Delegates at last Sunday's California State Democratic Party convention in San Diego voted to ask Congress to use subpoena power to investigate the misdeeds of the regime and to hold the Charlatan and Darth Cheney accountable for their malfeasance in office by instituting impeachment proceedings if appropriate. The state party resolution sent a strong signal to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders that their party supporters are dead serious about bringing the Executive to trial in the Senate for the lies it told Congress to achieve authorization for war.
Here is a passage from a letter I wrote to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) concerning impeachment well before he became chairman of the House Judiciary Committee:
The fraudulent selling of the Iraq war and subsequent executive actions taken to combat terrorism in violation of our nation’s charter are indeed quite serious and well documented. I do not agree that we are “guessing”. There have been sufficient journalistic revelations, leaks of classified information, statements by former officials, and Supreme Court decisions to have probable cause to believe, that the Administration has violated numerous federal statutes, treaties, and the Constitution itself. Some of these violations are federal felonies, such as violations of the War Crimes Act of 1996.
I do agree that a formal investigation ending with the drafting of articles of impeachment by the House Judiciary Committee is necessary and appropriate. This process must go forward, however, despite stonewalling by the entire Republican Party. Preventing the impeachment of George W. Bush has become a fundamental test of party loyalty. Republicans see any attempt at accountability only as political revenge for the impeachment and near removal of President Clinton. This narrow attitude is extremely unfortunate for the country since the allegations against the current President are so much more fundamental than lying under oath about sexual dalliances.
When presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) was asked if he supported impeachment, he said "no", because "it sucks all the oxygen out of the room". I am not sure what he means by that cliche, since there is darn little oxygen in the halls of power anyway. There might be a quid pro quo here. If the Charlatan were to accept a binding timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, might he be spared the humiliation of the dock despite his high crimes? If he remains belligerent, all bets are off. Stayed tune.
Here is a passage from a letter I wrote to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) concerning impeachment well before he became chairman of the House Judiciary Committee:
The fraudulent selling of the Iraq war and subsequent executive actions taken to combat terrorism in violation of our nation’s charter are indeed quite serious and well documented. I do not agree that we are “guessing”. There have been sufficient journalistic revelations, leaks of classified information, statements by former officials, and Supreme Court decisions to have probable cause to believe, that the Administration has violated numerous federal statutes, treaties, and the Constitution itself. Some of these violations are federal felonies, such as violations of the War Crimes Act of 1996.
I do agree that a formal investigation ending with the drafting of articles of impeachment by the House Judiciary Committee is necessary and appropriate. This process must go forward, however, despite stonewalling by the entire Republican Party. Preventing the impeachment of George W. Bush has become a fundamental test of party loyalty. Republicans see any attempt at accountability only as political revenge for the impeachment and near removal of President Clinton. This narrow attitude is extremely unfortunate for the country since the allegations against the current President are so much more fundamental than lying under oath about sexual dalliances.
When presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) was asked if he supported impeachment, he said "no", because "it sucks all the oxygen out of the room". I am not sure what he means by that cliche, since there is darn little oxygen in the halls of power anyway. There might be a quid pro quo here. If the Charlatan were to accept a binding timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, might he be spared the humiliation of the dock despite his high crimes? If he remains belligerent, all bets are off. Stayed tune.