Last week I sent a letter to Representative Cleaver urging him to co-sponsor the resolution to bring impeachment proceedings against Cheney. Being a good Kossack, I double checked to make sure I was wording it right, so the resolution wouldn't be confused with the other one which has a slightly different title. I included with the letter a text of the resolution, lest there be any confusion. Here's my letter, followed by the response I got back in the mail:
Dear Mr. Cleaver:
I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor House Resolution 333, submitted by Mr. Kucinich, impeaching Vice President Richard Cheney for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Mr. Kucinich’s resolution clearly states that Mr. Cheney misused the authority of the Vice-President’s office to deliberately and knowingly lie to Congress and the American people about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and Iraq. It also states that the Vice-President is continuing to make misleading, fear-mongering statements, this time about Iran. Lately the Vice-president has made the extraordinary claim that his office is not subject to executive oversight. Furthermore, he, along with President Bush, has refused to honor or even recognize recent subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Cleaver, this cannot be allowed to stand.
Mr. Cheney has declared himself exempt from any oversight by the citizenry while at the same time asking his fellow citizens to succumb to greater and greater invasions of our privacy and curtails of our liberties. He has used the authority of the office to deceive the Congress, to deceive the American people, and to enrich himself and his pet corporations at the expense of our national security, our military and our standing in the international community. He has advocated policies repugnant to a free people: torture, extraordinary renditions, and the stripping of the fundamental protections of the people against government abuse.
I will not waste anymore time listing the egregious transgressions of Richard Cheney. You as a member of Congress must be all too aware of them.
But I will urge you to co-sign this bill to begin impeachment proceedings, and to encourage other House members to do the same.
I understand the sentiment that Congress should "wait out the clock" and allow the Vice President to finish his term and quietly disappear from the political scene. But I have grave concerns about this course of inaction. The first is spelled out in Mr. Kucinich’s Resolution: Mr. Cheney wants a military strike on Iran, a sovereign nation that has not attacked us or any of our allies, and that is not threatening to do so. His determination to follow this course has been documented in the investigative articles of Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker, and by other reporters. I am not alone in thinking that such a course would be dangerous and reckless in the extreme, and that the fall-out from such an act would lead to serious harm, possibly plunging us into another world war. Thus, leaving Mr. Cheney to finish his term heightens the risk that he will use his office to promote and possibly succeed in such an action.
Secondly, I ask you to think of the consequences of allowing such abuses of power to stand unchallenged, unquestioned, and without punishment. What crimes will a future office holder have to be guilty of in order to face impeachment? How high does this raise the bar? What does this passivity do to the power of the Legislative branch to hold the other two branches in check? What relevance does the legislature have if the laws it passes can be freely ignored at the whim of the executive branch?
Speaker Pelosi has stated that she does not wish to move towards impeachment proceedings because she does not believe there would be enough votes in the Senate. I put it to you that votes in the Senate are largely irrelevant. In bringing impeachment proceedings, the people’s House will be bringing all of Richard Cheney’s egregious abuses to light. He will not be able to refuse testimony or subpoenas during such a proceeding. The news media and the American public will see the evidence, hear the testimony and will make their own judgment. By the time the investigation is complete and the Senate is asked to vote, senators will be faced with the choice of either impeaching, or excusing Richard Cheney of high crimes. If he remains in office he will be toothless, and utterly without credibility. If he is removed from office or asked to resign, the House will have done its duty and upheld the Constitution and the law.
Congress did not choose this fight, Mr. Cleaver. The fight was brought to you by this lawless administration, and you must engage in the battle even if it is not the time and the place you would have ideally chosen. To do less would be to declare that the Constitution and the Republic are not worth the fight.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this critical matter.
Sincerely,
<Reepicheep>
Here's what Mr. Cleaver writes back:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H. R. 333 The Disabled veterans Tax Termination Act. . . H.R. 333 has been referred to both the House Armed Services Committee and Committee on Veterans affairs, blah blah blah Thank you for sharing your views with me.
Okay, did I screw up, or did they?