I call for the House of Representatives to draft Articles of Impeachment against President Bush and Vice President Cheney. I do so because of their continuing actions which seek to subvert the notion of checks and balances within our federal government, undermining both the will and the authority of Congress and the federal judiciary. In doing so, their goal has been to superimpose the will of the executive in a monarchical fashion. What is more, knowing that this grab for power is both immoral and unconstitutional, it has largely been done in secret. The White House has time and again told both Congress and the American people that we have no right to know of their actions, actions that heretofore have been shown the light of day. The Founding Fathers knew that it is indeed transparency in government both to the people and to the other branches of government that will best keep our leaders from seizing powers not given to them by the Constitution, which is to say, by the people.
I include both the President and the Vice President in this call because they have moved in lock-step throughout the last seven years to bring about this Constitutional crisis. It has been shown time and again that Bush and Cheney work together on all matters and that the Vice President bears as much – and at times even more – responsibility for these events as does the President.
Specific charges can be filed against both men. These are for violation of federal law and, in some cases, of international treaties ratified by the Senate that thus carry the responsibility of American law under the Constitution. These violations include, but are not limited to:
1. Spying on American citizens in violation of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
2. Claiming the authority, and then acting on this claimed authority, to kidnap people, imprison them in foreign dungeons, and hold them indefinitely with no legal recourse or oversight.
3. Both sanctioning and utilizing torture as prohibited by the Geneva Convention as adopted by the United States.
Note that both numbers 2 and 3 above, in addition to being illegal under US law, also embolden foreign countries and political actors to behave in a similar fashion against citizens of the US.
The act of impeachment is needed not simply to hold the President and Vice President accountable for their actions against the country. Of much greater importance is that this action must be taken to safeguard our system of checks and balances before the next president takes office. President Bush has placed within his sphere of authority the greatest pool of powers that any president has ever had. These powers will be turned over to whoever is elected president in 2008. History has shown that presidents do not voluntarily diminish powers within their control. Congress has but this tiny window to take back what President Bush and Vice President Cheney have grabbed or the balance of power will be thrown out of kilter for decades to come, perhaps for good. This change in the balance will have disastrous consequences for the Republic and for the protection of our democratic ideals. As Josh Marshall at TPM put it:
…I think we are now moving into a situation where the White House, on various fronts, is openly ignoring the constitution, acting as though not just the law but the constitution itself, which is the fundamental law from which all the statutes gain their force and legitimacy, doesn't apply to them.
If that is allowed to continue, the defiance will congeal into precedent. And the whole structure of our system of government will be permanently changed.
This grab for power could not have been successful without the acquiescence of Congress. Since the events of September 11, 2001, Congress has rolled over for the President. It has handed over powers that rightly belong to the legislature. Why? It is the dominance of party politics that is the answer. Republicans were – and are – more interested in furthering party interests than in protecting not only the Congress, but the country. Now, ironically, Democrats will be loath to call for this impeachment precisely for the same reason. The party will fear a backlash prior to an election year and will again be timid, allowing Congress and the nation to be diminished.
It is in the face of this cowardice and grossly misplaced loyalty that we as citizens must call for this impeachment. Some will claim that impeachment of these men will create a Constitutional crisis, but it will not. Impeachment, as the Founding Fathers so wisely knew, is the tonic that will heal the crisis that is already in place. They have given us the tools. We must only find the courage to use them.
I am under no illusion that an act of this nature has no political consequences. The removal of the President and Vice President from office cannot help but send shock waves through Washington and the country at large. I am a close follower of American politics and I cannot say for sure what the impeachment and further conviction of these two men would mean for the balance of political power. I can, however, say that I honestly don’t care either way. As a registered Democrat, I would much rather see my country protected, with the balance of power restored between our branches of government AND a Republican win the presidency next year than for the status quo to be maintained going forward. The latter will only serve to hurt us all, both individually and as a country.
I will be writing my Member of Congress, as well as the Speaker of the House, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and the Minority Leader in the House, to call for the impeachment of the President and Vice President. I call on you to do the same. This is not an undertaking to be approached lightly. I urge you to inform yourselves on these matters and to weigh them against the standards that you have set for your nation. One place to begin this search for information would be an interview that Bill Moyers recently did with Bruce Fein and John Nichols. Moyers described these men as follows.
One of the fellows you're about to meet wrote the first article of impeachment against President Clinton. Bruce Fein did so because perjury is a legal crime. And Fein believed no one is above the law. A constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein served in the Justice Department during the Reagan administration and as general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission. Bruce Fein has been affiliated with conservative think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation and now writes a weekly column for THE WASHINGTON TIMES and Politico.com.
He's joined by John Nichols, the Washington correspondent for THE NATION and an associate editor of the CAPITOL TIMES. Among his many books is this most recent one, THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT: THE FOUNDERS' CURE FOR ROYALISM.
This is as interesting and as informed a back-and-forth as you will likely encounter on this subject. It involves individuals who are political quite different, but who have put their political differences aside on this issue. The discussions are Constitutional, political, social, and ultimately quite personal. The transcript can be found here and a video of the conversation can be found here. I guarantee that you won’t come away from this discussion without a better understanding of the issues that I’ve raised. [Additional biographical information on both men can be found here.]
You can find the contact information for your Congressman or Congresswoman here. Contact information for the Speaker of the House includes the following:
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
United States House of Representatives
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515-0508
202-225-4965 (DC Phone)
202-225-4188 (DC Fax)
sf.nancy@mail.house.gov (DC E-mail)
Contact information for the Judiciary Committee Chairman includes the following:
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington DC 20515
202-225-5126 (DC Phone)
202-225-0072 (DC Fax)
John.Conyers@mail.house.gov (DC e-mail)
Contact information for the House Minority Leader includes the following:
The Honorable John Boehner
1011 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington DC 20515
202-225-6205 (DC Phone)
202-225-0704 (DC Fax)
No listed e-mail address.
I call for an additional step on your part of spreading the demand for the impeachment of the President and Vice President. In this matter, I believe that the people as a whole are out in front of our Congressional “leaders.” This will take a grassroots effort. I hope to recruit as many people to this cause as possible and should those efforts go through you, so much the better.
Dear Representative XXX:If you have followed this blog, you may be wondering why it has taken me so long to make this call. My conviction that both the President and the Vice President have committed grievances that are worthy of impeachment has indeed been long held. I have been looking for my voice on the matter, let us say, and now it has been found. I harbor no illusions that even should the House find the moral fortitude to impeach these men that the Senate would have the wisdom to convict them. Still, this is a windmill at which it is certainly worth tilting. Please now take up your lances and have at it.
I call on you today as a citizen concerned by the actions of my government, specifically those under the direction of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Their actions seek to subvert the notion of checks and balances within our federal government, undermining both the will and the authority of Congress and the federal judiciary. In doing so, their goal has been to superimpose the will of the executive branch in a monarchical fashion. The White House has time and again told both Congress and the American people that we have no right to know of their actions, actions that heretofore have been shown the light of day. The Founding Fathers knew that it is indeed transparency in government both to the people and to the other branches of government that will best keep our leaders from seizing powers not given to them by the Constitution, which is to say, by the people.
I, therefore, call for the House of Representatives to draft Articles of Impeachment against President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Specific charges can be filed against both men. These violations include, but are not limited to: (1) Spying on American citizens in violation of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; (2) Claiming the authority, and then acting on this claimed authority, to kidnap people, imprison them in foreign dungeons, and hold them indefinitely with no legal recourse or oversight; and (3) Both sanctioning and utilizing torture as prohibited by the Geneva Convention as adopted by the United States.
The act of impeachment is needed not simply to hold the President and Vice President accountable for their actions against the country. Of much greater importance is that this action must be taken to safeguard our system of checks and balances before the next president takes office. President Bush has placed within his sphere of authority the greatest array of powers that any president has ever had. These powers will be turned over to whoever is elected president in 2008. History has shown that presidents do not voluntarily diminish powers within their control. Congress has but this tiny window to take back what President Bush and Vice President Cheney have grabbed or the balance of power will be thrown out of kilter for decades to come, perhaps for good. This change in the balance will have disastrous consequences for the Republic and for the protection of our democratic ideals.
Some will claim that impeachment of these men will create a Constitutional crisis, but it will not. Impeachment, as the Founding Fathers so wisely knew, is the tonic that will heal the crisis that is already in place. They have given us the tools. We must only find the courage to use them. I urge you to do so.
Respectfully yours,
John Q. Public
555 Main Street
Anytown TX 55555
cc....Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
........Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Judiciary Committee Chairman
........Rep. John Boehner, House Minority Leader
Postscript: Last month, I called for the impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for his crimes against the Constitution and the nation. I still stand by this. You can find that call to action posted on 10 July 2007 and titled “Impeach AG Alberto Gonzales.” Since that writing, additional evidence against Gonzales has come to light, much of which I have cataloged in this blog. I will continue to do so. The impeachment of Gonzales would stand alone and indeed, I believe that it, too, is necessary for a full defense of the Constitution and of our liberties. If you have not yet contacted your Congressperson regarding the impeachment of Gonzales, please do so. Contacting the Speaker of the House, as well as the other House leaders noted above, in this matter would be most welcome as well. Even if you have already done so, reiterating your convictions on this matter can only help. I will send out my call for these impeachments every month from now until either that call is answered or these men leave office by another avenue. Please join me.
1 August 2007
Postscript Two, 4 September 2007: On 27 August 2007, Alberto Gonzales announced that he was resigning his position as Attorney General of the United States. While I certainly hope that the criminal investigations of Gonzales both in Congress and elsewhere will continue, calls for his impeachment are no longer needed. I thank those of you who took up my challenge to call for his impeachment in the hope that justice would be done.
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