Yesterday on MSNBC’s Countdown, Jim Vandehei had this to say about the revelations in the Downing Street Memo (
transcript):
VANDEHEI: Well, not really, and the reason would be that the two allegations that are in the memo are basically that the president was planning to go to war long before he was publicly acknowledging it, and determined to use highly disputed weapons of mass destruction information to justify an invasion. Both of those charges, I think, have largely been true—proved by the media, and by administration officials who were there during the war planning sessions. . .
. . . I think the historical context is that it‘s the first time we really have something in writing that proves what I think a lot of people already knew. I mean, we had—our reporters have talked to several officials that have said exactly what‘s in those memos. But now you have a paper trail. So I think that would be the historical significance of it.
So, the Euphemedia knows all about the criminal behavior. Old news. All part of the game. Aarrgh. Don't they listen to themselves?
At the forum yesterday, John Bonifaz set out the legal basis for Impeachment. The Resolution of Inquiry is great, but we also need some
simple talking points or memes. For example,
Bush’s lies = terrorism = high crimeThreatening the American people with annihilation in a nuclear holocaust based on “highly disputed weapons of mass destruction information”, is an act of terrorism. {Bush,
Oct 7, 2002.
"America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."}
Threatening the American people with the horrors of a chemical or biological attack based unverified claims, is an act of terrorism. {Bush,
9/2/02, "The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons… And according to the British government, the Iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes."}
Terrorizing the American people constitutes a high crime.If the revelations in the Downing Street Memo have been proven -- that the Bush administration conspired to justify going to war "by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD," and to accomplish this objective "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." – Congress has a duty to take the steps necessary to remove him from office.
The "story" that demands attention is this: If evidence is so abundant that the revelations in the memo had been "proved by the media, and by administration officials who were there during the war planning sessions," and "a lot of people already knew" this to be the case, why haven't the members of the House acted? The knowledge of crime demands an inquiry.
As the elected representatives closest to the people, the members of the House of Representatives do not have the option of ignoring such serious crimes. When confronted with evidence of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, they have a duty to initiate an Impeachment inquiry on our behalf. If the evidence is sufficient to establish, if believed, that George W. Bush committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, they must formulate specific charges and send the case to the Senate for trial.
If they fail in their duty, it is up to us to
hold them accountable.