A Time to Impeach

[Karmadillo]

Sound pretty convincing.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=72&ItemID=9376

<edit>

Bush not only acknowledged, and defended, this illegal eavesdropping in a Saturday radio address, he went further in a Monday morning press conference, saying he'd "suggested" it. But as Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold -- who, together with conservative Idaho Republican Larry Craig, led the filibuster that defeated the Patriot Act's renewal -- said this weekend, "This is not how our democratic system of government works--the president does not get to pick and choose which laws he wants to follow."

But Bush had plenty of bipartisan help from Democratic co-conspirators in keeping knowledge of this illegal spying from reaching the American public. It began in November 2001, in the wake of 9/11, and -- from the very first briefing for Congressional leaders by Dick Cheney until today -- Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees were told about it. Those witting and complicit in hiding the crime included Democratic Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, former chairman and later ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, former ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. They knew it was a crime -- Rockefeller, for example, warned the administration against it -- and yet did not make it public. They were frightened by polls showing security hysteria at its height.

Worse, the New York Times itself was part of the coverup. When it broke its scoop last Friday, the Times in its article admitted that, "After meeting with senior administration officials to hear their concerns, the newspaper delayed publication for a year to conduct additional reporting. Some information that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists has been omitted."

In other words, the Times sat on its story until after the 2004 presidential elections, when American voters might have been able to stop this criminal conduct by voting out the criminal. Not content with employing Judith Miller as the megaphone for relaying the Bush administration's lies about Saddam's having weapons of mass destruction, the Times again proved its servility to power by not telling its readers it knew of criminal spying on them for an entire year, until the election cycle was long past. Yet this aspect of the Times' story has gone unremarked in the mass media.

<edit>

A Zogby poll released Nov. 4 showed that, when asked if they agreed that, "If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment," Americans answered yes by 53 percent to 42 percent. It is therefore not simply extremist raving to suggest that impeachment of George Bush should be put on the table.

Remember that, in the impeachment of Richard Nixon, Article 2 of the three Articles of Impeachment dealt with illegal wiretapping of Americans. It said that Nixon committed a crime "by directing or authorizing agencies or personnel to conduct or continue electronic surveillance or other investigations for purposes unrelated to national security, the enforcement of laws, or any other lawful function of his office."

more...

[lonestarnot]

1. Start drawing up the Articles NOW!

[ddeclue]

6. Articles of Impeachment..A First Draft

Please send the above to your Congressmen and Senators (and newspapers) and ask them if they could please take the time to fill in the blanks.

It is surprising how little editing was required to go from the original Richard Nixon Articles of Impeachment to the above. It only took about 10 minutes.

http://watergate.info/impeachment/impeachment-articles....

Doug De Clue
Orlando, FL

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Articles of Impeachment Adopted by the Committee on the Judiciary

Date:______________

Article 1
Article 2
Article 3

RESOLVED, That George W. Bush, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanours, and that the following articles of impeachment to be exhibited to the Senate:

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT EXHIBITED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN THE NAME OF ITSELF AND OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT OF ITS IMPEACHMENT AGAINST HIM FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANOURS.

Article 1

In his conduct of the office of President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his consitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice, in that:

On or about December 17, 2005, and prior thereto, agents of the National Security Agency on orders of George W. Bush committed unlawful warrentless wiretaps against thousands of American citizens inside the United States in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (USC Title 50 Chapter 36 Subchapter 1), and in engaged in a conspiracy with him to commit an offense against the United States in violation of USC TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 19 § 371. Prior thereto, George W. Bush, using the powers of his high office, engaged personally and through his close subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation of such illegal activities; to cover up, conceal and protect those responsible; and to conceal the existence and scope of other unlawful covert activities in violation of USC TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 73 § 1512 paragraph (b).

The means used to implement this course of conduct or plan included one or more of the following: issuing Executive Orders contrary to United States Code, making false or misleading statements to lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States; withholding relevant and material evidence or information from lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States; approving, condoning, acquiescing in, and counselling witnesses with respect to the giving of false or misleading statements to lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of the United States and false or misleading testimony in duly instituted judicial and congressional proceedings; interfering or endeavouring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Congressional Committees; endeavouring to misuse the National Security Agency, an agency of the United States; and making or causing to be made false or misleading public statements.

In all of this, George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

Wherefore George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

Adopted ____ to ____ by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, at __________________________________, in Room ______ of the _____________ Office Building, Washington D.C.

Article 2

Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purposed of these agencies.

This conduct has included one or more of the following:

He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavoured to obtain from the National Security Agency, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, the contents of private phone calls for purposes not authorized by law, and to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, criminal investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.

He misused the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Agency and other executive personnel, in violation or disregard of the constitutional rights of citizens, by directing or authorizing such agencies or personnel to conduct or continue electronic surveillance or other investigations for purposes not authorized by law, or any lawful function of his office; he did direct, authorize, or permit the use of information obtained thereby; and he did direct the concealment of certain records made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency of electronic surveillance.

He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, in violation or disregard of the constitutional rights of citizens, authorized and permitted to be maintained a secret investigative unit within the offices of the Department of Defense, which unlawfully utilized the resources of the government, and engaged in covert and unlawful activities to unlawfully gather intelligence in violation of domestic prohibitions.

He has failed to take care that the laws were faithfully executed by failing to act when he knew or had reason to know that his close subordinates endeavoured to impede and frustrate lawful inquiries by duly constituted executive, judicial and legislative entities concerning the unlawful naming of a covert operative of the Central Intelligence Agency, and the cover-up thereof.

In disregard of the rule of law, he knowingly misused the executive power by interfering with agencies of the executive branch, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, in violation of his duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

In all of this, George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

Wherefore George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.


Adopted ____ to ____ by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.


Article 3

In his conduct of the office of President of the United States, George W. Bush, contrary to his oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has through the use of often-secret Justice Department findings, substituted his own judgment for that of the courts assuming to himself functions and judgments necessary to the proper exercise of the judicial power vested by the Article III of the Constitution in the Supreme Court and the lower Courts established by Congress.

In all of this, George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

Wherefore, George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

Adopted ____ to ____ by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.

[lonestarnot]

13. Right on and thanks! Will do just that! K & R!

[lonestarnot]

14. ooops already recommended! LOL

[Marleyb]

17. excellent work!

Have you considered running for congress?

[ddeclue]

20. Yeah but..

I'm only 39, not a millionaire and fairly new to my area (2 years) and would be facing the Republican incumbent. A friend of mine did just that in 2004 and did ok but still got beat by a large margin.

The Dem two locals running have a lot of name recognition, money, and long roots so it would be really hard to jump in and win at this level right now.

[5X]

2. "They were frightened by polls showing security hysteria at its height."

this is a total bullshit statement, and I told
Ireland I thought so.
They were prevented from revealing the information by law.

[Karmadillo]

3. It might be that Ireland thought Rosa Parks was the

appropriate model in this instance. If the Bush Administration is violating the Constitution, one might need to violate the law and alert the American people to what's going on.

[Karmadillo]

4. Kick

nt

[ddeclue]

5. Listening in without a warrant isn't just impolite, it's a felony.

Listening in without a warrant isn't just impolite, it's a felony.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001809----000-.html

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (USC Title 50 Chapter 36 Subchapter 1) specifically prohibits the government from doing what the President has secretly ordered and it is a serious felony with major penalties.

The penalties are severe, up to 5 years and $10,000 per count. The President has admitted to reauthorizing this violation of the law 30 separate times and thousands of phone calls have been intercepted.

The President has publically confessed to this felony on national television. He ordered government agencies to engage in spying on thousands of American citizens without a warrant when the Congress made specific provisions in law to cover all circumstances, even emergency situations so that the gov't could listen in for up to 72 hours before obtaining a warrant, plenty of time to find and convince a judge.

There is no excuse for this action, yet the President has done so anyways.

That the President has colluded with others to do so, also makes this a conspiracy subject to fine and imprisonment up to 5 years per count under USC TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 19 § 371.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000371----000-.html

That he has chosen to hide it from the public, the Congress, law enforcement agencies, and the Courts through secret findings and secret orders may also be a case for obstruction of justice under USC TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 73 § 1512 paragraph (b).

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_73.html

The time has come for Prosecutor Fitzgerald to step forward and finally take the gloves off.

It is time for the Congress to convene impeachment hearings.

Respectfully,

Douglas J. De Clue
1726 Diamond Drive
Orlando, FL, 32807
[phone] (home)
[phone] (cell#1)
[phone] (cell#2)
[e-mail]

FISA Act:

USC Title 50 Chapter 36 Subchapter 1

§ 1809. Criminal sanctions

Release date: 2005-03-17

(a) Prohibited activities A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally—

(1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute; or

(2) discloses or uses information obtained under color of law by electronic surveillance, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through electronic surveillance not authorized by statute.

(b) Defense

It is a defense to a prosecution under subsection (a) of this section that the defendant was a law enforcement or investigative officer engaged in the course of his official duties and the electronic surveillance was authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) Penalties An offense described in this section is punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

(d) Federal jurisdiction There is Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section if the person committing the offense was an officer or employee of the United States at the time the offense was committed.

USC TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 19 § 371

§ 371. Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States

If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor.

TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 73 § 1512

§ 1512. Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant

b)

(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in

an official proceeding;

(2) cause or induce any person to--

(A) withhold testimony, or withhold a record, document, or other object, from an official proceeding;

(B) alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal an object with intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding;

(C) evade legal process summoning that person to appear as a witness, or to produce a record, document, or other object, in an official proceeding; or

(D) be absent from an official proceeding to which such person has been summoned by legal process; or

(3) hinder, delay, or prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer or judge of the United States of information relating to the commission or possible commission of a Federal offense or a violation of conditions of probation, parole, or release pending judicial proceedings;

[buddysmellgood]

7. turn, turn turn. eom

[texpatriot2004]

8. Actually, it's way past time, but now will do. n.t

[ginnyinWI]

9. I'd love to see him gone as much as anyone, but

what happens next? Cheney becomes President, which doesn't change our policies at all. He appoints someone as his vice-president, doubtless someone just as right-leaning as he is, if not more. He may or may not replace Rummy--probably not, since Rummy knows where a lot of bodies are buried, no doubt.

Then 2008 rolls around and that vice-president runs for re-election as president! Another incumbent Republican to beat. ARGH.

It might be better to have a deflated Bush drag his butt through the rest of his term--with a Congress which has basically abandoned him, so that he can get nothing passed, while the Dems and moderate Republicans in Congress work to repair the damage done already.

[many a good man]

12. Cheney must also go

If we can remove these two treasonous bastards there won't be anyone "elected" in the office. With more than two years left in the term, Congress would be compelled to call a special presidential election during the midterms. We are in crisis territory and bold action is called for.

[Independent_Liberal]

16. Impeach Cheney too!

This is how it will go.

-Dems take back the House and Senate in 2006.

-January of 2007, the 110th Congress is sworn in with Nancy Pelosi as the new Speaker of the House.

-Beginning of February, hearings, investigations, and impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney begin (with John Conyers as the new House Judiciary Committee Chairman).

-March, Bush and Cheney are both impeached.

-April, the Senate trial begins and Bush and Cheney are both convicted. After that, Nancy Pelosi is sworn in as the new President and she appoints John Conyers as her Vice President.

How does that sound to you?

[many a good man]

18. You're a year off

Jan 2006: Rove indicted
Feb 2006: Cheney indicted,resigns
Mar 2006: World markets tumble
Apr 2006: Bush impeached, Hastert sworn in
May 2006: Congress calls for special presidential election in Nov
Nov 2006: Dems win majorities in House and Senate; take WH
Jan 2007: Al Gore sworn in as 44th POTUS

:kick:

[ginnyinWI]

19. if it could only happen that way!

I don't have as much confidence that we can get both the House and Senate back next year--although there's always the possibility. We shall see.

Meanwhile, there is definite evidence already that the moderate repubs on the Hill are in open revolt--which will have to do us for now. When they have joined with our unified Dems in the House and Senate lately, it's given us the power to defeat a lot of the items on the WH wish list.

[many a good man]

10. "Not simply extremist raving" any more!

The wheels of justice turn slowly...

[Marleyb]

11. What are the democrats waiting for?

This is a no-brainer! Why are they giving Bush time to come up with an excuse? There is no legal justification. Just say it. He is a unrepentant criminal. Bush must be impeached!

And how to we hold the New York Times accountable as well? They are responsible for burying both this story and the story of bush cheating in the debates with an earpiece. Either story would have pushed the election results beyond any chance of stealing it.

How did they hold the corporate collaborators accountable after WWII?

The democrats in congress better start acting to stop this move toward dictatorship or they too will be considered collaborators. The history books will not be kind to them.

[greiner3]

15. First get b*** out;

Then we'll sort out who was a conspirator later!