Epic FAIL
Slipping underneath the headlines, Congressman (and former presidential candidate) Dennis Kucinich filed a 35-count Articles of Impeachment bill against El Presidente.
Not surprisingly, it's being buried. Republicans scoff that it is mere grandstanding by Left Wing loonies, and the Dems.... well, they don't want to do anything that's polarizing and, you know, force them to take a courageous stand and do the right thing and jeopardize the upcoming election. So it got referred to committee, where it will be allowed to die.
Kucinich isn't rolling over though. He has pledged to introduce new Articles if this one dies by quiet suffocation. I gotta say, I admire the dogged little bastard.
What's interesting is that yesterday's Supreme Court decision- the one that brought Habeus Corpus back from the dead and which Dubya and his right-wing supplicants say will be the end of the Fourth Reich- supports Article XVII of Kucinich's Articles. I quote it here in full:
ARTICLE XVII
ILLEGAL DETENTION: DETAINING INDEFINITELY AND WITHOUT CHARGE PERSONS BOTH U.S. CITIZENS AND FOREIGN CAPTIVES
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the Vice President, violated United States and International Law and the US Constitution by illegally detaining indefinitely and without charge persons both US citizens and foreign captives.
In a statement on Feb. 7, 2002, President Bush declared that in the US fight against Al Qaeda, "none of the provisions of Geneva apply," thus rejecting the Geneva Conventions that protect captives in wars and other conflicts. By that time, the administration was already transporting captives from the war in Afghanistan, both alleged Al Qaeda members and supporters, and also Afghans accused of being fighters in the army of the Taliban government, to US-run prisons in Afghanistan and to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The round-up and detention without charge of Muslim non-citizens inside the US began almost immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with some being held as long as nine months. The US, on orders of the president, began capturing and detaining without charge alleged terror suspects in other countries and detaining them abroad and at the US Naval base in Guantanamo.
Many of these detainees have been subjected to systematic abuse, including beatings, which have been subsequently documented by news reports, photographic evidence, testimony in Congress, lawsuits, and in the case of detainees in the US, by an investigation conducted by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General.
In violation of US law and the Geneva Conventions, the Bush Administration instructed the Department of Justice and the US Department of Defense to refuse to provide the identities or locations of these detainees, despite requests from Congress and from attorneys for the detainees. The president even declared the right to detain US citizens indefinitely, without charge and without providing them access to counsel or the courts, thus depriving them of their constitutional and basic human rights. Several of those US citizens were held in military brigs in solitary confinement for as long as three years before being either released or transferred to civilian detention.
Detainees in US custody in Iraq and Guantanamo have, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, been hidden from and denied visits by the International Red Cross organization, while thousands of others in Iraq, Guantanamo, Afghanistan, ships in foreign off-shore sites, and an unknown number of so-called "black sites" around the world have been denied any opportunity to challenge their detentions. The president, acting on his own claimed authority, has declared the hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to be "enemy combatants" not subject to US law and not even subject to military law, but nonetheless potentially liable to the death penalty.
The detention of individuals without due process violates the 5th Amendment. While the Bush administration has been rebuked in several court cases, most recently that of Ali al-Marri, it continues to attempt to exceed constitutional limits.
In all of these actions violating US and International law, President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and Commander in Chief, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
The strength of the US has always been in the ideals expressed in the Constitution. As a country, we haven't always lived up to those ideals- just ask any African-American, woman, Native American, or gay person. But our very heritage tells us that all men (and now also women....) are entitled to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness and that "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it."
Back when Clinton was president, his lying about a blowjob from an intern was deemed a potentially impeachable offense by the GOP. Where are these Lions of Liberty now who were so quick to leap to the forefront and institute impeachment proceedings? Where were those- and I'm calling out Hannity and Limbaugh and North- who wept tears over Clinton shredding the very fabric of government, yet now stand by as Dubya's Grand Enablers and Apologists?
As a nation, we've lost our balls. We've strayed from our roots and for the mere matter of expediency or politics, are turning a blind eye to these crimes that demean our country and weaken it. In the days following 9/11, America had a chance to pull together and show the world how Liberty is stronger than terrorism and fear.
Instead, Dubya and his followers did exactly what Bin Ladin- crafty sociopath that he is- knew they would do. They cracked the whip and destroyed Liberty. They did what Bin Ladin's bombs could never do.
And now we have the Democrats unwilling to stand up for what is right and have become accomplices to this whole sorry mess.
For more raw data, go directly to the Library of Congress's record of the bill, which contains the tracing and voting records as well.
Not surprisingly, it's being buried. Republicans scoff that it is mere grandstanding by Left Wing loonies, and the Dems.... well, they don't want to do anything that's polarizing and, you know, force them to take a courageous stand and do the right thing and jeopardize the upcoming election. So it got referred to committee, where it will be allowed to die.
Kucinich isn't rolling over though. He has pledged to introduce new Articles if this one dies by quiet suffocation. I gotta say, I admire the dogged little bastard.
What's interesting is that yesterday's Supreme Court decision- the one that brought Habeus Corpus back from the dead and which Dubya and his right-wing supplicants say will be the end of the Fourth Reich- supports Article XVII of Kucinich's Articles. I quote it here in full:
ARTICLE XVII
ILLEGAL DETENTION: DETAINING INDEFINITELY AND WITHOUT CHARGE PERSONS BOTH U.S. CITIZENS AND FOREIGN CAPTIVES
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the Vice President, violated United States and International Law and the US Constitution by illegally detaining indefinitely and without charge persons both US citizens and foreign captives.
In a statement on Feb. 7, 2002, President Bush declared that in the US fight against Al Qaeda, "none of the provisions of Geneva apply," thus rejecting the Geneva Conventions that protect captives in wars and other conflicts. By that time, the administration was already transporting captives from the war in Afghanistan, both alleged Al Qaeda members and supporters, and also Afghans accused of being fighters in the army of the Taliban government, to US-run prisons in Afghanistan and to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The round-up and detention without charge of Muslim non-citizens inside the US began almost immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with some being held as long as nine months. The US, on orders of the president, began capturing and detaining without charge alleged terror suspects in other countries and detaining them abroad and at the US Naval base in Guantanamo.
Many of these detainees have been subjected to systematic abuse, including beatings, which have been subsequently documented by news reports, photographic evidence, testimony in Congress, lawsuits, and in the case of detainees in the US, by an investigation conducted by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General.
In violation of US law and the Geneva Conventions, the Bush Administration instructed the Department of Justice and the US Department of Defense to refuse to provide the identities or locations of these detainees, despite requests from Congress and from attorneys for the detainees. The president even declared the right to detain US citizens indefinitely, without charge and without providing them access to counsel or the courts, thus depriving them of their constitutional and basic human rights. Several of those US citizens were held in military brigs in solitary confinement for as long as three years before being either released or transferred to civilian detention.
Detainees in US custody in Iraq and Guantanamo have, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, been hidden from and denied visits by the International Red Cross organization, while thousands of others in Iraq, Guantanamo, Afghanistan, ships in foreign off-shore sites, and an unknown number of so-called "black sites" around the world have been denied any opportunity to challenge their detentions. The president, acting on his own claimed authority, has declared the hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to be "enemy combatants" not subject to US law and not even subject to military law, but nonetheless potentially liable to the death penalty.
The detention of individuals without due process violates the 5th Amendment. While the Bush administration has been rebuked in several court cases, most recently that of Ali al-Marri, it continues to attempt to exceed constitutional limits.
In all of these actions violating US and International law, President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and Commander in Chief, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
The strength of the US has always been in the ideals expressed in the Constitution. As a country, we haven't always lived up to those ideals- just ask any African-American, woman, Native American, or gay person. But our very heritage tells us that all men (and now also women....) are entitled to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness and that "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it."
Back when Clinton was president, his lying about a blowjob from an intern was deemed a potentially impeachable offense by the GOP. Where are these Lions of Liberty now who were so quick to leap to the forefront and institute impeachment proceedings? Where were those- and I'm calling out Hannity and Limbaugh and North- who wept tears over Clinton shredding the very fabric of government, yet now stand by as Dubya's Grand Enablers and Apologists?
As a nation, we've lost our balls. We've strayed from our roots and for the mere matter of expediency or politics, are turning a blind eye to these crimes that demean our country and weaken it. In the days following 9/11, America had a chance to pull together and show the world how Liberty is stronger than terrorism and fear.
Instead, Dubya and his followers did exactly what Bin Ladin- crafty sociopath that he is- knew they would do. They cracked the whip and destroyed Liberty. They did what Bin Ladin's bombs could never do.
And now we have the Democrats unwilling to stand up for what is right and have become accomplices to this whole sorry mess.
For more raw data, go directly to the Library of Congress's record of the bill, which contains the tracing and voting records as well.
Labels: 1258, Bush, Constitution, Dubya, El Presidente, fail, fascism, HR 1258, impeachment, Kucinich
posted by Stevie Z at 10:42 AM
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