Two pieces of good news from the impeachment front.
1) House Resolution 333, Impeachment of Cheney, has gained support and now has seven cosponsors on board! Please call your representatives every single day until this is a reality. A mere two minutes of your time adds up to a lot of staff time when joined with calls from other constituents.
From Democrats.com:
Articles of Impeachment Against Cheney Gain Cosponsors
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has joined Lynn Woolsey, the other Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Congress Members Yvette Clarke, Jan Schakowsky, William Lacy Clay, Albert Wynn, and Dennis Kucinich in cosponsoring Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney (H. Res. 333). For details, see: impeachcheney.org
Thank Barbara Lee: tinyurl.com/yqt9hw
Thank Lynn Woolsey: tinyurl.com/28nxpo
Ask Lee and Woolsey to please encourage other Progressive Caucus Members to sign on.
Ask your Representatives to please sign on: democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/73
The list of state Democratic Parties that have passed resolutions urging impeachment of Bush and Cheney has just grown to 15. Meanwhile, 11 state legislatures have introduced such resolutions, which have now been passed by at least 77 cities and towns and a growing list of labor unions and other organizations. These resolutions are all listed at impeachpac.org/resolutions-list
Encourage News Item Number 2:
Also from Democrats.com, Impeach Alberto Gonzales
Today (Monday) the Senate will vote on a “no-confidence” resolution against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for lying about … well, everything. Of course we want all Senators to vote “yes” but that’s not nearly enough for the man who authorized illegal wiretapping of thousands (millions?) of U.S. citizens and illegal torture of anyone Emperor Bush deems an “enemy combatant.” For those and other reasons, tell your Senators and Representatives to Impeach Alberto Gonzales. Sign the following petition, and contact your official immediately.
Sign the Petition: Impeach Alberto Gonzales
I ask Congress to impeach Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the following reasons:
COUNT I: Application of Geneva Conventions; Definition of Torture
On 1/25/02, Gonzales wrote a memo to President Bush authorizing the commission of war crimes by claiming the war against terrorism “renders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions.”
On 8/1/02, Gonzales commissioned a memo to President Bush which defined “torture” only as an interrogation that causes “injury such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions.” This definition is contrary to The War Crimes Act and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Unusual or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, a treaty ratified by the United States. Although this memo was retracted on 12/30/04, it remained in effect for over two years and authorized an unknown number of acts of torture.
Gonzales knew or should have known that, pursuant to memoranda written by, commissioned or concurred in by him, prisoners in United States custody would be subjected to willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment; and great suffering or serious injury to body or health, in violation of The War Crimes Act.
COUNT II: Military Commissions
Between 9/11/01 and 11/13/01, Gonzales helped draft the Military Order establishing the Military Commissions, signed by President Bush on 11/13/01. This order mandated conduct by members of United States military forces which constitute war crimes under The War Crimes Act.
Gonzales knew or should have known that the Military Commissions, in whose creation he participated, would deprive prisoners in United States custody who will be tried before them, of the rights of fair and regular trial prescribed in the Third Geneva Convention and Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions.
On 1/18/07 Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the U.S. Constitution does not provide the right to habeas corpus, but rather only bars the government from taking that right away (except in the case of rebellion or invasion). This logic would overturn many of the rights that U.S. law has based on the Constitution for over two centuries, as well as overturning rights positively expressed in the Sixth Amendment.
COUNT III: Illegal Domestic Surveillance
Since the inception (date unknown) of the Bush Administration’s warrantless wiretap program, Gonzales has defined, condoned, concealed and defended the administration’s continued violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.
On 2/6/06, Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force enacted by Congress on 9/18/01 authorized warrantless domestic surveillance. However, the secret programs may have been launched earlier, the AUMF did not grant the President the right to violate FISA and the Fourth Amendment, and Congress has since amended FISA four times without granting the President those rights. On 1/17/07, Gonzales informed Congress the illegal wiretapping was approved by an unnamed Judge of the FISA Court without providing any evidence that illegal acts had actually ended.
Let’s not forget the Republicans talking sense … Sen. Chuck Hagel’s statement in Esquire should be encouraging to anyone:
“Any president who says, I don’t care, or I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else, or I don’t care what the Congress does, I am going to proceed — if a president really believes that, then there are — what I was pointing out, there are ways to deal with that,” said Hagel, who is considering a 2008 presidential run.
Or Sen. Arlen Specter’s January 2006 statement reported at Commondreams:
When asked what could happen if lawmakers find Bush in violation of the law, Specter answered: “Impeachment is a remedy. After impeachment, you could have a criminal prosecution, but the principal remedy … under our society is to pay a political price.”
And, of course, Ron Paul’s support for impeachment investigations, which you can view here.