Gotta hand it to Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The man’s got no quit in him. Yesterday he spent over four hours on the floor of the US House of Representatives calling for the impeachment and removal from office of George W. Bush.
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the
following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in
the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its
impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.
Summary of all 35 counts follows (link to PDF of full resolution with details)
Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle ArmorArticle X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political PurposesArticle XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in IraqArticle XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural ResourcesArticle XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other CountriesArticle XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence AgencyArticle XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in IraqArticle XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US ContractorsArticle XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign CaptivesArticle XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official PolicyArticle XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice TortureArticle XX
Imprisoning ChildrenArticle XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian GovernmentArticle XXII
Creating Secret LawsArticle XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus ActArticle XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth AmendmentArticle XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American CitizensArticle XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing StatementsArticle XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to ComplyArticle XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of JusticeArticle XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy MedicareArticle XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil EmergencyArticle XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate ChangeArticle XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders
I presume that the House leadership will send this off to the judiciary committee, where it will die from neglect. Nevermind that they have a constitutional obligation, nevermind that the evidence is overwhelming, nevermind that failing to punish the misbehavior of this president will only embolden future presidents; impeachment backfired when applied to Bill Clinton, so the Democrats collectively don’t dare to act.
Congress is a bunch of jerks.
If they really intended to use checks and balances to impeach Bush, they would have done it a long time ago. All they’re doing now is going “on the books” so history can’t point a big ass finger at them and say they didn’t do anything.
Ah, but what’s on the books now is that the House of Representatives sent the articles of impeachment to the judicial committee (saw it on C-SPAN a couple minutes after noon today) rather than stick their necks out. The record is going to show that the Democratic majority and the congress as a whole were derelict in their responsibilities to the republic. Dennis Kucinich has been calling for more aggressive oversight for years, and had already introduced articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney (which were banished to the same do-nothing committee) last year. He can’t do it all by himself; there are 434 other reps that need to get off their behinds and a hundred senators that need to follow through on it.
History will not be kind to either W or the current Legislative branch. It will go down as a sadly corrupt time in our country’s annals.
All this makes me very sad. The next few election cycles, I’m thinking that I’ll just vote for people with NO political experience what so ever. I’m just hoping to get the current batch (R & D) out the freaking door.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could start with all new people all at once? It’s not possible that they could get any less done.
Turkish Prawn
http://foxandmaus.wordpress.com/
“Throw the bums out” is a pretty appealing ticket these days.
Amen!