By Dave Lindorff
Faced with an obstructionist leadership in the House, and a mainstream media that have forsaken their role as a Fourth Estate monitor of government abuse, three Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee are calling on the public to demand that the Congress initiate impeachment hearings immediately against Vice President Dick Cheney.
Speaking at a telephone press conference Friday organized by Democrats.com, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) said that following a bi-partisan vote Nov. 7 by the full House to send Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s Cheney impeachment bill (H Res 799, formerly H Res 333) to the Judiciary Committee, it was time for those hearings to “immediately” get underway.
Scoffing at the argument that has been made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others in the Democratic leadership that impeachment might hurt Democratic chances in the November ’08 elections, or that it could deter Democrats from their Congressional agenda, Wexler says, “I believe that there is a constitutional obligation for the Congress to hold this administration accountable, and it should not depend on what people think the impact might be on an election. The only question should be: Did Vice President Cheney abuse his powers?”
He adds, “If the American people believe that the democrats are holding a legitimate inquiry into serious issues of constitutional importance, they will not hold it against them. And besides, initial polling would indicate that this is not some off-the-reservation idea.”
The Florida legislator, who had not been among the 22 co-sponsors of the impeachment bill submitted last April 24 by Rep. Kucinich, says that by beginning impeachment hearings in the House, “We would create our own fate, and we shouldn’t be afraid of that fate.”
Noting that the Democratic congressional leadership has been opposing impeachment by saying that they were sent to Washington “to act on issues like insuring children and ending the war,” Wexler says, “We have followed that strategy for a year now, and what we have been met with is a president who will not sign any of these measures and a Senate mired in filibusters. We have nothing to lose by starting impeachment.”
A major problem in challenging the Democratic leadership, however, has arisen in the form of a national media that simply ignores the growing national impeachment movement and the growing calls for impeachment within the Congress. Wexler reports that an opinion article penned by himself and two Judiciary Committee colleagues, Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), which was sent to a number of leading newspapers, including the Miami Herald, the Washington Post and the New York Times, was rejected for publication—an astonishing act of censorship for a document authored by three members of congress on an issue of such significance as impeachment of the vice president.
In that article, Wexler, Gutierrez and Baldwin write:
The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens.
Now that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan has indicated that the Vice President and his staff purposefully gave him false information about the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent to report to the American people, it is even more important for Congress to investigate what may have been an intentional obstruction of justice. Congress should call Mr. McClellan to testify about what he described as being asked to “unknowingly [pass] along false information.” In addition, recent revelations have shown that the Administration including Vice President Cheney may have again manipulated and exaggerated evidence about weapons of mass destruction -- this time about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Asked why he thought leading publications had refused to publish the op-ed piece calling for an immediate start to impeachment hearings, Wexler says, “I think the mainstream media, at least thus far, have bought the notion that impeachment hearings are outside the bounds of what Congress ought to be doing.”
He adds that there may be a fear, on the part of corporate media executives and editors, and on the part of Democratic Party congressional leaders, of having been “complicit” in many of the administration’s constitutional crimes. “There may be some significant conflicts of interest,” he says, that could make them feel uncomfortable about the idea of impeachment hearings.
To push back against this unseemly resistance Rep. Wexler and his two House colleagues have decided to go public with their message. Wexler has set up a website, called WexlerWantsHearings. He is urging Americans from across the country to go to the sign and sign on to his call for an immediate start to hearings. “I want to be able to go to my colleagues in the house and say I have 55,000 people calling for hearings,” he says.
People should also be contacting their local and national media outlets—and especially the New York Times, Washington Post and Miami Herald—demanding that they report openly and honestly on the growing impeachment movement, and that they publish the Wexler, Gutierrez Baldwin op-ed.
While he does not say where he thinks House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) stands at this point on the subject of starting hearings on the long-stalled Kucinich impeachment bill, which has languished in a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee for over half a year, Rep. Wexler said he has spoken with Conyers about the matter. “I have a lot of confidence in John,” he says.
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http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
Dave Lindorff, a columnist for Counterpunch, is author of several recent books ("This Can't Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy" and "Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal"). His latest book, coauthored with Barbara Olshanshky, is "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office (St. Martin's Press, May 2006). His writing is available at http://www.thiscantbehappening.net
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Certainly the absurd impeachment of Clinton didn't hurt the Republican chances in 2000, so Nancy has another agenda. It's possible that Democratic collusion in all the events of the past seven years is so deep that she fears a hearing. Why else would Democrats be so toothless with the same slim majority that Republicans used (and, inexplicably, continue to use) to deep-plow our Constitution? Dennis Kucinich may not have a chance as a presidential candidate, but if he sets impeachment in motion he will have served his country more honorably than anyone of this tragic decade. by
Jim Freeman (108 articles, 40 quicklinks, 161 diaries, 328 comments)
on Friday, December 14, 2007 at 6:58:20 PM
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? I don't know ... what do ya think? Think even the powers that be that put these pathological rapist, murdering, torturing, thieving, bastards are tired of having them commit their crimes openly and then rubbing our faces in it? I know I am. by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 1067 comments)
on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 3:07:08 AM
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I am a chemist and able to contribute to the debate about thermite. |
and 9/11 criminality Transport Secretary Norman Minetta: ....and when it got down to 10 miles out the young man also said to the Vice President, "do the orders still stand", and the Vice President whipped his neck around and said "of course they still stand - have you heard anything to the contrary?" and a few minutes later the plane hit the Pentagon. by
gravity32 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 146 comments)
on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 8:36:02 AM
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People are the only ones able to push impeachment MSM loves being jabbed at by the likes of us, as long as we keep on listening/reading them. And they're ecstatic when we give money to candidates who deride them while at the same time fattening their bottom lines with political ads. Wexler is very effective with his new webpage. The video is worth sending to any of our friends who even might listen to it. For my part I like to approach my more literate friends with a gift of Genius of Impeachment, especially if they're likely to pass it on. Two of my doctors concur that it's time that professionals be allowed to be professionals. I wonder how we could get the journalism professionals to read it. Teachers are good candidates for outreach. People are the only ones who can get Congress off its apathy. Deep in her heart, Nancy Pelosi must muse about the less than glory days of Dennis Hastert. Now I'll get back to my own action by writing Jimmy Duncan (R, TN2) who voted against the war, the surge and has not budged. However, our County officials and the local paper are in a state of political indigestion. And Lamar Alexander is up for Senate again. It's a question of impacting the folks who brung us to the sorry state of affairs. It's good to have a news source like OpEdNews where we can exchange events impacting our local areas. It's even better when we have national writers intellectually capable of understanding how wholesale trends occur. Keep up the good work, David Lindorff. by
Margaret Bassett (19 articles, 1124 quicklinks, 24 diaries, 622 comments)
on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 8:44:46 AM
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Richard Mynick is a US citizen who, despite the best efforts of the corporate media, noticed something disturbing about how the 2000 election was decided, & felt it augured poorly for democracy. |
One can only wish them well. Wexler's website has 34,000+ signatures already (I just signed, myself). However, one should probably not hold one's breath -- there have been a zillion developments over these last 7 years that sounded promising at first -- then came to nothing. I wonder why Wexler himself wasn't one of the 22 who signed Kucinich's similar articles?? by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1026 comments)
on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 12:08:29 PM
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part time college professor, close to retirement, married 33 years, living in PA. |
Searching for media coverage and finding NONE. Just a basic Google for Wexler and the impeachment topic, and nothing shows. How does this happen? How can it be that only certain news gets into the papers and not the other news? Is this a first, at all? I am honestly amazed that the choking off of some news is almost perfectly complete and universal. oran by
oran stewart (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments)
on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 12:48:37 PM
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I have achieved nothing of consequence apart from raising children in a way that they would excel where I failed. And they are on good tracks. |
9/11, DoubleSpeak and Self Defeat 9/11 crime perpetrated against the citizens of the world by US government is the most powerful argument for impeachment and certainly the strongest cohesive force for uniting ordinary people in galvanizing them into tough action. This extraordinary potential is being however constantly trampled upon and stiffled by MSM enables such as COUNTERPUNCH and Cindy Sheehan who strive hard to turn our attention away from the main issue by siding with BushCo in his claims that the real enemy , frankly, is the mischievous Al Qaeda with its nasty boss Bin Laden who sent us 19 ugly arab hijackers armed with boxcutters to cut our throats because they hate our freedom bullshit. This is doublespeak and certainly doubleSTINK hypocrisy. Dear Mr Dave Lindorff, you are an intelligent man and you sure know as much about 9/11 Truth as a competent professional like you should know. So, why in the hell you keep playing into the hands of MSM while at the same time denouncing their treacherous tactics and their dishonesty in the dealing with the Truth? As long as CouterPunch and Ciny Sheehan keep their heads buried in the sand their message would only be just a cry in the wilderness, no more. by
ramsheyi (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 379 comments)
on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 1:14:40 PM
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64 year old retired factory worker. Lifetime democrat; now a member of the Ron Paul revolution. |
Impeach and Prison Impeachment is the first step. Then there are numerous criminal and civil charges. Those members of Congress who obstruct justice need to be charged as well. Our corporate-controlled media is also guilty of aiding these criminals. by
ronheri (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 100 comments)
on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 4:02:31 PM
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