The Case For Impeachment!

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain (America)[George W Bush III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. (My Emphasis)

The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

--U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 4

What is Impeachment?

Technically, impeachment is the Senate's quasi-criminal proceeding instituted to remove a public officer, not the actual act of removal. Most references to impeachment, however, encompass the entire process, beginning with the House's impeachment inquiry. The term will be used in that broader sense here. By design, impeachment is a complex series of steps and procedures undertaken by the legislature. The process roughly resembles a grand jury inquest, conducted by the House, followed by a full-blown trial, conducted by the Senate with the Chief Justice presiding. Impeachment is not directed exclusively at Presidents. The Constitutional language, "all civil officers," includes such positions as Federal judgeships. The legislature, however, provides a slightly more streamlined process for lower offices by delegating much of it to committees. See Nixon v. US, 506 U.S. 224 (1993)(involving removal of a Federal judge). Presidential impeachments involve the full, public participation of both branches of Congress.

Constitutional Authority

At the time of the drafting of the Constitution, impeachment was an established process in English law and government. The Founding Fathers incorporated the process, with modifications, into the fabric of United States government. The Constitution, however, only provides the framework-the basic who's, why's, and how's. The remaining procedural intricacies reside in the internal rules of the House and Senate.

Who?

Article 2, Section 4--"The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States. . ."

As noted above, this includes Federal judges. It does not, however, include House Representatives or Senators.

Why?

Article 2, Section 4--". . .on impeachment for, and on conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors."

This implies that the impeachment process is not tightly linked to the criminal law. The test is not satisfied by all crimes. With only two named offenses to provide context for the inclusive phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors," the standard remains undefined. The language suggests, however, that criminal action may be required. It is worth noting that the term "misdemeanor" does not correspond to the modern definition of a less serious (sub-felony) statutory or common law criminal offense.

In the case of Andrew Johnson, the House accused the President, among other things, of speaking disrespectfully of Congress "in a loud voice."

How?

Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5--"The House of Representatives . . . shall have the sole power of impeachment."

The power of impeachment translates into the power to indict. The House, through the Judiciary Committee, conducts investigation and gathers evidence. At the proper time, the House assembles the evidence into individual indictments or charges known as Articles of Impeachment. Each article requires a majority vote of the House to pass to the Senate. Once impeached, the officer is on trial.

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 6--"The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present."

The trial of the impeached officer is held in the Senate. In Nixon v. US, regarding the impeachment trial of a Federal judge, the Supreme Court ruled that the application of the phrase phrase "sole power to try all impeachments" to a particular case was not justiciable. In other words it held that the proper application of this constitutional language to a specific impeachment proceeding was not a question for the courts. Therefore, the process and procedure for impeachment lie solely within the purview of the legislature. The officer subject to an impeachment proceeding has no appeal to a federal court.

Article 1, Section 3, Clause 7--"Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law."

An impeachment and removal does not activate the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment. The ex-officer may face criminal indictments and trials for the same conduct that led to their impeachment and removal from office.

Reasons To Impeach Bush, Cheney Gonzales, et al

Articles of Impeachment
of
President George W. Bush
and
Vice President Richard B. Cheney,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. - - ARTICLE II, SECTION 4 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have committed violations and subversions of the Constitution of the United States of America in an attempt to carry out with impunity crimes against peace and humanity and war crimes and deprivations of the civil rights of the people of the United States and other nations, by assuming powers of an imperial executive unaccountable to law and usurping powers of the Congress, the Judiciary and those reserved to the people of the United States, by the following acts:

1) Seizing power to wage wars of aggression in defiance of the U.S. Constitution, the U.N. Charter and the rule of law; carrying out a massive assault on and occupation of Iraq, a country that was not threatening the United States, resulting in the death and maiming of over one hundred thousand Iraqis, and thousands of U.S. G.I.s.

2) Lying to the people of the U.S., to Congress, and to the U.N., providing false and deceptive rationales for war.

3) Authorizing, ordering and condoning direct attacks on civilians, civilian facilities and locations where civilian casualties were unavoidable.

4) Instituting a secret and illegal wiretapping and spying operation against the people of the United States through the National Security Agency.

5) Threatening the independence and sovereignty of Iraq by belligerently changing its government by force and assaulting Iraq in a war of aggression.

6) Authorizing, ordering and condoning assassinations, summary executions, kidnappings, secret and other illegal detentions of individuals, torture and physical and psychological coercion of prisoners to obtain false statements concerning acts and intentions of governments and individuals and violating within the United States, and by authorizing U.S. forces and agents elsewhere, the rights of individuals under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

7) Making, ordering and condoning false statements and propaganda about the conduct of foreign governments and individuals and acts by U.S. government personnel; manipulating the media and foreign governments with false information; concealing information vital to public discussion and informed judgment concerning acts, intentions and possession, or efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction in order to falsely create a climate of fear and destroy opposition to U.S. wars of aggression and first strike attacks.

8) Violations and subversions of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, both a part of the "Supreme Law of the land" under Article VI, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, in an attempt to commit with impunity crimes against peace and humanity and war crimes in wars and threats of aggression against Afghanistan, Iraq and others and usurping powers of the United Nations and the peoples of its nations by bribery, coercion and other corrupt acts and by rejecting treaties, committing treaty violations, and frustrating compliance with treaties in order to destroy any means by which international law and institutions can prevent, affect, or adjudicate the exercise of U.S. military and economic power against the international community.

9) Acting to strip United States citizens of their constitutional and human rights, ordering indefinite detention of citizens, without access to counsel, without charge, and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the Executive of a citizen as an "enemy combatant."

10) Ordering indefinite detention of non-citizens in the United States and elsewhere, and without charge, at the discretionary designation of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Defense.

11) Ordering and authorizing the Attorney General to override judicial orders of release of detainees under INS jurisdiction, even where the judicial officer after full hearing determines a detainee is wrongfully held by the government.

12) Authorizing secret military tribunals and summary execution of persons who are not citizens who are designated solely at the discretion of the Executive who acts as indicting official, prosecutor and as the only avenue of appellate relief.

13) Refusing to provide public disclosure of the identities and locations of persons who have been arrested, detained and imprisoned by the U.S. government in the United States, including in response to Congressional inquiry.

14) Use of secret arrests of persons within the United States and elsewhere and denial of the right to public trials.

15) Authorizing the monitoring of confidential attorney-client privileged communications by the government, even in the absence of a court order and even where an incarcerated person has not been charged with a crime.

16) Ordering and authorizing the seizure of assets of persons in the United States, prior to hearing or trial, for lawful or innocent association with any entity that at the discretionary designation of the Executive has been deemed "terrorist."

17) Engaging in criminal neglect in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, depriving thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and other Gulf States of urgently needed support, causing mass suffering and unnecessary loss of life.

18) Institutionalization of racial and religious profiling and authorization of domestic spying by federal law enforcement on persons based on their engagement in noncriminal religious and political activity.

19) Refusal to provide information and records necessary and appropriate for the constitutional right of legislative oversight of executive functions.

20) Rejecting treaties protective of peace and human rights and abrogation of the obligations of the United States under, and withdrawal from, international treaties and obligations without consent of the legislative branch, and including termination of the ABM treaty between the United States and Russia, and rescission of the authorizing signature from the Treaty of Rome which served as the basis for the International Criminal Court.

Taken from www.votetoimpeach.org

Impeachment of this president will have several key benefits:

* It puts the lie to any precedent that Bush/Cheney might want to set such that theories of 'Unitary Executive' are deemed legitimate. Without an act of Impeachment, these unchallenged precedents mean future Presidents have these powers forever. With Impeachment, there is at least an argument that Unitary Executive is bogus, regardless of conviction.

* It gives the House the power of subpoenas that cannot be blocked via an appeal to 'executive privilege' (United States v. Nixon).

* It gives a very public forum for a full investigation into all the dirty deeds of the White House, from the early energy policy, to War, to Katrina, to NSA wiretapping, etc., etc. -- Giving a forum to rehash all of these overreaches and failures just before an election.

* Finally, given this very public rehashing of all the administration's mis-deeds, viewed with a lurid detail we have not had until Bush cannot invoke Executive Privilege... We will have a fully informed public watch a partisan Senate vote to convict... or not.

To date there has only been three Presidents facing Articles of Impeachment, Andrew Jackson in 1868, Richard Nixon in 1974 and Bill Clinton in 1999...They didn't get the required votes for Jackson, Nixon resigned before going through the process and Clinton's was a farce from the beginning and he was acquitted not too mention his approval rating soared afterwards...It is very hard to get an Impeachment even harder when you have obstructionist GOP Senators and Congress persons not to mention some kind of "scared of political backlash" Democratic response to the continuing crimes of the BCS...Today those of us who want to see REAL Accountability took another hit as did our republic with John Conyers announcement today to that, our (the majority of the American public) only recourse to stop the Madness Of King George is the elections...At this rate the way the Democrats and repigs are laying down our freedoms and allowing the Shrub to shit all over the Constitution there will be no elections to remedy this situation...I said yesterday that Impeachment is not some kind of toy to use for everybody for anything but it represents the most powerful check and balance granted to the Legislative Branch to end constitutional crises like the one we are in now...However, we do have precedent on our side...Nixon was basically impeached for obstruction of justice...It went a little something like this:

1. Burglars broke into the Dem HQs. (later found to be authorized by Nixon)
2. People were paid off to keep them quiet. (also found to be authorized by Nixon)
3. Everything said in the oval office was taped.
4. Nixon tried to fire the special prosecutor, and fired as many people in the DoJ as he had to, until he found someone who WOULD fire the special prosecutor.
5. Because of 4, House investigations started in earnest and found out 1 and 2.
6. Nixon tried to get out of turning over the tapes of everything to the House. He lost.
7. Tapes got turned over, and 1 and 2 were discovered, along with a hell of a lot of other illegal/shady stuff.
8. Articles of impeachment are drawn up.
9. Nixon resigns before he's impeached.

Incident No. 4 was in October 73. By August 74 Nixon was gone.

The Shrub is falling into that category by asserting that him and his executive staff are immune from subpoena's because of some opinion they found lying around from the Clinton Admin...From TPMmuckraker:

The administration will not permit a U.S. attorney to enforce a citation of contempt against Congress, as federal law instructs. That may shock you, but it's all old news, "a senior administration official" tells The Washington Post:

"A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case.... And a U.S. attorney wouldn't be permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided. No one should expect that to happen....

"It has long been understood that, in circumstances like these, the constitutional prerogatives of the president would make it a futile and purely political act for Congress to refer contempt citations to U.S. attorneys." MORE!

Now this is just a legal opinion and has never been tested in court probably until now...That is why the Shrub is playing hardball and seems is pushing for a legal showdown...Why shouldn't he? He has the DOJ right where he wants them...He has been seeding the office with his loyal toadies, probably for just this exact showdown and the media is going to make sure him and his loud mouthpieces drown out any rational or reality based discussion...I also need to highlight the excellent Bill Moyers interview about Impeachment again...Make sure you click the following links and watch both parts it will clear up all the questions you may still have after reading this...

Tough Talk on Impeachment - Part 1

Tough Talk on Impeachment - Part 2

The two gentlemen with Bill Moyer's are REAL Constitutional Scholars and actually know what they are talking about unlike them idiots on the Noise channels...One of them actually wrote the Articles of Impeachment against Clinton...So their opinions carry much more weight than any lawyer or insta-pundit the BCS can conjure up...

This is not about revenge or payback for Clinton, this is not about red or blue but it is about what is right for our Nation...The Founding Fathers in their wisdom saw George Bush when they were writing up the Constitution they figured somewhere down the line we would get a real winner in office and he would try the stuff he is trying now...They knew the lure of power and how power corrupts especially in the hand of a few individuals...That is why we have Impeachment in the Constitution to guard against a madman who has lost all ability to reason and uphold the laws that he was sworn to protect...

So the question for today is, AFTER reading ALL of the information here and watching the videos should the congress impeach President Bush...?!? I mean no offense but I do not want to hear about your feelings...I want opinions based on the facts and information listed here!



Impeachment is the Cure For A Constitutional Crisis
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