If for no other reason IMPEACH NOW!

[seemslikeadream]

WAR PROFITIERS

Halliburton provided contaminated water to Soldiers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeIxHQ-lkuM&eurl=

Thank you ProSense

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2958892

How can anyone advocate giving these guys a free pass?

They must be held accountable



How many more, how many more will it take, 50,000?

[pissedoffprogressive]

1. AMEN

[screembloodymurder]

3. Brother!

Justice demands it.

[H2O Man]

2. Yes

is the answer. (And you know that, for sure!) -- JWL

[Ravy]

4. Impeachment is a poor way to hold them accountable (IMHO)

And the Dems need to be very careful with the investigations, to preserve the right to prosecute all of these people in a court that will really matter.

[elocs]

8. That is not a very popular notion here.

In fact, many will not be happy if Democrats do not start impeachment hearings within the first minute they are in office. Well anything worth doing is worth doing right, and impeachment right out of the gates is a bad idea. Build the case for the American people brick by brick and they will demand impeachment.

[Ravy]

13. I agree that Bush is the poster boy the framers had in mind

when they put impeachment in the constitution.

I am just concerned that it will thwart future criminal action.

[porphyrian]

9. It's short sighted to think we can't do both.

Our elected representatives did go to school, you know.

[Ravy]

12. Well, it brings to mind Oliver North...

where a congressional investigation basically lead to nothing but letting a criminal go free.

Would a failed impeachment of Bush be ultimately ruled double-jeopardy if there were criminal proceedings or extradition rulings after he leaves office?

[porphyrian]

15. Oliver North wasn't the President of the United States of America.

And we've already lived through Iran-Contra, so I would hope we've learned from our mistakes there. Again, thinking we can't do both is insulting the intelligence of our representatives.

[Selatius]

5. You're putting the cart before the horse, I'm afraid

We all pretty much agree that war profiteers here should be prosecuted and made to pay for their crimes, but investigations take time. It may take years, but so be it, and I believe Dems have the fortitude to at least take the first step of opening government probes of how the White House has conducted this war.

The tough question comes when the evidence gathered says to impeach. I believe it most likely will. The problem is do the Dems have the fortitude to even issue Articles of Impeachment? I think the jury is out on that even if the evidence is beyond a reasonable doubt.

[DemPower]

18. not the cart before the horse meme!

The horse is saddled, the cart is ready...we just need a driver!

They have already been caught breaking the law, we must force the democratic party to hold them accountable.

Only 22 democrats in the House voted against the 'Iran freedom support act' and 21 Democrats were cosponsoring this bill which supports Bush's lies about Iran in the senate. The Democratic Party has been enabling Bush.

They have to be told to stop supporting Bush's lies and start doing their job to defend our constitution.

[longship]

21. Welcome to DU!

I suggest that you look at how Watergate affair went down. Then, contrast it with the way Clinton's impeachment occurred. The former is how it should be done, the latter the way to fail.

We need to build the impeachment imperative by convincing the people of the United States that there *is* an imperative. We have to do this by stages.

Convince our Congress critters to investigate those paths which are most likely to provide this imperative. "Abuse of power" might be relatively easy. Likewise, torture. Likewise, unconstitutional laws (although Congress is clearly complicit in this). Choose wisely and hammer away at it. Waxman, for one, has expressed a desire to hear from us. Leahy, too. I'm sure that others would welcome it.

Once investigations are underway and the revelations begin to happen, we need to hit hard on getting the information in front of the people. News media coverage is absolutely essential. We are going to have to hammer this thing hard to get things on the front page, above the fold day after day.

When the public outcry for impeachment makes the front page, then the House can act without any fear.

This can happen quickly, and it has to. Bush has only two years left. Historically, that's not really enough time to impeach him, but it can happen if we do it right.

[niallmac]

6. If they are not held accountable then all we have done

is produce a 'how to' book for future American fascists.
I cannot believe any significant number of DUers would
accept a free pass for this bunch.
It's not about revenge IMHO. It's about our obligation
to insuring the sanctity of our future democracy.

If the nation clamors for impeachment then there we go.
if we can hang them legally by any other venues and not
paralyze our government I would like be informed about that also.

If without impeachment they go home to their Aspen homes
and live happily ever after well, f**k that.

[davekriss]

7. Impeach and convict, that is what I say

Surface the evidence so that it is so overwhelming that even the retreating remaining Republican Senators will have to vote to convict. I'll let these words speak for me, available here:

When is a Crime so Great it Shouldn’t be Acknowledged?
by Robert Shetterly

Before the votes were even counted, a strange chorus arose, like toads from the swamp, from every point on the Democratic compass --- so persistent, one might even think it choreographed --- croaking in a dire basso, “Now’s the time to work on fulfilling the Democrats agenda, not the time to hold anyone accountable for the massive corruption or the extraordinary lies that got us into this mess.” Let’s be moderate, let’s be wise, the toads all intoned, let’s don’t disintegrate into partisan bickering about who’s responsible. And, pullleeeease, don’t even utter the word impeachment. No, no, no, let’s repeal the tax cuts for the rich, raise the minimum wage, enact universal health care, raise the mileage on our cars, sign on to the Kyoto Protocol, reduce the debt, fund our schools, fix social security, and work in a bi-partisan way toward an exit strategy from Iraq. All very sensible. Every single one of those things needs to be fought for if we want to have economic and social justice.

But, that’s not enough. I thought one of the corner stones of our democratic republic was the rule of law. Transparency. Accountability. We hold people accountable so every bozo with a zip gun won’t stick up a 7-11 for fifty bucks or start a pre-emptive war by lying to the people. We sent a Japanese soldier to prison for twenty-five years after WW II for waterboarding a United States soldier; we hung Adolph Eichmann. I’m trying to imagine what our response would have been after that war if the Nazis had said, “Look, we lost the war, our cities are rubble, our people starving, we have no infrastructure, don’t waste your money on some stupid, inflammatory trials at Nuremberg about the people who started this war or thought the Holocaust was a cool idea. Sure, mistakes were made, but let’s just get on with re-building.” Very sensible.

Massive crimes have been committed. Our administration has ridden roughshod on our Constitution as though it were a hobbled and blind cow. What-might-have-been looks like a bomb crater. So irresponsible and massive are the crimes that the perpetrators have changed the laws to avoid being held accountable for crimes against humanity. So irresponsible that their failure to act to mitigate global warming endangers the very survival of human life on our planet. Hundreds of thousands of people are unnecessarily dead, many more hundreds of thousands maimed and wounded. The incredible debt undermines our economy and will plague our children. When is a crime so great that it shouldn’t be acknowledged? Or prosecuted? Do we pat Rummy & Dickie & Georgie & Connie on the butt and send them to the bench with a, “Nice game, kids. Let’s all be good sports and let someone else have a go at it”? Live and let live.

<snip>

[elocs]

10. Exactly how do you find the 67 Senators needed to convict?

My guess is that not even all Democratic Senators would vote to convict. Even if they did, which 16 Republican Senators would vote to convict? Reality is a harsh mistress.

[davekriss]

11. Intense public pressure

In the end, there were about 2 Senators left unprepared to convict Nixon.

First, the crimes need to be thoroughly and fairly vetted in the public light of day; second, the public must recoil away from the Bush Regime and demand impeachment. Then 15 or 20 Republican Senators will vote to convict.

[elocs]

17. You don't get intense public pressure by rushing to impeach.

That only happens if the Democrats build and develop a rock solid case which makes it apparent to most Americans that impeachment and conviction is called for.

[davekriss]

19. Don't disagree at all

It takes time for public pressure to build. Despite the degree of atrocities committed by the Bush Regime, it took 6 years for public opinion to coalesce around the word "enough!". I don't expect Bush and Cheney to be impeached by the end of January, but I do expect intensive, transparent, and fair investigations to have begun by then. Where it goes from there depends on what is brought out into the public light of day.

I rather like WillPitt's post today about the two tracks of focusing intensely on passing progressive legislation and investigation, with impeachment unfolding via its own organic course. I am perfectly fine with leaving it there. What I am not fine with is the absolute, "impeachment is off the table" point of view.

I want to be able to tell my children, "see, we are a civil and just people", not just expedient.

[DemPower]

20. The will expose themselves as collaborators if they protect Bush

and that is what we need to root out the corruption in congress as well.

[pacalo]

22. That would be true if the vote were taken before the investigations.

When the investigations begin & the facts begin to come out, I expect there will be a public outrage. Given that there is a public outrage, those congresspeople who ignore the public will do so at their own political futures' peril. Just present the facts, is all I ask; the outrage will come.

[Swamp Rat]

14. Save our troops from this madman who will keep them in Iraq!

[maryallen]

16. WAR CRIMES cannot be excused or ...

they will occur again... and again... and again.

IMPEACH NOW!!!

[G_j]

23. justice

must prevail

or do we just tolerate war crimes and treason?

[Karenina]

24. Kick!

:kick: