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Can any impeachment of Bush stand up to the rule of law with a changed Constitution?

by Open-Publishing - Saturday 11 November 2006
5 comments

Democracy Governments USA Mary MacElveen

Can any impeachment of Bush stand up to the rule of law with a changed Constitution?
By Mary MacElveen
November 11, 2006

While some polls are beginning to ask Americans how they feel concerning the impeachment of President Bush as evident in this MSNBC poll, much should be taken into account before we even think of said proceedings. I will get to that in a bit.

I was heartened to see that 87% felt in relation to this question “Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.” Good going since you have been paying attention or you just do not like the direction this president and the present GOP led congress has taken us in.

This is how 4.4% based on this question responded “No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors." Okay, this is where these folks need a sound spanking. I can think of one already and that is lying to congress as President Bush did. I am not even going to name the lies since these folks are clueless.

I do feel that this percentage 6.6% needs a wake up call in how they responded to this question “No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.” I guess these folks have not paid attention to the news in which the casualty rate of our U.S. soldiers stands at over 2,800 and tens of thousands of them wounded for life. I guess they are not paying attention to where Iraqi official reported today that 150,000 civilians died in Iraq and according to Lancet that number goes as high as 655,000. All of this occurred when President Bush lied to all of us and took us into this illegal war.

1.9% responded when it came to this question “I don’t know.” Why not take a stand? My guess is that they were paying more attention to reality TV which in reality is not real at all.

Here is where I think we need to think this impeachment process through and many are not legal experts including myself, but are more likely to form their opinion based on emotions. If we are to proceed with any impeachment process it must be done right or not at all if the Democrats are to be seen as credible leaders of this country.

Much has changed in our country since the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton. He was impeached under a different United States Constitution then the one we currently have. You may ask how and below, I will state how.

After 9/11 a massive 800 page Patriot Act was passed in October of 2001. It was approved by congress in response to those terror attacks. Congress members were given little time to actually study this act. It was then signed into law by President Bush.

It was only two years later that the Patriot Act Two was passed by congress and signed into law by President Bush.

As we fast forward to the Military Commissions Act which strips our Constitution of Habeas Corpus, approves torture, shields some from war crimes committed before December of 2005, this is one that must be fully studied to see how our present day Constitution now stands in order to proceed with impeachment hearings.

Also with the passage of the Surveillance Act is something we must all think about and how does that act affect our present day Constitution?

At this point, I would think that the new Democratic controlled congress would need an army of constitutional legal experts to look into all of these acts, now law and fully dissect them. I do have a gut feeling that with the passage of all of these acts, it just may shield President Bush and that is what we must find out.

While I have written in a previous column for all of these laws to be dismantled, Pat Buchanan stated on ‘Scarborough Country’ that Americans would not tolerate the dismantling of these laws. He said it would be wrong of the Democratic leadership in congress to even think of doing so.

As he stated that, I took the time to write Zogby to take a poll and see just where the American people stand. I wonder if Americans would they support it or not.

While online polls which are unscientific may support impeachment proceedings, scientific ones taken of why people chose to give the power over to the Democrats revealed a different story. Many voted against the GOP because of the war, their handling of the economy, the domestic agenda and other issues. On election night, I did not see any state they were voting against the GOP and for the Democrats because they wanted President Bush impeached.

Many of the problems that we are now facing have happened in six short, yet long years under Republican rule. If the Democrats race to any impeachment proceeding while ignoring why they were voted into office in the first place, that would be political suicide. These problems that we are all facing are going to take longer than two years to solve and if the Democrats do not do it right and anger the American people by ignoring their needs, they chance losing power in two years.

While many express their feelings on various online groups, it has only been a little over three days since we gained control of the House of Representatives and only a day since we gained control of the Senate. I think at this time patience is the key and we must all let those voted into power sort this out. They have the experts when it comes to law and while remaining vigilant, I think it is critical to give them the time needed instead of rushing into any proceeding without being blinded by vengeance.

In closing, I again reiterate that I am not a legal expert, but feel that these new laws were put in place by design by President Bush and the GOP.

http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/11/2491245.html

Forum posts

  • bull we want the scum impeached,including the new democratic congress if they dont make this a priority

    • The press always says that the people voted for change. That bothers me, because, the only change I voted for was the change back to the way it is suppose to be. Be careful when they they tell you about change. Their change is not what you think it is. I have been around consultants long enough to tell you that their vocabulary does not mean what your’s does. The money interests in Washington have corrupted our representatives. One lie is built upon another for the "Love of Money". It freightens me greatly when Nancy Polosi talks to Bush. I would like to tell her not to look into his eyes. I am looking for great things from her. Yes folks, we are not in Kansas (America) anymore! Best of luck to all!

  • All of the politicos& media have been the given same talking points to read to the idiot public-(Air America was particularly onesided,considering it’s designation as progressive..BULLSHIT! )..IE-that indictments would appear as if the Dems were only interested in petty revenge& take up too much time &resources.....that the dems have only 2 years to affect change on issues such as stem cell..gay marrage...soc.security...tax cuts for the wealthy...minimum wage ....iraq war....
    DID YOU NOT SEE THIS COMMING???? The ZIONIST JEW media owners(abc.nbc,cbs,msnbc,pbs,cnn,ap, reuters,upi,fox) in doing their propaganda job, have made sure that NO investigations will occur ,as it would bring up organizations like PNAC,AIPAC,MOSSAD,CIA,NSA and individual names like W.Kristol,Wolfowitz,D.Zackheim,A.Fleischer,Kissinger,Negroponte,Libbey,Abramoff,Pearle M.Chertoff,E.Abrams,R.Zoellick and hundreds more Zionist think tankers,advisors,policy makers.....and of course Cheney,Rumsfelder,and a bunch of stupid greedy immoral white guy frontmen.
    ..............WE ARE SOOOOOOOOOO DOWN THE TUBES........WE ARE TALKING GENOCIDE..TREASON..VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION & BILL OF RIGHTS FOLKS!!! This is NOT petty................GOD HELP US !!

    • RAISE UP YOU TRUE PATRIOTS AND NOW! AMERICA NEEDS YOU! BIG TIME! AGAINST THE ZIONISTS AND AIPAC WHO HAS TAKEN OVER OUR GOV’T AND AMERICA AND IS RUINNING IT ALONG WITH THEIR MINIONS IN OFFICE! SOME OF WHOM ARE NOT EVEN LEGALLY ELECTED LIKE BUSH! WHY in HELL should we follow the law when THEY ARE ABOVE LAWS!??? NOT,NOT,NOT!

  • What about the War Crimes Act of 1996?
    Google it.
    This Congressional Act practically made the Geneva Convention a part of US code.
    The fact is that Bush and his biggest cronies, Rumsfeld, Cheney and most especially Gonzalez can be prosecuted for violating this Act alone, never mind this administration’s other violations, such as the FISA Act of 1978, or the 4th amendment.

    I disagree with you entirely with this issue, and so do millions of Americans.
    What you are saying is that we as a nation should not be interested in the pursuit of justice, and that bringing criminals to justice is a waste of time.
    You are telling us that, yes, there are people in our nation who should be above the law, and those people happen to be powerful politicians, including the President.

    In a real democracy, Ms. MacElveen, no one, most especially our leaders, is above the law.
    That is why there are impeachment proceedings clearly outlined in the Constitution.
    If we as a country fail to pursue justice and bring down elected officials who so clearly violated our Constitution, then what is the point in having a democracy?

    You and people like you who insist that impeaching lawless Presidents is a waste of time are not just allowing criminals to escape justice, you are also allowing future power-hungry Presidents to complete what Bush hopefully failed to complete, which is establishing a totalitarian regime in our country.
    The precedent we will establish by failing to impeach this lawless President will allow for a future American President to easily become a dictator. All he would have to do is follow the neocons’ game plan, happy in the knowledge that the American people are not really interested in the pursuit of justice when it comes to their elected leaders, however corrupt and power-hungry they may be.