A Theory: Democratic "Leaders" Don't Want Bush Impeached Because....

[IdaBriggs]

He provides a precedent if they wish to abuse their powers and offices in the future.

After all, if Bush doesn't get impeached for all of the treasonable acts and corruption he has supported (and let's face it, the list is beyond long), then THEY shouldn't get impeached if they just do a FEW treasonable acts, and maybe act just a *little* corrupt.

Perhaps Bill Clinton was their "sacrificial lamb" for the "we're sorry Nixon went down" and they want to be done trading impeachment proceedings. After all, once you get to Washington, then the "perks" of corruption are just part of the job description, right?

Perhaps we Crazy Law Abiding Non-Rich Americans are JUST STUPID ENOUGH TO LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT.

After all, what else can we do but abide by the policies of our "leaders"?

Its just a theory. What do you think?

ON EDIT: Fixed "Democrat(ic)" in the subject line.

[Stephanie]

1. say "Democratic" please

ty

[adigal]

2. Feingold just called for a Censure Resolution

on the spying issue on ABC's This Week. Wants to put every senator on record.

[warrior1]

3. He

can be impeach and brought up on charges even after his out of office.

[Ian David]

10. No, he'll just claim to have Alzheimer's.

Then Pickles will become a new advocate for stem-cell research to rescue her allegedly ailing husband.

The fake Alzheimer's crap worked for Reagan during Iran-Contra and beyond. It worked even better than the fake assassination attempt on himself that he staged.

Some people say.

BUSH: When I made the decision to invade Narnia--
CONYERS: Narnia? You mean Iraq.
BUSH: Saddam stole my bicycle.

[Burning Water]

11. How can he be impeached

after he leaves office? The only penalty for conviction (by the Senate) of impeachment charges is removal from office.

He can be brought up on charges but that would be a criminal, not an impeachment procedure.


Article 1 Section 3

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: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to
Law.

[Demit]

4. I'm at my most depressed when I suspect it's all a puppet show for us.

I get this image of the camera panning up to show who is really working the strings--the oligarchy equally comprising "Republicans" and "Democrats". The actual powers who write the script and perform the show that they tell us is called "democracy".

[Meldread]

5. That's because it's the truth.

There really are two Americas. There is Bill Clinton and George Bush's America, and then there is the America we live in. The majority of our elected leaders (most but not all) do not have our best interests at heart. They are treating us like pawns in their little games.

[mikehiggins]

6. Jack-booted GOPukes and Vichy Dems

What a combination. I suggest everyone go back and read "It Can't Happen Here" sometime before November, and the sooner the better.

People keep blathering about "tipping points" while we may be reaching the point where the slide into totalitarianism becomes unstoppable.

Right now, how many Americans realise that Bill Clinton was the last American President elected in a free and fair election? How many remember that Bush is President because the SCOTUS interfered in an internal State voting dispute, thereby disenfranchising thousands of American citizens?

How quickly they forget.

[acmejack]

7. Oligarchy

The few dictating to the many. You are absolutely correct. Clinton purchased his entrance to the group with GATT, WTO, and NAFTA, IMO. This moneyed elite dictates everything political that happens in this Country, while maintaining the illusion that it is a "democracy".

[Demit]

8. I think he was cultivated long before that, no? Wasn't he brought in as a

member of the CFR and TriLateral Commission long before he ran for president? I imagine him being told that he could be One Of Us, and here's the part he would play...

When I'm at my most depressed, that is...

[Greyhound]

15. ...and the t-com act of '96 and welfare "reform", and H-1b/L-1 visas...n/t

[Ufomammut]

9. Because in many ways it's a rigged game

Just like "pro" wrestling: a predetermined strategy and outcome.

[LoZoccolo]

12. I think it's utter horse shit.

You asked.

[Sapphire Blue]

14. !

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

Can't you just see our Democratic leaders plotting to abuse their power when we regain the presidency? :sarcasm:

[IdaBriggs]

16. I think its more the "corruption" thing.

Right now, if you want to have a good stock market portfolio, the best thing to do is whatever members of the United States Senate do.

Republican or Democrat, their stock portfolios regularly beat the market by unbelievable percentages.

Is it just because they can "afford" the best advisers -- or because insider information is just one of the perks of office?

[Sapphire Blue]

20. So are you saying that you think Dem leaders want to avoid impeachment...

... so that they can get away w/corruption when we regain the presidency? That's what it sounds like; I hope it's not what you meant.

[IdaBriggs]

21. Yup. That's what I'm saying. Why else refuse to enforce the rule of law?

Either you value the law, and enforce it, or you don't value the law, and its ignorable.

I am, however, ready to start worshiping at the feet of Senator Feingold, and any Democrat who has the courage to support him.

I would love to be proven wrong. :)

[Sapphire Blue]

22. Well, I disagree w/you.

I don't think that our Democratic leaders are chomping at the bit in anticipation of getting away w/anything... corruption, abuse of power, or anything else. If anything, I'd say that they are chomping at the bit in anticipation of restoring democracy.

Our Democratic leaders aren't refusing to enforce the law; the repub majority has that honor/disgrace. The Dems don't currently have the power to do what needs to be done. That will change after Nov, when we regain Congress.

[IdaBriggs]

23. I hope you are right, Sapphire Blue. I really, truly hope you are right.

If they are really "chomping at the bit to restore Democracy" though, why won't they support censure or impeachment or anything else?

Seriously, why?

Yes, we have A FEW who are doing it, but I've talked with the head of my local party, and (he's a very nice guy, by the way) he keeps saying they don't want to do it.

Hence, my cynicism. But I hope I am wrong, and they nail these bastards to the wall....:)

[Sapphire Blue]

25. As I said before, Dems don't currently have the power to do...

... what needs to be done.

Legislation proposed by our Dem Congress people is stopped cold. Whatever they even try to do is smacked down by the repubs. Remember John Conyers' DSM hearing? Relegated to a small basement room... and a record number of votes that day, continually pulling our House members out of the hearing. Just one example. Any efforts/actions our Dem leaders take at this time are thwarted. We'll see what happens when we have a Democratic Congress next year.

[LoZoccolo]

24. "...their stock portfolios regularly beat the market..."

Where did you hear this?

[IdaBriggs]

27. Here is one of the sources -- quoting from the Wall Street Journal.

http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2004/10/senate_stock_tr.html (I copied more than usual because the quotes are from a Wall Street Journal Article that has been archived and requires membership.)

October 26, 2004
Senate Stock Trading
Taken together, the semi-strong and strong forms of the Efficient Capital Markets Hypothesis teach that no class of investors can beat the market over time without routine access to material nonpublic information. Many studies have shown that the only investors who, as a class, routinely produce positive abnormal returns are corporate insiders. It turns out, however, that there is a second such group. As reported in today's WSJ($): (http://users1.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=wsj-users1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB109874916042455390.html%3Fmod%3Dpolitics%25255Fprimary%25255Fhs)

A study suggests that U.S. senators possess stock-picking skills that even the most seasoned money manager would envy. During the boom years of the 1990s, senators' stock picks beat the market by 12 percentage points a year on average, according to the study. Corporate insiders, meanwhile, beat the market by about six percentage points a year, while U.S. households underperformed the market by 1.4 percentage points a year on average, according to separate studies. The final details of the study will be published in the December issue of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. ...

Looking at the timing of cumulative returns, the senators also appeared to know exactly when to buy or sell their holdings. Senators would buy stocks just before the shares suddenly would outperform the market by more than 25%. Conversely, senators would sell stocks that had been beating the market by about 25% for the past year just when the shares would fall back in line with the market's performance.

What explains this miraculous performance? Given that the senators are producing returns that best even such stars as Peter Lynch and Warren Buffet, shouldn't they go manage mutual funds instead of running the country? Or are senators trading on the basis of inside information? It looks like the latter:

The researchers say senators' uncanny ability to know when to buy or sell their shares seems to stem from having access to information that other investors wouldn't have. "I don't think you need much of an imagination to realize that they're in the know," says Alan Ziobrowski, a business professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta and one of the four authors of the study.

Senators, for example, are likely to know which tax legislation is apt to pass and which companies might benefit. Or a senator who sits on a certain committee might find out that a particular company soon will be awarded a government contract or that a certain drug might get regulatory approval, says Prof. Ziobrowski.

So it seems that we are ruled by crooks and cheats. The sad part, of course, is that I'm not all surprised. (End Quote)

Here is another one: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37480

WASHINGTON – While Martha Stewart is facing jail time for her role in dumping stock just before a government action would decrease its value, U.S. senators have an uncanny knack for doing this on a regular basis – with impunity from the securities laws they write.

(snip)

First-time senators did especially well, with their stocks outperforming by 20 percent a year on average. There was no difference in performance between Democrats and Republicans.

A separate study in 2000, covering 66,465 U.S. households from 1991 to 1996 showed the average household's portfolio underperformed the market by 1.44 percent a year.

(snip)

There is more at the links, or you can also google "Senate Stock performance" -- its depressing. :(

[Atman]

17. Thanks.

That about sums it up, imo!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. We're supposed to elect representatives, not "leaders".

Unfortunately, most Americans would prefer "strong leaders" rather than take responsibility themselves.

[silvershadow]

18. there is another reason they probably don't want him impeached

That is, as long as he stays in, the better the democrats look. If the he gets impeached and another republican takes over, they would have a chance to moderate their positions ever so slightly from the current ones, and say "see, that wasn't so bad, look where we are now".

[mmonk]

19. My opinion is simple.

We are now in a transitional dictatorship.

[Generator]

26. No

Here's what I really think. And I always enjoy reading your posts even when I don't agree.

I think yes, most of the Dems we have as leaders are cowards. I think MOST people are cowards so they are hardly unique. And when faced with overwhelming facts of fascism and such utter evil-what do they do? Deny. Rationalize. Pray for tomorrow. Do nothing-because it's easier to pretend that whatever the heck they are doing on that hill actually matters when it's all a sham. NEXT TIME! And some who really really get it-like Kerry-who knows just how evil the powers that be are-still continue with this fantasy of "working in the system". Even though the system is totally corrupt, totally bought, the elections are not accountable, money is all that matters in getting elected and the rest is lies anyway. But it's their belief system. It's who they are. They are politicans. They believe they can make a difference even in the face and facts of it all being totally false. From 9/11-to the Iraq war-let's have another committeee! Let's have another hearing. And nothing changes. No one was held accountable for 9/11, no one is held accountable for the Iraq war-in the words of Mr. Conyers-no greater fraud that false reasons to go to war can be brought on a people. But it's just another day at the office. People like Kerry are not going to save us. We need a leader to get the people in the streets. Politicans change nothing. People do. They aren't of us.

And of course, we are cowards too. (the general we) Because once the people are in the streets-people die-people go to jail-and it's a whole nother level of commitment. How much do we risk? It's not going to happen with the ease of just voting. I keep thinking about Kerry's concession speech. How angry I and so many were. I thought he almost had a tone that sounded like we were going to rise up in the streets and fight for him and our votes. That he almost seemed afraid of that.

"Let the healing begin." He said. Well, how many have died, been tortured, how much of the Supreme court have we lost, how much of our liberties? We should have been in the streets then. I was ready. I know many were. And now we have this. Thanks for the healing. On to 2008! Everything will be okay then!

Bitter, bitter, bitter. And nothing gets better.