"Why a growing grassroots movement on the left wants to impeach the president" ...

[Breeze54]

The 'I' word

Why a growing grassroots movement on the left wants to impeach the president

-- and why Democrats in Washington don't even want to talk about it.

By Drake Bennett | June 24, 2007

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/06/23/the_i_word/?p1=MEWell_Pos5

FOR ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN it was the discovery, in late 2005, that the Bush administration had been monitoring Americans' phone and email conversations without warrants that convinced her that the President shouldn't be allowed to serve out the remainder of his term.

As a young congresswoman from New York, Holtzman, who now practices law in New York City, had served on the House Judiciary Committee that in 1974 adopted articles of impeachment against President Nixon. Among the charges, she points out, was that Nixon had overseen an illegal electronic surveillance program.

"Having participated in that," she says, "you don't forget it."

Today Holtzman is one of the leading voices in a small but energetic movement seeking to impeach not only President Bush but his vice president, Dick Cheney. In March, the Massachusetts Democratic Party joined 13 others, in states like California, Nevada, and New Hampshire, in passing a resolution in support of impeachment. The legislatures of nearly 80 towns and cities (most in Massachusetts, Vermont, and California) have passed similar resolutions, and state legislators in 11 states have introduced impeachment bills.

But given how controversial and deeply unpopular the administration has become, it is surprising how little mainstream political traction the movement has gained. Polls show the public does not think impeachment should be a priority. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly declared impeachment to be "off the table," and even Congress's most liberal members oppose the idea. It is a sign, say many, that the nation's most vivid memories of impeachment are of the deeply divisive Clinton proceedings, not the Nixon drama that eventually allowed the country to heal.

"Somehow along the way in this country we have become really afraid of impeaching," says Darcy Sweeney, a Massachusetts coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and one of the activists who brought the impeachment resolution before the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

More........

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[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[Breeze54]

2. Dems have different "reasons" to not want to, they say .... --->

Snip from the article -->

For Democratic strategists, though, legal arguments are beside the point. Their case against
pursuing impeachment is straightforwardly political. While every poll shows deep dissatisfaction
with Bush and some show a conditional support for impeachment, even registered Democrats don't
tend to list impeachment among their top priorities.

"Pursuing impeachment today, Democratic leaders argue, would galvanize a Republican Party
that's currently quite discouraged with Bush. "In an ironic way it does George Bush a favor,"
says Rep. Barney Frank, Democrat from Newton. "He is losing the national debate on most issues,
he is losing support among Republicans, and impeachment would almost certainly allow him to
rally lots of Republicans."

Continued...

[tularetom]

4. Well there might be some truth to that

reluctant as I am to admit it. In the late 90's I had a very poor opinion of Bill Clinton. But as soon as the feeding frenzy began on wingnut media for his impeachment, my opinion of him actually changed. And I began defending him to people who had heard me criticizing him weeks before. If I can have a change of opinion absent any other mitigating factors I guess wing nuts can have one too, since I'm probably smarter than they are

[Morgana LaFey]

10. BULLSHIT - the public is FOR impeachment

and if impeachment proceedings started, MORE of the public would be FOR impeachment. It's never discussed, so many who are and would be for it aren't making much noise about it.

6/17/2007
***** Harris Poll results leaked, 54% of likely voters favor impeachment.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1129958


Given how little exposure and publicity the very idea of impeachment has gotten, 54% strikes me as a whole movement all by itself.

[warren pease]

12. Yup. Most people don't have a clue what these bastards have been up to...

Thanks to the complicity and/or ineptitude of mass media, most people who use TV news as their primary source of information (and that's about 93 percent according to several polls and surveys) are living in fantasy land. They haven't a clue how this administration operates, what results came of the DoJ politicization, what the Plame outing was really about, what directives Bushie signed recently that make him intergalactic czar, what happens every day in Afghanistan and Iraq, the mass murder of civilian populations in both countries, the targeted genocide directed at Arab Muslims, the growing rebelliousness and desertion rates among the US troops, how oil companies are lobbying for position as the leases for the Iraqi oil fields are awarded.

And so, so much more. An outrage a day keeps the rebels at bay, cuz they can't figure out what to get maddest about at any given time.

Exposing the crimes of this administration through well-publicized impeachment hearings means finally getting this stuff into the open. Saturation coverage of sworn testimony detailing "high crimes and misdemeanors" is the spark that could enrage a critical mass of people, many of whom might even contact their Senators and demand a guilty vote.

If Cheney isn't impeachable now, what would he have to do to warrant impeachment? Murder a baby in full view of CNN's cameras, then eat its entrails? Get caught passing nuclear secrets to the North Koreans, then kill a Korean baby and eat its entrails? Or maybe the only impeachable offense left is an indiscreet blow job from a willing staffer. And the idea of Cheney engaging in a sexual act is so hideous that I'm going to put that out of my mind right now.


wp

[kenny blankenship]

5. Their reasons sound like rationalizations

impeachment hearings for Nixon did not make him popular. On the contrary, the name of Nixon became a synonym of criminality and dishonesty. With all the sleazy stories about dirty tricks coming out about Watergate, with the prior resignation of V.P. Spiro Agnew in a plea bargain deal that wheedled bribery down to tax evasion, and with pent-up, widespread and longstanding disgust for the war, the impeachment hearings made Republicans very embarrassed--enough so that Republican leaders in Congress told Nixon to step down before he was removed.

There is a huge difference between the impeachment of Clinton and the prospective impeachment of Bush. After a six year witchhunt Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about his mistress. George W. Bush has committed high crimes of state and gross misdemeanors in office. He committed these impeachable offenses in vast numbers in a general campaign of misrule by deception and even aggression against our form of government. If he and or Cheney "cannot be impeached" the impeachment clause should be removed from the Constitution because it no longer means anything.

[Breeze54]

6. It's all political!

It's not about right and wrong, morals and ethics.

[Individualist]

13. That's the spin

The truth is that DLC is in charge of the party, and they don't want the moron-in-chief to be impeached.

[EFerrari]

3. K&R

:)

[pat_k]

7. It ain't the "left" (or the "anti-war left"). It's the Anti-Bush majority. . .

While I'm sure they they were just trying to adhere to the blackout on impeachment polling, but when Newsweek asked, "do you personally wish that George W. Bush's presidency was over" they asked a question that strips away all the impeachophobic excuses that impeachment can't/won't/shouldn't happen. They unintentionally managed to capture the ACTUAL level of support for impeachment.

Newsweek Poll, 27-Jan-07

"At this point in time, do you personally wish that George W. Bush's presidency was over, or don't you feel this way?

58% Yes, wish it was over

37% No, do not

5% Don't know/refused

The breakdown by Party found that 21% of Republicans, which constitutes 7% of all Americans "wish it was over"

Tragically, 12% of Democrats, which constitutes 4% of all Americans "do not" want it over. I imagine these people are, as Dems often do, overthinking the question and NOT answering based on personal desire, but rather giving an answer consistent with "off the table."

And if you believe the election was "all about the war" or "getting things done" you may be interested in this: http://january6th.org/reasons-for-success.pdf

[Breeze54]

8. Wow! I wonder what the breakdown is now!!

21% of Republicans, which constitutes 7% of all Americans "wish it was over"

It has to have gone up higher!!

[live love laugh]

11. Yes that "left" tag jumped out at me too. I guess the grassroots issue may apply

though as there have been states working on impeachment and I believe it's mostly democratic. Still, in general, the majority of people want Bush and his gang of thieves gone.

[glitch]

15. From the extreme far right everything looks "left". They are only outing themselves. nt

[HughBeaumont]

9. Translation: A Buncha Godless Commie Tree-Huggin Anti-American Hippies want to impeach Our Great VP!

STILL believe that there's a liberal media, Regressivecans??

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. K&R