Impeachment Challenge From AlterNet and Readers Write

By Don Hazen, AlterNet. Posted November 17, 2006.

Dear AlterNet Reader,

Sent packing! That's right. American voters looked at the horrendous mess in Iraq, the crushing of civil liberties, the increasing wage gap, the overheating planet, and the mess in New Orleans, along with other issues, and voted many Republicans and conservatives out of office and out of power.

American voters said "enough."

But did they mean it? Or should the American public go further -- and hold Bush and Cheney responsible for war crimes, torture and illegal wiretapping?

Several things seem clear:

• The administration "fixed" intelligence to start a war unsanctioned under international law.
• The president violated the First Amendment by authorizing the NSA to engage in warrantless wiretapping of American citizens.
• The president authorized torture -- ignoring military law and the Geneva conventions -- which Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy considers "'war crimes' punishable as federal offenses."

Based upon these allegations and others, many AlterNet readers want to see impeachment proceedings initiated against Bush and Cheney. A grassroots campaign is already well under way.

Leaders of groups like Code Pink, Progressive Democrats, Veterans for Peace and others have already met in Philadelphia to plan a campaign. Books by Elizabeth Holtzman, John Nichols and others make a strong case for the viability of impeachment.

Of nearly 400,000 respondents to a recent MSNBC online poll, 87 percent supported impeachment. And a Newsweek poll found that a majority of Americans wanted to see Bush impeached if he lied about the war in Iraq.

AlterNet wants to provide strong coverage of the grassroots movement to impeach Bush and Cheney.

Will you make a contribution to help?

Now is the time when the real battle for progressive values begins in earnest. We need to keep the quality of our content high -- bringing you the best articles, essays and video available.

AlterNet will:

• Give you the pros (and the cons) of impeachment.
• Track the impeachment organizing effort as it gains momentum.
• Make an ongoing assessment of impeachment's political viability.
• Continue to provide you the best journalism on the topic, including excerpts from new books and new research on the justification for impeachment.

But we need your partnership to help us maintain our high standards. Please make a contribution to support AlterNet's coverage right now.

Help us move forward.

What follows are some important reader responses from Tim Dickinson's recent article "So You Think You Want to Impeach?."

Warmly,

Don Hazen

****

Many AlterNet readers wrote in response to Tim Dickinson's Nov. 15 article, So You Think You Want to Impeach?, about impeachment and the current crop of books on the topic. It seems pretty clear that the AlterNet readers who commented did not appreciate Dickinson's ultimate assessment that politically, impeachment wasn't practical. A slew of angry, idealistic, principled readers came down pretty heavily on the idea that impeachment should be off the table, and are raring to join a grassroots movement in support of impeaching both Bush and Cheney.

What follows represents the feelings and thoughts of some of these writers -- and many more.

Joyleaf wrote, "I think some action is in order, and I have this little feeling that weight's shifting in that kind of way that can signal changing tides. A little push from a lot of us could get the show on the road."

Keefus55: "If impeachment is not an option, then why did our founding fathers put that procedure in our Constitution in the first place? Clearly, this crowd has committed MORE than their fair share of "high crimes and misdemeanors."

"It seems to me that the unprovoked invasion of another sovereign state in a trumped up war, which has resulted in the needless killing thousands of our own sons and daughters (not to mention hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians) would CERTAINLY beat white stains on a blue dress hands down ..."

Earthie writes, "It bothers me not at all that many in positions of leadership now speak of impeachment as 'off the table.' This is, after all, government of, for and by 'the people,' which is us. Many seem to want to forget the 'by' part of this reality."

"We have a few months before the 110th Congress (which will be under a Democratic majority) is sworn in. This means that men of integrity such as Conyers and Waxman will chair key committees charged with oversight of the crimes that we have seen openly committed by Bush and Cheney. We (those of us who believe firmly that impeachment is both warranted and necessary) have those few months to muster and show support for this cause."

"Remember that Sen. Russ Feingold (my junior senator from Wisconsin, thank you) stood up and called for censure of Bush just a couple of months ago. He was met with resounding silence. The silence of cowardice and complicity rather than reasoned judgement, if you want my opinion, but silence nonetheless. Not very encouraging to those in Congress who might now consider the more severe measure of impeachment."

See more stories tagged with: appeal, impeachment

Don Hazen is the executive editor of AlterNet.

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