Since I announced my challenge to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a few days ago, I have been very thrilled that issues such as impeachment and the inherent corruption of the “two” party system have been brought to the forefront of public discourse. Every interview I have done has given me the opportunity to throw the impeachment issue out there. The democratic blogosphere has predictably lined up against me and must be very frightened because they are repeating the scandalous lies of the right. Wow, the right and left are finding common ground over slandering me. I must be a uniter.
I received an e-mail from David Swanson from AfterDowningStreet.org yesterday saying that ADS was in trouble because the blogs were trashing us for targeting John Conyers and Nancy Pelosi. My question for these bloggers is whom should we target? Should we go after House Minority Leader John Boehner? Repugs are literally like rats jumping off the sinking ship of state and they are distancing themselves from George and Dick faster than the Democrats. With the mood of the country, we know this is not a moral position but a politically expedient one. Why can’t we urge the Democrats to take a moral position? Because they have been elected with a (D) they become one of the Untouchables?
Instead of trashing David Swanson and me for wanting our leadership to do their jobs, why can’t the left join with us and be concerned with the people who are being killed, maimed, and displaced on a daily basis and not worry about Dems being held to the same standards we hold the Repugs? David has a baby boy named Wesley that deserves a better future. There are millions of children in Iraq that deserve a better future. Over 600 American troops have been killed since the Dems took over the power structure in DC and did nothing to stop George’s murderous surge. We targeted the Repugs when they were in power. Now the Dems are in power so they are the ones that we have to focus on. It is not a difficult concept.
There must be an underlying shady reason that Speaker Pelosi took impeachment off the table. Her office stated the other day that she will not put the issue back on the table because she is focused on “ending the war.” The statement would be laughable if it weren’t for the fact that she is using a neo-con strategy of saying the exact opposite of what is true. Ms. Pelosi would not allow Rep. Barbara Lee’s bill that truly supported the troops by fixing a quick timeline for their withdrawal to be brought to the floor and instead used her power to whip her caucus into approving a “non-binding” resolution that by its very name is meaningless and useless. The Dems can accomplish much if they put their muscle behind it and the Dems could impeach BushCo and end the war if that was truly their focus. Actions speak louder than words and one cannot say that she is focused on ending the war with her mouth while she is signing a $100 BILLION check to keep the war going with her signing hand.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia suspended participation in a key European arms control treaty Saturday, saying it will halt NATO inspections of its military sites and no longer limit the numbers of its tanks and other heavy conventional weapons.
The move, threatened for months, added new tension to relations with the West already strained over U.S. plans to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe, Russian conflicts with its neighbors and Western criticism of Moscow’s human rights record.
Experts said the move was a symbolic gesture rather than a sign of Russian intent to build up forces near its borders. The Kremlin, they said, appeared to be expressing its dissatisfaction with the perceived U.S. domination of global affairs, and positioning Russia as an unyielding global player.
The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty was signed by Russian and NATO members in 1990, when Soviet and NATO troops faced off in Central Europe. It was amended in 1999 to reflect changes since the breakup of the Soviet Union, adding the requirement that Moscow withdraw its forces from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia.
Four more members of the U.S. House signed on this week as cosponsors of H. Res. 333, the measure that outlines articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney for actively and systematically seeking to deceive citizens and Congress about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda and for openly threatening aggression against Iran.
Congressman Bob Filner, the chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, added his name, along with another veteran Democratic representative from California, Sam Farr.
The additional co’sponsorships from Washington Democrat Jim McDermott, a Vietnam-era veteran who has been one of the House’s sharpest critics of the war in Iraq, and Virginia Democrat James Moran bring the number of supporters for the articles to 14, including sponsor Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.
House Members are backing impeachment for a number of reasons, including anger with Cheney’s involvement with manipulations of intelligence regarding Iraq, illegal spying on Americans and the promotion of torture, as well his recent attempt to avoid scrutiny by claiming that the Office of the Vice President was not part of the executive branch. And then there was President Bush’s decision to commute the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s former chief of staff and co-conspirator in moves to punish former Ambassador Joe Wilson for exposing the deceptions that led to war.
The founders were very clear about the fact that abuses of the presidential authority to pardon or otherwise lift the burden of the law from subordinates was an impeachable offense. And a number of House members who take constitutional matters seriously have spoken up for impeachment since the commutation of Libby’s sentence.
Remember this guy? Nominated and then off to never never land. Where is he? I would think the “war czar” would have something to say about what’s going on in Iraq.
Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, said the country is in “great danger” of the U.S. government staging a terrorist attack or a Gulf of Tonkin style provocation, as the war in Iraq continues to deteriorate.
The Texas congressman offered no specifics nor mentioned President Bush by name, but he clearly insinuated that the administration would not be above staging an incident to revive flagging support.
“We’re in danger in many ways,” Paul said on the Alex Jones radio show. “The attack on our civil liberties here at home, the foreign policy that’s in shambles and our obligations overseas and commitment which endangers our troops and our national defense.”
Paul was asked to respond to comments by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan that the U.S. is in danger of a staged terror attack or a provocation of an enemy similar to the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 before the Vietnam War.
During the radio interview, Paul said the government was conducting “an orchestrated effort to blame the Iranians for everything that has gone wrong in Iraq.”
The comments come as several prominent terrorism experts have warned the U.S. is facing an increased risk of attack this summer. Earlier this week, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he had a “gut feeling” the U.S. would be attacked again.
The remark angered some Democrats, who criticized Chertoff for being too vague. And some pundits seized on his remarks, saying the vague warnings were meant only to revive flagging support for the war in Iraq and Bush’s larger war against terrorism.
“…politicians deserve forgiveness when they err and repent”
Republicans defending prostitution-patron, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter… what the hell do they stand for again? I keep hearing high morals and ethics, but I’m not seeing it! The party of family values are everything but!
Where were these “defenders of super-minor mistakes” when Clinton ran the country? Oh, that’s right…
Several GOP colleagues in Washington and Louisiana have rallied to Vitter’s side, saying REPUBLICANS politicians deserve forgiveness when they err and repent.
[...]
Roger Villere, chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, said Friday he had tried to get in touch with Vitter without success. Villere said he’d been inundated with e-mails from Republicans, most of them supporting Vitter. A “vocal minority” is voicing opposition, he said.
[...]
Vitter’s allies say they will try to help him regain some of his luster.
“The past conduct that Sen. Vitter has acknowledged and taken responsibility for is serious and disappointing,” Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., said in a statement Friday, “but it does not define the whole of the man, and it is not irredeemable.”
…American troops [can] leave “any time they want” -Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
What the hell is the hold up? Oh…
PM: Iraqis can keep peace without U.S.
AP Photo: People pick through the rubble left behind after a parked car bomb killed a pedestrian
BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave “any time they want,” though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.
The embattled prime minister sought to show confidence at a time when pressure in the U.S. Congress is growing for a withdrawal and the Bush administration reported little progress had been made on the most vital of a series of political reforms it wants al-Maliki to carry out.
Moreover, the Pentagon on Friday conceded that the Iraqi army has become more reliant on the U.S. military. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, said the number of Iraqi battalions able to operate on their own without U.S. support has dropped in recent months from 10 to six, though he said the fall was in part due to attrition from stepped-up offensives.
[...]
“We need time and effort, particularly since the political process is facing security, economic and services pressures, as well as regional and international interference,” he told reporters at a Baghdad news conference, without giving a timeframe.
“These difficulties can be read as a big success, not negative points, when they are viewed under the shadow of the big challenges. That is what should be understood in the White House report,” al-Maliki said.
The report fueled calls among congressional critics of the Iraqi policy for a change in strategy, including a withdrawal of American forces. The White House insists it is too early to call its strategy a failure.
Bill Moyers talks impeachment with Bruce Fein and John Nichols. You can read transcript or watch here.
A public opinion poll from the American Research Group recently reported that more than four in ten Americans - 45% - favor impeachment hearings for President Bush and more than half - 54% - favored impeachment for Vice President Cheney.
Unhappiness about the war in Iraq isn’t the only cause of the unsettled feelings of the electorate. Recent events like President Bush’s pardoning of Scooter Libby, the refusal of Vice President Cheney’s office to surrender emails under subpoena to Congress and the President’s prohibition of testimony of former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers in front of the House Judiciary Committee have caused unease over claims of “executive privilege.” In addition, many of the White House anti-terror initiatives and procedures - from the status of “enemy combatants” in Guantanamo to warrantless wiretapping - have come under legal scrutiny in Congress and the courts.
KEENE, N.H. — Bill Clinton accused President George W. Bush on Friday of having “forgotten about our hunt for bin Laden,” and told Newsday the president’s Iraq policy had spawned swarms of new terror recruits.
Speaking during his first New Hampshire appearance with his wife, Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president agreed with a recent intelligence report indicating the al-Qaida terror organization has regrouped to pre-Sept. 11 levels.
“Our defenses are better, but we may have more people trying to pierce them,” Clinton said as he signed autographs outside Keene High School, the first of three campaign stops in the Granite State.
“I agree with what Hillary said — that the homeland is not safe enough but that it’s safer from attack than it was pre-9/11 because there are so many people out there around the world are cooperating with us,” he added. “That’s the good news … the bad news is that there’s no question that our policy in Iraq and the fact that we pursued it virtually alone has generated a lot more recruiting from the people who don’t like us or the British.”
Since I announced my challenge to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a few days ago, I have been very thrilled that issues such as impeachment and the inherent corruption of the “two” party system have been brought to the forefront of public discourse. Every interview I have done has given me the opportunity to throw the impeachment issue out there. The democratic blogosphere has predictably lined up against me and must be very frightened because they are repeating the scandalous lies of the right. Wow, the right and left are finding common ground over slandering me. I must be a uniter.
Four more members of the U.S. House signed on this week as cosponsors of H. Res. 333, the measure that outlines articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney for actively and systematically seeking to deceive citizens and Congress about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda and for openly threatening aggression against Iran.
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