Back on the table -- Paging Miss Nancy...

[warren pease]

Below is an email message I sent to our courageous speaker
this morning, prior to the vote on the bogus supplemental
that, apparently, leaves Bush free to do just about any damn
thing he wants in Iraq.  Had I waited until after the vote, I
would have been too apoplectic to type.  Anyway, I'm curious
about your impressions of the message.  Too harsh?  Too tame? 
Illogical?  Not subtle enough?  

We distort; you decide.

wp



Congresswoman Pelosi:  Why is impeachment "off the
table?"  It's the centerpiece of my table, and of the
tables of millions of Americans who have had far too much of
the Bush administration's crimes against the Constitution, the
Iraqi people, and sanity itself.  

Democrats gained Congressional majorities last November
precisely because Americans finally realized that this
administration, if unchecked, would further escalate the
madness in Iraq and, at home, would not stop until it had
dismantled any program that might actually benefit the
citizenry, firing yet another salvo in the GOP's ongoing war
on the New Deal.  All this while creating a new set of fiscal
policies -- disguised as tax reform, subsidies and no-bid
contracts -- designed to pick taxpayers' pockets and transfer
that wealth upward to the GOP's corporate employers. 

And, in the case of Cheney, add substantially to his personal
fortune.  Elsewhere in the world, that's called graft and
corruption; here, it's called the GOP domestic agenda.

It seems to me that, by refusing to consider impeachment, you
underestimate the anger in this country directed at the Bush
administration and, by doing so, miss the opportunity to make
a bold but calculated strategic move that carries a very good
chance of success. 

By failing to capitalize on the situation, you place the
Democratic party -- yet again -- in the position of dancing to
the GOP's tune.  Conventional wisdom -- rarely wise, though
always predictable -- tells us impeachment would be a waste of
time because Democrats don't have the votes to convict in the
Senate.  

However, winning Senate conviction -- as great a victory for
justice and freedom as that would be -- isn't the only purpose
of impeachment.  Exposing the crimes of this administration
through well-publicized impeachment hearings means you can win
without a guilty verdict.  Public testimony detailing this
administration's "high crimes and misdemeanors" --
and what else would you call outing a covert CIA operative? --
is the greater prize that an impeachment strategy brings.

This is not strictly a witch hunt, although witches and
warlocks abound in Bushland.  Rather, it is an absolutely
necessary process if the great American experiment is to
survive the malevolent meddling of these greedy crooks.  

Allowed to operate unchecked, this administration will
bankrupt us all, wage continuous proxy wars to seize oil
reserves for their employers in the petroleum industry,
further erode our already shameful reputation throughout the
civilized world, and render the Constitution just a disposable
byproduct of silly idealism.

Let me put it this way.  If the circumstances I've listed
above are accurate, and you know they are, what else would it
take to put impeachment back "on the table?"  

How about a pattern of pathological secrecy and continuous
lying, advocacy of unconstitutional legislation like the
ill-named Patriot Act or the Military Commissions Act,
creation of off-shore hellholes staffed by
administration-sanctioned sadists, suspension of habeas
corpus, a bogus "war on terror" that has achieved
zero results against real threats, but provided cover for an
invasion and occupation of Iraq and, by astonishing
coincidence, its oil reserves.  

Then there's the Plame outing, which fits the definition of
treason quite well, the manipulation of pre-war intelligence
to get "facts" to align with Bushean propaganda, and
the latest scandal regarding the Federal prosecutors.  

So I ask again, what would it take to get your attention?  How
far do they have to go before you say enough's enough?  

I suggest that the Bush administration crossed the line
between incompetence and malevolence a long time ago.  And
they must be brought to account for their actions.

As an agreeable side effect, impeachment proceedings -- and
the coverage and exposure that goes with them -- can only
increase the prospects for Democratic dominance for at least
the near future, starting with election of a Democratic
administration in 2008.  On the other hand, refusal to
consider impeachment simply justifies the general impression
that modern Democrats are, in fact, the all time candy-asses
of American politics.

You are in a very powerful position.  You can control this
country's political agenda, while doing an enormous favor for
Americans and for people throughout the world.  Bring down the
hammer on the Bush regime.  View impeachment as a sacred duty
or, if you prefer, a political strategy with no real downside
-- unless you care what they say on Fox News. 

With best regards,

blah, blah...

[calimary]

1. I'd send her parts of that EVERY DAY. Take one paragraph at a time.

The only problem with it is the length. But your points are UTTERLY valid. We DO need IMPEACHMENT to be put SQUARELY back on the table. And we need it NOW.

I, too, wonder what the fuck she's waiting for. Do we not have MORE than enough evidence of MULTIPLE high crimes and misdemeanors, lying to Congress (if not under oath, which bush was always careful to avoid anyway - probably for a good reason), HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of cases of obstruction of justice - in ALL of its forms and manifestations. Hell, bush has even come up with NEW applications for it. He could write several new chapters in a how-to book about obstruction of justice, or maybe an entire book of his own!

I suggest the ol' drumbeat effect. Keep hammering. Keep hammering. Keep bringing it up with EVERYBODY, House OR Senate people. Doesn't matter. It needs to be pushed all over the place. It needs to smack 'em all in the face WHOEVER THEY ARE, and WHEREVER THEY TURN. It needs to be coming out of the water faucets all over Capitol Hill.

EVERY TIME we call our reps, it should be mentioned, at least once. EVERY TIME. No matter what reason is chosen for the call, initially. EVERY TIME it should be brought up, even if it's only in an "oh, by the way..." type of thing at the end of your phone call.

If the seeds are planted EVERYWHERE, they will sprout SOMEWHERE.

[warren pease]

4. Yeah, it's a bit long-winded...

And I seriously doubt any busy staffer would read all the way through. Maybe I will dice it up and resend the parts. I've sent similar calls for impeachment, though much shorter, to my own Congresswoman, to all Congresspersons in my state, and to various others in influential committee positions -- Conyers, Waxman, et al.

I'm absolutely mystified by Democrats' willingness to be coerced into enabling BushCo. She's the leader of the opposition party, not the appeasment party, and it's about damn time she did her job. If she's unable or unwilling, there are several others -- Lee, Waters, Woolsey, Kucinich, Stark, Conyers and Waxman, to name a few -- who would thrive on the opportunity to advance a true democratic (small d) agenda.

I don't know why people seem to think that democracy is some disposable option that you can take or leave, depending on the whims of the powerful. The framers would have had Pelosi in stocks in the public square for treating this country's Constitutional freedoms so lightly.

And I see I'm in danger of yet another looooong diatribe. Stop me before I type again.

Nice to see you're still around Calimary. I haven't been here for a couple of years and it's great to see the sigs of some of the people I remember.

wp

[ClassWarrior]

6. I gave my Congressperson a "VISUALIZE IMPEACHMENT" bumper sticker.

And I gave one to calimary too...

B-)

NGU.

[enough already]

2. You nailed it

Right after the vote today, Chimpus Magnus struts out and says he'll veto the bill if it gets to his desk. The only thing that will stop this prick is IMPEACHMENT. What the fuck is she waiting for????

[Bobbieo]

3. The only thing that will stop Bush is IMPEACHMENT!! When will the speaker understand that????

AFter his veto - maybe???

[Quakerfriend]

5. Thank you, it's just perfect.

Sometimes, I think that Nancy P. is a bit like an abused spouse after six years of *co.

The world is waiting. I feel almost desperate for impeachment and I believe that the rest of the world does, as well. We cannot wait much longer. The damage we already allowed is unconscionable.