Impeachment items I've been meaning to blog. It's like bloggers just accept the war instead of blogging against it. Put up an icon and let it rest. DON"T DO THAT !!!!
If we don't MAKE THEM stop this war we'll end up in ANOTHER ONE.
At any rate, Nadler is blocking Impeachment and Rick Spisak sent an impassioned argument FOR IMPEACHMENT which was published in the Treasure Coast Palm, which I am copying here along with this more ore less inside information on WHY Impeachment is still not being served up AS PROVIDED FOR AND MANDATED IN OUR CONSTITUTION. YOu know ... that goddamn piece of paper which makes us different than any other country in this world.
Nadler Is Blocking Impeachment
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/30384
By David Swanson
A private off-the-record meeting was held on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that included House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Subcommittee on the Constitution Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Judiciary Committee Member and advocate for opening Cheney impeachment hearings Robert Wexler, and several other committee members, activists, staffers, and former staffers from the Watergate days. I wasn't there, so I'm free to talk about what happened.
Wexler proposed opening impeachment hearings on Cheney. Conyers committee staffer Perry Appelbaum laid out instead a schedule for non-impeachment hearings over the coming 11 months. Conyers' notion is to hold non-impeachment hearings on "the imperial presidency" and run out the clock. I guess that would be sort of like a dozen police officers paying a non-arresting visit to the home of a mass murderer. Seriously? An "imperial" president, and you don't impeach him, and you don't retire or ***Content removed by blogger go read it for yourself ****? This baffles me.
Now, there are topics that have not been touched in congressional investigations over the past 12 months, such as the Iraq war lies. But a lot of the other topics have already been gone over, just absent the I word. What will differentiate the new non-impeachment hearings from the past year's worth of non-impeachment hearings? Of course, getting witnesses to show up and testify would be a change, but without impeachment, nothing will compel any witnesses to testify who have previously refused.
One of the big topics this group wants to go after is the firing of U.S. Attorneys, and - contrary to the position expressed today by the Democratic leadership - this group was in agreement that Congress should vote on contempt citations for Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten. But, even understanding that nothing was going to budge on that any time soon, most of the Congress Members present still refused to back Wexler's proposal.
The chief opponent of impeachment hearings was not Conyers. It was Nadler. Nadler argued strongly against any use of the I word. He argued that Congress should focus on passing bills, even though they will be vetoed, and then pass them again next year.
Arguing for keeping open the possibility of impeachment hearings developing out of the non-impeachment hearings was Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. Daniel Ellsberg was also among those backing impeachment hearings.
Conyers and some subgroup plan to take their proposal for non-impeachment imperial abuse hearings to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to request her blessing. She is, of course, most likely to share Nadler's position. She may have given Nadler his position, or perhaps it originated with Hillary Clinton, but it sounds most likely that Nadler has simply been speaking for himself: he honestly opposes impeachment hearings, even for emperors.
Nadler's constituents have been among the most dedicated activists, many of them repeatedly sitting in at his office for impeachment and going to jail. One group has just set up a website solely to allow people all over the country to Email Nadler on this issue: http://asknadler2impeach.org
Nadler chairs the most relevant subcommittee and could open Cheney impeachment hearings in that subcommittee tomorrow if he chose to do so. The full House voted to send articles of impeachment on Cheney to the Judiciary Committee last November.
Wednesday's meeting was handicapped, of course, because no-one says aloud what the reasons are for opposing impeachment. That Cheney and Bush have committed impeachable offenses is universally understood. But the arguments against impeaching them (other priorities, bipartisanship, we don't have the votes, etc.) usually sound like lame cover for whatever the real reason is. I suspect the real reason is built into Nadler's plan of wasting a year in order to pass bills next year. He assumes that in 2009 there will be either a better Congress or a better president (he backs Hillary Clinton), or both.
Sadly, history says otherwise. For 230 years, the party that brings impeachment wins, and the party that fails to do so when it's called for loses. Conyers was there when the Democrats moved to impeach Nixon and then won big. He was there when they refused to impeach Reagan and then lost. And most of the current committee was there when the Republicans impeached Clinton against the will of the public for a non-impeachable offense and still won both houses of Congress and the White House.
When the Democrats held back from impeachment during Iran Contra, they lost the next elections. When the Democrats led the effort to investigate and impeach Nixon, they won big in the next election, even though Ford was running as an incumbent. When the Republicans tried to impeach Truman, they got what they wanted out of the Supreme Court and then won the next elections. Articles of impeachment have been filed against 10 presidents, usually by Republicans, and usually with electoral success following. When the Republicans impeached Clinton, impeachment was actually unpopular with the public. Even so, the Republicans lost far fewer seats than is the norm for a majority party at that point in its tenure. Two years later, they lost seats in the Senate, which had acquitted, but maintained their strength in the House, with representatives who had led the impeachment charge winning big.
Parties that seek to impeach are not punished at the next election. In fact, they frequently improve their position -- as evidenced by the Democrats in 1974, Republicans in 1952, and all the way back to the Whigs of last century. In every election back to 1842 where House members of an opposition party to a sitting president have -- as a whole or a significant caucus within the party -- proposed impeachment of the president, that opposition party retained or improved its position in the House at the following election. There is no instance of voters responding to a significant impeachment effort by sweeping its advocates out of office. In fact, history points in a different direction, suggesting that voters frequently reward parties for taking the Constitution and the rule of law seriously.
And we wouldn't wait until the next election to reward members of Congress who put impeachment back in the Constitution. The minute Pelosi or Conyers or Nadler opens the door to impeachment hearings, every activist organization in this country and around the world that works on behalf of peace or justice or the rule of law will flood them with flowers, donations, volunteers, and support.
And if Fox News says one word, we will shut it down.
AND from Riok Spisak, Treasure Coast ACLU
The list of impeachable offenses that long ago should have summoned Congress to uphold its responsibilities and bring charges in the House continues to grow.
Some suggest the answer to the insults to the Constitution is silence — because the end is near. They may get their wish when the last nail is driven into a Bill of Rights that no longer protects any American.
Is it inconvenient that this particular hot potato would drop in their timorous laps? We must ask, when is the best time to begin to correct the course of the ship of state and bring to trial the outlaws currently hiding out in an undisclosed location in the executive office.
Again and again, they lie, obstruct, break the law (national and international), and violate the United Nations’ human rights and Geneva Conventions, as well as the bedrock principle of western civilization, habeas corpus. Refusing to answer lawful subpoenas, politicizing the Justice Department, spying on Americans and violating the limited constraints of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Then there is torture and secret prisons — no charges filed, and no attorneys for Americans or foreign nationals.
Timing and scheduling are not the issue; the Constitution is at risk. If President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have forgotten that they have sworn to protect the Constitution, then it is up to Congress and the courts — the other coequal branches of the American government — to remind them this is a nation of laws, not of men.
While some might argue the timing is not ideal, what’s the ideal time to protect the Constitution? Simply, when it needs protecting. We cannot let ourselves off the hook with arguments that this isn’t the best time to protect our civil liberties.
Was frostbitten Valley Forge an appropriate time to defend American rights? Why isn’t today the right time?
Richard W. Spisak Jr.
Hobe Sound
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CRUCIAL ACTION: Contact the House Judiciary Committee and Nancy Pelosi TODAY. Don't wait. One click. The momentum is on our side and the world is watching. Bush cronies WORLD WIDE declaring martial law. Nation of GA, Pakistan, Burma ... Mexico's election illegal and then the flooding. GETTING THEM OUT OF THERE IS AN EMERGENCY. Believe this. And help a country out here.
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Be the ONE MILLIONTH PERSON to sign the IMPEACH BUSH petition.
text "CHENEY" to 30644 to impeach him first, or text "BUSH" to 30644 to impeach him first, or text "BOTH" to 30644 if you think it would be strategically wise to go for the double play
The heart has it's reasons which reason knows nothing of.
*
We know truth, not only by reason, but also by the heart.
Blaise Pascal
Here's the last 25 messages on the Impeach Cheney matter
No Excuses : Email any rep in the country. Go ahead. They have to answer you; it's what you pay them for. Compel them to uphold their oath to protect the Constitution of the United States of America.
The lie was dead
And damned, and truth stood up instead.
Robert Browning
ANOTHER BUSH LIE
Also TEXT the word "TODAY" to 30644 to become part of the John Edwards campaign. Do it. He actually had rainbow bumper stickers. Kinda thoughtful.
I've saved some sunlight
if you should ever need
a place away from darkness
where your mind can feed.
from Rod McKuen's "I've Saved The Summer"
Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.
We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
Make today COUNT.
Go to to find the phone numbers of your Senators and Representative.
Bill Nelson 202 224 5274
Kathy Castor 202 225 3376 (UPDATED NUMBER)
Mel Martinez 202224 3041
Send a letter to the
St.Pete TimesI don't care what you talk about but keep sending letters until they publish one. They're very selective with WHOM they publish because I see the same names over and over. Don't let a few people speak for ALL of us.
And
call your congressman and talk to her of
Inherent Contempt. Do it. And hug everyone you can reach.
North Jersey JUST DOIN it.Headlights to ImpeachTurn them ON. PlEaSe ! Help a country out here. Also, click the link to sign the petition. Takes three seconds.
Live Vote for ImpeachmentVote in the National Cheney Impeachment PollClick Here Bush Business (two states moving to convene grand juries)Email your CongressmanCourt of Impeachment and War CrimesBrought to you
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The City of Tampa and it's assorted city-sanctioned gang members need this property because it's in the middle of land they intend to develop for gambling facilities.
LaS VEgas here in Tampa : Ta-Vegas or Tam-Gas.But it's going to cost YOU a helluva lot of money as they defend their criminal acts in federal court due to what they are doing to my family and I in
the process of attempting to steal our home.
Terrorist,"Cause" and Gang Stalking Perpetrated by Tampa Firemen and other Firemen -- revealed and written about.Some more threats from Tampa firemen (we'll just drive by your burning house if we know who you are) no kidding? I would NEVER have guessed that !
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