Congressman Dennis Kucinich said on a conference call Monday evening that after moving to impeach Vice President Cheney on Tuesday he will also introduce, at a future date, a resolution to impeach President Bush. Or rather, he would have said that on the conference call if not for several technical SNAFUs.
The call was advertised as a one-way call on which only Kucinich could speak, but Kucinich was unable to get through because of the incredible number of people on the call (I have no count yet, but the dings of the new people coming on were a steady stream of noise for half an hour).
So Kucinich phoned me, and I held one of my phones up to another so that everyone on the call could hear him. That was working fine for about 20 seconds, until the geniuses running the call chose that moment to mute everyone except Dennis (without stopping to realize that by muting me they were muting Dennis). So, Kucinich gave a nice speech through my phones, but I was the only one listening.
Here's what he said. He is going to introduce a privileged resolution on the floor of the U.S. House Tuesday morning to force a vote on his resolution to impeach Cheney (H Res 333). While that bill includes offenses related to Iraq and Iran, Kucinich plans to focus his remarks on Iran and the fact that the current Pentagon bill includes funding to retrofit bombers to carry 15-ton bombs.
Kucinich said he would hold a press conference at 3 p.m. in 2456 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., and would post on his House website and at http://impeachcheney.org an account of what transpired on the floor.
He said that there might be an actual debate on the substance of the charges, for which he said he was prepared, or there might be a motion to table the matter (effectively killing it if successful), or it might be referred to a committee. If it is sent to committee, Kucinich, said, it will be the House Judiciary Committee. I asked whether (as has been done with impeachment resolutions in the past) he would be able to insist on a time limit for the committee to report back. Kucinich seemed unsure whether that could be done, but proposed that whether or not the matter is sent to committee he might start a discharge petition as another tool for forcing real action on the floor of the House.
Currently H Res 333 sits in the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Jerrold Nadler has done nothing with it for months.
Kucinich expressed great appreciation for what all the activist groups and individuals on the call are doing to help promote impeachment. He also wanted to let everyone know that he will not only continue pushing for the impeachment of Cheney but will also take up the impeachment of Bush with a new resolution.
This was terrific to hear. I wish I had not been the only one to hear it.
David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press and of the introduction to "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. (more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
It would be good if the impeachment of Bush promise
was on record.
I understand the logic of Cheney first, but Bush was the President that ordered the illegal invasion of Iraq. Without Bush being impeached America will not be forgiven. Without Bush being impeached America has no moral authority to speak against the terrorism that its foreign policy creates as surely as night follows day.
To my mind the larger issue here is not whether Bush or Cheney are repudiated (they will be by history in any case) but whether the United States of America is as well.
by
Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 1308 comments) on Monday, Nov 5, 2007 at 9:44:03 PM
The logic is OK, I suppose, but why not parallel impeachments?
There exists in the public record sufficient evidence to impeach both our bush-league Prez plus his accomplice in crime.
I'd move for a directed verdict, since the primafacie case was admitted when Bush acknowledged (a) wiretapping without warrant and (b) interrogations using "cruel & unusual" techniques.
This used to seem like a great idea, until Ms. Pelosi turned out such a huge disappointment, equally as ineffective and spineless as Harry Reid.
I wonder....Would President Pelosi whine & cower like Speaker Pelosi does??
by
R. Queisser (15 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments) on Tuesday, Nov 6, 2007 at 1:01:36 AM
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