Is * going AWOL an impeachable offense?

[Bushknew]

[sallyseven]

1. No I don't think so.

More like court marshal.

[Catholic Sensation]

2. i'd like him out as much as the next guy

but lying about his military service thirty years ago is by far the least horrible of all his actions

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. No, and AWOL is kind of stretching it too

He simply did not do drills required of other National Guard members. It is no big deal, except * lied about it. Over and Over.

Lots of rich dads got their kids into the NG. And that is fine, that is what happens. I have no grudge against anyone who did NG duty, and did it well.

And if you did not do it well, don't lie about it.

[Octafish]

4. Dunno. Treason is, though.

Bush connected to bin Laden for a long time through James R Bath, Bush's TANG buddy who went on to handle bin Laden family's US business dealings. When the media finally start examining the documents, they'll tie the AwOL story to 9-11. That shows Bush knew bin Laden from way back. And he didn't tell and he didn't stop 9-11. That's treason.

[Peregrine]

5. Impeachment of Clinton

made it clear (and Rhenquist agreed) that an impeachable offense is anything the House says it is. So do you think this House considers it an impeachable offense? That is your answer.

[maggrwaggr]

6. lying to congress and starting war illegally is

so who cares about AWOL?

AWOL is just another major revelation as to what a liar this guy is.

[BillZBubb]

7. Whatever a majority of the House agrees on

is the current definition of an impeachable offense. That's a pretty radical notion--but what do you expect from today's conservatives? Unfortunately, we don't have a majority in the House.

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Probably not

However, twisting intelligence to make a phoney case for war is.

[leesa]

9. Lying to start a war is, so is willfully destroying the economy and

endangering the future of America by inciting terrorism and economic collapse

[Wapsie B]

10. Article II, Section 4

"The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Isn't military desertion a crime? For those who wish to poo poo this I must wholeheartedly disagree. To have the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of this country walk out on his military service is horrendous, even with no military actions going on.



http://www.tpromo.com/gk/gov/1-co1-a.htm#Article%20II,%20Section%204

[Jack Rabbit]

11. Military desertion

Failing to report for National Guard service probably does not constitute desertion, or even AWOL.

But it's pretty despicable in that he supported the war and used his family's influence to get a Guard slot, took a million dollar training course and then scoffed it off.

[Bushknew]

18. Amazing how contributions are not considered bribery

Anyway, that you all for the input.

[chaska]

12. I say we hang him first...

then figure out if we can impeach him.

[2004Donkeys]

14. Please don't say that.

The last thing I want for you is the Secret Service knocking on your door.

[2004Donkeys]

13. No

n/t

[0rganism]

15. Wouldn't he be covered by Carter's blanket amnesty?

In 1977, one of Carter's first presidential acts was granting a pardon to all those who had evaded the draft or deserted. I would suppose this applies to W's case, were AWOL charges applicable.

[wickerwoman]

16. He ran as America's CEO.

In business, if you lie on your resume and they find out they can fire your ass in a heartbeat even if you've worked there 30 years.

Legally, no. But if Bush wants to play by business rules, he should be held to all of them.

[NicRic]

17. Clinton was impeached on a trivial matter so >>>

I say an eye for an eye ! Lets see how they like it when one of their pResident, who by the way was not even elected by the people gets picked on constantly ! I know some say we should not lower our selves to their unfair way of doing things .I say its time to fight fire with fire ,we should be unrelenting on any issuse that can have legs and be a thorn in this pResidents side. The " no more Mr. nice guy " should be the Dems new moto !

[Silverhair]

19. Do you think a Republican congress is going to impeach a Republican POTUS?

No Way. Besides, the election will be in a few months anyway. Why bother?

[kenny blankenship]

20. AWOL is a determination by a commanding officer

who then initiates a court martial charging the service member under article 86

But the whole thing is pretty much within the discretion of the unit commander.

A officer/enlisted is reported absent on a daily report. Or is told to go somewhere as his duty post, and refuses the order.

the commanding officer decides what to do about it: either reprimand, or give Non Judicial Punishment (Article 15) or Court Martial.


Now you're not AWOL, as a legal term, unless you're convicted in a court martial of being AWOL. AWOL is supposed to be a court martial offense. But like I said it appears that the decision to prosecute is up to your commanding officer.

SO if your unit commander declines to prosecute you but gives you some lesser article 15 rap --or nothing at all-- then it kind of didn't happen.

Bush didn't appear for his physical. And he also failed to show up for drills for a long time. That could be AWOL. Morally speaking that IS awol. But what happened instead of a court-martial? Maybe Bush came in from the cold, got a talking to and was assigned non-flight duties to make up his missing drill dates.

If he was AWOL and found guilty under article 86 a whole bunch of people would know about it, documents or no documents.

Article 15 NJP should have shown up in his records if that's what happened -- and again, lots of people would know about it starting with his unit commander(s).

If nothing at all besides reassignment to desk duty was done to Lt. Bush, son of Texas Congressman and Millionaire oilman George H.W. Bush, then there would be no papers related to disciplinary proceedings, no one would know anything about the lack of disciplinary proceedings aside from his Commanding Officers. And it would be a big mystery. Oh --and his commanders would be too embarrassed to admit that they let him get away with being absent for a year and a half.

One of his base commanders IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW why Lt. Bush wasn't court martialled. But this was the ANG not the USAF, and so it appears rules and strict discipline were very relaxed particularly for this Congressman's son.

But you can't impeach Bush on it because, the f*ing ANG gave him an honorable discharge. If he owed them any service they weren't supposed to process him out until he fulfilled it. You can get honorably discharged after an AWOL offense, but that's if "you've paid your debt to society" being locked up, maybe busted down a rank, etc. Once they let you go, you're gone.

What you might get Bush on is a conspiracy to alter/delete his service records AFTER he left the ANG. If he was involved in whitewashing his past record of disciplinary infractions and the like from the TANG files, that's a prosecutable offense. Which could warrant impeachment -- if the Congress wasn't controlled from one side to the other by Republicans.