Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation
Finally, it has started. People have begun to speak of impeaching President George W. Bush–not in hushed whispers but openly, in newspapers, on the Internet, in ordinary conversations and even in Congress. As a former member of Congress who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, I believe they are right to do so.
I can still remember the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach during those proceedings, when it became clear that the President had so systematically abused the powers of the presidency and so threatened the rule of law that he had to be removed from office. As a Democrat who opposed many of President Nixon’s policies, I still found voting for his impeachment to be one of the most sobering and unpleasant tasks I ever had to undertake. None of the members of the committee took pleasure in voting for impeachment; after all, Democrat or Republican, Nixon was still our President. Â
At the time, I hoped that our committee’s work would send a strong signal to future Presidents that they had to obey the rule of law. I was wrong.
(Original Article)
The current administration has not learned from the Nixon lessons.
Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice and whomever else was responsible for manipulating the 2000 and 2004 elections are guilty of more impeachable offenses than any administration in US history.
They have not identified, found, or brought to justice, whomever was responsible for the horrific attacks of 9/11/01 — the worst attacks on US soil in recent memory. It is now over 5 1/2 years later. There has never been a clearer dereliction of duty in US history.
They have compounded that failure by using faulty intelligence and outright lies to start and wage a war in Iraq. That “war” has caused the deaths and maimings of thousands of US military personnel and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Rather than making the world safer FROM terrorists, it has enflamed and emboldened terrorists worldwide, resulting in more attacks on US and allied citizenry.
Thousands of Americans died or were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. Administration appointees failed to respond in a timely and appropriate manner to the devastation. The National Guard, who should have been the “first responders”, was suffering from severe personnel shortages since they were deployed to fight the Iraq “war”. Many of those dislodged Americans are still homeless, and they may never be able to return to their communities.
Despite mounting, overwhelming, contrary evidence, the Bush administration has steadfastly denied the existence of global warming and other environmental threats, instead cozying up to their business cronies. Despite a mounting national debt caused by the Iraq “war”, the administration has lavished huge tax breaks upon those corporate supporters, and upon the wealthiest of Americans.
Most recently, Mr. Bush has again arrogantly vetoed a bill to fund stem cell research in the US. Over 70% of Americans favor the bill, and as many as 100 MILLION Americans — one third of the populace — suffer from the 70+ diseases and afflictions which may well be helped, or cured by, stem cell applications.
Members of the Bush administration daily take actions which add to the impeachment case. However, whether or not Bush, Cheney et al are impeached, their actions in Iraq certainly merit trial for war crimes before an international tribunal.