To Republicans: Do your duty

[Capn Sunshine]

According to their own standard used when pursuing the impeachment of President Clinton, and so eloquently phrased on DKOS the other day by CinDan in his diary about the justifications used at the time, the Republican Party finds itself at an unpleasant crossroads. Either they were serious about the United States being a country of laws, or they must now step up and admit they were craven partisan hacks, that their entire rationale during the Clinton Impeachment was just so much propaganda, and that they stand for nothing except the accumulation of power to serve large corporations at the expense of the people.

So which is it? Are we a nation of laws, as the Gingrich-led republican jihadists of the time insisted? This simple argument convinced everyone, even me.(It was just the weak and hypocritical attack on Clinton's private conduct that I objected to, and the perjury trap which I felt was unconstitutional.)

But we are now faced with a crossroads not of our making, but a product of a president eerily similar to Nixon -ie an alcohol-damaged paranoid who has religious delusions and is surrounded by Machiavellian corporate yes men who serve a belief that making war is the best boost to an economy we can find, and that moral decay abounds among those opposed to this process.

But the bottom line here is we are either a democracy , or we're not. We are either a nation of laws, or a type of monarchy led by an infallible emperor who has the ear of God.

The sincere and patriotic (yes, they exist) among the republicans, the ones who believed the notions put forth in 1998, now realize they must respond to this higher calling: it's an either /or, its a black/white, it's all the unambiguous "for us or against us" rhetoric put forth by their house Organs for the past five years:

ARE WE A NATION OF LAWS, OR ARE WE NOT?

Do we turn a blind eye to the increasingly naked emperor as he discards his last fig leaf? Or do we do what we must, what THEY must, to reaffirm once again we are America, a Constitutional Republic, and not some tin pot dictator's plaything?

How about it, Republicans? Are we a nation of laws, or was that just a load?

Your country looks to you, for the answer. You know what you must do, it is so obvious, you are still American legislators sworn to uphold and defend the constitution, not your party, not your President: the Constitution.

YOU MUST IMPEACH GEORGE W. BUSH
Or admit your party is fallow, bankrupt and morally despicable.

You're either with us, or against us.

[Name removed]

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[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Fascinating and with glaring omissions - like the war and deficits

On points 1-20

1. Economic growth is an illusion when one takes into account the stagnation of wages, the lack of REAL job growth and the growing deficits and trade imbalances. We are just running up a Visa card with the imprinture of Chinese banks.

2. The DEATH tax (called the Estate or Inheritance tax by sane people) does not apply to the vast majority of Americans as it only arises when estates are greater than 1.6 million dollars. Those with larger estates are still usually able to avoid it with proper estate planning which they can all afford anyway.

3.Would be fine if we could be assured that the new jobs would not be off-shored,in-shored or made up solely of the new "guest workers" i.e. "serfs".

4.Cos' they're just all about "fairness" and "simplicity". They just want it to be fairly simple to siphon off boatloads of tax-free dollars to cronies and families.

5.Just talk to anyone in the military about all the "support" they are getting from this administration - from inadequate supplies to crappy pay systems to trying to renege on promises made to existing veterans.

6. Homeland Security can ONLY be increased as it is non-existent as we speak.

7.Most Americans would choose ANY affordable health care that could not be ripped away from them as soon as they need it or lose their job.

8.Civil Rights are civil rights and marriage is a civil right which should not be withheld due to sexual orientation. Civil unions among gays does nothing to threaten the sanctity of marriage among non-gays. Get over it.

9. Should be "continue to provide funding for remedial education programs" so that redundancies like this can be caught in the future.

10. Same as #9. Don't they proof read?

11. Like to be a little more specific? Reform is a pretty nebulous word.

12. See #6. Since we have NO border Security any change would be an increase.

13. About f!@#king time! But there are countless other programs that could also be enacted.

14. Same as #13.

15. Another duplication! See #7.

16. Honor the promise to seniors while you screw younger Americans with your plan to privatize SS dollars and funnel them into the pockets of your corrupt insider crony companies who will then siphon billions and billions in administrative charges, fees and overhead.

17. See above.

18. Dupe

19. The rising cost of healthcare has almost NOTHING to due with medical malpractice except for the unconscionable rates charged by the gouging insurance companies. Multiple offender doctors need to be driven into a high risk pool or out of the industry.

20. No issues with this one, as long as the judges have no personal agenda, be it right or left.

[mac56]

4. You don't see a crime?

"I don't see the crime that Bush has committed that merits impeachment. You see a crime waging war in Iraq, I see a bad strategy decision."

What, pray tell, will be your benchmarks for considering this travesty a crime? What would make you see that? How about lying us into war in the first place? The death of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and thousands of US and allied troops? Instigating a civil war where none existed before? The destruction of irreplacable cultural and historical areas? Orchestrating an effort to "out" a CIA operative because her husband publicly disagreed with it? Tolerating and facilitating the torture of war prisoners? Diverting billions of dollars to this quagmire when Americans are homeless, jobless, and without health care?

Hey, I got more.

"Bad strategy decision"?

Enjoy your stay here.

[Name removed]

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[mac56]

12. I've never seen anyone be so dispassionate

while he half-defends, half-criticizes the asshole "president".

It's like he's watching a chess game or something.

Sheesh.

:eyes:

[Vickers]

8. "We would have never made war on the middle east had 9-11 not happened."

I think you're wrong.

"it's not cool to see the little guy get beat up and stomped on.

The "little guy" in this case is the son and grandson of oil millionaires that happens to control (either directly or indirectly) the White House, Congress and Supreme Court and various media outlets and religious factions.

I'm supposed to feel sorry for him?

:rofl:

[Tellurian]

9. "We would have never made war on the middle east"..The Hart-Rudman Report

was personaly handed to Cheney by Al Gore before he left the WH.
That report detailed the existence of current intelligence
warning that a terrorist attack on the US was imminent.

All that was left to be determined was WHEN!

As you remember, Bush's response was: "The VP will handle the nation's security."

[Capn Sunshine]

14. The VP handled security like Rummy handled the Iraq invasion

Incredibly badly, to the huge profit of all involved.

[Tellurian]

2. The Republicans ARE doing their duty..

They have taken over our three branches of government-

They are lining their pockets with both hands from oil/energy profits-

They justified a preemptive war with a LIE, torturing and killing thousands of civilians.

They flagrantly carry the blood on their hands of over 2500 of our military dead and dying every day.

They have abandoned the victims of hurricane Katrina-

They are poisoning our air and water, to enhance corporate greed-

They have successfully retooled America into their image and likeness,
making us the most hated country on earth.

And with little fanfare, have placed themselves above the LAW- and
will continue doing what they do best; point fingers, cry foul, and
destroy everything and anything on the planet that is unlike them!

[radfringe]

7. When you hear a GOPer say "we won't impeach"

ask them why they won't hold bush* accountable? Why are they shirking THEIR RESPONSIBILITY?

[Tellurian]

10. Where is House Manager, Henry Hyde?

Why isn't he shrieking:

"No one is above the LAW?"

"Not even the President!"

[Capn Sunshine]

13. Elephant in the living room

This has nothing to do with the red herring of intergration. Nothing.

This president has delcared himself ABOVE THE LAW, claiming that if he does something, it is automatically legal because of the powers inherent in the Presidency.

He totally LIED about the leaking the CIA agents name, about leaking the existence of her carefully constructed cover company.

He then tries to tell us the law doesn't apply because he "decided" to declassify this info.

IOW, he is above the law. If you actually believe in the rule of law, as you claimed with Clinton, you have NO ALTERNATIVE.

You must impeach this President over illegal acts, the high crimes of conspiracy and lying to the American people.

[Tellurian]

15. Yep,

the ner'do'wells posting here seem to think
they can BS their way through trivializing
the prospect of impeachment..