Why work for impeachment? by Carol Wolman

Why work for impeachment? by Carol Wolman

There are so many things demanding our political attention these days- proliferation of nuclear weapons, weapons in space, the ongoing horror of Iraq, famines, hurricanes,- it's hard to know where to put our time, money and energy.

This picture can be greatly simplified by the realization that most of the mischief is coming from the White House- high military budget and ongoing war to benefit the corporados.  Meanwhile, attention to urgent global problems, such as global warming and the spread of radioactive dust, is diverted and even suppressed.  Bush's new ambassador to the UN is doing his best to wreck that body's ability to function.

Bush pretends to be godly and to be spreading freedom and democracy, when really he is spreading death, imprisonment and torture, and the "privatization" of wealth- eg away from the people into the pockets of the oligarchy.  Bush needs war because it generates profits for his corporate friends.

Psalm 52

   ¹Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.

 

 

Bush, under the tutelage of Karl Rove, is a master of lies and smears.  It is impossible to have a normal political debate about issues with people like this, and ridiculous to try.  One doesn't argue with criminals, one brings charges against them and makes them defend themselves in court.  When the criminals hold high office, this process is called impeachment.

 

   ³Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

 

 

 

We in the US have been blessed with a Constitution that vests ultimate authority in "we the people".  Although Bush has done his best to gut the Constitution and go around it, it remains the law of the land.  The Constitution is specifically designed to limit the power of the executive branch, designed by people who had just successfully revolted against a king.  When the president gathers too much power, as Bush has done, the Constitution provides an avenue of redress, via the process of impeachment by the people's elected representatives in the House. 

 

Impeachment was used against Clinton on the basis of a private misstep that in no way constituted a high crime or misdemeanor.  Clinton was no saint, but his impeachment was unwarranted, just another dirty trick of the Republicans.  Because of this recent precedent, impeachment is seen by many as a political device, used by the party with more power against the weaker.  Since the Republicans are by far the stronger party, seeking impeachment now seems quixotic, hopeless, a waste of time.

 

This is unduly pessimistic.  Impeachment is meant to be the ultimate recourse of the people when faced by a tyrant.  People are starting to see Bush that way.   His polls are way down, not only in general but on questions about his character and competence.  It is true that the current Congress would never impeach Bush, but there is an election in a little over a year, and if impeachment is the central issue, the people will sweep this Congress out of office.  No other issue will do it.

 

   ⁵God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

 

 

This is not a partisan issue.  The Democratic party is against impeachment, oddly enough, until one realizes that we truly are dealing with a one party system.  The basic issue is honesty, integrity, service to the people, vs corruption, hypocrisy and corporate ripoffs.  All people of common sense and good will, who care about the future, about the survival of life on the planet, need to unite to get rid of the warmongers who are destroying our chances.  Impeachment is peaceful, legal and practical.

 

   ⁶The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him.

 

 

Bush is smug, even with the polls way down, his war going badly, and his administration under investigation by Fitzgerald and the grand jury.  Dubya has been bailed out of one scrape after another by his money and his wealthy friends, and always ended up richer and more powerful.  He expects the same thing to happen again.

 

   ⁷Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

 

 

This time can be different.  It will take courage, determination, a clearminded, one-pointed focus on truth and justice.  We can do it.

 

In the name of the Prince of Peace, Carol Wolman

 

 

 

Fw: Tom Cahill: 'Beyond Treason'

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Cahill" <tcahill@mcn.org>
To: <Recipient list suppressed>
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 1:18 PM
Subject: Tom Cahill: 'Beyond Treason'

> "Beyond Treason"
>
> By Tom Cahill
>
> August 30, 2005
>
>
>
> America's ship-of-state is sinking, torpedoed by the totally fraudulent
and
> murderous war in Iraq.
>
> And a second torpedo is about to strike the foundering vessel. When the
> full impact of the use of uranium munitions in Iraq reaches the American
> public, this could finish off the US government, Democrats as well as
> Republicans. With such loss of Washington's credibility, what could
> follow is an economic collapse that could make the Great Depression of
> the 1930s seem like a mere, temporary "market adjustment."
>
> If Cindy Sheehan has an "accident" or is "suicided," it's too late for
> Washington's demise. She has already awakened enough of the American
> public and given them a transfusion of enough courage to think and speak
> out louder and more clearly about the outrage that is the war on Iraq.
>
> The second "torpedo" running straight and true at the ship-of-state may be
> a film produced by the American Gulf War Veterans Association
> (www.GulfWarVets.com) titled "Beyond Treason." It is a powerful expose of
> the absolute criminal insanity of the United States military/industrial
> complex--not just during the Bush regime but going all the way back to the
> Truman Administration. The film is an example of the highest and best use
> of communications technology and is also a tremendous blow to the
> credibility of the corporate media which has forever been the Ministry of
> Propaganda for the US government.
>
> I made the mistake of watching "Beyond Treason" early yesterday
> morning. As a military veteran, a father and a grandfather, I was so
> appalled by the horrors depicted in "Beyond Treason," that I was deeply
> depressed the rest of day and went to bed with a sense of dread and
> hopelessness. But as an activist for more than four decades, I've had to
> become resilient. And having been already acquainted with much of the
> information presented in the film, I awoke this morning in a fury of
> righteous indignation. For years I have felt thoroughly betrayed by the
US
> government. Now I'm so enraged, I feel like an enemy alien in my own
country.
>
> What affected me most in "Beyond Treason" is the way the information was
so
> skillfully presented and--most of all--the color stills of horribly
> deformed babies born to American veterans of Desert Storm 1991. They are
> all victims of so-called "depleted" uranium, an obscene term coined by
some
> spin doctor deep in the putrid bowels of the Pentagon.
>
> While in Iraq as a human shield during the US-led invasion in 2003, I
> visited hospitals in Baghdad and Basra and saw children dying before my
> eyes. Hospital staff wouldn't let us see the worst deformed children but
> showed us photos. Those images of Iraqi babies now reinforced by the
> photos presented in "Beyond Treason" of American infants will remain with
> me the rest of my life.
>
> If you have read this far and are still not moved to action, you need to
> see some stats and facts.
>
> * Desert Storm 1991 lasted little over four days and less than 150
> Americans were killed in action. It was touted by the Pentagon as the
> "greatest military victory in US history."
>
> * Since 1991, between ten thousand (10,000) and fifteen thousand (15,000)
> American veterans of that battle have died from the "depleted" uranium
used
> to harden the steel in US munitions and armor.
>
> * Almost a half million (425,000) Desert Storm 1991 vets are chronically
> ill and dying from what US Army doctors call a "mystery disease" or "Gulf
> War Syndrome" which in reality is sickness primarily from radiation.
>
> * More than two hundred thousand (209,100) Desert Storm 1991 veterans of
> the above listed half million are already receiving disability benefits
> from the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is one of the hidden costs
of
> the war covered up by the Department of Defense. Already the Iraq War is
> the fourth most financially costly (in 2005 dollars) conflict in US
> history, more expensive than WW I.
>
> * The tons of uranium waste from US nuclear power plants used in uranium
> munitions and armor, still being used in Iraq is the equivalent of almost
> a half million (400,000) atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, according
> to Leuren Moret, a scientist and leading whistleblower on uranium
munitions.
>
> * Sandstorms are blowing the fine uranium dust all over the Mid East
> including Israel. If it gets into the jet stream, why couldn't it spread
> all over the world like after Chernobyl blew up in 1986?
>
> * I was in Iraq only six weeks and tested positive for radiation when I
> returned home. Imagine what the American soldiers in Iraq for six months
> and longer will have to deal with. In the near future casualties of Gulf
> War 2003 and the occupation could dwarf those of Desert Storm and could be
> a third torpedo if the second one doesn't finally sink the country.
>
> Who's responsible for this insanity? It's not just George Bush
> and his close cohorts who should be indicted by some court they don't
> already own or intimidate.
>
> Dwight Eisenhower, former commanding general of US Army Forces in Europe
in
> WW II, in his farewell address as president of the USA in January 1961,
> warned of the threat of the "military/industrial complex." He even coined
> the term, a euphemism for fascism which in turn is a coalition of high
> ranking government officials, top military officers and CEOs of big
> corporations.
>
> Pres. John Kennedy took Pres. Eisenhower's warning seriously, and was
> assassinated, many of us believe, because JFK tried to control and
downsize
> the "complex" which includes the vast US intelligence community of which
> the CIA and FBI are only mid-sized agencies.
>
> For decades rubber stamp for "the complex" has been the US Senate
> Committee on Armed Services? Among the illustrious Republican senators
are
> John McCain of Arizona and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina. Among the
> Democrats are those star "liberals" (as the far Right calls them) Edward
> Kennedy of Massachusetts and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
>
> It was Sen. Clinton--already campaigning for president 2008--who just a
> month ago suggested the US should send 100,000 more troops to Iraq. This
> was of course shortly before Cindy Sheehan cornered the master of the
> universe like a rat in his own home in Crawford, Texas. I couldn't find
an
> e-mail address on the web site of the Senate Armed Service Committee, but
> here is the committee's postal address:
>
> U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services
> 228 Russell Senate Office Building
> Washington, DC, 20510
>
> Please don't let me be the only one to drop the Senators a fan
> letter. If you've seen "Beyond Treason" and trust it's sources, demand
> don't request that the senators see the film too. After all, aren't they
> servants of the people?
>
> Every American should be forced to see "Beyond Treason" as German
civilians
> were forced by order of then Gen. Eisenhower to visit the Nazi death
camps
> immediately after liberation in 1945. Justice would be further served if
> the Americans responsible for the use of uranium munitions were tried for
> war crimes in Nurenberg, Germany. This should include former
> commanders-in-chief George H. W. Bush and William Clinton.
>
>
> The essayist served in US Air Force intelligence in Germany in the
> Fifties. He has been an activist for peace, justice and the environment
> all his adult life. A few months after returning from Iraq in 2003, he
> witnessed (along with Sen. Kennedy and others) Pres. Bush sign into law
the
> Prison Rape Elimination Act. Memos from his FBI files indicate it may
have
> been COINTELPRO that set him up to be beaten, gang-raped and otherwise
> tortured while jailed for civil disobedience because of his "anti-Vietnam
> (war) activities." Recently he was nominated for the Agape Foundation
> Peace Prize for 2005.
>
>
>