Cross-posted from OH-16: John Boccieri for U.S. Congress:

UPDATE:

May 14, 2008
For immediate release
Contact: Ian Walton, 330-754-0534

Senator John Boccieri on Attorney General Dann's resignation

State Senator John Boccieri, candidate for Congress in Ohio's 16th Congressional District, issued the following statement from his Senate office today:

"I support former Attorney General Marc Dann's decision to resign today. As I've publicly stated in previous discussions, I am outraged and disappointed by Marc Dann's behavior. Ohioans deserve and expect the highest level of honesty and integrity from their elected officials. "I am pleased that the Governor and leadership of this state moved swiftly to help resolve this matter over the last few days.

"I fully support the Inspector General's swift and thorough investigation to determine if any criminal lines have been crossed. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the legislature and our statewide elected officials as we move forward with the people's business. It is time to close this dark chapter in Ohio's history."

Twice in the past 6 months, I have written friends and family members of my concerns about the current Administration's apparent intentions to launch an attack on Iran.  After the first, the third Carrier Group sent to the region was called back.  The second came in the wake of Admiral Fallon's resignation.  

Apparently, and to my great relief, I am not alone with that concern.

Rep. Conyers has written a strong letter to President Bush, warning unequivocally that he faces the prospect of impeachment, should he go ahead with any such plan:

Here's a suggestion for any Republicans that might be wondering how the hell they are going to get re-elected this fall: How about advocating for and voting for the impeachment of Darth and GW?

I understand this is the wrong audience to make this suggestion to, but maybe we can collectively get them to listen now.  I have long thought that Pelosi's reticence vis a vis impeachment would last as long as it was obvious that impeachment wouldn't happen because there aren't enough Dems to make it happen.  It has always been obvious that we need GOP support for it, and now is the time.

The ramped up rhetoric on Iran is deafening lately. To say the least, claims of Iranian meddling and fomentation in Iraq have reached an unprecedented level. But as vociferous as those claims have been, this time -- as opposed to the runup to the invasion of Iraq -- there seems to be some blowback swirling around up on Capitol Hill. They want evidence this time. Imagine that.

The truth is, the only difference between the runup to the Iraq invasion and the current buildup to a war with Iran is that this time we are the wiser. We have the benefit of hindsight this go around. We're more familiar with the modus operandi of the Bush regime now, and, we know how Dick Cheney & company will resort to bold-faced lies and slick obfuscation in making their case for perpetual war.

This time though, every piece of trumped-up evidence against Iran that Cheney comes up with or every time one of his acolytes hypes the threat, it seems to be falling more and more on a skeptical Congress. In addition, the notion of another war seems to be bombing (no pun intended) in general with the American people as well.

I have received a number of negative replies to my past suggestions that Barack Obama would be helped in November by adding Nancy Pelosi to the ticket. I have tried to get my head around the thinking expressed in those comments, but I am still not convinced that there is a better choice. Let me explain:

The fight to ensure that our Democratic Congress continues to hold its ground and refuses to take Jay Rockefeller's unwise advice to roll over for the Bush Administration on telecom amnesty has been of central importance for many of us in the progressive community.  Kossacks mcjoan and Kagro X have both done an outstanding job keeping this and the intimately related FISA issues front and center in the netroots, and groups like the Courage Campaign have done well in making sure that progressive activists continue to lobby decision-makers to do the right thing.

The country is suffocating under the incompetence of the current administration and huge national debt.  Citizens must become increasingly active to get our "representatives" off their asses and knees to the lobbyists.  Become active, reasonable and passionate about your involvement.  Start community organizations to take back our country from the lethargy of activism foisted by the last 8 years of "compassionate conservatism".  Give me a break!

[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.

I was very interested this morning to see Senator Obama continue a quaint little quest for reality in the campaign, a reference to his oft-stated contention that Clinton has not been up front with voters, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.  The gross evasion to many basic realities in American politics has been much on my mind lately, and this cute little insistence by Senator Obama for realism won’t change the implacable insistence for denial and fantasy so pervasive in our politics.

Senators Clinton and Obama are products of their environment:  a basically indifferent electorate, a "journalism" propaganda corps that deliberately spews fatuous dysfunction, and an opposition party run amok on fear and lying.  It’s easy to condemn them for not confronting the disastrous list of unreality that will soon follow, but they are the candidates that must face the extremely powerful and manipulative forces arrayed against them, and for our time and place these are the kinds of Democrats we get.

Just as our muscles rely on our skeleton to be of any use, our nation's military and economic might requires the support of We the People.

This first of May, a day recognized world-wide for labor rights struggles (except in America), blue-collar workers, union members, concerned citizens and immigrants will halt our industrial heartbeat at midday.

Thanks and may reality reach us all.

Note: The use of an "intelligent design" reference in the title is a reminder that without vocal opposition and adherence to fact/reality, our country will continue to follow the Ben Stein's and George Bush's into failure and ignorance. We must cease this tumble toward infamy before it's too late.

Dear Friends,

This morning during a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, I questioned FBI Director Robert Mueller on his agency's response to claims - made by his own FBI agents - that the CIA was torturing prisoners.  I wanted to find out why, if the FBI's own agents had alleged illegal actions were taking place, there was no investigation into the CIA's illegal and immoral practices.

Mueller's responses, which I would like you to read below, create new concerns and call for further investigation in the days ahead.

Our enemies didn't adhere to the Geneva Convention. Many of my comrades were subjected to very cruel, very inhumane and degrading treatment, a few of them even unto death. But every one of us -- every single one of us -- knew and took great strength from the belief that we were different from our enemies, that we were better than them, that we, if the roles were reversed, would not disgrace ourselves by committing or countenancing such mistreatment of them. - John McCain, Republican US Senator

Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management. - Edward Kennedy, Democratic US Senator

While Democrats have been fighting each other and the media is concentrating on issues of no importance , Bush is securing the wealth of his supporters for generations. Bush is meeting with The President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada to show them how New Orleans has been rebuilt. Amazing , just like the Green Zone, if you stay in a 2 block radius everything looks awesome!
They are down there to pass NAFTA 3 . Basically to be able to import Chinese goods to Mexico and bring them to the US free of import taxes! Also to lower the poison on vegetables to Mexico's standards, not raise them to US standards. I have always said Clinton would have been one of the 5 greatest presidents in history if not for NAFTA, and the way Bush is reading the 'treaty' Clinton will be blamed for even more downfall of the US economy.
Let's face it, Bush got White House Historians to change the history of economics , he will blame Billy for this as well. Bush has been going unchecked since his state of the union, mostly due to the excitement over candidates in the opposing party . Who here isn't excited? I vote tomorrow and I have ignored Bush for some time. It is time to put our eyes back on the prize-fixing this country by watching Bush and his destroying of this country.

Bless her heart, which is certainly in the right place, but strategy and tactics matter. The effort she spearheaded to deliver an impeachment resolution from the NH House to the US Congress was doomed from the start. Not to mention the damage done not only to the impeachment movement, but to Democrats’ electoral chances in November, in both NH and beyond.

As the documented evidence of crimes and criminal conspiracy pile up; today the NY Times story covering Pentagon disinformation programs meant to sell Americans on plans based on falsehoods.

Last week, documented evidence surfaced of the entire White House executive team meeting many times to not only authorize torture but to define its methods in great detail. See today's NY Times editorial. I can only fault the NY Times editorial for lapsing into the propaganda speak of "harsh interrogation" techniques. They also do not call for impeachment but at least demand full disclosure. I count ourselves fortunate that we do nor administer drink driving laws this way or domestic murder cases.

The latest revelation reminds me of Murder on the Orient Express, where it turned out everyone was guilty of the murder. With this White House the evidence keeps mounting that they are all guilty of many crimes.

What seems to be missing is any political will to indict and impeach these people and stand up for the rule of law.

What will it take to impeach Cheney and Bush?

Back in the late 1990s, I joined a small but growing group named "Censure and Move On."  At that time, when the internet was a relative toddler, Wes Boyd and Joan Blades had an idea.  In the midst of the impeachment of President Clinton, they would use email and the internet as a tool to quickly and fiercely organize activiststo give a dose of backbone to Democrats in Washington, to fight the Republican attempts to unelect Bill Clinton.  

Some might not remember, but initially, the Congressional Democrats were stunned by impeachment, paralyzed with no idea what to do - defend this guy when he did what he did?  Stay silent?  They were embarrassing in their inaction.  "Censure and Move On" quickly boomed into an effort that flooded Capitol Hill with phone calls, petitions, protests, which gave Democrats what they needed to fight.  And thus, the group played a key role in saving the Clinton presidency.

I get ideas and jot them down.

I find it hard to block off time and to self-motivate to compose essays, yet I want to get the ideas out there.

Consequently, here's a "brain dump" of conceptual seeds on the topic of impeachment.

I've put up a few posts on the topic (maybe I'll pick up a few of the ideas below later).  That said, I have been pessimistic that Bush, Cheney, or any of the other tyrants will see real accountability.  The projection around here, such as that Pelosi didn't mean "off the table," baffled me.

Yet impeachment is the logical and appropriate means within our system of government to deal with tyrannical executive branch officials and to restore Congress's and the people's rightful power.  So long as I am to be honest in representing myself, and so long as I care about my life, liberty, and livelihood, I must advocate impeachment.

Impeachment is dead.  Long live impeachment.

Brain dump commences in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 2:  The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

Emphasis mine.

Now that's a landslide.

The NH House of Representatives tabled HR.24, the resolution petitioning Congress to commence impeachment procedures. A motion was made to table the resolution, 227 approved, 95 opposed, the motion carried. WMUR Channel 9 has the obit.

Growing up in New Hampshire most of my life, I'm not surprised it was this lopsided. I knew it would be a uphill battle on all levels. Ninety-five patriots did the right thing today. The other 227....  all I can say now is they're on the wrong side of the issue. This was a time to rise above politics and do the right thing. Instead political expediency and fear got the best of them. Kudos to state representative Betty Hall (D-Brookline), the 95 members of the House who voted for it, and all the organizers who believed.