Crossposted at Operation: Mad Wombat
Here is Christian Dem in NC's
List of Possible Articles of Impeachment
Also note Jeffrey Feldman's
Bush's Permission Slip for Dictatorship
I have been one who was very resistant to hop on the impeachment bandwagon. There were several reasons for this.
The first reason was that it, frankly, wouldn't make a difference. Unless we retook the house in 2006 (unlikely) and were somehow able to impeach and remove Bush and Cheney after that fact, then we would still have a Republican in the White House. If we just got Bush, Cheney would be President. If we just got Cheney, Bush would obviously still be President. If we got both, Hastert would be President.
The second reason was that, I thought that, even given everything that those on the left know, most Americans, when they hear of some terrible thing that the President has done, usually dismiss it before accepting it, so going out and screaming "impeach! impeach!" put the party at risk of just looking like sore losers or worse.
However, the crimes of the Bush Administration may have finally hit a critical mass large enough to overcome those two rationales (and others). In fact, it may be wise for Democrats to make impeachment the issue of the 2006 election cycle. Essentially make 2006 the equivalent of a "recall the Bush/Cheney administration" campaign.
Tell the American people that the war on terror and their civil liberties and other freedoms are at state (because they are) and that we can't wait until 2008.
So, what all has Bush done to warrant being impeached? Well, just for starters:
- Knowingly providing false or misleading information to Congress and the American people about Iraqi WMDs. This includes "intelligence" which the White House either knew, or should have known, was either highly questionable or false when presenting it to Congress and/or the American people under the guise of it being solid intelligence.
- Lying to Congress in an attempt to satisfy the requirements of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 by knowingly falsely claiming that "further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq" as well as knowingly falsely claiming that the war in Iraq is "consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorist and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001" as the resolution required.
- Lying to or withholding information from Congress about the costs of social programs the President proposed, including the Medicare drug benefit plan and his Social Security privatization plan.
- Being complicit in the revealing of a CIA operative's identity.
- Knowingly and willfully violating the Geneva conventions by:
- Whereas treaties which the US has ratified have the same bearing as laws passed by Congress and signed by the President:
- Requiring prisoners of war to give US Army and other officials more information than that clearly specified in the Geneva Conventions, and
- If captured prisoners are indeed believed to be included in the exceptions that allow US army or other officials to require that they offer more than the specified information, such a determination has not been made by the proper tribunal as required by the Geneva Conventions
- Violating US ratified treaties and US law by transferring persons in the custody of the United States into the custody of another nation without judicial relief with the knowledge that those persons were to be tortured in violation of United States and international law.
- Abusing the power of the executive by using money explicitly specified by Congress for use in the war in Afghanistan for other purposes (namely, using it to help pay for planning the war in Iraq)
- Knowingly using the Secret Service to silence the First Amendment rights of political protesters at official US Government functions.
- Violating the United Nations Charter which, since it is a treaty ratified by the United State Senate, holds the same weight as US law, by launching the US war in Iraq without approval of the United Nations and not in self defense of hostile actions by Iraq.
- Lying to Congress and the American People about the reasons for going to war in Iraq. This has been most recently highlighted by Bush's admission that intelligence was incorrect, yet he would invade anyway, despite the fact that this very intelligence was being touted as the primary reason why an invasion of Iraq was necessary.
- Using incendiary (and possibly chemical) weapons against civilian targets in direct violation of international law.
- Using the IRS to financially intimidate religious institutions who oppose the war in Iraq by threatening to take away their tax-exempt status.
- Holding United States citizens indefinitely without being charged of a crime in direct violation of the United States Constitution.
- Seizing financial assets of persons without due process, in direct violation of the United States Constitution.
- The authorizing of spying on American citizens without warrants or other judicial protections, in violation of the Constitution of the United States.
And these are just the ones we're pretty sure he did and we're pretty sure would get him in trouble. There are others which we either aren't sure if he's done, or we know he's done, but are unsure if they would amount to impeachable offenses.