Bush/Cheney have disgraced their office; they should resign

Wurm

Richard Cohen, the finely-calibrated syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, wrote a column on October 28, 2004 which commenced with this straight talk: "I do not write the headlines for my columns. Someone else does. But if I were to write the headline for one, it would be 'Impeach George Bush'." Cohen stated the obvious then. Bush and Cheney had plunged the nation into war "under false pretenses." Exploiting the public trust in the Presidency, Bush had persuaded, over the uncritical mass media, day after day, before the war, a majority of the American people that Saddam Hussein possessed chemical, biological weapons and nuclear weapons programs, was connected to al-Qaeda and 9/11 and was a threat to the United States.

These falsehoods, Cohen wrote, "are a direct consequence of the administration's repeated lies - lies of commission, such as Cheney's statements, and lies of omission."

Fourteen months later, no widely syndicated columnist or major newspaper editorial has called for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Not even Cohen again. Yet the case for impeachment is so strong that, recently, hardly a day goes by without more disclosures which strengthen any number of impeachable offenses that could form a Congressional action under our Constitution. An illegal war, to begin with, against our Constitution which says only Congress can declare war. An illegal war under domestic laws, and international law, and conducted illegally under international conventions to which the US belongs, should cause an outcry against this small clique of outlaws committing war crimes who have hijacked our national government.

An illegal, criminal war means that every related U.S. death and injury, every related Iraqi civilian death and injury, every person tortured, every home and building destroyed become war crimes as a result - under established international law.

There are those on talk radio or cable shows who scoff at international law. They rarely tell their audiences that the United States has played a key role in establishing these treaties, like the Geneva Conventions, and the United Nations Charter. When these treaties are agreed to by the U.S. government, they become as binding as our federal laws.

By these legal standards and by the requirements of the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, the war-declaring authority), George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are probably the most impeachable President and Vice President in American history. An illegal war based on lies, deceptions, cover-ups and their repetition even after being told by officials in their own administration - not to mention critical retired generals, diplomats and security specialists - of their falsity should have prodded the House of Representatives into initiating impeachment proceedings. But then, Bush did not lie under oath about sex.

A majority of the American people have turned against this war-quagmire, against its intolerable human and economic costs, against the increased danger this war is bringing to our nation's interests. They want the soldiers to return safely home. In increasing numbers they sense what Bush's own CIA Director, Porter Goss, told the U.S. Senate last February. He noted, along with other officials since then, that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are like a magnet attracting and training more terrorists from more countries who will return to their nations and cause trouble. Many national security experts have said, in effect, you do not fight terrorists with policies that produce more terrorists.

Now comes the most recent, blatant impeachable offense - Bush ordering the spying on Americans in our country by the National Security Agency. This disclosure stunned many N.S.A. staff who themselves view domestic surveillance as anathema, according to Matthew M. Aid, a current historian of the agency.

Domestic eavesdropping on Americans by order of the President to the National Security Agency violates the 27-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless they obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court. This court meets in secret and has rejected only four out of 19,000 applications.

So why did Bush violate this law and why does he defiantly say he will continue to order domestic spying as he has since 2002? Not because the FISA Court is slow. It acts in a matter of hours in the middle of the night if need be. The law actually permits surveillance in emergencies as long as warrants are requested within 72 hours or 15 days in times of war.

Bush violated the law because of the arrogance of power. Ostensibly, he believes that a vague Congressional resolution after 9/11 to fight al-Qaeda overrides this explicit federal law and the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. Bush even claims he can unilaterally decide to domestically spy from the inherent powers of the Presidency to fight wars. (To him Congressionally-undeclared wars are still wars).

Other than his legal flaks in the White House and Justice Department making such transparently specious arguments as "good soldiers", the overwhelming position of legal scholars is that Bush and Cheney have violated grave laws protecting the liberties of the American people.

The crime, says Professor David Cole of Georgetown Law School, is "punishable by five years in prison." Professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School said that the President ordered such a crime and ordered US officials to commit it..this is a serious felony..what happened here is not just a violation of Federal law, it's a violation of the U.S. Constitution.an impeachable offense."

It matters not that a Republican-dominated Congress has no present interest in moving to impeach Bush-Cheney. What matters is that impeachment in this case - based on the authority of Congress to charge the President and Vice President with "high crimes and misdemeanors" - is a patriotic cause rooted in the wisdom of our founding fathers who did not want another King George III in the guise of a President.

As Senator Russell Feingold said a few days ago: The President is not a King, he is a President subject to the laws and Constitution of the land. Apparently, George W. Bush seems to believe and behave as if his unlimited inherited powers flow from King George III, given the way he has shoved aside both federal law and the nation's Constitution.

Both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney should resign. They have disgraced their office and bled the nation. They have shattered the public trust in so many serious ways that will only become worse in the coming months.






Ralph Nader

__________________
"Bush is the first President to admit to an impeachable offense."

- John Dean, former Counsel to the President (Nixon)

The aim of big corporations is to separate fools from their money all of the time and ordinary folks from their money most of the time. The rest of us must fend for ourselves.

wolfix

Human rights organizations estimate that more than 300,000 people, mainly Kurds and Shiite Muslims, were killed and buried in mass graves during Saddam's 23-year rule.....

__________________
"I rule my world with a cellphone."

Wurm

...WITH the blessing of Ronnie Raygun and Wimp during the 1980's (which then also included The Dick: Cheney and D. Rumsfeld)...WHO PROVIDED Western weaponry to Saddam, and even US military/CIA intelligence assistance.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

Don't give me your horseshit about Chimpy's "freeing" Iraq from anything. Iraqi's are still getting killed (and tortured) by the thousands from American ordnance and American personnel, just as they were in the '80s under the Saddam/Raygun unholy alliance.

The only difference now is who's tossing the bombs and performing the torture.

The FACTS are that GWB and/or his administration has:

1. Aided & abetted the 9/11 mass murders.
2. Lied to the Congress and citizenry about reasons for invading Iraq.
3. Illegally exposed a covert Federal agent.
4. Attacked a sovereign nation without cause.
5. Tortured prisoners of war and detainees.
6. Illegally spied on and wiretapped American citizens.

Any one of the above are more than enough to demand impeachment, trial, and imprisonment or the death penalty.

PERIOD.

__________________
"Bush is the first President to admit to an impeachable offense."

- John Dean, former Counsel to the President (Nixon)

The aim of big corporations is to separate fools from their money all of the time and ordinary folks from their money most of the time. The rest of us must fend for ourselves.

davidmc

The phrase: "Run out of town on a rail" comes to mind Prison time is not enough. Compensatory damages to the American people are in order, no?

__________________
I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
George Carlin
US comedian and actor (1937 - )

Wurm

Absolutely. Damages paid just prior to their hanging or firing squad, (the appropriate "wartime" punishments for treason, sedition, and espionage.)

__________________
"Bush is the first President to admit to an impeachable offense."

- John Dean, former Counsel to the President (Nixon)

The aim of big corporations is to separate fools from their money all of the time and ordinary folks from their money most of the time. The rest of us must fend for ourselves.

wheelist

Isn't this thread a few years late coming?

__________________
www.wheelism.co.uk - Keeping it wheel, every single day.

"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, January 18, 1896, Scientific American Magazine

limerickman

Some of us were urging the Merkins not to re-elect Bush in November 2004 for a
whole plethora of reasons.

Even if the fact that he launched and illegal and unethical invasion of a sovereign country (Iraq) was not enough to persuade the Merkins, just look at what he has done to his own people.
Wire taps.

Look at his (mis) management of the US economy.

I see that the November trade deficit was $68b.
He managed to break his own previous deficit record.

Anyway, you can't say that we never told you so.........

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Colorado Ryder

You europeans have been telling us Americans whats best for us the last 229 years. Good thing we don't listen.

Mister C

Question posed by Wurm: "So why did Bush violate this law and why does he defiantly say he will continue to order domestic spying as he has since 2002? "
My Answers:

1) I agree with Wurm's conclusion that arrogance is part of the answer. Actually, the better term is hubris.

2) Although not widely publicized, the NSA is using a monitoring program that scans telecommunication pathways for key words and "suspicious" patterns. This means that large portions of the American public are routinely spied upon by the government. I would bet my Bianchi that if you routinely used the "wrong" words on your telephone and internet conversations that you would be targeted, your communications monitored and recorded, etc.


This criminal behaviour by Shrub must not be tolerated but the castrated Congress will do nothing. Shrub should be deposed (not impeached since he is the self-proclaimed King), be sent to camp X-ray, classified as an "illegal enemy combatant", and "persuaded" to reveal the real truth.

What galls me is that many Americans are willing to blithely throw away their remaining 4th Amendment rights (and elect that idiot Shrub, and preemptively attack Iraq without proper justification, etc, etc) in the name of fighting terror. I have news for the American public: terrorism is not that great of a threat. In statistical terms, we are more likely to have something happen on our bicycles than be an actual victim of terrorism. While the threat may be "scary" to some, the relative risk is minimal.

Wake up America and realize what our govenment is doing to us!

wolfix

This was implemented during Bill Clintons' term ......Back in 1998 there was speech given by a government talking head that described Bill Clintons backing of this program....... At the time it was supposedly targeted at drug dealers...... Oh ..it was widely publicized back then ....... Matter of fact, if there is an archive of ACLU activities, then it may be listed there... It is everyday knowledge to most college students of the NSA word patterning.....

__________________
"I rule my world with a cellphone."

Mister C

That program is called Carnivore and is "supposed" to be used in the context of a criminal investigation--meaning a real search warrant.

Yes, it was widely publicized years ago but what I am not hearing now is the gov't admitting that Shrub's illegal bypass of FISA is to permit Carnivore and other systems like Echelon to scour domestic communications. I suppose Shrub is taking the 5th Amendment on this one--that and the 2cd Amendment are the few parts of the Constitution that Shrub seems to respect.

wolfix

Interesting .....On 9/11,2001.... And this is not a threat ????? Explain to me what a great threat is .....
And just maybe, the reason we have the limited number of events like 9/11 is because of the vigilance of the government.
I want to see your figures on the number of bicycle related deaths and do they add up to 2986 deaths? Last year there was 622 deaths due to bicycling . So your chances of getting killed by a Muslim radical is a lot greater then dying on a bicycle. Even when it is extended out over time....
The American people spoke in 2004 when Bush was re-elected. I think it was a vote more of the dis-trust of Kerry's limpwristed plans then the vote of Bush.
Personally, I think the people in this country need to wake up and see the motives of other countries.

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__________________
"I rule my world with a cellphone."

Mister C

3k/7 billion is not a great theat. Yes, 9/11 was a tragedy but on the scale of humanity it is not a great threat.

My comparision to bycyling deaths is a good one based on your own numbers. 622 deaths in one year x 4 years = 2488 deaths which is rougly equal to the number of deaths due to terrorists during the same period. I don't worry too much about dying on my bike, do you? Not a great threat.

Maybe the reason we have not had more attacks is due to the govenment but maybe not. Nobody knows for sure. I am willing to take on a minor risk such as a terrorist attack (or bicycling accident). I am not willing to give up hard fought liberties in the name of fear particularly when the threat is relatively small.


[/QUOTE]Personally, I think the people in this country need to wake up and see the motives of other countries.[/QUOTE]
Not sure what you mean by this statement. I do totally agree that Americans need to look beyond their own borders--for purposes other than to start a unjustified preemptive war in the name of Big Oil.

limerickman

So you're saying that 9/11 justifies the illegal taping of communications ?

I condemn the 9/11 attacks.

But to try to state that taping has prevented further attacks on your country
is naive.

The fact of the matter is that your president acted outside of the law to evesdrop illegally on your country's citizens.
If there was popular support for the evesdropping to prevent "terrorism", why did he do so without recourse to the judicial system?

On the wider question as to why a threat is posed to your country, you and your fellow citizens need to examine why your goverment choses to involve itself abraod in areas and issues which are of no concern to your country.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.