Impeachment Watch: Countdown to Accountability

As of Sunday, September 2nd, 505 days remain of the Bush/Cheney administration (hat tip to The Bush Countdown Blog). 1 year, 4 months, and 18 days in which to initiate genuine accountability.

This diary has been particularly difficult to write. I hope you'll bear with me as I try to do a few things. I'll start with a brief commentary on leadership, with photo support, before moving on to a discussion of impeachment arguments and counter-arguments. I will then turn to an overdue impeachment roundup including Daily Kos diaries as well as media outside of dKos. After the roundup, I'll include some action links.

Previous Impeachment Roundups:

1. Kossacks who have had ENOUGH: a Roundup w/Poll
2. Impeachment Roundup - Power in Numbers
3. An Impeachment Roundup for Nancy Pelosi: Updated

Quick Navigation Index
   Arguments For Impeachment
   Countering Arguments Against Impeachment
   Take Action
   Roundup Items
   Enough
   Other Action
   Contact our Reps
   Hurricane Katrina
   Fear-Mongering on Iran
   Hopeful info on Iran
   Obstruction of Justice
   Freedom of Speech Threatened
   Notable
   Outside Daily Kos

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Since September 11th, 2001, George Bush has shown where he stands, and the picture is not flattering.

• My Pet Goat, a moment of confusion
• Abdicating authority to a Vice President determined to install a Unitary Executive
• Casting the world as good vs evil, us against them, including domestically
• Relying on his ability to project power rather than being seen as talking to his opponents or enemies
• Fear mongering and deeply divisive partisanship
• Petulance when he doesn't get his way
• Domineering & Immature attitude toward other world leaders
• Criminally negligent incompetence in Hurricane Katrina
• Abu Ghraib and torture

Comparing Leadership in Times of challenge

vs

vs

Maturity



Plays Well with Others, Respectful of World Leaders

Petulance

Without a Clue

Simply Outrageous

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

I've written a number of diaries since July advocating taking action to promote impeachment, but I haven't really articulated why I'm in favor of impeachment other than suggesting obstruction of justice in the Libby case and the need to prevent another unnecessary war (Iran). I'm going to try detail my views of the justifications for impeachment, my response to the arguments against impeachment, as well as the sequence I'd like to see.

Arguments for Impeachment
While there's a chance for accountability and beginning repairs to their abuses after they're out of office, I don't think that's a very likely scenario.

Though I'm not a lawyer, I feel the following are Constitutionally impeachable offenses:

• Using the Unitary Executive to ignore and evade the Constitutional system of Checks and Balances
• Obstruction of Justice

     inappropriate interference in Scooter Libby's sentencing, abuse of Executive Privelege

• Selective disclosure of classified information

     perhaps more difficult to make stick, since the President has the authority to declassify information. A stronger case against the Vice President, in my mind, even with an Executive Order expanding Cheney's authority to declassify.

• Extraordinary Rendition and "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques"

     treaties approved by Congress are the law of the land, including the Geneva Conventions. Torture by any other name is still torture

• Eliminating Habeas Corpus

     If we are to be a society of laws and not men, we should have the right to face our accusers in criminal proceedings, to see and challenge the evidence against us.

• Warrentless Wiretapping

     At one point, Congress specifically rejected funding for a DARPA project called Total Information Awareness. This project seems to be reborn under the disclosed and undisclosed portions of warrentless wiretapping.

• Signing Statements

     The Supreme Court has ruled the line-item veto unconstitutional, and Congress hasn't instituted a Constitutional version. With signing statements, Bush has stated that he will selectively enforce bills duly enacted by Congress that he himself has signed into law.

• Cronyism leading to Criminal Negligence during Katrina
• Extreme Partisanship in judicial activities:

     selective prosecutions - Governor Don Siegelman, Georgia Thompson
     voting rights - Texas Gerrymandering, voter caging lists, civil rights enforcement
     US Attorney firings

• Hatch Act violations (though may not rise to the level of an impeachable offense)
• Presidential Records Act violations (not sure if it rises to the level of an impeachable offense - given the post-Nixon context, I would think so)

There are further pro-impeachment arguments that I feel are more difficult to prove legally or are divisive in ways that ultimately hurt the impeachment cause.

• War Crimes
• 9/11 Conspiracy theories
• Lying to promote the Iraq war

One further argument that may not have any legal basis, and may not in the end make any difference. But even if we can't stop it, there should be severe political consequences to accompany the cost in lives and money.

• Impeachment to end War-Mongering vs Iran

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Countering Arguments Against Impeachment
In the last couple of weeks of reading impeachment-related news, writing several diaries, and taking what steps I could to advance the cause of impeachment, I've been noticing the arguments that are being offered against impeachment.

1. We don't have the votes in the Senate to impeach Bush
2. If we impeach Bush, Cheney would be President.
3. Policy disagreements are not justification for impeachment.
4. The Bush/Cheney administration will soon be out of office anyway and/or there isn't time enough for impeachment.
5. An impeachment that does not result in conviction will only serve to reinforce the abuses of Bush and Cheney, and may backfire on Democrats in 2008.

I'll address what I feel is the serious argument about continuing existing oversight hearings and moving forward with a strong legislative agenda under Miscellaneous thoughts concerning Congressional Leadership.

(Largely cribbed from a diary comment I made on Aug 20th.) Regarding the first argument, true, the Republicans are  skilled at marching in lockstep if nothing else. However, Cheney is neither as "beloved" nor as critical to the Republican party. My feeling is that we may only have one shot at impeachment, and we should make the best of it. I believe Cheney is the most responsible for  administration abuses and the expansions of executive power, so he's my preferred target. This also addresses argument number 2 quite nicely.

Time is indeed running short. However, trying to reverse administration abuses piecemeal through existing oversight hearings and with new legislation is likely to leave many abuses in place to be used by future administrations. Waiting for a new President and Congress in 2009 is likely to reduce the urgency to fix the abuses.

Personally, I feel that we may be able to get the votes to convict Cheney. However, even if we can't, I feel it can be a political winner without giving more power to the administration or the Republicans for

future elections. How? With responsible investigations and clear articles of impeachment, a trial in the Senate can vividly present the abuses of the administration and lay at least a good portion of them directly at Cheney's feet. If Republicans do not find their consciences and flip on Cheney, I believe we can highlight their collective power obsession and associated corruption and obstructionism. Honest politicians should be able to turn that into a winning hand. With the combination of electoral gains and a clear mandate to reverse the abuses, fixes can be made under the next President and Congress if we are unable to pass them due to Republican obstructionism now. However, fixes that wait until after a new Congress and President are in place will be harder to implement because of a distinct lack of immediacy.

We definitely lose by taking no action and letting their abuses stand.

Oh, and one further point. Assuming a rapid and successful impeachment and conviction of Cheney, there just may be enough evidence tied to Bush to isolate him from his party as well, leaving resignation or impeachment and conviction reasonable possibilities. This would provide incentive to initiate fixes to the abuses before the new Congress and President assume office.

I believe the arguments for impeachment that I made above constitute more than mere policy differences.

Oh and just to throw one more in for fun 6. It's never going to happen. To those who say this, thanks for bringing something productive to the discussion. No Soup (nor ponies, nor pooties) for you! Moving on.

Miscellaneous thoughts concerning Congressional Leadership
There is a great deal of anger and frustration with Congress, and particularly with the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid. Some of this gets expressed in the position that they are abdicating their Constitutional responsibilities and their oaths of office by not moving forward with impeachment. My belief is that they honestly feel they are upholding their oaths and engaging in the most productive path for the country by a) continuing with oversight hearings, which have the potential to lead to impeachment, and b) moving forward with as progressive a legislative agenda as they are able given the partisan split of the current Congress. My guess is that impeachment advocates and a solid majority of those who want to bring the troops home disagree that the oversight hearings or the legislative agenda are going to go anywhere or lead to any serious accountability. As an impeachment advocate myself, I certainly don't have any faith in the existing hearings to hold the administration accountable. Even so, I feel it is at best unproductive to accuse the leadership of failing to uphold their oaths. At worst, such accusations will serve to alienate the very people we need to achieve true accountability. In addition, it alienates other potential activists who might otherwise help with outreach both to our representatives as well as to other concerned citizens. I know I'm probably just spitting into the wind here, but there it is anyway.


What I'd like to See
It's pretty straightforward. Impeach and convict Vice President Dick Cheney. President Bush appoints and the Senate confirms a new Vice President. Evidence from the impeachment of Dick Cheney proves strong enough that a sufficient number of Republicans support conviction of George Bush. If time runs out before getting to Bush, well perhaps getting rid of Cheney will be sufficient to initiate the restoration of a proper balance to our Constitutional system of checks and balances. In addition, if Bush remains neutered in office, it will be that much harder for Republicans to bludgeon Democrats with impeachment as a divisive force in our political system. Though I'm sure many Republicans would still make the effort, and many Democrats would still be quite unaccommodating in enabling their efforts to do so. Sigh...

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Moving on to the Roundup
Aside from the difficulties of limiting this diary to keep it coherent, this roundup has also been a more challenging than those I have done in the past. Most if not all of the links I am including are since August 11th. This time around, I'll start off as usual with Enough and action diaries. Pretty straightforward there, and not too much of a problem. In organizing this time around, I wanted to try and gather links into categories that would showcase different reasons for impeachment. In doing this, not all of the links would be expressly advocating or directly about impeachment. The challenge here was that the volume of links quickly mushroomed to be unwieldy, especially for a diary that included a lot of commentary. In the interest of doing something beyond just throwing everything out to see what sticks, I'm going to limit my links to Enough and Other Action diaries, Contact Our Reps, Katrina, Iran, Obstruction of Justice, Freedom of Speech Threatened, a few I simply found Notable, and media Outside Daily Kos.


Enough
New Enough! Video - Help Us Spread the Word - Please! by Jung Jurks, August 11th
Enough, again and again. by Wes Clark Jr, August 11th
One Talking Point: ENOUGH by to hell with George W Bush, August 11th
Kossacks, Get Worked Up! Eoungh, Already! by Jung Jurks, August 12th
Todays ENOUGH Protest week six by Wino, August 12th
How was your "Enough!" rally? by Nancy in LA, August 12th
We Need News Crews at Enough! Protests Next Week by Jung Jurks, August 13th
Enough! Orlando 08.12.07 by riles August 13th
At My Signal, Unleash Hell!!! by Jung Jurks, August 16th
Today's ENOUGH Protest week seven by Wino, August 19th
Enough SF: Putting my future at risk for impeachment by forbodyandmind, August
21st
Todays ENOUGH Protest week eight by Wino, August 26th
Enough!: Orlando 08/26/07 by riles, August 27th
Enough SF: Whether One or One Hundred by forbodyandmind, August 29th
Hey, Orange County! Had Enough? by antiapollon, September 1st

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Other Action
Let's march on 9/11 instead (An open message to To World Can't Wait) by Timroff, August 11th
Mass March on Washington Called by Texasblue, August 11th
Civil Disobedience 2: Marching on Washington by Mehitabel9, August 12th
General Strike on 9-11-07 - Is it Time to Test oour Power? by marktheshark, August 14th
9-11-07 General Strike: Analysis of diverging viewpoints by Alex Terrieur, August 16th
How do we get Nancy Pelosi to initiate impeachment proceedings? by bluesunday, August 16th (short diary, but decent discussion)
To Soldiers protest the war by poichick, August 17th (novel, creative, whimsical, fun idea)
Veterans For Peace Convention by jimstaro, August 18th
Working for Impeachment: 100 votes by forbodyandmind, August 18th
Profiles in Integrity: Young People Taking Risks to Help, Our Answer to Young Chickenhawks by miguelmas, August 20th
Achieving Peace In A World Built On Defense by Bcgntn, August 21st
What are YOU going to Do? by Rusty1776, August 21st
Why Protest? Here's why..... by Road2DC, August 26th
National TAKE A STAND Day - Aug. 28th by jimstaro, August 27th
1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 by srkp23, August 28th
The Hill-Protest inside congressional chambers Sept. 4th by Jethro H, August 29th
Decentralizing our activism by mwmwm, August 29th
Speakers, Activists to Rally on 9/11 Anniversary on Scoop Independent News (New Zealand - it came up on my Google news page, and I'm pluggin it), August 30th
Action Item - Little bit of Snark by egarratt, August 30th
End the War....Road2DC by buhdydharma, August 30th
Road2DC: A Dozen Reasons to March on Washington by nonnie9999, August 30th
End This War: Syracuse Stands Up! by Iddybud, August 30th
We suck at this, guys by VoteHarder, August 31st
Transcript: My Arrest for Protesting Tomorrow by indeterminate cutlery, August 31st
NEW War Threat - URGENT - Sept 22-29 in Washington DC by actioncenter,
August 31st
The Era of Street Protest it Over by shpilk, August 31st
Activism To End The Iraq War by LiberalKickingAss, September 1st

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Contact Our Reps
A Visit to the Senate, Part 1 of 4 (with lame poll) by Free Spirit, March 15th
My Visit to the Senate, Part 2 of 4 (with another lame poll) by Free Spirit, April 7th
My Visit to the Senate, Part 3 of 4 (with poll) by Free Spirit, April 24th
Calling out my 'Blue Dog' congressman by feduphoosier, June 10th
Letter FROM my Senator re: Impeachment (with poll) by MalachiConstant July 19th
Sestak (D-PA-07) against impeachment (w/poll) by rppa, July 27th
My Meeting with Pelosi's Deputy District Director: Fashion and Pootie edition by forbodyandmind, August 14th
Response to an Anna Escho (D-CA) Form Letter about "Impeachment" by itsbeach, August 16th
My meeting w/Nancy Pelosi's Deputy District Director by forbodyandmind, August 16th
Meet with McNerney, Tauscher, Miller, and Garamendi this Saturday by DavidW in SF, August 19th
FAX Bayh, Lugar, Hill: FISA Unconstitutional, Repeal NOW by HeartlandLiberal, August 20th
Labor Day is Time to Grab 'em By The... by Bill Tcharkirides, August 21st
Updated; Letter to Speaker Pelosi 8-21-07 by xaxnar, August 21st
Letter to Senators Feingold and Kohl by billybam, August 21st
Hawaii's Representatives on Impeachment by BobSchacht, August 22nd
Oops, she sent the wrong form letter, again by GoMommyGo, August 22nd
Scheduling a Follow-up with Pelosi's Office - Updated by forbodyandmind, August 24th
Email I sent to Senator Chris Dodd today by larbabe, Auguat 24th
The Unimpeachable George W. Bush by Karen Hedwig Backman, August 24th
The Meaning of Baird on Sound Politics by Eric Earling, August 26th
Conyers Meets Saturday w/ Impeachment Activists: Promises, Balks? by hissyspit, August 26th
Impeachment ON Conyers' Table by charlestown dem, August 29th
As Promised, Summary of Conyers' Speech at Town Hall in Pontiac, MI 8/28 by SharonRB, August 29th
John Conyers - Impeachment not off the table by bfealk, August 29th
A Response to my Senator by riles, August 29th
Short and Sweet-My note from Bill Nelson by MantisOahu, August 29th
Hinchey catches flack, from the left on Mid-Hudson News Network, August 29th
When is enough enough? on Pasadena Weekly by Joe Piasecki and Kevin Uhrich, August 30th
An Open Letter to Sen. Fiengold: From Censure to Redemption by eliot1, August 30th
Peace coalition wants tougher stance from Murphy on The Morning Call by Scott Kraus, August 31st
Give us a wink Congressman Lantos! Our SMCDFA Visit by Heather in SFBay, August 31st
Words and Deeds by danps, September 1st
My letter to Senator Durbin by benb, September 1st
Feingold on Iran: On the wrong side? by ripzaw, September 1st

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Hurricane Katrina
After Katrina, A Lonely Homecoming in Washington Post, by Peter Whoriskey, August 26th
Katrina: Two Years Later by pico, August 26th
just a poem by Nightprowlkitty, August 27th
Chertoff MUST Answer for Katrina...Period by wmtriallawyer, August 27th
Hope Needs Help in New Orleans by PolicyLinkDan, August 27th
2 Years Later: The Moon is Red by commonscribe, August 28th
Riding Out Rita in a Katrina animal shelter by feduphoosier, August 28th
Katrina Year Two: Never Forget by Vyan, August 29th
New Orleans: Mission NOT Accomplished by Councilmember Shelley Midura, August 29th
"One man's red tape is another man's accountability." by Dapremonster, August 29th
Where They Were Found - The Data Tells The Story by mlharges, August 29th
One Thing I Know by Nightprowlkitty, August 29th
A Reminder of Al Gore's Heroic's Two Years Ago by NYPopulist, August 29th
Katrina All the Time on the New York TimesSelect, by Paul Krugman, August 31st (behind subscription firewall - sorry)


Scary Shit on Iran
Oh no! The Iranians are going to invade Europe by Dave the pro, August 16th
Breaking: China, Russia, strongest yet on Iran by zenbowl, August 16th
WaPo Has Bush's Back RE: Attacking Iran by MLDB, August 21st
Attack on Iran Within 6 Months by Kdoug, August 21st
More Iran Propaganda by katdip, August 21st
"Iran has remote-controlled launch pads (J. Post) by iconoclastic cat, August 22nd
Got War? by Mentarch, August 22nd
Bolton: I 'Absolutely' Hope the U.S. Will Attack Iran In The Next 'Six Months' on Think Progress by Amanda, August 22nd
Bush's Plan to Attack Iran in Chicago Life, by Pam Berns
Fox launches Iran propaganda campaign. by Fallon, August 22nd
The Drum Beat of War with Iran by AJ WI, August 22nd
Rove's Departure Tied to Iran Attack by truong son traveler, August 24th
Sarkozy Signals to Bush He's Ok w/Attacking Iran by gnat, August 27th
So Bush Bombs Iran... by Karen Hedwig Backman, August 29th
Attacking Iran Would be Madness, and a Capital Crime by dlindorff, August 29th
Iran: Here We Go... by Mentarch, August 29th
Impeach or Occupation: ME Aflame by kidneystones, August 29th
Bush's bombing of Iran could mimic genocide by overlander, August 29th
Post Labor Day Product Rollout: War with Iran by BRRubin, August 29th
war with Iran, Updated with Comment from Dr. Rubin by Scientician, August 30th
Attacking Iran: Immediate Impeachment Articles by WinSmith, August 30th
Detante with Iran? by Eternal Hope, August 30th
War! by One Pissed Off Liberal, August 30th
First Diary - Iran - Strike for Peace? by frodolives, August 30th
Bush's End Game: Why Nothing Else Matters by Son of Beale, August 30th
I hope I'm Wrong by UU VIEW, August 30th
Iran - Watch the Aircraft Carriers by Thucydides Junior, August 30th
No Time for Threats New York Times Editorial, August 30th
We Have Four Days by Grand Moff Texan, August 30th
Seven Days in May transmogrifies into Seven Days in September? by deepsouthdoug, August 30th
The bl@job that wasn't and WWIII by Zwoof, August 31st
The 12th Imam by TKH, August 31st
Send Hagee To Hell: Don't Let Bush Bomb Iran! by Winter Rabbit, August 31st
The School Bully: The West and Iran by Ming Chun Tang, August 31st
Black Moon, I Saw You Standing Alone by Grand Moff Texan, August 31st
Ignoring the escalating rhetoric supporting war on Iran by souldrift, August 31st
Iran war letter to a publisher by overlander, August 31st
The Tao or Mini Nukes in Iran? by roseriter, August 31st
Collission Course to War: Crusaders and Jihadists by mole333, August 31st
If Dems Give Inches on Iraq,GOP May Take Miles--Into Tehran by thereisnospoon, August 31st
WH departures - Cheney consolidates power? by Liberal Protestant, September 1st
We Are Going To Hit Iran. Bigtime by Maccabee, September 1st Diary appears to have been deleted.
"...You don't introduce new products in August" by clammyc, September 1st

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Positive News We can Use on Iran?
Attention Democratic candidates: Iran is NOT developing an atomic bomb! by IndianaGreen, August 30th
Iranian Cooperation Significant by the freak, August 30th
Obama calls for diplomacy, economic pressure on Iran by minnesota max, August 30th
Iran said to be sharing nuclear data in LATimes, by Borzou Daragahi, August 31st (lousy article title, referring to Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Atomic Energy Agency)
IAEA: Iran Cooperating in Nuclear Investigation in Washington Post, by John Ward Anderson and Joby Warrick, August 31st
Will Iran's Good Nuclear Report Card Slow the March to War? by Russ Wellen, September 1st


Obstruction of Justice
Fred Fielding Reveals New Strategy Re: Subpoenas/FISA Changes by Christopher, August 18th
Cheney blows of Leahy with "4th Branch" argument by eztempo, August 20th
Judge Threatens Contempt of Court for Another Bushie by markthshark, August 21st
Cheney Removes Himself -- Again -- From Executive Branch on National Journal, by Jane Roh, August 21st
Cheney's Office Says It Has Wiretap Documents on Washington Post, by Dan Eggen, August 21st
DOJ Discovers Another Quaint Law by gchaucer2, August 22nd
Latest Bush Admin Outrage (and it's a big one) by R o o k, Auguast 22nd
'Contempt' is the word LATimes Editorial, August 22nd
White House Declares Office Off-Limits on Washington Post, by Dan Eggen, August 23rd
White House Shell Game New York Times Editorial, August 24th (behind archive firewall - I didn't get the permalink in time, sorry)
What about the Subpoena Battle by jandrewmorrison, August 27th
Can We Toast the Entire Republican Party by MikMouse, August 30th
Secret to Forcing Compliance With Subpoenas on American Chronicle, by David Swanson, August 30th

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Freedom of Speech Threatened
Criminalization Of Free Speech Continues by cybermage, August 19th
Arrested for holding a sign: what's coming next... by Mike Stark, August 19th
The latest on Jonas Phillips and the Dangerous Sign by Mike Stark, August 20th
Have you Heard of the "Presidential Advance Manual?" by Omen, August 20th
Another Day In Asheville: Updated w/ Police Response! by StormBear, August 21st
Optimism in Asheville by Mike Stark, August 21st
My E-mail Exchange with the Asheville Chief of Police by antoineg, August 21st
WTF: Clergy Response Teams & Rally Squads, by civil society, August 22nd
Presidential Advance Manual: Tastes Almost Like Free Speech by KingOneEye, August 22nd
UPDATE: Undercover Cops Busted Provoking Violence At Bush Summit! by kidneystones, August 22nd
Updated: Quebec Police Admit Using Undercover Agents at Montebello by FrankFrink, August 23rd
Bush hails freeedom, but can heb handle a lousy T-shirt? USATODAY.com Editorial, August 24th
Squelching the Citizenry's Back Talk New York Times Editorial, August 25th
I Haven't Run Over Bill O'Reilly - But These Two are Heroes by sheddhead, August 25th
Please don't make me create a new diary title. Someone will get hurt. by sheddhead, August 31st
Rove Protesters Charged on Washington Post, by David Montgomery, August 31st
Free Speech by Machiavalliman, August 31st

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Notable
Conyers Asks Gonzales for USA & Siegelman Documents & Information RE: Political Prosecutions by FishOutofWater, July 17th
Still Think 2006 Meant NOTHING? Read This. by wmtriallawyer, August 14th
September 1st, 15th, and 22nd are all important Iraq dates by mspicata, August 17th
Sasha Grey: Where's our Revolution by ImpeccableLiberalCredentials, August 20th
Conversations With The Old One: Pelosi Inaction by flerb, August 20th
Reversing Watergate by Kagro X, August 22nd
Cheney as Paradigm by think blue, August 22nd
The Great Iraq Swindle in Rolling Stone, by Matt Taibbi, August 23rd
Impeachment? on Talking Points Memo, by Josh Marshall, August 25th
War Profiteering: All Roads Lead to Cheney by mikepridmore, August 26th
Give it up for Joshua freakin Marshall by seesdifferent, August 27th
Gonzales Isn't the First to Go by MissLaura, August 27th
Conyers Betrays the Constitution for a Crappy Calculator by bob fertik, August 31st


Outside Daily Kos
Cost of War reports for all districts by MoveOn.org
Cheney's Fingerprints in The Progressive, by Patthew Rothschild, August issue
'Impeach Bush' free speech test? Man who posted sign in Kent surprised by uproar in the Record-Courier, by Matt Fredmonsky, August 11th
Are impeach critics really walking their talk in Telluride Daily Planet, by Reilly Capps, August 12th
The Trouble with Impeachment in The American Prospect, by Harold Meyerson, August 13th
Pelosi needs to put impeachment on the table in the San Francisco Chronicle, by Bruce Fein, August 14th
Nichols: The people can lead with push to impeach in The Capital Times, by John Nichols, August 14th
N.C. Grassroots Impeachment Movement in The Independent Weekly, by Lisa Sorg, August 15th
Man Arrested for Holding "Impeach" Sign in Mother Jones/MoJo Blog, by Diane E. Dees, August 17th
County: Impeach Bush, Cheney in The Capital Times, by Ben Hopper, August 17th
Dane County says: Impeach! The Capital Times Editorial, August 20th
Can Nancy Pelosi single-handedly take impeachment off the table? in Slate, by Bruce Fein, August 21st
Why Cheney Really Is That Bad on CommonDreams.org, by Scott Ritter, August 22nd
Leaders Afraid to Lead: Empty Rhetoric in Congress on Counterbias.com, by Walter Brasch, August 23rd
Six years later, we're still vulnerable in LATimes, by Amy Zegart, August 24th
Religion Briefs Coalition of nuns calls for impeaching Bush and Cheney in the Winston-Salem Journal, September 1st

Return to Top
Return to Navigation Index

Take Action
For a more extensive list of September actions, see lao hong han's September Action Roundup (w/non-trivial poll) from August 31st.
Contact Your Representative: Congress.org or the House Directory
Join or start an Enough protest near you: See the table below for events this coming Sunday. (I could use some company here in San Francisco, as Chris is out of town again.)
Participate in Orange Fridays
Join the 9/11 General Strike
March on September 15th
If you're in San Francisco on Saturday September 15th, join us for another round of Beach Impeach at Crissy Field at 1:00 pm.

Join the Iraq Moratorium September 21st

ENOUGH! Protests Across the Country
Arkansas Little Rock California Encinitas Huntington Beach Irvine La Mesa Los Angeles Los Angeles/Los Feliz Ojai Palo Alto Ramona San Diego/Poway San Francisco San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara Vista Colorado Denver	Florida Orlando Georgia Atlanta Illinois Chicago Indiana Indianapolis Kokomo Kansas Kansas City Maine Augusta/Winthrop Maryland Baltimore Michigan Ann Arbor Dearborn Heights Mt. Clemens	Missouri St. Louis Nevada Lake Tahoe New Mexico Albuqurque Questa Santa Fe New York Kingston Sag Harbor Staten Island North Carolina Wilmington Ohio Cleveland Oregon Astoria Eugene Portland	Pennsylvania Philadelphia West Chester Tennessee Memphis Texas Dallas Vermont Waterbury Washington Federal Way Seattle (1) Seattle (2) Washington, D.C. West Virginia Berkeley Springs Wisconsin Madison

•  Tips for the effort

  recs and comments appreciated

  by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 05:29:52 AM PDT

  •  Excellent work

    Impeachment really is the only thing that can make the next year a non-disaster.  Unfortunately, it has to be undertaken by politicians, whose fear of re-election has overrun their patriotism and oath.

    by klw1963 on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:02:10 AM PDT

  •  Tiny Edit

    The date is actually Sunday, September 2, 2007 (first words), not Saturday.

    Otherwise, BRAVO, KUDOS, and GREAT WORK!  :-)

    The long list of reasons why Georgie and Dickie need to be impeached always makes me feel like a tsunami is heading straight at me at a few hundred miles per hour.  It's overwhelming and makes my head hurt.

    I do not get why our Congress Critters don't see the reasons for impeachment as clearly as we all do.  WHY do they insist 'the votes aren't there'?  That's the dumbest lame, lame, lame excuse possible to avoid acting responsibly and ridding us of the criminals "leading" this nation!  As long as they keep counting votes BEFORE any impeachment hearing lays out the known reasons why these war criminals need to be impeached (there is so much we don't know, but that's a whole 'nuther issue, and I'm not sure those secret crimes will be revealed in my lifetime), and as long as they keep stalling and letting the clock run out, there won't be anyone to hold the war criminals to account for what they've done.

    Once the evidence is put before the American people before a judiciary committee and the full vote of the House and a trial in the Senate, everyone will finally have to come to grips with the fact that we've had a psychopathic spoiled frat brat leading us, and our Congress Critters will have no choice but to act like responsible elected officials for a change, not caretaking parents who give the spoiled brat and his puppet-master everything they have ever wanted with endless war and all of our money besides.  If Congress Critters voted not to impeach after years of lies and crimes are laid out all at once, they couldn't get elected in their home states again, methinks.

    These perverted sex scandals (which make Bill Clinton's adultery look positively tame and pallid by comparison) suck all the oxygen out of Lamestream Media and they're reporting lurid sex stories and not mentioning much in the way of Georgie's and Dickie's lies and war crimes (Iraq war they propose still funding, torture, Gitmo) and other high crimes and misdemeanors... and no one is mentioning IMPEACHMENT in all of that, of course.

    True, the perverted sex scandals make all the 'Pukes look bad (guilt by association), but someone needs to get back to mentioning illegal wars, war crimes, and the lying liars who need to be IMPEACHED.

    by NonnyO on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 07:57:45 AM PDT

    •  thanks for the edit

      Thought I'd gone through and made all the corrections, but in a diary this long, they're easy to miss. I had started writing it in earnest on Thursday, so the date info has change a couple of times since then. :)

      It'll take some work, but I believe we can convince enough representatives to sign on to an impeachment resolution that it can get pushed to the House floor. H. Res. 333 is ripe and waiting.

      September is going to be a busy month. Feels like a good time to build some momentum.

      by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:09:28 AM PDT

      •  I'm still nudging my Rep

        The damned fool signed on to Conyers' Bush impeachment bill before the '06 election, but when I wrote this spring asking about it, the email mentioned fear of "Republican Backlash."  My jaw dropped.  I felt like I'd been manipulated into voting for him.  He's been too many years in the House.  He's old, so I hope he decides not to run for re-election again, since he's more than old enough to retire anyway.

        I wrote back and told him that it's not 'Republican Backlash' he and his cohorts need to worry about now.  It's Voter Backlash in the next two or three election cycles that Reps and Senators will have to worry about if they don't do something about removing Cheney (first, with Kucinich's H. Res. 333, so we're not stuck with Dickie as prez) and then dusting off Conyers' impeachment bill against Georgie.  I fear if those two war criminals are not held responsible for their crimes that that opens the doors for the next dictatorial type of spoiled brat to take over.  I also sent the info to him about Bill Moyers Journal, but I've no idea if he saw the show or the video/transcript online.

        I dang near idolize Moyers for his bravery to speak out about impeachment, about the dangers of media consolidation, and against the mis-administration, among other things.  I also admire Keith Olbermann, but for different reasons because he has a different format with commercial interruptions, but it still takes a huge set of balls to speak out against the injustices done in our names nowadays.  Their ratings show it, too.

        I admire Kossacks who do such admirable research and can write so well.  You express many of the things I've been thinking.  I admire the hard work and extensive research you've put into this and other diaries!

        [Oh, and velbekomme.  I used to do reports and other stuff for people for many, many years, so editing comes with the territory.  And, if the situation were reversed, I'd most assuredly want someone to alert me to a needed edit.  Now, if only I could catch my own typos as easily in my own writing....!  :-)]

        by NonnyO on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:46:35 AM PDT

•  WOW

  you must have spent a week writing this

  I had read about 5% of the links you have listed.

  I usually stay out of impeachment diaries.
  But with all the work you did to post it I will tip & rec this

  by eeff on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 05:51:40 AM PDT

  •  collecting and categorizing

    since August 11th. I couldn't get it together any faster, unfortunately. I had to save a lot of the links I had for other roundups. As it is, it's a lot to take in.

    by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 05:59:37 AM PDT

•  How long did this diary take to compile?

  This is an amazing array of links and calls to action!
  Bravo....move this diary up.

  by bookwoman on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 05:55:02 AM PDT

•  As usual ...

  ... outstanding work!

  I hope this gets on the rec list.  You make a very compelling case.  Not that you need to convince me, heh.

  by Nightprowlkitty on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:01:04 AM PDT

  •  thank you n/t

    by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:02:31 AM PDT

    •  Also ...

      ... the "compare and contrast" pics of Bush and Gore are heartbreaking.  Actually, the pic of Bush, Brownie and Chertoff standing around looking like CEO's at a board meeting was more crushing than the pic of Bush playing the guitar.  The sense of "removal" from the situation was so strong I could practically taste it, just as the sense of being competely engaged is so evident from the Gore pic.

      by Nightprowlkitty on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:08:06 AM PDT

      •  The work you and others have done

        drawing attention to New Orleans has been inspiring. I haven't written on it myself outside of this diary, but think it's a very strong argument for impeachment.

        We could definitely use more leaders like Gore who are willing to lead by example.

        by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:14:41 AM PDT

•  Tipped and rec'ed...

  Now let's all email links to Nancy Pelosi and our own reps!

  by AnotherMassachusettsLiberal on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:16:28 AM PDT

  •  oddly enough

    as much as I've been working to advocate impeachment the past couple of months, I haven't considered the simple task of emailing references to reps, even to Pelosi, who is my rep.

    Thanks for the kick in the head. :)

    by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:22:14 AM PDT

•  If a Real Push for Iran begins...

  ... as has been predicted to occur under Cheney's newfound power, growing in the new vacuum that is a White House post Gonzales, Bartlett, Miers and Rove...

  we should be positioning impeachment as inevitable if this Administration starts pushing war with Iran.

  by rerutled on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:30:00 AM PDT

•  tipped, rec'd, hotlisted

  And hey, rescue rangers - even if imeachment diaries are 'uncool', this herculean effort deserves rescue.
  In a big way.

  by kamarvt on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:34:32 AM PDT

  •  thank you n/t

    by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:43:51 AM PDT

•  Think Anew, Act Anew

  I've had a summer exchange of impeachment correspondence with my Rep., George Miller.  He gave me the Pelosi line, I asked him to reconsider for a list of detailed reasons that trump appeasement, no reply.

  We know the standard reasons for avoiding impeachment are nonsense, and that something else is going on.  I could suggest a combination of ingredients that inadvertently combine to create blockage:

  1.  Executive Privilege  Nixon resigned after a Supreme Court review of executive privilege failed to protect him.  The opinion was narrow, shaded, and argued both sides of the case.  Revisiting that subject could easily produce a less favorable precedent, especially since:

  Chief Justice John Roberts was assistant to Fred Fielding (Bush's White House counsel who is managing the current executive privilege strategy) when both were in the office of White House Counsel during the Reagan Administration.

  Roberts supports the Unitary Executive concept in some formulation.  His contribution might be to support dictatorial secrecy by opening wider latitude for linking executive privilege and national security -- the "State Secrets" defense.

  I suspect that few in Congress understand all of this, but a clique of strategists has boiled it down to a one liner that says "We can't afford to take executive privilege to the Supreme Court because their judgment will put us in a worse position."

  2.  Israel  The Israel lobby openly tampers with American policy using an aggressive deep pockets system of carrots and sticks.  Democrats are fully stuck in that web. The Israel lobby enthusiastically supports the Iraq war and an attack on Iran.  Joe Leiberman expresses their viewpoint quite accurately.  Israel's economy is booming right now because they have become the world leaders in a new industry -- homeland security.

  A trade delegation from that industry recently visited Illinois, home of Emanuel and Durbin.  A big subject, but under the radar Israeli corporate interests now amplify the policy agenda, in ways that affect many congressional districts.  It's hard to vote against Israel -- look at Artur Davis in the recent Fisa capitulation.

  3.  Media  Main stream media is gradually becoming more like Fox -- total right wing propaganda.  The bias is overwhelming, just on the basis of broadcasting emphasis.  Congress seems to have come to a point of despair about  this.  If the news were fair Bush and Cheney would be gone by now.  Corporate controlled media support a corporate agenda in which war, secrecy, and social irresponsibility are profitable.

  To summarize:  Impeachment is not only good but essential.  But congress is ruled by fear:  of a biased Supreme Court, of foreign tampering in American electoral politics, of the corporate propaganda machine.  These are the root causes of the failure to bring the just cause of impeachment forward.

  Difficult as it may be, restoring the Constitution requires a re-tipping of the playing field.  Electing Democrats has failed to bring integrity to government, and I think we are all feeling shock and discouragement from this.  

  As long as Progressives are ignored, there will be no progress. We need a new party.  Impeachment is really the shared core value that we need to build on.

  by xaxado on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:39:00 AM PDT

•  WOW!!!

  Bust out the ALL-CAPS and exclamation marks!!!

  The definitive impeachment round-up diary.

  Many, many thanks forbodyandmind.

  by kidneystones on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:50:56 PM PDT

  •  thank you n/t

    by forbodyandmind on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 09:07:55 PM PDT

•  Incredible!

  E-mail the link to this diary to every Congresscritter.

  Great work!

  by Caneel on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 09:11:18 PM PDT

•  thanks for the references, subscribe, n/t

  by eternallyvigilant on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 10:11:38 PM PDT

•  Great diary!

  Wow - you put a ton of work into this!  Sorry it didn't make the rec list, it would have been really great if everyone could have seen it.  I still can't figure out a pattern for what makes the list and what doesn't.  :/

  Thanks for rescuing!

  by feduphoosier on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 11:07:30 PM PDT

•  Katrina

  Got another Katrina diary if you want it:  
  "Riding out Rita in a Katrina animal shelter."  Had an impeachment letter to my congressman that I nicknamed the opus, because I worked on it for weeks, but its from June so its out of range.

  Excellent compilation.  

  by feduphoosier on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 11:25:39 PM PDT

  •  thanks for the references

    They both fit. I've added them above for those who might not make it to the comments (even though comments in my diaries tend not to get too overwhelming :) .

    I believe I saw a reference to your Katrina diary earlier by Nightprowlkitty, but I didn't get it bookmarked, so it missed my review. I think Katrina diaries in particular slipped through holes in my net.

    Even in the first draft of this diary, I had a few references earlier than August 11th, which also happened to be under the Contact our Reps category. After looking at your diary, you inspired me to review the past roundups I had down to verify I hadn't caught it before, and then through the bookmarks I had to see if I had it or if there were other similar diaries I had missed. As a result, I've added two additional references other than yours under the Contact our Reps category.

    So once again, thanks for the links.

    by forbodyandmind on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 01:16:27 AM PDT

    •  I wish this had been rec'd

      I wish I knew how this works... what gets rec'd and what falls through the net.  I can't figure it out for the life of me with the things I write -- the one yesterday (or I guess it was the day before, now) caught me completely by surprise.  I had actually signed off and gone to the grocery store, I was so sure no one would read it.  Clueless.  Other ones -- like yours here, which obviously took hours; days of work most likely -- would be a great reference and should have been there.  It's seemingly random; who happens to see it, whether it strikes them at the time.  

      I love this diary, great job.  Glad it was rescued so I could see it.

      by feduphoosier on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 02:15:37 AM PDT

      •  in the last couple of months I've noticed

        impeachment going through fits and starts. Some new outrage comes up, and people are reading and writing impeachment diaries so that many make it to the rec list, and many others get 40-50 recs or perhaps a bit more or less and have good comment threads. But then the immediacy of the outrage fades, and only a few diehards are writing or reading. On the other hand, there are also issues that come up that seem to throw everything else off the rec list.

        I feel fortunate that this is my second rescue in as many diaries. This is the third time I've made the rescue with an impeachment diary, and one other made the rec list (for all of about thirty seconds I guess). It's gratifying to receive the recognition of making the recommended or the rescue lists, as well as to have complimentary comments.

        In the long run though, my goal with all of my impeachment diaries is to reach out to provide resources others can use as well as drawing people to their own activism whether one or two at a time from 50 to 100 people reading the diary, or by the dozens from thousands reading some potential future diary. My hope is that a simple growth by addition will expand to geometric and then exponential growth sufficient that we can apply even more pressure to our representatives, especially more moderate to liberal Republicans and conservative, Blue Dog Dems.

        Right now, I feel like there is a solid base building for impeachment. I think September will present a lot of opportunities to grow that base, as Congress tries to explore how to get a course change in Iraq and Bush and his Congressional enablers dig in their heels. Then perhaps we'll start to look at impeachment Friedmans. Scooter Libby and warrentless wiretapping have pushed us very close to a tipping point. We just have to continue to work and be ready to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself to push it past that point.

        Thank you again for your comments.

        by forbodyandmind on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 03:06:23 AM PDT

•  Strategy point: impeach Cheney first

  I say this for several reasons.

  First, he’s the more dangerous of the two. While Bush is perfectly capable of making a hash of governance on his own, he’s not as focused as Cheney, and he hasn’t been thinking about how to institute the Unitary Executive for the past 20 years the way Cheney has. Take away Cheney, and Bush has one less voice pushing for a specific agenda (one that ought to give every thinking American the willies). This leaves aside the fact that with Rove and Gonzales gone, Cheney essentially has no opposition within the administration, not that Gonzales was ever anything other than a lackey of Bush and Rove. We don’t even need to discuss Rice. Cheney and Rumsfeld steamrollered her regularly in the run-up to Iraq.

  Second, it’s hard to spin going after Cheney only as "Pelosi wants the White House," even though I’m sure the punditocracy will do their screechy best. If Fourth Branch is impeached (that statement alone would have gotten Gore run out of town by Newtie and the GOP), Bush gets to nominate a replacement, and Congress can put on a good show of debating the merits of the candidate for the cameras (Agnew kindly sunk himself ahead of the game the last time around, lest anyone forget). The Speaker can claim to be taking the high road by leaving the Chimperor alone, at least until the hearings into the Cheney impeachment show W was in it up to his eyeballs.

  Last, Cheney isn’t the leader of the party. GOP congresscritters can read the handwriting on the wall, even if they make all the right noises in public. They know their side is looking at a long walk in the desert, and they’ll be more amenable to offering a very public sacrifice to save their collective hides if they know they can do it without upsetting the applecart. If the Dems in Congress can get their act together (big if, I know), they can start intimating to some likely targets (Snowe, Collins, Graham) that taking down Cheney will make them look good to their purple/blue state constituents come election time. They get weasel words to use with the 26 percenters; we get Uncle Dickie retired to his manse on the Eastern Shore.

  Radarlady

  by radarlady on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 11:58:55 AM PDT

•  Outstanding Work!

  Bookmarked for reference, thank you!

  by poe on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 10:41:31 AM PDT