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Onward,
Alexander, Jeffrey, Becky and Deva
November
17, 2006
A Tale of Two Conyers
Last
Chance for the Democrats?
By DAVID SWANSON
WHY did all manly gifts in
Webster fail?
He wrote on Nature's grandest brow, For Sale.
--Emerson
PART I
Congressman John Conyers, "The
Constitution in Crisis", December 2005:
"In brief, we have found
that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice President
and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled
Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go
to war with Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information
regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture
and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and other legal violations
in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics
of their Administration.
"There is a prima facie
case that these actions by the President, Vice-President and
other members of the Bush Administration violated a number of
federal laws, including (1) Committing a Fraud against the United
States; (2) Making False Statements to Congress; (3) The War
Powers Resolution; (4) Misuse of Government Funds; (5) federal
laws and international treaties prohibiting torture and cruel,
inhuman, and degrading treatment; (6) federal laws concerning
retaliating against witnesses and other individuals; and (7)
federal laws and regulations concerning leaking and other misuse
of intelligence.
"While these charges clearly
rise to the level of impeachable misconduct, because the Bush
Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress have blocked
the ability of Members to obtain information directly from the
Administration concerning these matters, more investigatory authority
is needed before recommendations can be made regarding specific
Articles of Impeachment. As a result, we recommend that Congress
establish a select committee with subpoena authority to investigate
the misconduct of the Bush Administration with regard to the
Iraq war detailed in this Report and report to the Committee
on the Judiciary on possible impeachable offenses."
-- Congressman John Conyers,
"The Constitution in Crisis", December 2005
PART II
Congressman John Conyers, November
2006:
"As many of you also know,
I have agreed with Speaker-to-be Pelosi that impeachment is off
the table. Instead, we agree that oversight, accountability and
checks and balances which have been sorely lacking for the last
six years must occur. I have nothing but respect for those who
might disagree, but that is where I come out.
"Having devoted a considerable
amount of time and attention to detailing the many abuses of
the Bush Administration, I firmly believe that we have brought
these matters to the attention of the American people and the
mainstream media, and that their verdict was reflected in the
elections on November 7. I consider the now famous "basement
hearings" and the issuance of my "Constitution in Crisis"
Report to be among the watershed achievements of my more than
forty years in Congress."
-- Congressman John Conyers,
November 2006
IF THEY
DO
The Associated Press / Ipsos
recently polled and reported on this question "How confident
are you that President Bush and the Democrats in Congress can
work together to solve the country's problems?"
I'm fully confident that anyone
who tries to work with Bush will contribute to problems for this
and many other countries. I get the impression I'm not alone:
Americans just elected dozens of new Democrats and not a single
new Republican. I would not have answered the question, had
Ipsos asked it of me, because my view of the world was "off
the table." The AP could teach Nancy Pelosi a thing or
two about removing topics from the table.
Announcing that impeachment
is off the table makes it sound like you either have no use for
the rule of law and your "investigations" are predetermined
charades, or like you are engaged in the same impeachable offense
Bush is: lying to the American public (you're taking impeachment
off the table, fully aware that it will climb back on as soon
as you investigate any of a dozen crimes). You've left impeachment
ever more prominently on the table.
Reporting a balanced story
on those who do and those who do not worry that the Democrats
will fail to work cooperatively with Bush: THAT effectively takes
impeachment off the table. While Newsweek just found that a
phenomenal 51 percent of Americans want impeachment, AP simply
did not ask the question or did not report the results. (Support
for impeaching Clinton, when the media and Congress were promoting
nothing else, never got above 37 percent.)
The Democrats (and Republicans)
can get to impeachment by any of several paths. They can launch
an investigation of anything, send subpoenas to the White House,
and then raise impeachment when the White House refuses the subpoenas.
They can investigate using any number of House and Senate committees
or a bipartisan select committee. Waxman or Kucinich could as
easily take the lead as Conyers. Or another Democrat, perhaps
even a newly elected Democrat, could cut to the chase, introduce
articles of impeachment, and become an international hero.
If the Democrats do stand up
to tyranny and restore the rule of law to our government, they
will not only increase the likelihood of reducing global warming
and nuclear proliferation before it's too late, not only bring
back habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights, not only make the
next war much more difficult to launch, but they will also sweep
the 2008 elections and see their leaders admired and loved the
world over. Conyers was overwhelmed with support and adulation
and contributions when he merely talked about preliminary investigations
and the media ignored him. The first Congress Member who supports
impeachment will be virtually deified (as well as attacked and
ridiculed by a very vocal minority).
So, if the Democrats are playing
games until they have their committee chairs, if they're convinced
that talking impeachment prior to the "investigations"
will lead to fatal attacks from the media, if they're planning
to do their jobs and defend our democracy come February, then
there is hope for them and for us. And if we force them to take
action, then there is hope for us and for them.
IF THEY
DON'T
If the Democrats fail to defend
the rule of law, if they imagine that we care nothing for our
rights and freedoms and merely want them to pass domestic legislation
that will be vetoed or signing-statemented, they will do as well
in the next elections as they did after they looked the other
way on Iran Contra. Pelosi has taken so many things off the
table, including the idea of cutting off funding for the war,
that she gives the impression of ultimately wanting the stretch
out on the table and take a nap. If we allow her and her colleagues
to do this, we will let down our nation and the world and we
will tell future presidents that no law applies to them.
If the Democrats fail to fight
for impeachment and peace, I for one will want nothing further
to do with them. Come 2008 I will not vote, or I'll vote for
a third party or write in the names of people I respect. I told
a great many people in recent months to hold their noses and
vote for lousy Democrats so that Conyers could chair Judiciary,
and the Democrats could chair every committee, and the subpoenas
and articles of impeachment could be placed on the table. If
the Democrats refuse to be the opposition party that was just
elected, they will be as quickly unelected. If the Democrats
and Republicans fail to impeach this President and Vice President,
they will remove impeachment from the U.S. Constitution and any
remaining faith in our government from the minds of Americans.
I don't think it will come
to this. I'm optimistic. And I'm optimistic because the solution
to this riddle is not a proper analysis of the mendacity or corruption
of Democrats in Congress. The solution is public action. The
Democrats in Congress will not act without public pressure.
But unlike the Republican Congress we just rid ourselves of
they might act if there is public pressure. Let's
apply it.
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