Any takers?
5
One Last Job to Do When the Election Is Over
On January 20, 2009, there should be a perp walk coming out from the West Wing of the White House.
So much negligence, so many crimes, so hard to list all the war profiteers, so little regard for the law or the Constitution—what do we do with George W. Bush and his gang of charlatans and criminals come high noon on January 20, 2009?
For more than five years, I have maintained that impeachment would be too kind a punishment for Bush and Cheney. Instead, I have advocated for a perp walk out of the West Wing of the White House, a line of men—and one woman—handcuffed and chained and being led out the door by the FBI, just like they do when they arrest a drug dealer or child abuser or Wall Street embezzler. The perpetrators attempt to shield their faces from the TV cameras by holding their windbreakers over their heads or, if they have no windbreaker, then they try to hang their head down so low you can’t see the look of shame and fear in their eyes.
The purpose of the typical perp walk is to make an example of the accused, to send a simple but powerful message to the people watching at home: if you break the law, we are coming after you, we are going to get you, and you are going to be led away just like this from your good life and into a cell with bars so that we can separate you from the rest of us decent folk.
Misters Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, Wolfowitz, Abrams, et al.—and Ms. Rice—must not be allowed to get away scot-free. Too much money is missing, too many families have been destroyed, too much blood is on their hands. Their misdeeds are not the stuff of impeachment. That’s reserved for presidents who lie about their sex lives and who try to switch secretaries of war during Reconstruction.
No, this group of leaders did much worse. They took the public’s trust (which was given to them not by the public, but rather by the Supreme Court) and ran with it. They covered up the facts in order to start a war of aggression, not one of defense. They invaded a sovereign nation and removed its leader without the request or consent of that nation’s people. They handed no-bid contracts to the companies they used to run and from which they still profited. They arrested people—including American citizens—and imprisoned them without a trial, without a chance to talk to a lawyer, without even knowing what the charges were against them. Some of these prisoners were tortured, not by some rogue soldiers but at the suggestion of the Secretary of Defense with the consent of the President of the United States.
Billions of American dollars were “misplaced” in Iraq, and never found. American citizens who committed no crimes were spied upon. Telephone companies were cajoled into turning over private records of innocent people.
All of this was done in response to a shocking attack on the seat of American capitalism and the seat of American military might. These were attacks that perhaps could have been prevented had anyone, especially the president himself, bothered to read the intelligence reports that said, right up at the top of the page: Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the U.S. Further down it referred to the possibility of hijackings. If I am asleep at the wheel of my car and that causes the death of innocents, then I am liable, and I can guarantee you that I AM GOING TO JAIL. Forget for a moment the premeditated crimes of this administration. Just the outright negligence and incompetence of this band of C students has caused so much suffering from New Orleans to every classroom of every school in this once-great nation where nearly every child was left behind. Now a half-generation has been done in and sent down the road to social, civic, and cultural stupidity.
And if I were to, right now, right here in this book, list the name or names of covert CIA agents—an action that could lead to their death or disappearance—I can guarantee you that there will be search warrants issued, and calls will be made to try me for treason.
I say all of this with no desire for vengeance or one ounce of vindictiveness in my heart toward George W. Bush. Contrary to what many of you may assume, I harbor no hatred of him. I have never uttered the words, “I hate George Bush.” Hatred of another person is a vile place to exist, and it does more damage to you than to the object of your hatred. You can hate what he does—and I do—but to hate him as a human being is useless and often sinks you to his level.
So, my desire for his arrest this coming January 20 at 12:01pm is only about this one thing: are we a nation of laws, or not? If we are, then we will have committed a crime ourselves if we allow Bush & Co. to escape without being brought to justice. The point is not so much to imprison them because they will remain a threat to the public at large or to imprison them in order to rehabilitate them. Let’s all agree on this one point: there is NO WAY to rehabilitate Dick Cheney or Don Rumsfeld. They will go to their deathbeds unrepentant and unchanged. Their fate is best left in the hands of a Higher Power.
The reason they must stand trial is to prevent high crimes such as theirs from ever occurring again. If we let them go without having to answer for their actions, trust me, we will relive this horror show with some other administration somewhere else down the line. THAT is why we must pursue indictments against them and their list of crimes. Imagine the message the perp walk will send to future presidents if they even consider starting an illegal war or raiding the people’s treasury to line the pockets of their friends. I’m not talking so much about punishment of the current president as I am about prevention of the next rogue commander in chief. Is that not worth it? Is it not our duty to insist that such trials take place? Are we a nation of laws—or not?
If the answer is “not,” do we leave it to someone else to set us straight? To clean up the neighborhood and rid the government of an out-of-control criminal element? How would this be done? Do we even want to consider the ramifications?
As you can see, we have no choice. We ARE a nation of laws, laws that are based on a common code of decency, of right and wrong, and, dare I say, of the religious teachings that tell us it is a sin to steal, a sin to lie, and most of all, a sin to kill. If we cannot bring ourselves to take a simple stand for everything we know to be right and good and true . . . then who are we? What have we become? And what legacy do we leave those who come after us? History will not judge us kindly, my friends, if we fail to act.
(On June 9, 2008, against the orders of his party leadership and the Democratic Speaker of the House, Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, Ohio, submitted Articles of Impeachment on the floor of the United States House of Representatives against President George W. Bush. Though impeachment is not ultimately what is needed, these 35 counts against the president do serve as a guide for the list of crimes and acts of negligence committed while in office by the 43rd President of the United States. For a full reading of the charges and the evidence to back them up, go to http://kucinich.house .gov/NEWS/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID= 93581.)
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
ARTICLE I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.
ARTICLE II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.
ARTICLE III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.
ARTICLE IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.
ARTICLE V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.
ARTICLE VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of H. J. Res114.
ARTICLE VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
ARTICLE VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.
ARTICLE IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor.
ARTICLE X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes.
ARTICLE XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq.
ARTICLE XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources.
ARTICLE XIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries.
ARTICLE XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency.
ARTICLE XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq.
ARTICLE XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors.
ARTICLE XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives.
ARTICLE XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy.
ARTICLE XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture.
ARTICLE XX
Imprisoning Children.
ARTICLE XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government.
ARTICLE XXII
Creating Secret Laws.
ARTICLE XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
ARTICLE XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment.
ARTICLE XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens.
ARTICLE XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements.
ARTICLE XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply.
ARTICLE XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice.
ARTICLE XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
ARTICLE XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare.
ARTICLE XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency.
ARTICLE XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change.
ARTICLE XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 9/11.
ARTICLE XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001.
ARTICLE XXXV
Endangering the Health of 9/11 First Responders.
6
Mike’s Handy Candidate Guide
Whoever wins the White House, it will really be about who controls Congress. Here are 12 Senate and 30 House Seats the Dems Can Win.
While all the attention in the past year has been on the upcoming presidential election, little notice has been given to the House and Senate races for Congress. Every seat in the House and a third of the Senate seats are up for grabs in November. Republicans this year are stuck with having to defend a whopping 23 of the 35 seats that are up for election. The Democrats, if they don’t screw it up (a caveat that I know is already implied when using the word “Democrats”), have a chance to take real control of the Senate (which now votes 51–49 in their favor, meaning that “independent” Joe Lieberman votes with them most of the time to give them a nominal majority).
Whereas many of us hope that we don’t end up with four more years of a Republican in the White House, we also know the chances of that happening are clearly there. We also know that, should the Democrat win, he will be fought tooth and nail by the Republicans on every piece of legislation—and will need all the help he can get.
The one way to guarantee that President Obama will have the Congress he needs in order to get his work done—and for the rest of us to have a filibuster-proof, and perhaps even a veto-proof, Congress should the Republican win—is to elect a Senate in November with at least 67 Democrats and a House with 290 Dems. This way we have an insurance policy no matter what happens in the presidential election.
So what are our chances of getting the Foolproof Congress? Quite good, actually—if we all band together and do the work that needs to be done. Many analysts believe that the Democrats have a chance to pick up so many seats this year, it’s almost ridiculous. That’s because the Republicans have sunk the nation, the people know it, and a few days after Halloween the Republicans up for re-election are going to watch themselves starring in a horror movie called, Revenge of the Voters.
Here’s the lay of the land:
Four Senate Republicans are defending seats in states where the majority of voters have consistently been voting Democratic in the past two Congressional elections and in the last presidential election. Republicans John Sununu of New Hampshire, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and Susan Collins of Maine are all up for re-election in blue states. The Dems need to snatch away these four seats, plus win the open seats in Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia where the Republican senators are retiring. Assuming that no Democrat will be thrown out of the Senate this November (a safe assumption), the Democrats have to pick off just TWO Republican senators who are currently in red states. The most likely chances are in Alaska, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. It won’t be easy, but if there ever were a year in which the public is in a mood to “throw the bums out,” this is the year. Especially with a popular Democratic presidential candidate who’s bringing millions of new voters to the polls.
This takeover will only happen if each of you reading this decides to devote a small or large chunk of your time (and a few dollars if you can) to these campaigns. You may already live in one of these states; give the campaign a call and volunteer to help. If you live in a safe area, think about spending a week or two or more in a congressional district that could use the help.
You can find out how to get involved by going directly to any of the candidates’ websites or simply go online at ActBlue.com, which is the online clearinghouse for Democratic action. Their website enables you to volunteer or contribute to any Democratic candidate anywhere across America.
So let’s begin by taking a look at where our best chances are to remove a few Republicans from the United States Senate . . .
Twelve Senate Seats We Can Win
COLORADO
Mark Udall
Senator Wayne Allard, Republican of Colorado, is retiring this year. In his 12 years in the Senate, he was most noted for . . . well not much. In 2006 Time listed him as one of the country’s five worst senators, pointing out that although he serves on two powerful committees, he has actually pushed through very little legislation. With Democrats being elected by the crate-full these past four years in Colorado, Allard is wisely keeping his promise to serve only two terms.
Which is good news because the very popular Democratic congressman from Colorado, Mark Udall, is running for Allard’s Senate seat.
Udall has worked tirelessly for a wide range of important causes, including the environment, public education, and strengthening Social Security and Medicare. He has been an advocate fo
r protecting Colorado’s wilderness areas and wrote legislation that turned the site of a former nuclear weapons plant into a wildlife refuge. Udall bravely voted against giving the president authority to go to war in Iraq and was a staunch opponent of the Patriot Act. Udall is pro-choice, pro-conservation, and pro all the good stuff which will make us a better country.
Udall’s Republican opponent in this election is Bob Schaffer. Schaffer must have done something right during his six-year tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives. When he quit to run for a failed Senate attempt in 2004, he immediately landed a cushy job with Aspect Energy, an oil and gas exploration company. And who better to have running against you this year than a mouthpiece from the oil and gas industry. Schaffer’s only chance of winning will be if he literally gives away tank-loads of free gas to voters in the month before the election.
Back in the 1990s, Schaffer took it upon himself to personally remove AIDS pamphlets from a safe-sex display at the Capitol. According to the Durango Herald, “He was offended that children visiting the Capitol might see descriptions of unsafe sexual practices and a poster displaying condoms as ‘Smart Sportswear for the Active Man’.” Somebody should remind Senator Schaffer that although the Catholic Church has banned condom use, the state of Colorado has not.
NEW MEXICO
Tom Udall
Following the lead of Wayne Allard (and the trend in the southwest to go with the Dems), Republican Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico is retiring. Domenici has been around forever—and up to no good. He supported the Bush tax cuts. Then he voted to make it harder for people to file for bankruptcy. And one of his latest acts of mischief was allegedly pressuring U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to step up the investigation of a corruption probe of New Mexico Democrats prior to the November 2006 election. Iglesias was fired six weeks after the phone call; he was one of 9 U.S. attorneys fired that year for what is widely assumed to have been political reasons.
And who better to replace Domenici than Mark Udall’s cousin—New Mexico congressman, Democrat Tom Udall. This Udall also voted against the Iraq war. A strong environmentalist, he authored legislation to establish a nation-wide renewable energy standard in which utility companies would be required to generate a certain portion of their electricity from clean and renewable sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal. As Attorney General, he instituted an environmental enforcement division and led preservation efforts in the state. Rep. Udall also sponsored the Healthy Workforce Act of 2007, aimed at providing tax credits to employers who implement employee wellness programs.
Mike's Election Guide Page 9