John Nichols: Cheney is Longtime Bad News for US

[marmar]

from the Capital Times, via CommonDreams:


Published on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 by the Madison Capital Times (Wisconsin)
Cheney is Longtime Bad News for US
by John Nichols

Dick Cheney worked in the White House of Richard Nixon, who had to resign as Congress began impeachment proceedings that grew out of his dishonest and disreputable stewardship of the presidency.
Dick Cheney worked with the White House of Ronald Reagan, which was investigated by Congress and the courts for establishing - and then lying about - a secret plan to violate the law by directing resources to its Iran-Contra co-conspirators in the Middle East and Latin America.

Dick Cheney worked in the White House of George Herbert Walker Bush, who pardoned former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Robert C. McFarlane, Elliott Abrams and others who had been indicted - and in some cases convicted - by Iran-Contra prosecutors.

Dick Cheney left the public sector to work in the corporate sector, where he established close alliances with the executives of Enron and hired the Arthur Andersen accounting firm to manage Halliburton's books.

Dick Cheney then stepped back into the public service as the prince regent to a boy president whose administration stands accused of "fixing" intelligence in order to persuade Congress and the American people to support an unnecessary - and ultimately disastrous - invasion and occupation of Iraq. As part of that initiative Cheney has repeatedly been caught promoting inaccurate claims about the supposed presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and an illusory "connection" between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

As he prepared to testify in the trial starting today on the charges of obstruction of justice and perjury that have been brought against his disgraced former chief-of-staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney said of Libby: "I believe he's one of the more honest men I know."

Cheney has refused repeated requests by members of Congress who want him to testify regarding Libby's actions and the efforts of the vice president's office to discredit retired Ambassador Joe Wilson, the man who exposed one of the administration's most serious assaults on the truth - the prewar claim that Iraq was taking steps to rapidly develop a nuclear arsenal. Yet the vice president told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Sunday that he plans to offer "my wholehearted cooperation" to Libby's legal defense. ......(more)

The rest of the article is at: http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0116-27.htm

[BOSSHOG]

1. And how many young cheney's are in training today

in the guise of patriotic young republicans. Those who make the conscientious decision not to serve their country in any way and devote their life to the abramoffian methodology of making a buck. "Conservatives" of the 21st century have zero to be proud of when it comes to their citizenship.

[dragonlady]

6. John Dean recommends getting them out of government now

See his essay here:
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20061215.html

Dean believes getting enough votes for a conviction in the impeachment of Bush/Cheney would be impossible (although he wrote this in mid-December, and who knows how many Republicans might join in as this drama plays out). He thinks it would be more fruitful in the long run to impeach the lower echelon in the administration and prevent them from coming back later, as Cheney and so many others have done. Here's the basis for the plan.

The Constitution's Impeachment Clause applies to all "civil officers of the United States" - not to mention the president, vice president and federal judges. It is not clear who, precisely, is among those considered "civil officers," but the group certainly includes a president's cabinet and sub-cabinet, as well as the senior department officials and the White House staff (those who are issued commissions by the president and serve the President and Vice President).

Lowering the aim of an impeachment effort to focus on those who have aided and abetted, or directly engaged in, the commission of high crimes and misdemeanors, would have all the positives, and none of the negatives, of going after Bush and Cheney. It would not be an effort to overturn the 2004 election, but rather to rid the government of those who have participated, along with Bush and Cheney, in abuses and misuses of power; indeed, many among them have actually encouraged Bush and Cheney to undertake the offensive activities.

Many of these men (and a few women) are young enough that it is very likely that they will return to other posts in future Republican Administrations, and based on their experience in the Bush/Cheney Administration, they can be expected to make the offensive conduct of this presidency the baseline for the next president they serve. Impeachment, however, would prevent that from happening.

It will be recalled that Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution states: "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States." (Emphasis added.) After any civil officer has been impeached, under the rules of the Senate, it requires only a simple majority vote to add the disqualification from holding future office.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Cheney IS honest...

At least I don't recall him ever saying "I am not a psychopathic shithead."

[Virginia Dare]

3. When will the boil be lanced?...n/t

[indepat]

4. Evil is as evil does

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. He forgot

Dick Cheney worked in the White House of Gerald Ford, who preemptively pardoned Richard Nixon of all crimes he committed or might have committed, thereby preserving the reputations of many lesser Nixon associates who cooperated on those crimes, allowing them to work in subsequent Republican administrations.

[Cha]

7. dick has Fucked

with America long enough. Way past time for him and his godzillabride to retire to the toxic dump of greedy oil tycoons.