Nine GREAT reasons to pursue impeachment….

In an article in The Nation

Establishing accountability for US war crimes in the Iraq war era is the sine qua non for initiating a new era on different principles. Here are nine reasons why we must not let bygones be bygones:

1. World peace cannot be achieved without human rights and accountability.

According to Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, chief American prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunals, “The ultimate step in avoiding periodic wars, which are inevitable in a system of international lawlessness, is to make statesmen responsible to law.” Moving in that direction will be impossible unless such responsibility applies to the statesmen of the world’s most powerful countries, and above all the world’s sole superpower. US support for the war crimes charges like those just brought by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will represent little more than hypocrisy if US Presidents are not held to the same standard.

2. The rule of law is central to our democracy.

Most Americans believe that even the highest officials are bound by law. If we send mentally-disabled juveniles to prison as adults, but let government officials who authorize torture and launch illegal wars go scot-free, we destroy the very basis of the rule of law.

3. We must not allow precedents to be set that promote war crimes.

Executive action unchallenged by Congress changes the way our law is interpreted. According to Robert Borosage, writing for Huffington Post, “If Bush’s extreme assertions of power are not challenged by the Congress, they end up not simply creating new law, they could end up rewriting the Constitution itself.”

4. We must restore the principles of democracy to our government.

The claim that the President, as commander-in-chief, can exercise the unlimited powers of a king or dictator strikes at the very heart of our democracy. As Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson put it, we, as citizens, would “submit ourselves to rules only if under rules.” Countries like Chile can attest that the restoration of democracy and the rule of law requires more than voting a new party into office–it requires a rejection of impunity for the criminal acts of government officials.

5. We must forestall an imperialist resurgence.

When they are out of office, the advocates of imperial expansion and global domination have proven brilliant at lying in wait to undermine and destroy their opponents.

They did it to destroy the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. They’ll do it again to an Obama Administration unless their machinations are exposed and discredited first.

6. We must have national consensus on the real reasons for the Bush Administration’s failures.

Republicans are preparing to dominate future decades of American politics by blaming the failure of the Iraq war on those who “sent a signal” that the US would not “stay the course” whatever the cost. Establishing the real reasons for the failure of the US in Iraq–the criminal and anti-democratic character of the war–is the necessary condition for defeating that effort.

7. We must restore America’s damaged reputation abroad.

The world has watched as the United States–the self-proclaimed steward of democracy–has systematically broken the letter and spirit of its Constitution, violated international treaties, and ignored basic moral tenets of humanity. As former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora recently pointed out to the Senate Armed Services Committee, our nation’s “policy of cruelty” has violated our “overarching foreign policy interests and our national security.” To establish international legitimacy, we must demonstrate that we are capable of holding our leaders to account.

8. We must lay the basis for major change in US foreign policy.

Real security in the era of global warming and nuclear proliferation must be based on international cooperation. But genuine cooperation requires that the US entirely repudiate the course of the past eight years. The American people must understand why international cooperation rather than pursuit of global domination is necessary to their own security. And other countries must be convinced that we really mean it.

9. We must deter future US war crimes.

The specter of more war crimes haunts our future. Rumors continue to circulate about an American or American-backed Israeli attack on Iran. A recently introduced House resolution promoted by AIPAC “demands” that the President initiate what is effectively a blockade against Iran–an act seen by some as tantamount to a declaration of war. Nothing could provide a greater deterrent to such future war crimes than establishing accountability for those of the past.

Holding war criminals accountable will require placing the long-term well-being of our country and the world ahead of short-term political advantage. As Rep. Wexler put it, “We owe it to the American people and history to pursue the wrongdoing of this Administration whether or not it helps us politically or in the next election. Our actions will properly define the Bush Administration in the eyes of history and that is the true test.”

UPDATE! 9/10/08

Another voice for impeachment in the Congress!!

Kucinich gets it right….again….

So the Democratic leadership feels that almost ANY price is worth it to get the elections right this fall, which I guess I ultimately agree with, but since there’s almost no chance that McCain could get elected (barring MASSIVE fraud which is always possible these days, or a “terrorist attack” (yeh right) as I postulate in another post earlier) I can’t find any reason not to go after the most corrupt and heinous administration EVER in our history.

As far as I can see, we have exactly 2 serious patriots (or even just sensible people) in our government – Conyers and Kucinich. And both of them are being shunned by the rest of the Demorepubs for doing so, when it’s CLEARLY what the Founding Fathers, (as well as common sense) called for.

Before I get really pissed again, here’s Kuchinich’s speech on the 4th of July…..yay for the littlest guy with the biggest balls!!

More Obama FISA Olbermann!

So my current media hero Keith Olbermann just had an excellent rant about Obama and the FISA amendment that I hope you’ll take a look at…I couldn’t agree with Olbermann more, and I think I see some daylight here for once!

Obama stuff

Earlier today I posted a Status Update on MySpace that I wouldn’t vote for Obama if he supports this ridiculous so called “compromise” on the FISA thing, specifically because of the amnesty for the crimes that were already committed by the Administration and the telecom businesses.

I received a comment on my comments section of my MySpace profile which read –

“so now you know…and i posted a bulletin as well – i have been a political activist for years, but this election has me working frantically against the party i’ve voted with for years…if this man had been born in america and taught traditional american values, i would have no problem voting for him…but thats not the case at all!!”

That comment is still up and I will leave it there unless the other party wants it taken down for some reason, but I’d like to continue this discussion here so it’s easier to follow and doesn’t muck up my profile page too much.

Now instead of just banging away at this point of view without the other party knowing it, I’m going to invite that person to go to that page and discuss this, since it seems some of their info may be wrong and I’d like to understand why they think what they do.

I responded there, I invite your comments and of course hope the original poster will respond there as well. Please refrain from personal attacks no matter how much something bothers you….I’ve found that almost all people have some reason for thinking what they do, and not all of them are horrible and selfish, but it takes being cool and listening to see what it may be.

STILL think I’m nuts with this takeover stuff?

Read this and see if what I wrote here starts making more sense to you.

“One business owner in the United States tells me that InfraGard members are being advised on how to prepare for a martial law situation—and what their role might be,” writes Matthew Rothschild in the Feb. 7 report, quoting an anonymous whistleblower on the program. “‘Then they said when—not if—martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn’t be prosecuted,’ he says.”

**My bolding**

When looking at these type of things, I don’t look at them by themselves, I think they must be looked at as part of an overall pattern, and that pattern is getting pretty clear at this point….and ultimately, I always go back to “What would I do in THEIR shoes?”, and odd decisions start making perfect sense…