Cross-posted at Never In Our Names
Or is there no sin or crime or horror which merits the word?
Has it been proved that there is probable cause to charge the Bush Administration with carrying out an organized campaign of torture? If you believe the diaries on the Recommended List at Daily Kos, it has. Of course, I am not a lawyer or Federal Prosecutor, but....
Let's take a look.
The systematic destruction of Jose Padilla by stephen soldz
CIA torture flightlogs now available by smintheus
Ghost Planes by Avila
All of these diaries are based on solid evidence. All of them cite either the Washington Post or the New York Times as sources, These dairies all cry out for rigorous investigation...and with evidence this blatant and damning, eventual Impeachment.
Add a little information from other respected sources, like the General who ran Abu Ghraib....
Rumsfeld okayed abuses says former U.S. general
Or the Canadian Government report on Maher Arar
Or Italy
Or Germany
And it looks like a pretty clear chain of evidence to me. Not only that George Bush has authorized a secret torture network, but that they are holding and torturing innocent people without trial....for years at a time. As many as 3000, under just ONE of the programs. Is this a High crime or Misdemeanor?
It's easy to get lost in the vast web of deception and lies the Bush Administration and the CIA have spun. It's easy to casually cast doubt on these claims...because no American wants to believe it's true that their Government, in their name, would do these things. It's easy to ignore crimes this horrific, because it's just hard to get your mind around one simple fact.
The United States Government DOES Torture.
In YOUR name.
What ever George Bush says to the contrary.
After 9/11 and with a 90% approval rating, the Bush Administration could have done whatever they wanted, had whatever ever tools and assistance they desired. With, at that time, a clear and unquestionable mandate from the American people, they had a free and encumbered choice as to what policies they implemented.
What was their choice?
Systematic Torture.
They know it has no value in prosecution, they know it produces unreliable information, and they know there was no ticking time bomb. So why did they CHOOSE TO TORTURE?
To instill fear.
The same fear they have been beating all of us with for six years.
People ask when they see this information...'Why aren't we in the streets?' Why isn't someone doing something? How can this be allowed to go on in our name? The answer to all of these questions is....fear. Not only is the world afraid of George Bush, we are.
Because he has made sure we and the world understand the consequences of opposing him.
Jose Padilla is an American Citizen. Just like you and your kids and your parents. Yet he was arrested, imprisoned and tortured because George Bush said so. There is a clear implication.
Fear is their weapon.
And it works.
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A quick cliche: What if it was Clinton doing this?
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George Bush is the worst President in history...at a time when we desperately need someone who knows what the fuck he is doing.
George Bush has started an illegal, baseless and shameful war that has killed tens if not hundreds of thousands and is spiralling out of control and threatening to inflame the entire Middle East. He and Dick Cheney lied to the American People and Congress in the process. George Bush is losing or has lost the war in Afghanistan due to this decision..George Bush has routinely practiced...
Abuse of power, undermining of the Constitution and violating the presidential oath of office by deliberately refusing to administer over 750 acts duly passed into law by the Congress--actions with if left unchallenged would make the Congress a vestigial body, and the president a dictator.
George Bush has admitted wiretapping American Citizens. George Bush will not deny Waterboarding Khalid Mohammed and Abu Zubadayeh. Evidence points to many, many crimes George Bush has committed.
And yet we are afraid to say the word Impeach?
Are we really that timid? Are we not the land of the free and the home of the brave? Do we fear our President enough not to hold him accountable? Will we allow him to rule us for two more years unchallenged?
Will we just lay down and take it?
Because we are afraid of him?
People who argue against impeachment seem to fear the following;
They fear the interests of the Democratic Party will be harmed. That the American People can't distinguish the difference between a blow job and torture. And thus will punish the Democrats for impeachment, thus losing the House or Senate. They ignore the fact that the Republicans DID NOT loose the House or Senate. Even though the impeachment of Clinton is generally acknowledged as a witch hunt. Even this absurdity lost them only a few seats.
They fear a neutered Cheney , or the possible chaos of a messy succession.
They fear the appearance of revenge or partisanship. They’re Afraid We’ll Be Like Them by Rep Brad Miller
And they appear to be afraid that people will get their hopes up about impeachment and then be disappointed if it doesn't happen. Like we are not used to disappointment after the last six years!
All of this is speculation about the future.
There are no facts that argue against impeachment.
There is no reasonable doubt that the actions of the Bush Administration deserve the most rigorous investigation in the history of American politics.
There is little doubt that a rigorous investigation will turn up evidence of wrong doing (check the poll!) that rises WELL above the level of lying about sex.
There is NO doubt in my mind and the minds of millions of other Americans that George Bush and his accomplices must be brought to Justice.
That, fellow Kossaks is what the word Impeachment is shorthand for.....Justice.
The word Impeach is not a shrill call for Revenge, its not an irrational un-thought through scream of passion, or an Irresponsible 'political position'. No one is calling for Impeachment BEFORE we have had investigations to produce evidence.
Impeach! is a cry for Justice to be served on an American President who has betrayed the values and laws and people of this country. It is a cry that the Democratic Congress CANNOT take up....until we do. Until YOU do.
There is solid evidence that the President of the United States authorized torture, among the many other crimes documented in the links above..
Balance this against the speculative fears of what might happen if we call for Impeachment.
It is up to one distinct entity to decide whether Congress should Impeach George "the Torturer" Bush. The American People...In other words....you.
What is your decision?