Jesse Jackson: Congress must insist Bush isn't above law

[Jcrowley]

Congress must insist Bush isn't above law

December 5, 2006
BY JESSE JACKSON
Should President Bush be impeached? The very idea seems extreme, if not loony. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has explicitly ruled impeachment off the Democratic majority's agenda. But activists and legal scholars are organizing to pressure Democrats to begin impeachment hearings. And the incoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, has issued two remarkable studies on abuses of presidential authority, raising the question of impeachable offenses.

The Gingrich Congress' attempt to railroad President Clinton out of office gave impeachment a bad press. It is scorned as irresponsible, vindictive, partisan spitball politics. Rather than addressing the challenges the nation faces, impeachment, many pundits argue, wastes months on harsh, divisive wrangling. And of course, in 1998, the public punished Republicans -- ultimately leading to the toppling of Gingrich himself.

But in the current circumstances, the question isn't merely rhetorical or partisan. While in office, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have asserted an extraordinary array of extra-constitutional powers. Bush argues that he has the right to declare war on his own. He claims he can designate any American an "enemy combatant." For those under that suspicion, he claims the right to wiretap them without warrants, arrest them without charges, detain them without lawyers, torture them without judicial review and hold them until the war ends. He also says that neither Congress nor the public has any right to review his decisions, or to gain access to the papers that he chooses to keep secret. Because Bush himself says the war on terror will last for decades, the scope of this assertion is staggering.

Bush and his men drove us into the war of choice in Iraq, distorting intelligence to gain public support and undermining our credibility across the world. His policies led directly to the disgraces of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. His assertions have trampled the rights of American citizens, as well as those from other countries. Lack of accountability squandered billions in taxpayer dollars on waste, fraud and abuse of major contractors in Iraq. The list goes on.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson/159751,CST-EDT-jesse05.article

[pat_k]

1. Rec!! It's long past time to draft articles and make the case. Their sworn duty demands it.

There is absolutely noting "extreme" or "loony" about impeachment. (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0612.nichols.html">Be bipartisan: Impeach Bush, John Nichols)

Jackson misses the mark on a critical point -- a point that reflects the confusion and rationalization that is sabotaging the fight for impeachment. Rather than asserting that Congress has a duty to impeach and make the case, he asserts that they have "a duty to investigate Bush's claims to be above the law."

WRT impeachment, we are long past the need for "investigation." The case has been clear, compelling, and complete for years.

As his commentary makes crystal clear, Bush and Cheney are committing their war crimes and conducting their criminal domestic surveillance program in plain sight. Jackson, like all the others calling for "investigation," fails to tell us WHY they should not immediately move to impeach for these criminal abuses of power or WHAT an investigation could possibly uncover that would be more egregious than the high crimes already proven in the public record.

The Constitution is under attack. Members of Congress are sworn to defend. They are armed and ready. It is time to draft Articles of Impeachment and make the case. Continued and unnecessary delay is dereliction.

Other committees will proceed with broader investigation and oversight -- but those investigations must be independent of impeachment. If they turn up acts they wish to add to the articles, they can resolve to add them. As long as the committee assigned juridiction over impeachment (select, judiciary, whatever) rejects any that unnecessarily complicate the case, no problem.

Members of Congress are betraying their oath and betraying the nation. Our task is clear. We must challenge each and every one to act NOW and take up the fight by introducing or co-sponsoring Articles of Impeachment.

[mopinko]

2. when the people lead, the leaders will follow.

nov 7 was a good start. without the theft of so many close races, the direction of the people would have been unmistakable, and unspinnable. i think they are hoping that investigations would make the case so clear that even the 33% backwash would stand up and demand it.
in retrospect, i see the impeachment of bill clinton as an inoculation against impeachment for a generation. a win-win for them. either dump bill clinton, or turn impeachment into a bad joke. evil, evil, evil.

[pat_k]

4. It is their sworn duty. As long as they are derelict, it falls to us to demand it. . .

. . .but ultimately, it is their responsibility -- their sworn duty -- to call the nation to arms by accusing (impeaching) and making the case for impeachment. It is only their failure that has forced it on us.


________________________
Related posts in
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/pat_k">My Journal

[mopinko]

7. oh, i agree it is their duty, and they are failing miserably.

they are failing to fulfill their oaths.
but i think the ultimate duty is with we the people. their duty is to do what we tell them. if we do not demand it, we are remiss in our duty.

[pat_k]

10. Absolutely! (nt)

[Jcrowley]

12. That's right

"Members of Congress are betraying their oath and betraying the nation. Our task is clear. We must challenge each and every one to act NOW and take up the fight by introducing or co-sponsoring Articles of Impeachment."

[malaise]

3. K&R for Jesse n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. "Raising the question of Impeachable offenses"???

As far as I'm concerned, it's no longer an open question.

[Gregorian]

6. I feel like I'm watching OJ driving down the freeway again.

Arrest them, already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rman]

8. I'd go so far as to say Congress must *asure* that Bush isn't above the law

If there ever was a reason to investigate and impeach an administration, it is now. I don't have to list all the reasons again. It doesn't get more obvious than this.

[Vidar]

9. Thank you, Jesse. Recommended.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

11. K&R GREAT OP

"He claims he can designate any American an 'enemy combatant." ouch! lol

[texpatriot2004]

13. Exactly! It's about the "rule of law" and the fact that * "lied" -

sound familiar?

[Senator]

14. kick