Executive Power and the Bush Administration - High Crimes and Misdemeanors

Email Print posted by rev24 07/25/2008 03:45:39 PM EST

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Hopefully you guys caught the Judiciary Committee's hearing on C-Span today.  It was some of the most riveting C-Span I've watched in a long time.  Even Bugliosi is up in the hizzouse though Cindy Sheehan gets tossed to the curb.  Kudos again Kucinich and if you missed it live and have Real Player, here are the two panels that you can stream anytime - Panel 1, Panel 2. 

Impeachment Article to be Introduced Thursday

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 8) -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) sent the following letter today to his colleagues in Congress:

July 8, 2008

WHEN THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF LIES TO GO TO WAR, HE MUST BE IMPEACHED

A SINGLE ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR ON THURSDAY; PLEASE CO-SPONSOR

Dear Colleague,

During the Fourth of July holiday a WWII veteran stood ram-rod straight in his crisp dress uniform and saluted our flag as it passed in a parade. His silent reverential stance was a powerful reminder of the love of country that is reflected in our veterans of all generations and all services.

It is also a powerful reminder of the responsibilities of the President of the Untied States in his capacity as Commander in Chief.

It is worse than heartbreaking that George W. Bush, as Commander in Chief, caused this country to go to war based on information which was false, and which he knew to be false. The consequences for our troops have been devastating. We have lost 4,116 of our beloved servicemen and women since the war began, with over 30,000 physically wounded and countless others emotionally wounded. The toll on the service persons and their families will be felt throughout their lives.

There can be no greater responsibility of a Commander in Chief than to command based on facts on the ground, and to command in fact and in truth. There can be no greater offense of a Commander in Chief than to misrepresent a cause of war and to send our brave men and women into harm's way based on those misrepresentations.

There has been a breach of faith between the Commander in Chief and the troops. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or with Al Qaeda's role in 9/11. Iraq had neither the intention nor the capability of attacking the United States. Iraq did not have weapons of Mass of Destruction. Yet George W. Bush took our troops to war under all of these false assumptions. Given the profound and irreversible consequences to our troops, if his decision was the result of a mistake, he must be impeached. Since his decision was based on lies, impeachment as a remedy falls short, but represents at least some effort on our part to demonstrate our concern about the sacrifices our troops have made.

This Thursday evening I will bring a privileged resolution to the House with a single Article of Impeachment of President Bush for taking our nation and our troops to war based on lies. We owe it to our troops who even at this hour stand as sentinels of America because they love this country and will give their lives for it. What are we willing to do to match their valor and the valor of their successors? Are we at least willing to defend the Constitution from the comfort and security of our Washington, DC offices?

Sincerely,

Dennis J. Kucinich
Member of Congress
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Executive Power and the Bush Administration - High Crimes and Misdemeanors | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)
Caught the last couple of minutes (none / 0)

That Lungrun is such a putz. His logic was super queer.

Will watch stream now. Thanks.  

by Andrew Koenig on 07/25/2008 07:11:13 PM EST

if limited on time (none / 0)
definitely check out Panel 2.  I'm also really curious what people think about John Conyers these days.

by rev24 on 07/25/2008 11:10:40 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Not Milhouse (none / 0)
I was just so disappointed when Zoe Lofgren (D) Zoe Lofgran (D) Representative from California called George Bush the worst president ever, she didn't do it in the voice of the comic book guy.

les simpsons

by tiggerporn on 07/26/2008 07:22:47 AM EST

turning tide, tide is turning (none / 0)
I really think it is still going to take a while to sink in for the Republicans just the totality of how abysmal Bush and this administration are. They seem to be split into complete denial and partial denial. I'll be honest I didn't know the difference between Lungren and Smith, I really follow the Senate much more carefully than the House, before today. But you have to wonder if a guy like Rep. Smith, as he just lists the things he is saying Bush isn't guilty of, doesn't start to wonder. Where as when you listen to Lungren, and this is just the opening statements I'm referring to, if you read between the lines it seems to me there is this begrudging sense that they are finally coming around to realizing, but that the way republicans operate is that they present a united front, regardless of personal feelings. He's there talking about how when he was growing up Hoover was the bad guy, and now it is Nixon. Hello?!? You have this feeling like you almost feel bad for these guys they are so out of touch, like twenty, thirty years are going to crash on them in a week. Realizing the rest of us have been living in reality for the past thirty years, and that now Bush is the one we're talking about the way we used to talk about Nixon.

On the other hand, this is living history. It is so exciting, you can see the tide turning. As if the great swell of the wave is building somewhere out beyond the horizon, and it is only a matter of mere moments before it will be upon you.

People are decrying the fact that Obama is all feel good rhetoric and lacks substance. But I have a feeling this is what the first Obama admin is going to be about. He is going to take the high road and let the process in the House work itself out. They came out SWINGING yo! You can sense the feeling of frustration, backs against the wall, crowded about to break mentality of the opposition.

On all fronts, Obama in Germany, Feif getting hammered about torture, and as Longren himself termed it, impeachment lite.

As for Feif, no shame, just unbelievable, sorry I'm digressing here to another subject, but if anyone got a chance to see any of that too, maybe it was the same subcommittee but I'm not sure this was the House Judiciary, don't remember where I saw it. He's talking about humane torture?!?

Fief : "Look, we'd love to give them milk and cookies but you guys won't even let us give them cigarettes. Torture, no, no, this is humane enhanced interrogation, we're just taking away their blankies, geez, come on, you guys won't even let us take the kidd gloves off. Geez, we were just playing around, can't we have any fun anymore." OK I ad libbed and put some words in his mouth.

by tiggerporn on 07/26/2008 07:42:02 AM EST

Douglas Feith (none / 0)

His fingerprints are all over the place.  From a Slate article:

"Start with Abu Ghraib. Feith's office was in charge of Iraq's military prisons, but that's not the only reason his name keeps turning up in newspaper reports about the scandal. It was Feith who devised the legal solution for getting around the Geneva Conventions' prohibition on physically or psychologically coercing prisoners of war into talking. As a Pentagon official in the 1980s, Feith had laid out the argument that terrorists didn't deserve protection under the Geneva Conventions. Once the war on terrorism started, all he had to do was implement it. And even more damning than his legal rule-making is Feith's reported reaction to complaints by military Judge Advocate General lawyers about the new, looser interrogation rules. "They said he had a dismissive, if not derisive, attitude toward the Geneva Conventions," Scott Horton, a lawyer who was approached by six outraged JAG officers last year, told the Chicago Tribune. "One of them said he calls it 'law in the service of terror.' "

by desertpear on 07/26/2008 02:06:00 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Thank you (none / 0)
Thanks Pear, no wonder I couldn't find any more info on the web, I had the name spelled wrong. You don't happen to know which panel he was testifying in front of, do you? I want to find the transcript if anyone knows where it might be?

by tiggerporn on 07/26/2008 06:49:37 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Whatever happend to these Articles? (none / 0)
Kucinich's June Articles of Impeachment

And how much do you love Nancy Pelosi - What a sham!

by rev24 on 07/26/2008 04:03:08 PM EST

October Surprise (none / 0)
Also, Rev, do you know of where there is a transcript of the Friday sessions, maybe at Thomas.loc.gov if no where else?

I can't believe it is the Republicans bringing up the WMD and yellow cake and Nigeria and Joe Wilson. Talk about a one trick pony, they are still humming the same tune, after all this. It takes a certain amount of balls, I'll give them that, but even after Scott McClellan has come right out and told us they were lying (as if we didn't know that already) they want to try and shove it back in our faces again.

I'm waiting for October Surprise II and the mushroom cloud with Iran speech.

URGENT URGENT, Press Release, October 24th 2008 -

The CIA working with MI-6 has just discovered fresh evidence that Iran bought yellow cake Uranium from Nigeria in the 1950's and has had the bomb all along, and just didn't know what to do with it. Voice Over as we fade from an exploding mushroom cloud over Israel to the flag waving in the wind, and Dubya then looks straight into the camera, stops flipping the pages, puts his right shoulder forward and points a finger, and says slowly with a drawl, We're gunnin for you Dime-a-Deen-Jihad and yer ragtag raghead 'Ranian bunch of misfits, ya'll wanna start a war, let's get this party started...right, ya'll...OK and, well then...as his voice trails off into a mumble and he starts talking to himself (again) McCunt is pushed front and center, er, um, er, Ladies and Gentlemen - Dubya, drunk on power, regains his composure for a moment - Whatcha doin' Mick, I gotsome warmed up fer ya 'ready, hickup, go git 'em, get 'er done, he slugs him on the shoulder, McCunt eyeballs him, grits his locked jaw, hehe hehe, Thanks, stiff handshake, No problemo, now get 'er done. My fellow Americans, he starts again, close up, Camera two, one shot, beads of sweat forming on his temple, eyes red and irritated, Two shot, same camera, you can see Lieberman a step or two behind him in the shot in the corner, My fellow Americans, he repeats himself again, the Surge, the Surge, the Surge. The Surge, surging forward, surging, the Surge. Surge surge surge surge surge. Surging. In summation. The surge. To which Lieberman steps forward and adds, whining, let me just add, Petraeus, David Petrieus, the Surge, Petraeus, the surge the surge, Petraeus, Mushroom cloud, Iran, the surge, Petraeus, the surge, change we can count on, the Surge.

The emergency TV broadcast then cuts to a commercial for McCain/Lieberman, which just cuts back and forth between crackheads getting high, actually some footage of a young Chris Rock as Mook with Ice-T and Wesley Snipes in the old school joint New Jack City, and a mushroom cloud (actually some 50's footage from Operation Teapot and area 51 in Vegas at Nellis Proving Ground), with the National Anthem playing.

McCain/Lieberman, they'll shit themselves before you do. This message paid for by friends of McCain/Lieberman. All two of them.

Alot of people, including myself have been saying it is too late to start impeachment. On the other hand though, it might tie them up from starting the same shit with Iran they did with faking it with Iraq, or at the very least make him squirm a bit.

by tiggerporn on 07/26/2008 07:20:44 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Executive Power and the Bush Administration - High Crimes and Misdemeanors | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)
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