This letter by Kurt and Anne Kutay to Congressman Kurt Inslee, First District of Washington state, was posted at afterdowningstreet.org by David Swanson.http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23780A Letter to A Congress Member
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2007-06-19 19:39. Congress | Impeachment
Dear Rep. Inslee,
I hosted a gathering in my home on Friday, June 8, 2007 concerning the impeachment of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. Approximately 20 persons attended including among them our Edmonds neighbors, local professionals and business owners, a scientist, a teacher, peace and justice activist leaders, a veteran, and a local high school student. Everyone in the room has supported your re-election and those of us who live in the 1st Congressional District voted for you in past elections. But the political tide in the room reflected a shift.
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We discussed many of the impeachable offenses listed below committed by the President and Vice-President, any one of which could be grounds to impeach:
1. Launching an illegal war of aggression against Iraq in violation of the UN Charter. And, we are concerned that without Congressional limits the president threatens to do the same in Iran;
2. The president was declared a felon in federal court after Federal District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled last August that President Bush and the NSA were committing serial Class A felonies and violating both the First and Fourth Amendments by spying on Americans without first obtaining warrants;
3. Violation of U.S. and international law including the Geneva Conventions by authorizing the torture of captives;
4. There certainly is enough evidence to warrant impeachment proceedings against the Vice-President on grounds of treason for his highly suspect role in exposing the identity of a covert CIA operative;
5. Violating the U.S. Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans without charge or access to counsel and corresponding due process;
6. The use of indiscriminate and especially injurious weapons (white phosphorus, MK-77 firebombs, depleted uranium, cluster munitions) in civilian populations violates international law including UN conventions on weapons used in war;
7. Through the use of signing statements the president has violated U.S. law by defying the intent of Congress and the will of the people.
8. We are most concerned overall that the president is subverting the Constitution and abusing executive power by asserting a “Unitary Executive Theory” giving exceptionally unlimited powers to the Executive Branch thereby obstructing efforts by Congress and the Courts to review and restrict Presidential actions.
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However, our call for impeachment is not about removing President Bush and Vice-President Cheney from office, but rather of preserving our Constitution, the balance of power in government, and ultimately the will of the people to govern protected by the rule of law. Throughout their correspondence and at the Constitutional Convention, our forefathers expressed deep concerns about corruption of elections and the elected. It was precisely for these times that they established the process of impeachment as essential for the rejuvenation of our democracy by removing a president or vice-president deemed incompetent or criminal.
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Thank you in advance for your reply.
"Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the
question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular?
But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time
when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor
popular- but one must take it simply because it is right." :
Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
Sincerely,
Kurt and Anne Kutay
(This letter was signed by others in the group. – LB)