I don’t know how I can make it any clearer that we cannot merely censure the President. It isn’t about revenge or the rule of law or lawbreaking. It’s about the absolute necessity of removing him as commander in chief. I mean, let’s get serious.
Democrats in Congress left a White House meeting with President Bush on Friday frustrated over what they perceived as his reluctance to embrace major recommendations from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
Democrats stressed to Bush in separate meetings the dire need for the administration to revamp its Iraq policy, but they don’t expect him to embrace all 79 recommendations made this week by the panel, which was chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.
Bush said he talked about “the need for a new way forward in Iraq” in his morning session with leaders from both parties and chambers of Congress, “and we talked about the need to work together on this important subject.”
But some Democrats came away unconvinced that major changes were coming.
“I just didn’t feel there today, the president in his words or his demeanor, that he is going to do anything right away to change things drastically,” Senate Majority Leader-elect Harry Reid, D-Nev., said following the Oval Office meeting. “He is tepid in what he talks about doing. Someone has to get the message to this man that there have to be significant changes.”
Instead, Bush began his talk by comparing himself to President Harry S Truman, who launched the Truman Doctrine to fight communism, got bogged down in the Korean War and left office unpopular.
Bush said that “in years to come they realized he was right and then his doctrine became the standard for America,” recalled Senate Majority Whip-elect Richard Durbin, D-Ill. “He’s trying to position himself in history and to justify those who continue to stand by him, saying sometimes if you’re right you’re unpopular, and be prepared for criticism.”
Durbin said he challenged Bush’s analogy, reminding him that Truman had the NATO alliance behind him and negotiated with his enemies at the United Nations. Durbin said that’s what the Iraq Study Group is recommending that Bush do now – work more with allies and negotiate with adversaries on Iraq.
Bush, Durbin said, “reacted very strongly. He got very animated in his response” and emphasized that he is “the commander in chief.”
Not for long. Not if is this is how he is going to respond to Baker-Hamilton. The grown-ups have spoken.
As noted in previous posting on this, Dennis Kucinich has pointed out that the Iraq outrage can by stopped by the next Congress. All it has to do is refuse to pass Bush’s budget for it. More fine-tuned fiddling can specify what such money that is passed can be used for.
I agree that impeachment is the right and only thing for many reasons, chiefly the reality that you can’t begin to heal as long as the cancer is intact. But unless you have reasons to disagree with Kucinich’s take, Boo, it doesn’t quite fly to claim impeachment is the only route to changing our behavior re Iraq. If your argument is that Congress won’t have the guts to cut funding, I don’t see where you think they’ll aquire the guts to impeach.
Best of both worlds: do both.
you are not understanding. I don’t know of anyone that thinks our best foreign policy option is to cut off funding for Iraq while the Executive screams and wails.
As I understand it, Congress could appropriate funding for specified activities without mindlessly passing Bush’s request as is. In fact if Bush does scream and wail and resist, he’ll be setting himself up for an even more certain impeachment by proving that he’s incapable of changing course. Seems like a win-win to me, and the point where pressure should currently be applied to the new Congress.
You certainly won’t get any argument here 🙂
As I watch Bush’s reaction to the ISG report, I begin to wonder about Rummy’s leaked memo. Is there any chance that Bush/Cheney actually dumped him because he was “straying from the course?” I’m seeing Cheney in his bunker saying “bring it on.”
One of my interests in getting rid of Bush/Cheney is that I worry about a bloody mess in Iraq when we finally do leave. And I think that Bush/Cheney will “stay the course” so that can happen on the next administration’s watch and be blamed on them.
<<Durbin said he challenged Bush’s analogy, (snip)<br>
Bush, Durbin said, “reacted very strongly. He got very animated in his response” and emphasized that he is “the commander in chief.” >>
Ok, this is what has me wishing I could raise a nationwide red alert about this guy. He’s cornered, he’s digging in, and he’s baring the teeth of all the power he has stolen.
His response to everything is that of a spoiled child who isn’t getting his way, isn’t it?
we agree for a change!
before impeachment, they have to cut off funding for the war. ASAP.
Impeach ! The Magic Silver Bullet ! Kill the badguy and all our problems will resolve themselves !
This is Truthiness, it just has to be true, because I believe it so hard !
If only it were so easy.
Impeaching Boosto would be the first small step toward fixing the royal fuckups his admindistortion has perpetrated on the people of America and the world.
No one thinks it would magically fix everything. I think it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for restoring America as quickly as possible.
but I want it done right. I don’t want this to be an OJ Simpson situation where they (allegedly) get off on a technicality. I want the evidence to be so solid that even the hardest-Right Republican Senators have to vote to convict…or risk giving us heavy artillery to use against them when they come up for re-election.
And more than that — I want the entire Republican culture of corruption and cronyism to be exposed to the light of day…for sunlight is often the best disinfectant when it comes to bullshit. We have to show the American people that “Republican values” are not the wholesome Mom-And-Apple-Pie values that they would like voters to believe, but just another variation on the old theme of grabbing and keeping power and privilege.
I trust John Conyers to do a thorough job in investigating this misAdministration’s actions; I’m unfamiliar with Henry Waxman and many of the other impending committee leaders, so my confidence is a little lower. But we’ll have to keep a close eye on our new Congress — Keith Olbermann says he’ll give them 6 months before making them the potential subject of a “Special Comment”…I suggest we give them much less time before we make our feelings known…
If anyone thinks that all of Junior’s blather about cooperation and bipartisanship is anything other than empty gestures, they’re listening to Fox News too much. This jackass has no intentions of doing anything that he doesn’t want to do, and even though he knows that the Democrats now have the power and the ammunition to impeach him and his sidekick Cheney, I think he still believes he is untouchable.
Dubya demonstrates all of the characteristics of a bully, and generally speaking, bullies are cowards at heart. But what we have here is a bully with an ego the size of Alaska. I’m guessing that he’s being reassured by Rove that even if Congress impeaches him, they will not remove him from office, and they can always spin the nonsense that impeaching Junior is simply payback for Clinton, so history will treat him as a martyr instead of the insolent idiot he really is.
My main concern about impeachment is that if Congress goes after Bush (and nevermind what Nancy Pelosi says. She isn’t running the country…yet), they need to go after Cheney at the same time, or even first. No matter if Cheney actually is the power behind the throne (and the Rumsfeld firing would seem to be an indication that his power is diminishing) the idea of a formal “President Cheney” is enough to make my teeth chatter.
Damn straight.
We’ve seen more than enough evidence in the past six years to warrant impeachment — and it wouldn’t take too long for serious investigative hearings to find more. We NEED those hearings, though. We need the evidence laid out in front of the American public, until as many people as possible realize just how much this Administration is responsible for. The deliberate deceptions that took us to WAR, that have wasted billions of dollars, handed out like candy to Halliburton and other war profiteers. The lies that sent nearly three thousand Americans to die in Iraq, and created a maelstrom that threatens to tear apart the entire Middle East. That left government agencies floundering without leadership or resources to do their jobs — EPA, FEMA, OSHA, etc., leading to the deaths of still MORE Americans… Not to mention the long-term harm to our own armed forces, between the ongoing casualties and lack of quality recruits, cutting benefits, VA support, necessary supplies, running the troops to the ground with redeployments, losing experienced career officers who are furious over the way the military has been abused and their sound, experienced advice ignored.
Yes, it would be a nasty fight. But it’s an absolutely necessary one — and if they have the collective balls to pursue it, the Democrats (and those Republicans who have “examined the evidence” and allow themselves to be “regretfully convinced”) will not lack for popular support. Courage and a principled stand for justice will resonate with both red states and blue — once the truth comes out beyond all dispute.
Showing the world we are SERIOUS about the rule of law and doing something about the cowboy-in-chief and his cronies will also go a long way to restore the reputation of the United States in the eyes of its allies, which opens the door for other options in the Middle East as well.
Holiday Impeachment Cards…
Impeach for Peace has created holiday impeachment cards that allow your friends and family to initiate the impeachment process. Deck the halls of congress with colorful impeachment petitions! Now that Representative McKinney has introduced Articles of Impeachment to Congress, it’s time for us to show the other Members of Congress our support. So, Impeach for Peace created the Holiday Impeachment image, and researched a company that will allow you to send jumbo sized postcards along with a personalized message using your web browser. To learn more about this method of inititiating impeachment, go to: http://ImpeachForPeace.org/HolidayImpeachNow.html
Soon, Santa will be delivering sacks and sacks of mail to Nancy Pelosi initiating impeachment via the House of Representative’s own rules. This legal document is as binding as if a State or if the House itself passed the impeachment resolution (H.R. 635). What better gift to give this holiday season than the restoration of our democracy? Truly the gift that keeps on giving. Over this past year, Bush has become an even greater threat to our Constitution. Lucky for us, the rules of the US House of Representatives allow for individual citizens like you and I to initiate the impeachment process directly! This process was successfully used to impeach in the past.
Be a part of history and have a merry impeachment this season!
Congress better pass legislation right quick that will prevent Bush from expanding his expeditionary mistake into Iran. Recall that blank check he was given after 9/11, so in his pique, he doesn’t go right ahead with his plans to nuke Iran — or whatever else Cheney et al want done.