One sure way to correct the nation's course? Impeach the Bully Boy. There's a site set up for that, ImpeachBush. The illustration is from an ad they ran last Friday in The New York Times (full page ad, page A7) where they note the following:
The illegal war of aggression Bush launched against Iraq has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and killed or wounded tens of thousands of US soldiers.
(For Iraqi deaths see John Hopkins study published in the British medical journal The Lancet 10.6.2006.)
He set up a worldwide network of secret prisons, where torture has become the norm.
He gave himself the power to wiretap, open the mail of, search and indefinitely detain any American.
Each second this president spends in office is harmful to the interests and values of the American people and the Constitution. It is time to take a stand and let the world know that he is not acting with our consent.
Articles of Impeachment drafted by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, available at ImpeachBush.
JOIN THE MARCH ON THE PENTAGON MARCH 17. THE IMPEACHBUSH MOVEMENT IS JOING FORCES WITH THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT FOR THIS HISTORIC DEMONSTRATION ON THE 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF THE IRAQ WAR.
Demand Congress Impeach Bush. Over 810,000 people have already voted to impeach -- have you? Take action today by going to ImpeachBush.
In the early months of 2006, there were a number of articles on impeachment. There have also been a number of books published (we'll be noting Dave Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky's book in our next book discussion). But the independent periodicals who seemed to all be noting impeachment in the early months of 2006 now seem to have forgotten the reasons why impeachment is a good idea.
No dummies we, we'll recommend the community's pick for impeachment book, The Center For Constitutional Rights' Articles Of Impeachment Against George W. Bush. As Martha and Shirley noted in their coverage of the community's top ten books of 2006, "A list of twenty books instead of ten would include additional books on impeachment. This was the first one published and the most popular among the community. If you purchased this book, you know the biggest problem with it: you can't keep it on your bookcase. Someone sees you reading it and asks if they can read it when you're done, someone sees it in your house and asks to borrow it, or you end up circulating it through your family. The biggest benefit of the book is the discussions that follow reading it."
We'll also echo their selection of an excerpt (pp. 45-46):
A crime against peace is a war that is not authorized by the United Nations or undertaken in self-defense. Self-defense is defined by the UN Charter as the employment of force against an "armed attack." It also includes anticipatory self-defense. A country need not await an actual attack to use self-defense; if it is to be imminently attacked it can try and prevent that attack with force. This is sometimes referred to as "preemptive attack." However, the concept of self-defense does not include a preventive attack. In other words, one country cannot attack another just because at some time in the future it believes the other country might launch an attack.
In attacking Iraq the Bush administration claimed it had the right to make a preemptive attack on Iraq, but the administration did not show that Iraq posed an "immediate threat" or that it was planning an "imminent attack." Therefor an attack on Iraq could not be legal under the doctrine of self-defense. While there were many Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq, and many claims that Iraq violated those resolutions, there was never a Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. That would have been the only lawful basis for the U.S. to attack Iraq. The war against Iraq cannot be justified as a measure of self-defense, nor did it have Security Council approval. Thus, in going to war, President Bush committed and international crime, a "crime against peace," and failed to execute the laws of the United States.
February 5th, Ehren Watada faces a court-martial for refusing to deploy to Bully Boy's illegal war. So February 5th, Watada stands trial for having the strength to say "no" to the war -- courage Congress lacked when they passed their force resolution (which Bully Boy still violated).
Is that how it's going to work? The ones who have the courage to do what our elected leaders couldn't or wouldn't will be punished while, at the same time, Congress looks the other way at Bully Boy's illegal crimes including warrantless spying and the illegal war?
Bully Boy weakly tossed out, January 10th, "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me." Those ten empty words can have accountability . . . provided Congress chooses to excercise their oversight powers.
What message gets sent to furture occupants of the Oval Office if Bully Boy walks? That you can lie to the citizens, to the Congress, to the world and get away with it? That the Constitution can be ignored.
Ten years ago yesterday, the Supreme Court heard the case of Jones v. Clinton and agreed to let a civil action go foward against the then sitting president Bill Clinton. Not only did the Court's majority opinion (delivered by Justice John Paul Stevens) agree that the civil case could go forward, they also noted: "First, we have long held that when the President takes official action, the Court has the authority to determine whether he has acted within the law.
For those who missed the Jones v. Clinton case, Paula Jones was stating that she was sexually harassed by the then-governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton. The Jones civil action would be steered and aided by the Independent Counsel's office investigating the Whitewater (non-scandal) and the Independent Counsel would spend over $60 million US tax payers' monies only to find no wrong doing in Whitewater although, prior to that, Ken Starr would have already recommended (September 9, 1998) to the House of Representatives the Bill Clinton be impeached for consensual sex between two adults. (For lying about sex? Have you read the heavy breathing Starr Report? It was all about sex.)
So what's the message? Denying a consensual sexual relationship with an adult is grounds for impeachment but lying a nation into an illegal war that results in the deaths of hundreds of thousands isn't? Kevin Benderman, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Parades, Ricky Clousing and others can be court-martialed for refusing to fight in an illegal war but there's no accountability for Bully Boy who started that war of choice?
He lied, he misled a nation, he misled Congress. You either stand up to that or you accept that you've just declared any president can do the same and suffer no consequences. That might be the future of this country but sure doesn't sound like the America we're supposed to take pride in.
