Impeachment a duty, not a ploy

[babylonsister]

Impeachment a duty, not a ploy
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2007-10-08 21:20. Impeachment

The president and vice president should be investigated to show that the law covers everyone.
By Mark Lawrence, Portland (Maine) Press Herald

Mark Lawrence is the York County district attorney and is a candidate in the Democratic primary race to run for Congress in the 1st District.



When I was elected district attorney for York County, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. This is not just the first act that all elected officials take, it is the most important act.

It is the acknowledgement that our nation is based on principles, not simply the whim of certain people. It is a pledge that each politician will put the fundamental rights of the people above allegiance to any political party, partisan agenda or personal ambition.

George Bush and Dick Cheney took that same oath when they entered their offices.

Yet there is substantial information that the Bush administration has acted far beyond the scope of powers allowed it, and in doing so, undermined the fundamental rights granted to Americans under our Constitution.

There is a currently a debate about whether it is the best political strategy for Democrats, who as the majority party in Congress control the rules, to commence an impeachment investigation of the president and the vice president.

But this should never be the question.

The true question, the only question, must be whether it is the duty of members of Congress pursuant to their oaths of office to protect the public from alleged encroachments on their constitutional rights by commencing the process to determine the validity of the allegations.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/27536

[Hydra]

1. Rule of law is dead here in America

I'd dearly like to see it return sometime in the near future- I feel naked without it!

[Swamp Rat]

2. Wrap yourself in the tattered Constitution.

It's all we have left.

[Hydra]

3. What constitution?

I don't like Hamilton's portions- without the bill of rights, we may as well be back in ancient Rome.

Oh, wait- Our Furless Leader has been "interpreting" the Constitution in it's entirety.

"The Constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper!"

[Swamp Rat]

11. good point

[Patchuli]

12. "I never thought I'd miss Nixon"

to quote some unknown clever wit...

[Hydra]

17. hahaha!

I was just thinking of Nixon's other famous quote: "It's not illegal when the president does it"

Good work a usual, swamp!

[Swamp Rat]

20. Thanks, I just finished the Bushler/Nixon pic.

:hi:

[Hydra]

21. Your logo is so apt as well

Reminds me of China's flag...which reminds me of a great thing I asked a freeper one day, and made his brain explode:

"Since when is China our friend? Didn't we have a problem with them being anti-democracy?"

[mmonk]

4. The constitution was for our parents, not our children.

[babylonsister]

5. The defeatist tone here really sucks. I 'get it', we're all disgusted

with our supposed Dem 'liberators', but that's it? Now it's time to just roll over and give up?

And I wish I had an answer, but I can't bear the thought of that revered piece of paper being just a memory. :-(

[mmonk]

6. I'll never give up.

As long as it takes or as long as I can fight, I will.

[Hydra]

7. Face it, Babylon

We're already past the point of this being an issue. We're now at the issue of "We don't have a legitimate government anymore...now what?"

Many people are scared of even thinking about that, and living in the land of denial...but that doesn't fix the problem.

[babylonsister]

8. No, I won't 'face it'. I have to hope there's a brighter future out there

for all of us.

[fooj]

10. Way to go, sister! NGU!! Ever.

:patriot:

[Hydra]

14. There is

if we deal with the problem as it is, rather than as we want it.

Pelosi has folded, which mean she's either been threatened with anthrax or imprisonment of herself or her family, or she's in on it.

Given that fact, it's up to us...

[Greyhound]

27. "In this pocket I have a contract that will make you very rich, in this pocket I

have a gun, which pocket will you choose?"

OTOH, she chose to play the game.

[Hydra]

32. sign your soul on the dotted line

makes more sense than cowardice or stupidity. I can't blame her- but it needs to be dealt with.

[Golden Raisin]

9. Oh come on. We don't have the votes!

You can't count! It will fail! You're not being realistic! You're being stupid and naive! You don't know basic Civics! It'll make the Democrats look bad and vindictive. :sarcasm:

That chorus will start any minute now. I frankly don't care if it fails. The effort/attempt is what is required even if it fails miserably. Someone has to stand up and be counted. I don't want future generations and historians to look back on us like we look back on the Germans who saw exactly what was happening as the Nazis came to power and did NOTHING. These bastards have pissed on the Constitution and Democracy and then laughed and sneered about it. I strongly suspect that the Founding Fathers are turning in their graves.

[lonestarnot]

16. Yeah we don't "got" nutt'n!

[EstimatedProphet]

28. If we can never have the votes...

If there is no way we can make an impeachment happen...

If in attempting to make an impeachment happen, we guarantee Republicans a win so that they can extend the war even longer...

If we try and force impeachment, and in doing so ruin any chance for any progressive policies for another generation...

Then how is doing it anyway better than waiting a little over a year and taking charge, and being sure to get what we want at that time?

[Richardo]

29. .

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088178/

[EstimatedProphet]

30. Oh. Me sorry. Me sensicality makeums.

Me nothing sensicality to make be more now.

[Richardo]

31. That's the spirit

:patriot:

[Greyhound]

13. Reading through the replies it seems we are all still just dancing around the issue.

Our country is just no longer ours. Whether the coup took place in December of 2000 or much earlier is irrelevant, the fact remains that we are not in control of our government. We the People have no representation.

The few that we send to DC that try to do that job are locked out as the majority have been their long enough to have set up their own fiefdoms and completely control what is even allowed to be talked about. If the good ones want to stay and play, they have to play by the ruler's rules and rule number one is the rulers will always rule.

That's why it is largely irrelevant which of the parties is in charge at any given moment. We the People only have two purposes anymore, to fund whatever the rulers want to do and to give them a veneer of legitimacy.

There is only one answer to this problem. It has been played out time and again through history and until we are willing to make the sacrifice to restore our rightful place as masters of our own destinies, nothing will change.

[lonestarnot]

15. Sadly you are so fucking right! NOTHING LEFT! NOTHING!

[Hydra]

19. I agree with that

Read post 7 :evilgrin:

[Senator]

18. The Duty Is To Object

In the name of the American People. To that which they have not given their proper consent.

To let the chips fall where they may.

For those of us who are not currently violating an oath to do that, we must keep objecting to their failure to impeach. To do so as often and as loudly as we can. Until we provoke a response.

Any defeatism, or resignation, is just another form of enabling. As is becoming distracted by less important things.

It's time to stop being "Anti-War" and start being "Pro-Impeachment."

And no, you can't ride two horses with the same behind.

---

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Where is the outrage?

Why aren't people just screaming for the ouster of these bastards?

[babylonsister]

24. We can't find them? They disappeared again??

:hide: I can be mad as hell, but there's no one influential to tell that to, and no one who will listen even when they're there. :(

OT :hi:

[eric1]

23. Where's the Congressional leadership?

Who's putting the brakes on Conyers?-- that's what I'd like to know.

[lonestarnot]

25. I have my fucking Constitution, carry it with me every place I go, but it means nothing!

[Kurovski]

26. K&R. (nt)