Miami Herald Prints Wexler, Baldwin, Gutierrez Impeachment Statement as LTTE

[babylonsister]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/29453

Our press in all it's glory. :eyes: But the good news is, they printed it.


Miami Herald Prints Wexler, Baldwin, Gutierrez Statement as Letter to Editor
Submitted by davidswanson on Wed, 2007-12-19 16:02. Impeachment

Let Cheney impeachment hearings proceed
Miami Herald

On Nov. 7, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to send a resolution of impeachment of Vice President Cheney to the Judiciary Committee. As members of the House Judiciary Committee, we strongly believe these important hearings should begin. The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that, if proven, may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under the Constitution.

The charges relate to Cheney's deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation and the illegal wiretapping of Americans.

Now that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan has indicated that Cheney and his staff purposely gave him false information to report to the public about the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent, it is even more important for Congress to investigate what may have been an intentional obstruction of justice. In addition, recent revelations show that the administration may have manipulated and exaggerated evidence about Iran's nuclear capabilities.

The charges against Cheney are not personal. They go to the core of this administration's actions and deserve consideration in a way the Clinton scandal never did. The American people understand this, and a majority support hearings, according to a Nov. 13 poll by the American Research Group. In fact, 70 percent of voters say that Cheney has abused his powers, and 43 percent say that he should be removed from office right now. The American people understand the magnitude of what has been done and what is at stake if we fail to act. It is time for Congress to catch up.

Some people argue that if the case proceeds, it would distract Congress from passing important legislative initiatives. We disagree. We can continue to deliver on more of our agenda while simultaneously fulfilling our constitutional duty by investigating and publicly revealing whether Cheney has committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

Hearings would put the evidence on the table, and the evidence -- not politics -- should determine the outcome. Even if hearings do not lead to removal from office, putting these grievous abuses on the record is important for the sake of history.

For an administration that has consistently skirted the Constitution and asserted that it is above the law, it is imperative for Congress to make clear that we do not accept this dangerous precedent. Our Founding Fathers provided Congress the power of impeachment for just this reason, and we must now at least consider using it.

U.S. REPS. ROBERT WEXLER, LUIS GUTIERREZ and TAMMY BALDWIN, members, House Judiciary Committee, Washington, D.C.

[SteppingRazor]

1. Where else would they have printed it?

It is, after all, a letter to the editor.

Also, in the Herald, letters to the editor appear on the op/ed page, so if they had ran it as an op/ed, it would have appeared in the exact same place.

[babylonsister]

2. I was thinking an op/ed would be preferable to a LTTE given

the weight of the topic. That's just me, I guess. But I'm not familiar with the Herald.

[SteppingRazor]

3. I think it's also McClatchy Company editorial policy...

to print all LTTEs as LTTEs, regardless of their source or content, though I'm not 100 percent on that. It has to do with fairness and impartiality.

I'm a journalist myself, and I'm the first one to slap around my profession and/or my colleagues when they fuck up, but I tend to get all whiny when I think the press is being beat up on for doing their job properly -- which, in this case, I think they did.