I believe that when the full extent of President Bush's abuses of power are known, they will exceed even those of former President Richard Nixon.
The parallels are already becoming clear with the revelation, and admission by Bush that he engaged in illegal wiretapping- actions that played a major role in Nixon's impeachment.
In his impeachment case, Nixon was charged with wiretapping 17 people. Bush has now admitted authorizing wiretaps on thousands of people. It's stunning.
Here's remembering an era when Americans on both sides of the aisle cared about accountability, even for the president.
Specification of Charges (Bill of Particulars)
Supporting All Articles
1. Conspiracy. President Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, Charles Colson, John Dean, John Mitchell, Herbert Kalmbach, and Maurice Stans, in concert with and abetted by others, conspired together to devise and carry out a plan or scheme to commit various crimes against numerous citizens of the United States who opposed the policies of Richard M. Nixon. President Nixon and his coconspirators thereby conspired to commit burglary in violation of 22 D.C. Code 1801; violated federal statutes making it a crime to wiretap, section 2510 et seq. of the United States Criminal Code (Title 18, U.S.C.); conspired to deprive citizens of civil rights in violation of section 241 of the Criminal Code; conspired to violate other federal statutes (e.g., the wiretap statute) in violation of section 371 of the Criminal Code; violated the President's constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, article 11, section 3; violated the First amendment rights of persons to freedom of speech, and violated the Fourth amendment rights of persons to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Pursuant to the plan or scheme specified in Count 1, President Nixon and his co-conspirators:
- Illegal Wiretaps. Caused wiretaps to be placed on the telephones of seventeen persons without having obtained a court order authorizing the tap, as required by federal law; in violation of sections 241, 371 and 2510-11 of the Criminal Code.
- Conspiracy to Suppress Free Speech. Caused harassment, by means of tax audits and other acts by the Internal Revenue Service, of named persons designated as political "enemies" of President Nixon for the purpose of inhibiting or preventing their exercise of First amendment rights, in violation of section 241 of the Criminal Code.
- Conspiracy to Commit Burglary and Other Crimes. Caused the creation and adoption of a so called "domestic intelligence plan" for securing information about American citizens, under which plan it was intended to commit unlawful acts of burglary, wiretapping, bugging and the opening of mail; in violation of sections 241 and 371 of the Criminal Code.
Maybe send a copy of Count 2 to your Senator or Congressperson. By the way, these are not the full articles of impeachment. There are about a dozen other counts. Get the full text here.