Chuck Hagel, a United States Senator from Nebraska, is fed up with George W. Bush’s constant failures and stubborn refusal to follow the law. That’s why, in the April issue of Esquire magazine, Senator Hagel is dropping the I Bomb – impeachment. Hagel told the magazine,
“Any president who says, I don’t care, or I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else, or I don’t care what the Congress does, I am going to proceed — if a president really believes that, then there are — what I was pointing out, there are ways to deal with that… You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don’t know. It depends on how this goes.”
Understand that Senator Hagel is not promising to support impeachment yet. However, the second most powerful Republican in the United States Senate is warning the President of the United States that he could well join the popular push to impeach Bush soon in the future, if Bush continues to refuse to comply with the constitutional system of checks and balances, and attempts to thwart the power of Congress in our system of federal government.
Last week, the idea of a local resolution in support of the impeachment of President George W. Bush was introduced at a meeting at which village residents listened to three candidates who are running for election to the Trumansburg Board of Trustees. A few days later, Allen Carstensen issued a draft resolution in favor of impeachment on a Trumansburg blog.
The impeachment resolution Mr. Carstensen suggested is reproduced below. If it passes, Trumansburg, a small village in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, would become one in a growing number of local communities making formal statements in favor of impeachment.
Will the state legislatures listen? Will the Democrats in Congress listen? Stay tuned.
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Village of Trumansburg
Resolution to Impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney
WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired with others to defraud the United States of America by intentionally misleading Congress and the public regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush has admitted to ordering the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the “Federal Torture Act†Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Convention, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of the “supreme Law of the Landâ€; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney acted to strip American citizens of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention without access to legal counsel, without charge and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a U.S. citizen as an “enemy combatantâ€, all in subversion of law; and
WHEREAS, In all of this George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of Trumansburg and of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, Petitions from the country at large may be presented by the Speaker of the House according to Clause 3 of House Rule XII;
Be it resolved that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States;
Be it resolved further by the Village of Trumansburg , That our senators and representatives in the United States Congress be, and they are hereby, requested to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of the George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from such office.
Be it resolved further, That the Clerk of the Village of Trumansburg be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, under the seal of the Village of Trumansburg, a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the Village of Trumansburg, as a petition, and request that this petition be delivered to the Office of the Clerk and entered in the United States Congressional Journal. The copies shall be marked with the word “Petition†at the top of the document and contain the original authorizing signature of the Village Clerk.
Be it resolved further, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the our New York State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, and that we hereby request that she initiate a similar resolution in the New York State Assembly.
Someone under the name freesouljah has come up with a collective project on YouTube to gather reasons to Impeach Bush. How to participate: Produce a short video message saying why you think George W. Bush should be impeached. There are already many responses. Add yours.
Across America, communities small and large are observing the inaction of the Democratic Congress on the serious crimes of the Bush White House. Although the Bush Administration has broken American law, international law, and purposefully violated the Constitution in a consistent campaign to undermine the foundations of democracy in the United States, the Democrats in Congress seem afraid to rock the boat.
So, local governments are taking matters into their own hands, passing impeachment resolutions that urge state legislations to take the measures necessary to bring a petition for impeachment to the House of Representatives, where, by law, it must be considered. All across America, municipal governments are passing these pro-impeachment resolutions, and even more are considering such resolutions.
Residents of the village of Trumansburg, New York, for example, have begun a discussion about whether the Village Board of Trustees should pass an impeachment resolution.
Some people say that villages, towns and cities have no role in discussions of the impeachment of the President of the United States. I think, on the contrary, that local governments are a great place for such discussions to take place. If people in local communities want to make statements about federal policies, it’s their right to do so. At the federal level, individuals don’t have the chance to be heard very often. At the local level, however, individual citizens can make a big impact.
When our liberty and safety have been threatened by criminal acts by the President of the United States, it makes sense for us to take local actions that, when combined with the local actions of other communities, can give us a chance for the restoration of the rule of law.
That Crazy Kid over at BraveJournal reports on a protest by hundreds in Northampton, Massachusetts in favor of impeachment of George W. Bush. Still, don’t make the mistake of thinking that support for the movement to impeach Bush is restricted to New England.
Impeach for Peace reports a similar protest in Northwestern Arkansas. The event was affiliated with the Omni Center, again, native to Arkansas.
The desire for impeachment is national. The desire for impeachment is broad. The desire to impeach Bush is deep.
Think back a few months now, to the time when the 2006 congressional elections were really hot. There were some pretty unscrupulous Democrats running for Congress, like Michael Arcuri of Upstate New York, who announced that he thought the Military Commissions Act was a great idea. There was Stephanie Herseth, who never saw a Bush Republican policy she didn’t like. Yet, we were told to hold our noses and vote for these stinker Democrats anyway, because of what it would mean to have a Democratic majority in control of Congress.
“Just think!” they told us. “John Conyers, as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, will have the power to subpoena officials from the Bush Administration! Do you know what that means?“
What we were led to believe is that John Conyers would subpoena members of the Bush Administration, and then their crimes would be revealed in full detail, and then Bush and Cheney would either have to resign or be impeached.
Well, the Democratic Congress has been in power for two months now. John Conyers has been head of the House Judiciary Committee for two months. Where are all the subpoenas we were promised?
John Conyers has issued one set of subpoenas – but not to Bush Administration officials. John Conyers issued subpoenas to people that the Bush Administration fired for political reasons. Conyers subpoenaed enemies of the Bush Administration – people who probably would have been happy to testify in front of Congress anyway.
John Conyers has not issued a single subpoena of a Bush Administration official, and doesn’t appear to have any plans to do so.
So much for the Democratic majority in Congress. We go scammed.
