"Dean Won't Bite On Bush" (Philadelphia visit; asked about impeachment)

[Hissyspit]

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/219-10152006-727295.html

Dean won't bite on Bush

Bucks County Courier Times

- snip -

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, gave details last week when he came to Bucks County to raise funds for congressional candidates. He said the following could be done “right away.”

- snip -

“You can’t trust the Republicans with money,” he said. “You can’t trust them with your kids, and you can’t trust them to defend the United States of America. The Democrats are not perfect. We will defend America by being tough and smart — and not just talking tough at election time. We will defend America by bringing jobs back to places like Pennsylvania and by making sure the budget is balanced. And we will defend American kids by putting their interests ahead of the interests of any political party, including our own.”

Applause cracked and thundered for so long I feared a bottle of fine Irish whiskey might rattle off a nearby shelf.

- snip -

I asked Dean: Will Democrats support investigations that could lead to the president’s impeachment over the war in Iraq? “That is not our first priority,” Dean said. “Our first priority is jobs, our first priority is defense, our first priority is ethics. Who knows what’s going to happen, and what people are going to discover? But that is not our first priority.”

I asked: Would you support investigations that could lead to articles of impeachment? “What we’re interested in is an agenda of improving things for ordinary people,” Dean said. “Ordinary people in America have been taking it on the chin for six years, so we have to fix that problem first.”

MORE

[sce56]

1. Good he is right we need to get things runing again then ethics and Impeac

hment

[rodeodance]

2. so, he certainly did not rule out impeachment. Has Pelosi?

[Demit]

3. In May 2006 she said impeachment won't be on the table, but

"... supports investigations into such issues as prewar intelligence about Iraq and contracts awarded in Iraq to Halliburton Corp. and other companies.

Pelosi, who is likely to become the first female House speaker if the Democrats win in November, has been forced to strike a delicate balance between her party's left, where the idea of impeaching Bush has found a positive reception, and moderates who say raising the issue would repel voters in the swing districts that Democrats must win to regain the House majority they lost in 1994. ..."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/13/MNG94IRGOO1.DTL

On Meet The Press in May, she said
'...impeachment is a possibility, "because you never know where the facts will take you." But she backed away from Rep. John Conyers, whose website suggests Democrats are angling for impeachment. "I'm the leader. Our caucus will decide where to go," Pelosi said. ...'

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=%5CPolitics%5Carchive%5C200605%5CPOL20060508a.html


So she's being cagey, presumably to not turn off voters, but she's been stressing so much how bipartisan her House leadership would be that I wonder if she hasn't backed herself into a corner. Time will tell.

[Senator]

4. The Last Bit is Key >>

Here's the bottom line:

And fixing Bush is second?

That was my follow-up, but Dean’s people cut me off and whisked him to an idling black sedan before I could ask.

Dean is spending too much time in the beltway bubble, where there are always "people" to whisk you away from reality.

No one is immune from the proximity effect. And on balance it may well be better to have a less truthful/effective Gov. Dean in the powerful position he holds. (Or not.)

In any case, this illustrates in a microcosm the frontline in our struggle to take back the Dem party and the country from those currently under the spell of neofascist propaganda. We need to keep hammering "our friends" who remain in the fog created by the euphemedia and the careerist circular logicians of the chattering class.

And I do mean hammering. When it comes to achieving impeachment, "Violence" Is The Answer.

--

[Demeter]

5. I Think It's Supposed to Be a Surprise

A present to the prostrate public. When all the ducks are in a row, then suddenly an impeachment or better will happen.

If it doesn't happen, I for one will be very unhappy, moreso than the lack of any active resistance has already made me.

[Eurobabe]

6. Best stay away from that hot potato

n/t

[KoKo]

7. Director of ACLU just said on C-span re Impeachment:

He said it can't be seen as a "partisan issue," because if it is then there won't be the hearings that need to be done to get all the stuff the Bush Crime family (my words for them) has done.

He said subpoena power is the most important tool...and then hearings which will force them to appear and answer questions. He said if Conyers just comes in and instituted impeachment proceedings it won't be effective in discovering the full extent of what they've done.

I have to agree with him. Because we need to know everything they've done and the American People need to see it. Just going for impeachment would give us a thrill but it would take two years to do it anyway and then he will be gone. Conyers and Waxman already have a trail and so they know where to go. Making the Bushies enablers held accountable will do more for our Democracy in assuring this never happens again than Dems going for broke by immediately impeaching.

[maine_raptor]

8. Interesting thought..........

Get the enablers, rather than Big Kahuna himself, eh?

I'd agree to that. After all the result will be the same impeached and removed from office or not; Bush will be a disgraced ex-president with his (and others) crimes exposed to History.

It does solve the "Dick Chaney" problem that impeachment has.

[pat_k]

9. Giving war criminals cover is a "positive agenda"?

How do they accomplish anything under a rogue regime hell-bent on systematically dismantling the institutions we established in our Constitution; that refuses to enforce existing law as required by oath; that nullifies the laws that are passed with signing statements; that makes the United States a War Criminal nation that sanctions and uses torture?

Amd what about We the People? When we are so willing to abandon our most treasured principles because we "have other priorities", what do we become?

We face extraordinary danger. Our constitution has been destroyed. A lawless syndicate is weilding the massive power of the American Presidency. How does it reflect on us when we are happy to see the men and women who represent us pretend it is all "politics as usual."

If we fail to demand impeachment and removal we are saying "No extraordinary action required. Nothing to worry about. Allowing them to continue dismantling our constitutional democracy is AOK by us. We'll wait until we can vote them out."

Well, it is NOT AOK. Every day more damage is done. The only way to stop it is demand their removal from power -- not tomorrow. Not later. Now.

[Dr Fate]

10. THey need to say: "We will make sure no one lies us into a war again"

That is all they need to say. I wish they would say it.