Impeachment has to happen for at least two reasons.
First, it is the appropriate remedy called upon to redress crimes that have likely been committed by high elected officials.
Secondly, it may be the last best defense for our nation to avoid martial law her, or the all-out unthinkable catastrophe that would be a strike (nuclear or otherwise) against Iran in the coming days by an increasingly unstable and cornered Administration.
Questioning the “political expediency” of impeachment always seemed disturbing because it permits our elected officials discretion to go after potentially serious crimes—or not—as the electoral calendar, but not the public interest, dictated. Law applied only when convenient, ceases to be Law. If We, the People, through our representatives, allow the most serious crimes committed in the history of our nation to go unexamined, much less unpunished, we will have no legacy to pass on to our children. Effectively we will have allowed America to die.
The current moment makes this remedy even more urgent. As important as impeachment would be to re-establishing the ground rules of civilized behavior in our nation, and as much as it already can be seen as a question of life and death for countless future victims, it has now become a tactical move for the very survival of the United States as many of us would like to see it.
Impeachment may well be the only means left for an immediate shift in momentum. The movement of personnel and materials into a new theater of war in the Mideast gives the Administration clear inertia for carrying out its plans. There is little time to alter any course through normal voting channels, even if it is to cut off funding. That takes time and the Administration has already declared itself ready and able to proceed with or without funding cuts.
It is no longer a question of whether this Administration acts from serious intelligence-gathering or from listening to experts, or even listening to the people it legally represents. It clearly marches to the beat of its own drummer, to a cadence we are not privy to hear. We cannot count on either their good faith or their good sense. In this constitutional crisis of power, all available means are called for to restore Constitutional Balance of Power, to keep this Administration busy explaining, and move them into a more defensive posture, running to their lawyers, and ducking cameras and subpoenas.
This may be the last chance the American people have to use our available legal powers to stave off an unprecedented catastrophe. Time is running out. This unresponsive and largely irresponsible Administration seems determined and desperate to act out the Plan they have never bothered to disclose to us, mere citizens.
If there were ever a time for national resolve, this is it. Starting the impeachment process now—independent of the chances of its successful passage—will give courage to the beleaguered and bewildered 70% who want this war to stop. It may prevent World War III. It gives breathing room to develop an appropriate exit strategy from Iraq. It will renew US stature in the eyes of the world. It means America at last will be standing up together and fighting to redeem its heritage as a democratic republic of the People, and secure its future from threats, be they foreign or domestic.
We must get our Congress & People to act NOW as if our lives depended on it--for they do.
Impeachment NOW, or Forget About Peace for the world
Well Said, Mr. Kobrin ! As long as this Country is led by Crooks and Thieves of the Most insidious degree, There will never be a willing Change on their part pertaining to their failing directives in Iraq. The "execution Squad ' that is located within the executive branch of this present Guvmt. is in charge and is determined there will be no Change in their Course. Nancy Pelosi, Take heed ! Now. Before it is too late to save this nation for ever. I beg you, Please Put Impeachment back on The ""Table'. You Never should Have removed it From there in the first place. If this country has Ever needed this TOOL, it is Needed Right Now against this present Executive Branch that continues to Lead us all over the cliff. If you don't do what is Right..Right NOW..You, N. Pelosi..will be one of the main factors standing between Our Salvation, or eventually, total destruction to our way of life , and for the ultimate desolation of Many more Thousands of innocent lives ( Here and thru-out Iraq and the Middle East.) Do you realy want this truth to be resting with you ? Please, Do the Right thing. ..bush * & cheney need to be removed Now..before they can bring more destruction down on us all... with actions they are still hoping will further Their run for world domination {and for even more personal wealth they have already robbed from the Americam Peoples.} You Know About bush's army of mercenaries..and Who pays for their sevices..( Out of bush's slush-fund stolen from the Citizens' of this country.) N.P. And H. Reid... Get Real ! Do what you can do to put a stop to this Utter Madness. VGFLICK
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VGF (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 38 comments)
on Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 11:26:47 AM
Your succinct & clear-sighted analysis of the overall
situation contains an exceptionally accurate sentence: "Effectively we will have allowed America to die." That's a good way of indicating the magnitude of the stakes here. Without impeachment, the concept of "government of the people" is in effect forfeited. Today, impeachment is the only remaining way of defending the Constitution.
In your article there's also a particular sentence that I think disserves the rest of it: "We must get our Congress & People to act NOW as if our lives depended on it..." // The problem here is your inclusion of the word "Congress." A crucial dimension of the crisis is that Congress is not on the same side as "the people," nor can it be prevailed upon to take the side of "the people." Having illusions in Congress is what has led us to this point, & it is unhelpful to encourage these illusions. "The people" need to face up to the fact that both parties are irredeemably corrupt -- they are collaborating with each other, serve only the interests of the US ruling class, & should both be recognized for what they are.
As long as Americans nurture the illusion that they can get things back on a proper course by making appeals to Congress, there's no hope of getting things back on a proper course. The real question to be faced is, what do we do when all power is in the hands of the 2 parties -- and both of these parties are in effect agents of our enemy?
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Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 915 comments)
on Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 11:46:22 AM
Astute observation, RichM. The operational word is "GET"
You're right. Getting Congress and the people to act are two different animals.
The operational word is "GET"
Getting the People to act is one of organization and information, rallies and campaigns.
Getting Congress to change its act is another story.
Our Congress is a debating society to determine which version of the corporate agenda gets implemented. We have been misserved for decades -- or longer. They listen not to you or me (as if!), but rather to those funding campaigns, who, not by conicidence are ones funding and writing legislation, heading agencies, etc.
Nonetheless they "respect" campaign funders ONLY because they help them "win" in this rigged system. You take that away, and the game is suddenly a different one.
Right now the only way to "persuade" this Congress of anything is if you are a six-figure campaign contributor. That is all that counts. No letters, phone calls, pleading, 'cause they got you right where they want you. Democrats say, "What are you going to do, vote for a Republican?"
Cindy Sheehan, who now threatens to run for Pelosi's seat if Pelosi does NOT put impeachment back on the table, is showing the way to "get" them to act.
Let's multiply her act in a more directed way. Let's look at a new "persuader" -- one likely to get results. It appears at: http://switch2green.org. If 100,000+ people switched to Green Party registration today, impeachment would be on the table within the week. With its public call for impeachment and for an end to the war, a Green registration is a public position statement like no other, and makes your voice (the voice FOR impeachment) louder.
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alan k (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 21 comments)
on Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 2:17:39 PM
Mr. Korbin has left the realm of reality in his appeal for impeachment.
Impeachment is not only impractical it is unwarranted.
Mr. Korbin states impeachment is needed, "To redress crimes that have likely been committed by high elected officials." Crimes likely to have been committed? Is this pre-emptive punishment? Sort of like pre-emptive war.
In his question periods, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was frequently assailed for the illegality of Her Majesty' Government's actions in Iraq.
Blair was always able to refute such assaults by correctly citing that the necessary legal and diplomatic requirements for the government's actions in Iraq had been met. The same is true here.
Mr. Korbin states that the Administration is shifting men and materiel to invade Iran.
If this is true, they are shifting them from where? US forces are straining to meet the obligations of Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and their other assignments.
Does Mr. Korbin think the Administration can create soldiers and weapons from the mud?
Mr. Korbin's moral indignation over the war is admirable and we should support his zeal to bring it to an early conclusion.
The way to end the war is to contribute financially to candidates who oppose the war, currently almost exclusively Democrats, to work in your local areas to nominate anti-war people at all levels, to continue to use the netroots and the MSM to publicly oppose the war and to strategize and implement legal and nonviolent ways to begin effectively disrupting this immoral, cruel and futile war and the industries that maintain it.
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Robert Chapman (28 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 557 comments)
on Saturday, July 21, 2007 at 5:02:03 PM
Exactly what reality are you referring to, Mr. Chapman?
If war without the second UN resolution, the use of torture, missing billions of dollars, the widespread use of mercenaries out of the reach of military code, criminal negligence on the Gulf Coast, destruction of the US credibility throughout the world of former allies, and the stealing of votes, seem OK to you, then I suppose your call for "peace" via the vote is OK. In my book, it is your suggested remedy which flies against the available evidence and truly leaves the realm of reality and will simply ignore rather than lead to any redress of the violations of our nation by a small cabal of well-financed neo-con ideologues.
In "normal" times, impeachment is sort of a grand jury. The impeachment process includes investigation. I referred to "crimes that have likely been committed" as sufficient reason for investigations to begin.
While the amount of evidence already available about breaking wiretapping laws, fixing the "intelligence" to fit the desired war, and so on, leaves me personally with little doubt that the cabal of neo-cons intent on imposing the Project for the New American Century's directives on the world have crossed US and international legal lines on many occasions.
Would that none of this were true. So...impeach! Use the tools of our constitution to prove me wrong, Robert. Either way it means impeachment.
About amassing forces for an invasion of Iran, just google fleet movements of the past few months. I don't make any of this up.
Sadly, it is much of our nation that is residing outside of reality right now, but not so surprising given the ownership patterns of our media (also a violation of our public airways).
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alan k (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 21 comments)
on Saturday, July 21, 2007 at 7:13:55 PM
