One day before the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Rep. Dennis Kucinich is presenting a petition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with 50,000 signatures urging the impeachment of President Bush -- adding to the 100,000 he has already filed.
Calling the Bush administration's military response to 9/11 "errant retributive justice," the Ohio Democrat called for a Commission on Truth and Reconciliation to "compel testimony and gather official documents" on why the Bush administration went to war in Iraq. In advance of a news conference today with grass-roots organizations lobbying Congress on the issue, Kucinich said:
Impeachment has been the first step in our efforts toward truth. The American people were lied to. We went to war based on lies. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. ...
In the face of a destructive war against Iraq, preparations for war against Iran, the initiation of a cold war with Russia, the inevitable destruction of our domestic economy from the extraordinary cost of a great military buildup, and the gutting of civil liberties, the call for impeachment has been the only remedy. Millions of Americans recognize this.
Kucinich's pitch comes one day before the nation mourns the death of 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11, and one day after Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington endorsed impeachment. McDermott visited Saddam Hussein's Iraq before the war, earning him the nickname "Baghdad Jim." Here's what he said:
For the last two years I've struggled with the issue of whether the House should impeach a sitting president. Next to declaring war, impeachment is the gravest matter the House of Representatives must consider. I fully understand the gut-wrenching consequences such a national debate could precipitate. Yet there is one fact we cannot over look or escape: America cannot regain its moral leadership in the world if America cannot hold its leaders accountable for their actions at home.
With Bush leaving office in about four months, and a presidential election campaign in full swing, no one in Washington seriously expects the impeachment drive to succeed. Pelosi has repeatedly taken the issue off the table, saying voters expect Congress to work on economic issues, not spend its remaining months trying to push Bush from office early.
But David Swanson, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, argued in a press release that impeachment is crucial to possible criminal trials against the president and Vice President Dick Cheney once they leave office.
When Cheney and Bush finally face trial in a criminal court, their first line of defense is likely to be, "We served the American people, whose representatives chose not to impeach us." If on the other hand they are impeached even after having left office, the likelihood of prosecution and of successful prosecution will increase dramatically.
Detroit did it. Then Santa Rosa did it. Huntington Beach said no. San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Arcata all said yes. Berkeley's aye vote, natch, was unanimous.
Now comes Chico, Calif., population 85,000, to consider the impeachment of President George W. Bush. Calling itself the "Chico Impeachment Team," a group of local residents is lobbying the City Council to pass a resolution Tuesday night urging Congress to impeach Bush and Vice President Cheney.
Even though the two are due to leave office in January.
Even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has nixed the idea of bringing an impeachment vote to the floor.
"They need to be held accountable whether they have one more day in office or two more years," said Marla Crites, who presented 1,000 signatures to the council to trigger the vote.
The local newspaper is not convinced. With local worries like a $6-million budget deficit, said the newspaper, it seems irresponsible for the council to waste time on impeaching a president who will be gone in four months.
Four months. Wow! It would take Congress more than four months of investigations and hearings and debates just to impeach that duo, even if it wanted to. And Congress, for its many flaws, is not collectively stupid enough to waste time on this matter.
But apparently, Chico's City Council is.
Mayor Andy Holcombe is not taking sides. In an e-mail to Countdown to Crawford, he predicted a large crowd but noted a full agenda of other issues like zoning laws, storm water issues and whether to require permits for organizations seeking to use city light poles to display flags. Asked if the impeachment resolution is hugely popular, he said:
There seems to be a lot of support vocalized in general, but mixed opinion on whether this process is the best way to push the issue.
Chico's City Council meetings are rarely dull. Last spring a group of advocates for independent living services for the disabled crashed a hearing, dressed in pirate gear and inviting everyone to a fundraiser. Watch here.
Rep. Robert Wexler, the Palm Beach Democrat who's turned into a fiery advocate for impeaching President Bush, is taking his campaign on the road. Specifically, to the Democratic Convention in Denver.
In an e-mail appeal circulated by the Progressive Democrats of America, Wexler urges supporters to join him on Aug. 28 for a panel discussion on "oversight, investigations and impeachment."
His goal: to make sure Bush and Vice President Cheney don't escape.
The idea that the president and vice president might finish out their terms -- without being forced to answer for the illegal use of torture, illegal politicization of the Justice Department, conspiracy to obstruct justice by ignoring congressional subpoenas and other charges, including the lies that led to the war in Iraq is one I will not even grudgingly accept.
Wexler concedes that most eyes on that Thursday will be on the party's nominee, Barack Obama, and the presidential campaign to come. And he acknowledges that he has his own reelection race to worry about -- with two opponents.
But he insists that "impeachment and accountability" deserve a place at the convention. It's a theme he's been touting for months, including at this House Judiciary Committee meeting on July 26.
She was in Los Angeles to discuss her recently published book "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters." Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got slammed by protesters screaming that she has been derelict in her duties for not authorizing impeachment hearings against George W. Bush.
The venue: more than 300 people paid $30 each Monday night at the American Jewish University (formerly known as the University of Judaism). The format: a 75-minute interview by the Rabbi Robert Wexler (not to be confused with the Palm Beach, Fla., congressman of the same name). The questions: tough but respectful. Wexler asked Pelosi about a recent Rasmussen Poll that showed a 9% approval rating for Congress.
But then, according to blogger Alan Breslauer, things turned ugly. A protester shouted that Pelosi, in not impeaching Bush for launching a war on false pretenses, had failed to live up to her constitutional duties. She shot back:
I take the oath of office to uphold the constitution of the United States and don't tell me that I don't do that. Why don't you go picket the Republicans in Congress that will not allow us to have a vote on the war? This is not very effective. Not very effective.
In the video, it's clear that most of the audience rallied to Pelosi's side, applauding her rebuttal. According to Breslauer, protesters were escorted out by the Secret Service. *(More likely they were local police or perhaps the sergeant at arms, as Igor, one of our readers, pointed out.) But it's also clear that the San Francisco Democrat, with a lifetime of public service, was upset.
As speaker of the House, the third-highest office -- first is the president, then vice president and then speaker -- I take my responsibilities deadly seriously. I try to promote bipartisanship but that's not what the other side wants.
With war protester Cindy Sheehan now on the ballot challenging Pelosi, these challenges are likely to continue. All of which prompts C2C to wonder where the line is between free speech and good manners.
But in pushing the book, Pelosi is likely to run into a gauntlet of outraged voters who want to know why she will not allow impeachment proceedings against President Bush.
The speaker kicked off her book tour on ABC's "The View." Asked by Joy Behar why she won't impeach Bush, Pelosi said:
If somebody had a crime that the president had committed, that would be a different story ... [You can't impeach] unless you have the goods that this president committed these crimes.
We suspect Pelosi's real argument against impeachment is that it would anger moderates whose votes are needed in November to keep Democrats in power, folks who might be annoyed that Congress is spending its time, money and energy on impeaching a president whose term is almost over instead of addressing core problems like gas prices, the war in Iraq and home foreclosures.
Still, a progressive blog called democrats.com is daring readers to intersect her while she's out on book tour.
Giving readers a list of the speaker's book tour appearances, democrats.com is urging "progressive" citizens and journalists to "pin her down" on why she thinks none of the 35 articles of impeachment offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) constitute a crime. In fact, democrats.com is holding a citizen journalism contest. The reward: up to $1,000. The task: get Pelosi to give "a direct and substantive answer to this question" and record it on video or audio tape for playback on democrats.com."
On the subject of Dennis Kucinich and the impeachment of President Bush, where do we start? For one, it's not going anywhere. So if that is your standard for extracurricular reading, stop here.
But, if you are curious why it's not going anywhere, read on. And definitely continue if you want to click ahead to find in one place just what the arguments are for impeachment--as presented by Kucinich and as summarized by Marie Cocco, in a concise, look at the 35 articles of impeachment introduced in Congress by the representative of a working-class district in Cleveland.
Cocco writes for the Washington Post Writers Group. She presents Kucinich--whose Democratic presidential campaign made him something of a Ron Paul of the left this year--as a gnat in the Democratic cloakroom. "His party leaders may well agree with in substance," Cocco writes, but...
James Gerstenzang and Johanna Neuman are reporters in The Times' Washington bureau. Between the two of them, they have covered the White House, diplomacy, military affairs, the environment, international economics, trade and Congress. They have both spent time in Crawford, Texas.
