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Creating the Groundswell for Impeachment
I have been writing my elected officials in Congress periodically over the past 6 years calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney and George W. Bush. As our impending conflict with Iran approaches certainty I wrote Ellen O. Tauscher (D - 10_CA), Barbara Boxer (D- CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D- CA), calling yet again for the application of the proper Constitutional remedy to our present Executive Branch. I received yet another boilerplate answer from Diane Feinstein and I've decided that it's now to critical a juncture in our Nation's history to stand by politely. I returned her answer to her along with the following note. As G.W.B. has made it clear he will angle for any excuse to join in a violent conflict with Iran, expanding the Pan-Arabian War of Empire into Persia I am calling for a greater effort to stop Bush & cronies in their tracks and shackle them before they can do any more damage. My reason for writing my Senators along with my Representative is that a groundswell must take hold in both Houses before the House of Representatives will act. Here's what I wrote. I encourage you to write as well:
I've spent a sleepless night pondering your response to my call for Impeachment for Cheney and Bush. My conclusion: you've failed American Democracy-101. The Constitution isn't vague about what's to be done in the face of genuine High Crimes and Misdemeanors. The prescription is Impeachment. What your response tells me is that you favor the entrenched interests of the corporatacracy over the Constitutional Rights of the American People; Empire over the Elevation of Man. This is tantamount to a crime in and of itself. America needs a redemption of the magnitude indicated by impeachment. Anything less will encourage further deconstruction of the Constitution, theft of elections and SCOTUS interdiction in legitimate political process. This spells the end for the United States of America. The experiment will be over. Oligarchs, Oligopoly, Praetorian Guard and Empire will lead to the decline and fall of the American Empire. American Empire? What idiots came up with this gem? History teaches us that all empires are bound to fail; most spectacularly. Winston Churchill said it best: Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
What America has at present is an unelected executive who through a combination of executive orders, ill conceived legislation and untenable judicial precedent has created the underpinnings for a fascist state. I'll take Churchill's postulate one step further. Social Democracy is the worst form of Democracy except all those other forms that have been tried from time. Your fear of Impeachment is a self-serving dodge. All you really care about is maintaining an entrenched position of privilege. Sorry to say, you're a failure. You've failed Democracy and your Nation. The only path available for the rescue of the Great American Experiment is through the upheaval of rebirth. Impeachment is the vehicle the Founding Fathers in their infinite wisdom provided for managing these upheavals; upheavals the Founding Fathers knew would be necessary from time to time to rescue the Nation from tyrants. You're calculated avoidance of that which is fundamentally necessary is the definition of your failure. I feel sorry for you in that you appear unable to see this for yourself. I am returning your answer to you; graded a failure. I'd give this some real thought if I were you. She who sits down and dines with wolves is not far from becoming the main course in a future meal. That's not your job description. That's not what I sent you to Washington for. Reflect, repent, repair our Nation; join the groundswell for Impeachment.
Sincerely,
Laurens L. Battis III
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- B. Franklin, 1759
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel." -- Patrick Henry
Comments (2)
The question of whether to impeach Bush and Cheney is one that haunts me as well.
There has never been a better case for impeachment. However, I believe that Pelosi was correct in her decision to take impeachment off the table. I believe there are two clear reasons why Democrats should support her decision.
First, there is a Democratic majority in the House and articles of impeachment probably would be sent to the Senate. But, the Democrats in the Senate have been stymied by a Republican minority on every front. There is no reason to expect that the Senate would convict Bush and Cheney of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Second, Clinton was impeached. If Bush is impeached, the work of Congress will be ground to a halt. We do have troops in Iraq and we must support them even as we reject Bush and Cheney. Important work such as the GI bill would fall by the wayside. The American public, in all likelihood, would blame the Democrats for wasting timd with impeachment proceedings that had no clear chance for success. Further, Democrats would have establish a precedent of tit-for-tat impeachment and the Democratic president elected in 2008 would likely face impeachment articles (even from a House minority) for "surrendering" as a result of withdrawal from Iraq.
My hope is that we will have Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate in 2009 as well as Democratic president. If that happy result comes to pass, my hope is that our President will appoint a truth commission to hold the hearings needed to document the many wrongs of the Bush administration and Congress will enact legislation to prevent future administrations from acting in the elitist and arrogant manner of the current administration.
May 29, 2008 11:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
I understand and for the most part agree with your points although I feel that Pelosi made a grave error in not making impeachment the first order of business after the 2006 elections. She was given a mandate to do that specifically. Her chickening-out provided the corporatocracy an opportunity to further erode the Constitution and entrench their decimation of America with additional executive orders and signing statements. My present fear is that the neo-cons line up Iran to be their next, "Pearl Harbor moment." If they can kick America back into herd-instinct mode one more time their deconstruction of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights may well be completed. Should this occur I fear the multinational puppet-masters will devolve the U.S. into their personal hi-tech armory. Should this occur I fear this armory will be used internationally for population decimation purposes. In all I've weighed stalling the Beltway until January 2009 against the threat I presently perceive and have concluded that it's too dangerous to our Nation to allow Washington's political theater to continue its present course. It's time to put the brakes to these felons and use bridge funding to maintain our forces overseas until they can be removed from the conflict and safely returned to us. Would that I could get this done sooner. I don't see any other safe course at present.
Therefore I say, “Impeach Them Now.”
May 29, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
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