Carl Bernstein: Bush More "Disastrous" Than Nixon

The Nation -- Carl Bernstein will always be known as the journalist who brought down a president whose disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law disqualified the errant executive from completing a second term in the White House. And Bernstein still gets a round of applause when mention is made of the role he played, as part of a Washington Post investigative team that also included Bob Woodward, in exposing the high crimes and misdemeanors of a president named Nixon.

But 33 years after Nixon resigned in order to avoid an inevitable impeachment -- on August 9, 1974 -- Bernstein is more concerned about a president named Bush.

John Nichol, The Nation, Aug 9, 2007

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Cohen co-sponsors bill to impeach Cheney

WASHINGTON -- Before returning to Memphis on Sunday after a marathon weekend House session, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., signed on as a co-sponsor of bills to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney and to censure both Cheney and President Bush.
The impeachment resolution was introduced by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in April and has 18 co-sponsors, including the four it picked up in the last week.

read more B Sullivan, Memphis Commercial Appeal, August 6, 2007

BEACH IMPEACH! III

BEACH IMPEACH! III
is currently being organized for the morning of Saturday, September 15 in San Francisco.



Beach Impeach! III is part of a national day of IMPEACHMENT actions scheduled for September 15th, 2007. For further information contact:

Organizer: Brad Newsham

Email: newsham@mac.com

or visit his website at http://www.bodiescount.org/

If you can't get to San Francisco, then schedule and/or attend an event in your area.

After wiretapping victory, Bush says he wants more authority from Congress

The day after President George W. Bush marshaled political forces in Congress to grant him greater authority to engage in counterterrorism-related spying, the president stated that he would seek greater changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when the legislative branch returns to work in September.

Michael Roston, The Raw Story, August 5, 2007

From Sen. Russ Feingold's website

FEINGOLD, HINCHEY INTRODUCE RESOLUTIONS CENSURING PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT AND ATTORNEY GENERAL

Resolutions Condemn President and Administration Officials for Misconduct Leading Up to and During Military Involvement in Iraq, and for Undermining the Rule of Law

August 6, 2007

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) have introduced two censure resolutions in their respective chambers condemning the president, vice president and the attorney general for misconduct regarding our military involvement in Iraq and for their repeated assaults on the rule of law at home. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is a cosponsor of both Senate censure resolutions and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is a cosponsor of the Senate censure resolution regarding Iraq. The House resolutions have 19 original cosponsors.

“Congress cannot stay silent when the American people are demanding that this administration be held accountable for its blatant misconduct regarding Iraq and its attack on the rule of law,” Feingold said. “These censure resolutions will let future generations know that Congress stood up to the destructive policies of this administration that have weakened our national security, cost more than 3,600 American lives, and undermined the principles on which our country was founded. I applaud Congressman Hinchey for leading this charge for accountability in the House of Representatives.”

“From misleading this country into invading Iraq to establishing a warrantless domestic spy program, this White House has continuously misled and deceived the American people while disregarding the rule of law that guides our democracy,” Hinchey said. “The Bush administration has placed an extraordinary burden on this and future generations to recover from the damage done to our Constitution and national security. While it will take time to get our country back on the right track, we in Congress can act now by passing these censure resolutions to hold the White House accountable and to let the historical record show that an equal branch of government found the actions of this administration undeniably reprehensible. I am honored to be working with Senator Feingold on these censure resolutions and look forward to gathering support in order to pass them in both chambers.”

The censure resolutions regarding Iraq, S.Res.302 and H.Res.625, condemn the president and vice president for:

· Misleading the nation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s regime and about Saddam’s links to al Qaeda and 9/11

· Inadequate planning for military action in Iraq

· Overstraining the military and undermining homeland security

· Misleading the nation about the strength of the insurgency

The censure resolutions regarding the rule of law, S.Res.303 and H.Res.626, condemn the president and attorney general for:

· Authorizing the illegal NSA warrantless wiretapping program

· Pursuing extreme policies concerning torture and the treatment of detainees

· Detaining enemy combatants indefinitely without charges, access to a lawyer, or habeas rights

· Unilaterally authorizing flawed military commissions that were subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court

· Misleading Congress and the public about, and obstructing investigations into, the firings of U.S. Attorneys

· Making misleading statements regarding civil liberties abuses under the Patriot Act

· Undermining acts of Congress with signing statements based on extreme theories of executive power

Cosponsors of the House resolutions are Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Danny Davis (D-IL), Sam Farr (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), John Hall (D-NY), Michael Honda (D-CA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), James Moran (D-VA), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Carol Shea Porter (D-NH), and Diane Watson (D-CA).

The Senate censure resolution regarding Iraq is available at http://feingold.senate.gov/censureiraq302.pdf. The Senate censure resolution regarding the rule of law is available at http://feingold.senate.gov/censureruleoflaw303.pdf. The House resolutions are identical.

Sen. Russ Feingold's website

Democrats Introduce Censure Resolutions Aimed at Bush, Cheney and Gonzales

Democrats have introduced resolutions in the House and Senate that would censure President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Russ Feingold, D-Wis., introduced the censure resolutions in the Senate on Aug. 4; New York Democrat Maurice D. Hinchey introduced them in the House a day later.

One resolution (S Res 302, H Res. 625), would censure Bush and Cheney for “misleading the American people” about the need to invade and occupy Iraq, as well as for poor planning and conduct of the war.

The other measure (S Res 303, H Res. 626) would censure Bush and Gonzales for “undermining the rule of law and the separation of powers” by, among other things, authorizing the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of American citizens and making “misleading” statements about the application of the a sweeping 2001 anti-terrorism law (PL 107-56).


Keith Perine, Congressional Quarterly, Aug 6, 2007

Be careful what you say and whom you help

President Bush issued an executive order last week titled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." In the extreme, it could be interpreted as targeting the financial assets of any American who directly or indirectly aids someone who has committed or "poses a significant risk of committing" violent acts "threatening the peace or stability of Iraq" or who undermines "efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform" in the war-torn country.

Walter Pincus, Washington Post, July 23, 2007

Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq

More Bush-Congress Court Fights Likely

WASHINGTON (AP) - A court decision concluding that federal agents went overboard in searching a congressman's office almost certainly presages more legal showdowns over the Bush administration's fierce battle with Congress for control of information.

The administration repeatedly has rebuffed Congress' efforts to look into wiretaps, energy policy, prosecutors' firings and other matters, while claiming its own right to probe alleged congressional misdeeds. The efforts have been extraordinary, even by the standards set by secretive and combative presidents such as Richard Nixon, some legal scholars say.

Charles Babington, AP, Guardian Unlimited, Aug 6, 2007

Bush invokes executive privilege for Rove in attorney firings

WASHINGTON — Ratcheting up the stakes in a legal battle with Congress, President Bush on Wednesday ordered White House adviser Karl Rove and a senior political aide to refuse on grounds of executive privilege to testify before the Senate on the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called it ``a shame that this White House continues to act as if it is above the law.''

McClatchy Newspapers Aug 1, 2007

Why Pelosi Opposes Impeachment

If she were not in the House--and not Speaker of the House--Nancy Pelosi says she "would probably advocate" impeaching President Bush.

Ari Berman The Nation July 31, 2007

Baldwin joins impeachment call

U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, wants to see the House impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. She also wants to investigate whether similar action should be taken against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

And she is not alone on either front.

The fifth-term congresswoman from south-central Wisconsin formally signed on this morning as a co-sponsor of House Resolution 333, the proposal by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, to begin impeachment proceedings against the vice president. Baldwin is the 16th member of the House to agree to co-sponsor the resolution, and she is the fourth member of the House Judiciary Committee to do so.

Capitol Times, Madison, WI Aug 2, 2007

“Damn, I need one of those.”

BEFORE the first American war against Saddam Hussein, when Dick Cheney was secretary of defence, he had to brief King Hassan of Morocco about the brewing Operation Desert Storm. As the meeting was about to start, the king placed a small silver box in his translator's hand and briefly spoke with him in Arabic. Mr Cheney asked what the ritual meant. The king replied that the box contained a fragment of the Koran and he was swearing his translator to secrecy on pain of death. Mr Cheney says he thought: “Damn, I need one of those.”



The Economist July 26, 2007

"The President Cannot Ignore an Impeachment"

After months of revelations about his ham-handed attempts to politicize investigations and prosecutions by U.S. Attorneys and sections of the Department of Justice he heads, after his repeated refusals to cooperate with Congress and his deliberate attempts to deceive the House and Senate judiciary committees, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has invited impeachment to an extent rarely seen in the long and sordid history of executive assaults on the rule of law.

John Nichols "The Online Beat" The Nation

First Post

I was living and working in Paris in 1973, three years removed from Vietnam. I was a 'Goldwater conservative' in my mid-twenties and have, for the most part, managed to retain those beliefs as my own even now. I was fascinated at what was taking place at that time in Washington. Yet as I read the 'International Herald Tribune' and European publications, then listened to friends living in the States and reading Time and Newsweek, it was almost a completely different process at work (or a completely different point of view).

I now live in San Francisco, the capital of the liberal west coast. There exist many parallels to that time; the polarized society, the 'Imperial Presidency', an unpopular war, grassroot discontent. There are also dissimularities; the main one I see is a lack of passion in beliefs, in process.

This is the first blog I have ever published. I hope to provide information, but more. I hope to stimulate passion once more.