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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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July 25th,
2008 - Bush Critics get an Unimpeachable Forum |
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Bush Critics get an Unimpeachable
Forum By Jim Abrams Associated Press July 25, 2008 Washington - Call it the
un-impeachment hearing. The House Judiciary
Committee held a hearing Friday it insisted was not about removing President
Bush from office. But critics of Bush's policies couldn't pass up the chance
to charge the president with a long list of impeachable "high crimes and
misdemeanors." Leading the way was Rep.
Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the former Democratic presidential candidate who has
brought repeated impeachment resolutions on the House floor against Bush and
Vice President Cheney. Kucinich got a rock star
welcome of whistles, hoots and clapping as he walked into the hearing room,
holding hands with his wife, from hundreds of anti-war, anti-Bush people
crammed into the room and lining the hallways outside. T-shirts reading
"Arrest Bush" and "Veterans for Impeachment" illustrated
the sentiments of many. "The decision before us
is whether to demand accountability for one of the gravest injustices
imaginable," Kucinich testified, avoiding use of the "I" word. The House Democratic leadership,
not interested in a bloody impeachment battle in the last year of Bush's
presidency, steered Kucinich's resolutions to the Judiciary Committee where
they could quietly fade away, but Friday's hearing gave Kucinich and his
allies an opportunity to air their views. "To the regret of many,
this is not an impeachment hearing," said committee chairman John
Conyers, D-Mich., pointing out the less incendiary title of the event,
"executive power and its constitutional limitations." Still, Conyers, a vocal opponent
of Bush, noted that his panel had pursued many issues that Kucinich and
others regard as impeachable offenses: manipulating intelligence about Iraq;
misusing authority with regard to torture, detention and rendition;
politicizing the Justice Department and retaliating against critics, as in
the outing of former CIA agent Valerie Plame. Republicans, clearly in the
minority at the hearing, expressed suspicion at Democratic motives. Rep. Dan
Lungren, R-Calif., called it "impeachment lite," where people were
given free rein to impugn Bush but not to impeach him. "It seems that we are
hosting an anger management class," said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the
committee's senior Republican. "This hearing will not cause us to
impeach the president; it will only serve to impeach Congress's
credibility." The committee also reminded
lawmakers and those testifying that House rules prohibit "personal
abuse, innuendo or ridicule of the president." The House Rules and
Manual points out that suggestions of mendacity, or accusations of hypocrisy,
demagoguery or deception were out of order. "The rules of the House
prevent me or any witness from utilizing familiar terms," Kucinich said.
"But we can put two and two together in our minds." Former Los Angeles County
Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, known for his prosecution of Charles Manson in
1970, acknowledged that "I am forbidden from accusing him of a crime, or
even any dishonorable conduct" under House rules. But he could still
encourage people to read his book, "The Prosecution of George W. Bush
for Murder." Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.,
was less circumspect in asserting that Bush was "the worst president
that our nation has ever suffered." Rep. Maurice Hinchey,
D-N.Y., concluded that "this is the most impeachable administration in
the history of America because of the way that it has clearly violated the
law." "I am really astonished
at the mood in this room," commented one witness, George Mason
University School of Law professor Jeremy Rabkin. "The tone of these deliberations
is slightly demented," Rabkin said. "You should all remind
yourselves that the rest of the country is not necessarily in this same
bubble in which people think it is reasonable to describe the president as if
he were Caligula." External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iE21FOVAfMfEbAE5LDwiYm8fGh4QD9252IFO0 |