Article: Why impeachment is urgent

Bush and Cheney pay no heed to the will of We the People, as we expressed it in last November's election.

We the People want to get out of Iraq; Bush responds with a "surge", and a plan to escalate to 70,000 troops by year's end. We the People want attention to global warming, Bush ignores it. And so forth.

The recent skirmish with Congress over the "surge" shows that Bush still holds the trump card; his Senate Republicans, barely in the minority, can filibuster any legislation that would slow him down. For instance, last week's vote by the House to censure the "surge" has no teeth, since the Senate failed to pass it by 60 votes, which would be needed to prevent a filibuster.

The time and energy of the new Democratic House will be tied up endlessly in such stalements, if the focus remains on the war. Meanwhile, the suffering of the Iraqi people continues.

The way out of Iraq is impeachment.

While the Democrats quarrel fruitlessly with Bush-Cheney, the planning to attack Iran continues. The march of fascist bureaucracy at home continues, relentlessly. Torture continues. The war on the poor continues, as services are cut and cut again. The war on the environment continues.

The only way to stop Bush-Cheney on all these fronts is to start impeachment hearings. This will place them on the defensive, and de-legitimize their outrageously immoral programs.

We are in terrible danger from many directions.

Nuclear war- this is the greatest danger of all. It could wipe out civilization, even higher life forms. Bush is threatening to nuke Iran, either directly or via his proxy, Israel. Iran has a mutual defense treaty with Russia, which still has thousands of nuclear warheads, mounted on long-range missiles, aimed at the US, set to go off on hair-trigger alert. Would Russia defend its ally Iran by nuking the US? It could be all over, folks, by the end of this year.

Global warming- this is accelerating and needs immediate attention. The ice caps and glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. Bush is still dragging his feet on the Kyoto Treaty, on increasing the gas mileage required in vehicles, increasing funding for alternative energy, and other simple measures.

Fascism- Bush-Cheney are prceeding vigorously to build prison camps, replace federal prosecutors who represent We the People with their own lackeys, to increase surveillance, with the help of Pelosi's HR 1, and otherwise to set the machinery of a police state in place. Gonzales, the attorney general, continues to make provocative statements indicating that US citizens no longer have any rights at all.

In every area, we face imminent threats from the aggressiveness of Bush-Cheney. Before the year is over, we could have a nuclear war and/or martial law. It is urgent that impeachment hearings, so labeled, start at once.

The House has the votes to impeach. If hearings are done publicly, We the People will become so outraged as many egregious crimes are brought to light, that the Senate will be forced to convict, or Bush and Cheney will have to resign.

The window of opportunity will not last forever. Any number of "emergencies" could provide Bush-Cheney with justification for martial law, and our precious democracy will be gone forever.

(The New York Times) 19 Feb 2007 ...a provision quietly tucked into the enormous defense budget bill at the Bush administration's behest makes it easier for a president to override local control of law enforcement and declare martial law... Beyond cases of actual insurrection, the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any "other condition." Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/19/opinion/19mon3.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Impeachment is peaceful, legal and democratic. It would stop the Bush regime in its tracks. It also would defend the Constitution from the worst enemies it has ever had. It would also bring criminals to justice.

In the name of the Prince of Peace,

Carol Wolman
Cochair- Impeach Bush-Cheney