeeds we can have a woman President (Pelosi) for a few months, and then maybe a black President (Obama) for a few years, and a Democratic administration and we can still kill millions more Afghans and Iraqis anyway. Isn't that just peachy keen? Aren't you EXCITED!
Don't you want to call me names for being such a spoil sport?
"Besides, this is the Congress that exempted Bush, Cheney, and themselves from prosecution for war crimes when they pass the Military Commissions Act."
I am not a legal expert, but based on my best understanding, the Military Commissions Act (torture bill) absolves only the US President from immunity for war crimes, not Congress at large. The immunity is specifically for torture, but not for war crimes in the broadest sense.
You can read more about it on the ACLU's website. Go to www.aclu.org, and punch in "Military Commissions Act Fact Sheets" into the search box. It will come up. Ditto as regards any other bill you want to read about.
THank you all for your concern. And your discouragement is understandable, Mark. I hope this detail gives you and others more hope.
As regards votes being rigged and our votes not making *any* difference, there is a cognitive distortion which I want to point out. The thought of *any* is the distortion. While *some* or even *much* of the votes are rigged, it's certainly not *all* of them. At the precincts, it is historically 2 and 3 percent of the votes which are taken. The more serious mischief occurs at the centralized level (County, State, Federal) where there is no oversight. To remedy the situation, we need to have citizen oversight of elections, especially at these central levels.
Be that as it may, when there is a mass movement of voters, it can't be overturned. Look at what happened at the last election. If historically, according to election reform authority Victoria COllier, Republicans have stolen elections since the 50's, the Dems still won....because of the mass movement to vote Democratic.
A Democrat myself, I sure as hell I am not saying the Dems are part of the solution. Hell no! But the point I am making is that the mass voting movement won out, despite the odds. There is still hope. Take it. Grasp it. Thank it. Use it. Pass it on. Thank you all.
by
Kathryn Smith (93 articles, 2 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 361 comments)
on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 7:21:09 AM
