Impeachment is off the table - facing reality

     “Impeachment is off the table” has been the operative phrase of the congressional leadership since their rise to power in 2006. Nancy Pelosi has been firm about this policy and has clearly bullied John Conyers into accepting this policy. 

     Conyers, who wrote voluminously on the justifications and legal possibilities for impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney before he had the actual power to bring articles of impeachment, has maintained that it is more important to elect a Democrat to the presidency than to bring this administration to justice. Now, we must face the reality that there will be no impeachment proceedings for The Bush/Cheney war criminals and domestic rogues. Their political crimes will be converted into policies that a new President, Democrat or Republican, will continue. The Iraq War and occupation, rendition, Guantanamo, secret CIA prisons, domestic spying, an imperial President, have been institutionalized. Indeed, all the candidates running seem to be eager to pick up the Bush/Cheney mantle and carry it forward. None speak of accountability. 

     I have heard people seriously propose that the reason Conyers did not pursue impeachment proceedings was that he feared for his life. I prefer to think that he did not want to lose his position, that he is a Good Democrat ready to follow orders, or that there are skeletons that he did not want brought out of some closet. 

     Our Republic is rotten to the core, and the failure of the Democrats to reach for justice is indicative of the rot. It will be up to the citizenry, finally, to seek justice through the creation of new political parties that will provide true representation. This will not, in my opinion, be the Green Party, which has been elitist, anti-democratic, and politically nebulous since the Nader campaign of 2000. I do not see the rise of a new political force right now. 

     I urge all you Democrats and Greens to start to demand the same justice and integrity of your party that you apply to your own beliefs – at that point, you will leave the party, and begin to participate in a true democratic fashion with a new political organization. It will take much energy, but that is what democracy entails. It is a form of government that must recreate itself in generational terms in order to maintain any integrity and vitality. – Joe DeRaymond

 LIMITS  

    “How long will you abuse our patience? How long will your madness mock us? To what limit will your unbridled audacity vaunt itself?” 

     While these questions were asked over 2000 years ago in the Roman Senate, by Cicero who directed them to Catiline, they might well have been asked by any member of the U. S. House or Senate today, of the brainless incompetent occupying the Oval Office. They might have been, but it would take a spinal column and “nemo dat quod non habet.” And Catiline’s conspiracy compared to the virulent, malignant tumor on the body politic that is the Bush junta, was minor league. On Memorial Day the “Decider” for this confederacy of dunces had this to say at Arlington National Cemetery: “Now this hallowed ground receives a new generation of heroes… I hope you find comfort in knowing that your loved ones rest in a place even more peaceful than the fields that surround us here.” Hal Crowther, writing in The Progressive Populist (July 1/15) commented: “It was as if a wolf had returned to the sheepfold disguised in a clerical collar, to say a few words over the slaughtered lambs whose blood was still glistening on his whiskers…Americans are an optimistic and amnesiac people who give their politicians and celebrities a dozen chances…but what this smirking fool has done to his country will never be forgotten or forgiven.” 

     Space does not permit detailing and repeating the many crimes for which the Nuremberg Tribunal would hang Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Wolfowitz, Rove, Perle, etc.. They have already been documented a thousand times by even the most groveling of news media. What I would like to do is go back to Cicero’s third question and ask, are there no limits beyond which our invertebrate Congressmen and Senators, from Charlie Dent to Nancy Pelosi to Harry Reid will take a stand? The destruction of Iraq, Afghanistan, New Orleans, the killing of 2 million civilians, the displacing of millions more, the plundering of the U. S. treasury for Halliburton, Exxon-Mobil, Lockheed-Martin, Blackwater, etc.. Where, when , how and by whom will it be stopped? Scripture scholars, those who pour over ancient biblical texts and try to decipher their meaning have a rule which they call the first law of exegesis: absent compelling reasons to the contrary, the words mean what they say. If constitutional scholars and judges had such a rule for a much younger document (our Constitution) , Article VI Sec. 2 would suffice for impeachment of the Bush thugs for war crimes. In plain words written by men who could handle compound sentences: “This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treatie made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”

     The Nuremberg trials established that all persons regardless of their station or occupation in life can be held individually accountable for their behavior during times of war. Defendants cannot insulate themselves from personal responsibility by blaming the country, government or military branch for which they committed the particular war crime. Subordinates in the military or government are now bound by their obligation under international law, obligations that transcend their duty to obey an order issued by a superior. Orders to initiate aggressive (as opposed to defensive) warfare, to violate recognized rules and customs of warfare, or to persecute civilians and prisoners are considered illegal under the Nuremberg Principles. 

     On January 17, 2006, 9 citizens of the U. S.A. and the Lehigh Valley went to Charlie Dent’s Bethlehem office to petition their U. S. Representative for a redress of grievance in accordance with their First Amendment rights. The grievance was that they were being forced into complicity in the war crime going on in Iraq, forced to pay for it and forced to be complicit in it if they remained silent. Specifically, they wanted to urge him to sign on to the Murtha amendment which would remove U.S. troops from Iraq. Not only did he refuse to speak with them, but he had the Bethlehem Police arrest them for “defiant trespass.” At present, the case is under appeal in Pennsylvania Superior Court. Thus far, none of the judges (all of whom were either former D.A.s or cops) seem to understand Article VI, Sec. 2 of the highest law in the land. Nor do they seem aware that the Bush junta has made the U. S. a rogue nation. It recognizes no limits but its own military power and force. 

     Albert Camus, writing in “Helen’s Exile” (1948) said, “Greek thought was always based on limits. Nothing was carried to extremes, neither religion nor reason, because Greek thought denied nothing, neither reason nor religion. It gave everything its share, balancing light with shade. But the (Europe) we know, eager for the conquest of totality, is the daughter of excess. We deny beauty, as we deny everything we do not extol. And…we extol one thing and one thing alone: a future world in which reason will reign supreme. In our madness we push back the Eternal limits, and at once dark furies swoop down upon us to destroy. 

     Nemesis, the Goddess of moderation, not of vengeance, is watching. She chastises ruthlessly all those who go beyond the limit.” As Lenny Bruce used to say, “We’re gonna pay a lotta dues.” Bernard J. Berg 45 N. 8th St. Easton, Pa. 18042 4 JUL 07 email: bberg@entermail.net - This article was published in the July 12 edition of the Easton News.

Allentown Armory Activists to Hold 

Impeach-nic 

While Congress continues to avoid this necessary constitutional mechanism to hold Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney and their Cabinet accountable, the Armory Activists continue to reach out for justice.  JULY 14, from 11 AM to 7PM at South Mountain Reservoir you are invited for a Potluck and donated food.   Grills are available.  There will be literature, sign and banner making workshops, live music, and an opportunity to discuss your views and have a good time.  For more information, contact the Allentown Armory Activists at www.allentownarmoryactivists@yahoo.com or check out their website here.

Impeach Bush - he's a dangerous President 

     Reps fiddle - Soldiers and Civilians Die 

     While Senators Obama, Clinton, Bide, Dodd, McCain and Brownback fiddle at their fundraisers, and pursue their campaigns for Presidency, the people of the United States must live with an incompetent, warmaking President who is spending the blood and lives of our nation in an illegal war and occupation in Iraq.  Similarly, the House of Representatives has been reluctant to seek accountability for the crimes of Bush, specifically, the illegal detentions at Guantanamo, the illegal wiretapping of US citizens, the illegal rendition of suspects without trial or recourse, the policies of torture pursued at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in the new gulag constructed by this administration outside the bounds of either domestic or international law.

     Here in the 15th Congressional District, Representative Charles Dent stated he opposes the troop surge, yet he voted against the resolution that opposed the troop surge.  He needs to hear from voters, from citizens, that not only is opposition to the surge necessary, but that hearings on the Bush crimes be initiated immediately.   

      We do not have two years to wait to change the policies of this bankrupt administration.  Act now, join with others to bring justice back to our government.  Congress needs to be told the people want an end to this war and occupation now.

      The crisis we must confront is political, constitutional.  The Imperial Presidency established by Cheney and Bush that has codified torture, illegal war, endless occupation, rendition, wiretapping, Guantanamo, and domestic neglect can be balanced through the constitutional mechanism of impeachment.  Clinton was impeached for lying about his sex life with Monica - what has held back the Congress before a President who has lied to lead us into a war?

      It is never too late for people to take control of their government, re-establish the Republic.  But it is also never easy.  It is past time to take ownership of our lives, to become once again a free nation, for and by the people.  Do it!        -Joe DeRaymond

More Impeachment News

      The conviction of "Scooter" Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice charges leads directly to Vice President Dick Cheney and President George Bush.  It is evident that Cheney and Bush were complicit in an attempt to cover up the fact that they lied to the United States people to justify the invasion of Iraq.  Now, they continue to lie as they seek to pursue a war that is so punishing to both the US and Iraq.  On March 17, may anti-war people and groups will march on the Pentagon to demand an end to the Iraq War and the Impeachment of Bush and Cheney.  

      The coalition of organizations that have united in the Impeachment effort is called Impeach07. The members of Impeach07 are: - After Downing Street - Backbone Campaign - Center for Constitutional Rights - Citizens Impeachment Commission - CODE PINK Women for Peace - Constitution Summer - Consumers for Peace - Democrats.com - Democracy Rising - Gold Star Families for Peace - Green Party of the United States - Hip Hop Caucus - Impeach the President - ImpeachBush.org - Military Free Zone - National Lawyers Guild - Patriotic Response to Renegade Govt - Progressive Democrats of America - Independent Progressive Politics Network - Velvet Revolution - World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime.

        For more information on this ongoing campaign, check out ImpeachBush.org.  -Joe DeRaymond