The president needs to be impeached on the charge of high treason.

[benburch]

My reasoning is this;

1. He admitted the Iraq war intelligence was faulty.

2. We already know he created a special intelligence service to provide him "cherry picked" intelligence to support the war.

3. He knew or should have known that this would cause faulty intelligence.

4. Which means he violated the war powers resolutions and his oath of office.

5. This act materially damaged the defense capabilities of the USA.

6. Finally this act provided aid and comfort to an enemy of the USA, one Osama Bin Laden by diverting the resources that should have been nailing his ass to the wall.

[CornField]

1. Why don't we just use the already set precident: Lying

He lied to the American people -- he lied to the world. His lies have led to insurmountable deaths of Americans and other nationalities. Furthermore, when faced with his own lies, he says he would do it all over again.

Lying: Impeachable then, Impeachable now.

[havocmom]

5. But did he lie under oath? That is what the nailed Clinton for

the oath thing.

Oh, yeah, oath of office: preserve protect defend that "goddamn piece of paper"....

Book 'im, Dano!

[LSK]

9. no, he lied to Congress repeated and violated IWR n/t

[AuntiBush]

30. I thought it was a Major Crime...

... for pre-emptive war on a country that had not atttacked us!?!

Just say'in.

[Usrename]

31. I think he was under oath when he lied to congress

As spelled out in that pesky piece of paper, he must from time to time inform the Congress as to the stat of the union. Over the years this has been interpreted to mean that the yearly SOTU address fulfills this requirement. Since he was not informing congress, but rather disinforming, a case could be made that he violated his oath.

[pat_k]

26. Beyond lying: He terrorized the nation with threats of mushroom clouds

I can't say it better than this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5604755&mesg_id=5604947

[libhill]

27. Tsk , tsk

We mustn't compare something as petty and insignificant as lying to take the country into an illegal war, which resulted in thousands of deaths, both Iraqi and American, to a terrible abomination like lying about a blow job which resulted in nothing. Really, one must set ones priorities.

[still_one]

2. nothing will happen until the democrats act like an opposition party

[im10ashus]

3. And he's protecting the source behind Plamegate.

A treasonous act in and of itself.

[EFerrari]

4. I think this was John Dean's argument as well in

"Worse than Watergate."

[ladjf]

6. This is a good thread. All posts are correct.

[NoPasaran]

7. We don't have "high treason"

Plain ol' TREASON is good enough for a republic.

[benburch]

8. As in the sense of a "high crime"

Which is the language of impeachment.

[dusmcj]

10. he handed control of US foreign policy over to agents of a foreign power

I think that would be a fair characterization of PNAC given the proven close association of many of its principals with conservative Israeli political circles.

The President and his administration has directly threatened and harmed the soundness of the structure of American government:

- by removing security-related activities from oversight by accountable representatives of the people or failing to require that newly-conceived security activities have such oversight to an adequate degree.

- by bypassing or subverting the legally established national structures for intelligence analysis and dissemination in an attempt to have a preconceived policy based on ideology to the exclusion of fact be implemented.

- by placing unqualified persons in critical government positions as a reward for political reliability.

- by taking the policy position documents of a political interest/pressure group (PNAC) and adopting them as the basis for the foreign policy of the United States, rather than formulating that policy in a bipartisan fashion and based on the input of persons with qualifications in the field.

Long on posture, short on capability, it's the conservative way.

[madokie]

11. I have to agree with you yet another time.

And when he does his speeches and starts describing the evildoers, everything he says he is guilty of himself. the gaul the little man has, now after typing the word man in W's case I must go wash my fingers.

[BamaBecky]

12. Cept he want be, cause they say it isn't, even if it clearly is

cause they have the power and control to say it was not.

And most Americans are too stupid to know any different.

And we will just pile more sordid history on top of the rotten remains of our once precious democracy.

Bama

[EFerrari]

13. He used the US military against American citizens

in New Orleans -- that fine city that was destroyed on his watch.

[texpatriot2004]

22. So true. He's the only pResident to lose an entire US city and

it was no accident.

[Bridget Burke]

24. Well, NYC took quite a hit on his watch....

But 9/11 only boosted his popularity.

[No Exit]

14. We mice have agreed that a bell around the cat's neck would

make for a safer world for us, because the ringing of the bell whenever the cat moves would warn us of his movements.

Next order of business: who is going to actually place the bell around the cat's neck?

[dkofos]

15. I agree, and then some.

Too bad it won't happen.

Unless he is caught giving a blowjob in the oval office!!

[Senator]

16. He Terrorized the American People (it's the terrism, stupid)

Let's Stop Euphemizing

With respect, this was not simply "faulty" or "cherry picked" intel. Neither was it what others are calling it: NOT "hubris" leading to "over-reach," NOT "incompetence," NOT simply "fear and smear."

Bush committed the MOST HEINOUS ACT OF TERRORISM IN HISTORY when he falsely threatened the American People with "mushroom clouds in 45 minutes."

Anything 20 guys with boxcutters could do pales in comparison. Even a "dirty bomb" is less threatening.

The **PNACons' "bomb threat" on our nation (accomplished by using/abusing our tax dollars and resulting in the sacrifice our soldiers' lives) was only perpetrated to advance their own ideological and profiteering wet-dreams.

This was clearly premeditated criminal intent leading to willful criminal acts, that in the context of national security can only accurately be called HIGH TREASON.

Terrorizing our (once great) nation for whatever reason is far worse than Watergate, worse than Iran/contra, worse than pardoning co-conspirators to obstruct justice, even worse than 9-11.

And we need to say so. Loudly. And refuse to shut up until full punishment is exacted.
----

**(pronounced pee-nah-cons)

--
www.january6th.org

[Gregorian]

17. This took way too long. MISSION IMPEACHABLE.

And it's really rough. But your post inspired this.

[petgoat]

18. We can't impeach until we control Congress and the Senate

which is possible after 11/06.

Until then, let's push the demand: "Bush Step Down, and Take Your Whole Program With You!"


WorldCan'tWait recently sponsored a full-page ad in the NY Times demanding exactly this.

http://worldcantwait.net/flier/nyt.pdf

Check out the endorsements. Howard Zinn, Alice Walker, Kurt Vonnegut, Gore Vidal... (for a few V-Z's)

WorldCan'tWait is organizing for massive demonstrations in January.

http://www.worldcantwait.org/

Drive Out the Bush Regime!

[pat_k]

21. BS -- we must fight for Impeachment NOW

We must fight for Impeachment. We must put whatever pressure we can bring to bear on both Repubs and Dems, now.

The majority of Americans believe Bush should be Impeached if he lied to the American people. A majority of Americans believe he lied. These are amazing numbers in the face of our leaders' silence on the subject.

Campaigns in 2006 that make Impeachment a centerpiece will rally Americans. The the Right revels in accusation and punishment. It is time for the Center/Left to put aside their relunctance to accuse and demand punishment. Sure, some of them are accusting the administration of lying, but they are failing to demand the punishment their accusations demands. It is time for them to get their heads out of their asses and face the reality of this regime. (See my earlier post below).

[petgoat]

23. Fight for Impeachment NOW

Whatever. Nancy Pelosi says the American people are way ahead of the Dems
in Congress. I can agree with "fighting now for impeachment" but to
fight for "impeachment now" before we have the votes in Congress strikes
me as self-defeating.

A number of people are pushing to make impeachment a campaign issue in
2006, and I'm completely behind that.

[pat_k]

25. Leading the Impeachment charge will serve them in 2006 . .

The center/left has a terrible time with the notion that action is futile if the chances of success are low.

Sure, it may be unlikely for a Republican Congress to open an Impeachment inquiry (although I would argue against 0% chance).

What the center/left fails to get is that there is power in accusation and demands for punishment that is independent of the "conventional wisdom" that the demanded punishment will never happen. When tested, "convential wisdom" usually proves to be wrong.

It is not rational to refrain from action because you don't think it has a chance of success. The whole concept is circular. There rare always intermediate benefits along the way to ultimate success. If you never just do something be it is right, you never test your power to make things happen.

In my other responses in this thread (and a related thread), I provide a number of additional reasons why leading the charge NOW is not just the right thing, it is the politically smart thing!

You might want to take a look.

[pat_k]

19. Fighting for Impeachment and Removal Needs to be Job 1

and their corruption of our elections and our democracy must be part and parcel of that fight.

This nation and its leaders must face facts about the current occupants of the executive branch. These people are incapable of doing anything but more damage. The criminality and incompetence of this regime cannot be tolerated. That's the grim reality.

Facing these facts demands action. We must fight for the Impeachment of Bush and Cheney. We must assert our authority as sovereigns to purge and punish the PNACons*.

They've lied and terrorized the American people with their threats of a mushroom cloud. They occupied the executive branch based on corrupt elections incapable of serving as a measure of our consent. They've abused the power they stole. Their failures have been criminal negligence and their actions have been just plain criminal.

Many of us have long known this, but we are no longer voices in the wilderness. The nation is seeing the truth.

These are dangerous people that must be disarmed. Now.

Supporting the pretense of their legitimacy by offering "plans" to them, rather then fighting for Impeachment and removal from office, is to be complicit with their actions.

*PNACons (pee na cons). You know, the ones who put themselves above the law and act from the unwavering belief in the right of their small group to rule. Those who gleefully conspire to thwart the will of the American people to grab and consolidate the power they believe they have a right to. The ones who conspired to con and terrorize us with the threats of mushrooms clouds. The ones who view the rest of humanity as pawns to be manipulated to their own ends. The ones who twist reality to justify the atrocities they commit in our name. They believe, as superior beings, great wealth is their natural reward. Since no law defined by others applies to them, any avenue that yields their rightful rewards is open for their exploitation.

[sweetheart]

20. Yes, treason

That is the real deal to this republican culture of corruption, treason.

I'm not anti-death penalty like some folks, rather i think it should be
reserved for a very special few cases. And high treason be one of those cases.

(recommended)

good luck with white rose :-)

[autorank]

28. Ben, you are the voice of reason. If not Bush, then who will ever qualify

He must go. He's gotten numerous messages that the public is fed up and that major factions of "mamagement" are as well.

He should leave and take Cheney with him. He won't, so it's itme to get rid of him.

I realize as do all of us that the Republicans control both houses of Congress. So what. We can kick them out in 2006 if we keep pushing for election integrity. We can also introduce a full resolution now. They may not let it go one inch but it will be published.

Lets make this the issue in 2006!!!

[AuntiBush]

29. #6...

does it for me. Can anyone say "Osama Bin-Forgotten!?!"

Never forget watching * on Natl. TV stating Bin-Ladin was no longer of interests, no biggie anymore, why bother to look for him. (paraphrasing)

How anyone seeing that could still support * is far beyond my realm of reasonable thinking.