President has no right to ignore law as if it were a mere nuisance (WAPO)

[kpete]

Power That Bush Can't Just Take
By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, December 27, 2005; Page A25

Since the holiday season is a time of generosity and goodwill toward all -- even those who torture the Constitution and hoodwink the nation into ill-advised wars -- let's do a little thought experiment.




Let's go even further and assume he decided to invade Iraq for the same reason. Even in a thought experiment, we can't forgive the way he snowed the country into believing there was some connection between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks; nor can we forget the way he hyped the flawed intelligence about weapons of mass destruction -- we're being generous here, not stupid. But let's assume that however calculated and cynical the machinations, and however wrongheaded the decision to go to war, the underlying motive was purely to avoid another catastrophic terrorist attack.

All right: Given these overly kind assumptions, can this administration's usurpation of power somehow be justified?

Every time I work it through, the answer I come up with is no. The president has no right to ignore the rule of law as if it were a mere nuisance.


End of experiment. Please return your rose-colored safety glasses to the front of the class.

(sorry, you have to register for the whole thing-maybe someone else has another link-great stuff today.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600516.html

[Trevelyan]

1. Please support those brave people who are trying to impeach

"He and Cheney will argue his inherent powers and will cite Supreme Court cases and the resolution that authorized him to make war on the Taliban and al-Qaida. They will respond by calling him Nixon 2.0 and have already hauled forth no less an authority than John Dean to testify to the president’s dictatorial perfidy. The “I-word” is out there, and, I predict, you are going to hear more of it next year — much more."

==Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment?

Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.

No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors."

No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.

I don't know.
==MSNBC Asks the "Impeachment" Question in a POLL finally
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904

as of this posting there is an 88% YES rate. Oh this is one question that CNN and FOX sooooo don't want to ask. MSNBC may be sending a signal here by trying to be the first to actually ask it.

==Here's what you can do:

1) Write Zogby ([e-mail]) to thank them for asking about impeachment in June, and encourage them to keep asking the question.

2) Write all the other major pollsters and ask them why they haven't asked voters about impeaching Bush. (If your browser won't let you highlight these addresses, use the printer-friendly version.)

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

You can also use these forms:
DemocracyCorps: http://democracycorps.com/contact.html
Gallup: http://www.gallup.com/help/con

Here is a form letter you can personalize:

On November 4, a Zogby poll found 53% of Americans said "if it is found that President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should hold him accountable through impeachment."

http://www.democrats.com/impeachpac-announced
Why haven't you asked Americans whether they believe Bush should be impeached for lying about Iraq?

Even on the narrow question of the CIA leak scandal, 86% of Americans say it has great or some importance - compared to only 62% who felt that way about Monica Lewinsky.
http://www.democrats.com/node/6696

[kpete]

2. wow!

Thanks

[kpete]

3. I found a link-good article-hope it works

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600516.html