Editor: Dick Bennett (Previous Impeachment Newsletters: Dec. 7, 2006, June 17, 2007, October 25, 2007).
Compiled to coincide with OMNI’s Book Forum tonight on Marjorie Cohn’s Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied Law.
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.
-- Aung San Suu Kyi
WE, THE PEOPLE SPEAK TO OUR REPRESENTATIVES
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Fayetteville office: 251-1380
Senator Mark Pryor: Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: 1519 Longworth Building, Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301; http://boozman.house.gov
Chief of Staff: Matt Sagely, matt.sagely@mail.house.gov; Lowell office: 479-725-0400; Ms. Stacey McClure is Assistant Chief of Staff for the Lowell office. STACEY.McCLURE@MAIL.HOUSE.GOV 636-7036.
Table of Contents:
OMNI’s “Impeachment Rally Songs and Speeches”
Not too late to impeach: Cong. Wexler
Taking action
Bush’s Jan. 28, 2008 Signing Statement
Not too late to impeach: Kucinich
[For the rest of the Newsletter go to: http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletters/index.php and select the Newsletter you want.]
Lying to start a war a war crime
Public support for impeachment
Resolution to UA Student Gov’t.
Impeach Cheney
Not too late to impeach Bush and Cheney
Kucinich again
Impeach Cheney again: Wexler
David Swanson for impeachment
Paul Street on non-impeachment/congress. silence
Code Pink for Kucinich’s bill
Marjorie Cohn’s Cowboy Republic
WATCH FOR OMNI’S Booklet OF THE April 2007 IMPEACHMENT RALLY SONGS AND SPEECHES (produced by Michelle Snyder in Little Rock). Only 100 copies made, so get yours before they run out. Cost: it’s an OMNI fundraiser, so donate what suits you. Will you sell some?
TOO LATE TO IMPEACH??
The Democrats are still not too late to try to acquire the full record of the Bush administration’s high crimes and misdemeanors. The responsible Congressman, John Conyers, himself compiled 350 law violations by the Bush administration. And a member of his committee, Cong. Wexler, has receive 100,000 website signatures for impeachment. http://impeachspace.ning.com/
Wexler calls for Cheney's impeachment
Video:
Wexler's speech was met by applause from spectators in the House gallery, resulting in warning to them to be quiet
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1155201977/bctid1379193723
“Impeachment Hearings Now,” by Representatives Tammy Baldwin of Wis., Luis Gutierrez of IL, and Robert Wexler of Florida, The Progressive (Feb. 2008).
Cong. Robert Wexler plans to submit a call for impeachment to John Conyers in a week’s time. If the death of our Constitution weighs on you, contact Cong. Boozman to remind him that we want our Constitution back whole and strong again. He'll be very annoyed, but he needs to hear it YET AGAIN. Thanks peace folks, Gladys
WEXLER DEMANDS IMPEACHMENT
Congressman Robert Wexler
From: "Congressman Robert Wexler "
To: gladystiffany@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:46:27 -0500
Subject: Impeachment News: Attorney General Would Refuse to Enforce Contempt
Dear Gladys,
Our Constitution is under threat and the most basic principle of checks and balances is being undermined. Not since Watergate has a president so openly disregarded the will of Congress.
During hearings in the Judiciary Committee yesterday, I told Attorney General Michael Mukasey that I called for impeachment hearings because of the stonewalling and blatant abuses of the Bush Administration. He responded by stating that he will NOT enforce a contempt of Congress citation against Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten for refusing to testify before Congress. The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7M9sjRLCtQ
Alberto Gonzales may be long gone, but the Bush Administration continues its executive overreach with the new Attorney General.
We can debate the need for Impeachment hearings. We can argue its effects on the election or our agenda. But one thing is abundantly clear:
If Congress' right to require testimony is undermined, then our country's leaders - Democrat, Republican, or Independent - will be immune from accountability.
The power of the subpoena - to call officials before us - is one of the most fundamental safeguards in our system of government. To have it effectively discarded - by virtue of the President instructing Administration officials to ignore a congressional subpoenas and not even appear before Congress - is unprecedented. The idea that the Attorney General would willingly defend this position - despite Congress' constitutional right to call such witnesses, is outrageous.
Impeachment hearings could render this moot: The President, Vice President, and all officials under them would no longer invoke executive privilege. There would be no more smokescreens.
In one week, I will be delivering my letter calling for impeachment hearings to Chairman John Conyers. Already, 16 Members of Congress have joined my call, including 3 Judiciary Committee members. I am hopeful for more in the coming days, but it is important for you to reach out to your representative in Congress to express how you feel. You can view the current list of signers, here: http://www.wexlerforcongress.com/news.asp?ItemID=230
I do not know how Congress will react, but I do know this: I will pursue this course aggressively. I will not compromise away the constitutional role of Congress. Your support is invaluable. Please know that I am working everyday to ensure that the Bush Administration is held accountable.
Please continue to support this movement at www.wexlerwantshearings.com.
Yours truly,
Congressman Robert Wexler
CONTACT THE BUSH ADMIN.
Dear Concerned Citizens,
Thanks to the report by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity that conclusively documented 935 lies by eight members of the Bush Administration to gather support for war, we now have a very powerful case for impeachment. These lies should certainly be considered High Crimes, since they caused severe and often irreparable harm to the interests of all American citizens and to the people of Iraq in countless ways. The avenue we have in our Constitution to correct the wrongdoing of the President and other officials impeachment. For impeachment proceedings to occur, either House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov, (202) 225-4965) must allow this issue to come to the floor for debate or the House Judiciary Committee, Chairman John Conyers (John.Conyers@mail.house.gov, (202) 225-5126) must advance this issue.
What can we do? First, contact Pelosi and Conyers. Additionally, there is a very valuable online advocacy tool called "The People's Email Network". This tool allows us to easily vote on an impeachment referendum, contact all our Arkansas representatives, and contact our newspapers simultaneously. There is already an action page for impeaching Cheney (http://www.thepen.us/), so you can add your voice to this issue and also add additional comments about the 935 well documented lies.
Thanks, Abel Tomlinson
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Fayetteville office: 251-1380
BUSH’S JAN. 28 SIGNING STATEMENT
Earlier today, United for Peace and Justice issued a press release about
the outrageous action by President Bush this past Monday. I really
should say the latest outrageous action by Bush!! In this instance he
released a signing statement at the time he signed into law the Defense
Authorization Act for 2008. His signing statement basically says his
Administration will not enforce several parts of the legislation,
important parts that address several key concerns related to the war and
occupation in Iraq. The details of all of this are included in the press
release below.
We hope you will share this information with the members of your group
and others who might be interested. And most importantly, now is the
time to call the House Judiciary Committee 202-225-3951. They must do
more than investigate, it is time for them to begin impeachment hearings!
peace,
Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator
-----------------------------------------
www.unitedforpeace.org
| 212-868-5545 | Click to subscribe
P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station; New York, NY 10108
For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 31, 2008
Contact: Leslie Cagan, 212-868-5545; Judith Le Blanc, 212-868-5545;
press@unitedforpeace.org
Peace Movement: Bush's Latest Signing Statement
Is Grounds for Impeachment
New York, NY -- United for Peace and Justice, the country's largest
anti-war coalition with over 1400 member groups, condemns President
Bush's continued arrogant and unconstitutional use of signing statements.
On Monday, Jan. 25, 2008, President Bush released a signing statement
claiming the right to violate four sections of H.R. 4986, the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which he had just signed
into law. These four sections: 841, 846, 1079, and 1222, Bush announced,
would be "construed" in a manner "consistent with the constitutional
authority of the President."
Among the measures Bush's latest signing statement declares the right to
violate are: the establishment of a commission to investigate U.S.
contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan, the expansion of whistleblower
protections, a requirement that U.S. intelligence agencies respond to
congressional requests for documents, a ban on funding permanent bases
in Iraq, and a ban on funding any actions that exercise U.S. control
over Iraq's oil money.
Over the past seven years, the same language used by Bush on Monday,
usually attributed to Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff David
Addington, has been the precursor to numerous violations of law by his
administration, including sections of law banning the use of torture and
banning the use of funds to construct permanent U.S. military bases in
Iraq. The president has signed laws blocking funding for the
construction of permanent bases in Iraq six times, but never stopped the
construction.
In January 2007, the House Judiciary Committee held hearings on Bush's
use of signing statements at which Deputy Assistant Attorney General
John Elwood claimed that the president is free to violate any laws until
the Supreme Court rules otherwise. Following this hearing, the
Government Accountability Office studied a small sample of Bush's
signing statements and found that in a significant percentage of cases
his administration was, in fact, violating the sections of law he had
claimed the right to "interpret."
The U.S. Constitution requires that the president "take care that the
laws be faithfully executed." Article I, Section 7, says that:
"every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the
Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of
the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall
return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have
originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal,
and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds
of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together
with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall
become a law."
"The rule of law established by the Constitution has been undermined in
an almost unnoticed revolution," said Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator
of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ). "The Constitution allows the
president to veto bills or sign and enforce them, not to rewrite them or
to disobey them. The same document that gives the Congress the power to
make every law, gives it the sole power to raise and spend money, and
the sole power to declare war. The people's representatives in Congress
are losing all of these powers through their failure to act on the
remedy provided for precisely this situation: impeachment."
According to the U.S. State Department, 65% of Iraqis favor a withdrawal
of U.S. troops. In fact, neither the Iraqi people nor the people of this
country have ever supported a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq, and the
U.S. Congress has never approved one.
"The sooner all the troops and military contractors are home," said
Cagan, "the sooner rebuilding can begin for the Iraqi nation and for our
democracy."
UFPJ is urging its members to speak with the media about this matter and
to phone the House Judiciary Committee at 202-225-3951 to request that
it begin impeachment hearings.
President Bush's latest signing statement:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080128-10.html
Government Accountability Office Report:
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/308603.pdf
Database of Bush Signing Statements:
http://acslaw.org/node/5309
Report on January House Judiciary Committee Hearings:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/signing
State Department Iraq Poll:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601721_pf.html
UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
www.unitedforpeace.org
KUCINICH: BUSH IMPEACHMENT BILL
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/23/6588/
Kucinich Starts New Impeachment Drive
by David M. Herszenhorn
Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio may get excluded from Democratic presidential debates, as he has been recently, but no one can deny him the floor in the House.
And today Mr. Kucinich took to the floor to fire off his latest salvo at the Bush administration: his plans to introduce Articles of Impeachment against President Bush on Jan. 28 - the day of Mr. Bush’s State of the Union speech.
Accusing the administration of lying about the need for the war in Iraq, Mr. Kucinich said he did not need to hear the president’s assessment. “We know the State of the Union,” he declared. “It’s a lie.”
He also fired a volley at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California who has maintained that impeaching Mr. Bush is not on the table for Congressional Democrats. “If impeachment is off the table,” Mr. Kucinich said, “truth is off the table. If truth is off the table then this body is living a lie.”
Mr. Kucinich introduced Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney last April and in November, with the surprise help of Republicans seeking to embarrass the Democrats, he nearly succeeded in securing an hour of debate on the House floor. House Democratic leaders blocked that, however, by referring the impeachment effort back to the Judiciary Committee.
Anti-Bush groups have been urging Mr. Kucinich to undertake an effort to impeach the president.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/23/6588/
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: 1519 Longworth Building, Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301; http://boozman.house.gov
Chief of Staff: Matt Sagely, matt.sagely@mail.house.gov; Lowell office: 479-725-0400; Ms. Stacey McClure is Assistant Chief of Staff for the Lowell office. STACEY.McCLURE@MAIL.HOUSE.GOV 636-7036.
[For the rest of the Newsletter go to: http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletters/index.php and select the Newsletter you want.]
Dick Bennett
jbennet@uark.edu
(479) 442-4600
2582 Jimmie Ave.
Fayetteville, AR 72703
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