The Impeachment of George W. Bush: "A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens

                                          By Elizabeth Holtzman with Cynthia L. Cooper."

Let’s impeach the President for lyin’

And misleading our country into war

Abusing all the power that we gave him

And shipping all our money out the door

Let’s impeach the President for spyin’

On citizens inside their homes

Breaking every law in the country

Tapping our computers and telephones

Let’s Impeach the President

Neil Young

Top Ten Reasons to Impeach President Bush

10. Prevent pilfering of office supplies during last day in office

9. Give Rush Limbaugh a heart attack.

8. Give the Iraqi people an early celebration.

7. Expose Cheney as the real power behind the throne.

6. Screw up Karl Rove’s job search.

5. Wipe that silly smirk off his face.

4. Put a damper on fund raising for the Bush presidential library.

3. To stop all the whining.

2. Chip away at American Idol ratings

1. TO STOP THE MADNESS!

But seriously folks, isn’t it enough already?

Do you think these ideological maniacs are going to go quietly into the night in eighteen months? That they’ll just take some loose pencils on the way out the door? How naïve. As the clock winds down on their macabre circus of mayhem, these hooligans will be making their final fourth quarter moves. Their “two minute warning drill” when they will be going without a huddle is the time to fear the most. And if you think their past maneuvers were criminal, they are probably saving the best for last. In other words, a “Hail Mary” pass might be more than just a football phrase with these guys. Who knows what they have in their playbook for the Final Days. While not privy to these moves, if the past is any indicator, they will be bold, irreparable and more than likely, criminal.

That truly is the number one reason to impeach the president – to stop the madness.

The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens by Elizabeth Holtzman with Cynthia L. Cooper, instructs us on why and how that should be done.

Holtzman, the former congressman and Brooklyn D.A., and Cooper, a journalist and lawyer have put together a very succinct manual on why George W. Bush should be impeached and more importantly that he must be impeached.

No one is more qualified to address this issue than Elizabeth Holtzman who made her bones as a vital young member of the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

For those who say there are clearly not enough votes to impeach, so why bother, Holtzman says, “When the impeachment process against Richard Nixon began, no one could fully predict what would happen. Members of the Judiciary Committee during Watergate tried to do the right thing in the right way. We didn’t know what all the evidence would show, or that President Nixon would resign; we only knew that preserving our democracy required a thorough investigation of his abuses of power.”

Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story said the main objective of impeachment is not punishment of the president but to “secure the state against gross official misdemeanors.”

Clearly that time has arrived.

For those who say, just let the clock run out on this administration, Holtzman replies; “Unless a clear message is sent, there is no way to ensure that the use of deceptions to lead the country to war will not be repeated by this president or another. There is no remedy other than impeachment to protect the United States now and in the future from an act so egregious.”

Many fear that the impeachment of President Bush would simply hand the presidency to Vice President Cheney and make matters worse. Others say that maybe Cheney should be impeached instead of Bush or possibly before Bush. Holtzman responds:

“They are wrong. Impeachment of President Bush serves two purposes. First and most important, the impeachment will assert a bedrock value of the country that no one is above the law. Impeachment of President Bush aims directly at a president who believes and acts otherwise. Second, impeachment will remove from office a president who threatens our liberties with repeated and serious violations of the Constitution.”

Although Cheney may have committed numerous impeachable offences, it is the President who Constitutionally holds the reins of power. Bush is legally responsible. While the Constitution specifically allows for the impeachment of the vice president, the buck stops with the President. As we have seen, Cheney has carved out a new role for himself. He has created a kind of super chief of staff, if you will. Some believe he is the de facto President. However if he is impeached first or alone, he would more than likely and most probably offer presidential authorizations as a justification for any alleged constitutional abuses of power. That may be his failsafe plan. But it should not be ours.

Members of Congress have to look at the impeachment of the president as their job. It should not be regarded as a political maneuver, strategy or cause for revenge. It is part of their role as elected officials. Indeed, the most serious part.

Imagine the cop who encounters a heinous crime just before his shift ends. Should he turn a blind eye simply because he can just about smell dinner on his table at home? We as a society would hope not, for if the crime in big enough, their may not be that dinner on the table and in some extreme cases like this one, their may not be a home worth coming home to.

The book is divided into four articles of impeachment:

1. The Offense of Wiretapping Surveillance in Defiance of the Law

2. The Offense of Lying and Inducing America to Support a War

3. The Offense of Reckless Indifference to the Lives and Welfare of American Troops

4. The Offense of Torture in Violation of U.S. Laws and Treaties

Holtzman makes the case for each. One of there articles alone would be ground for impeachment. Taken together they are, in the parlance of one former government official, “a slam dunk.”

What can the average Joe or Josephine do about all this?

1. Gear up. Produce fliers, music, and salons. Go to www.ImpeachBushBook.com.

2. Reach out. Contact groups, protest, take fliers to street fairs. Check out www.Afterdowningstreet.com.

3. Speak out. Call radio shows. Write letters. Make petitions. Make comments on blogs like this. Make free business cards www.vistaprint.com with the reasons for impeachment and pass them out everywhere. It’s the least you can do.

4. Meet reps. Get in these bastards’ faces. They respond to that the most because they like it the least. And they have to be re-elected every two years.

When all else fails, consult your spiritual and religious advisors. Even the president must have one.

While preachers preach of evil fates

Teachers teach that knowledge waits

Can lead to hundred-dollar plates

Goodness hides behind its gates

But even the president of the United States

Sometimes must have

To stand naked.It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

Bob Dylan

And if it is Cheney who gets under your skin, remember these points:

1. He’s in poor health and will die soon.

2. Historians will treat him very unkindly.

3. His daughter is a lesbian “married” to a lesbian with “ bastard” child. That alone must make him insane everyday. God has a sense of humor after all.

"Have you heard the news?" he said, with a grin,

"The Vice-President's gone mad!"

"Where?" "Downtown." "When?" "Last night."

"Hmm, say, that's too bad!"

"Well, there's nothin' we can do about it," said the neighbor,

"It's just somethin' we're gonna have to forget."

"Yes, I guess so," said Ma,

Then she asked me if the clothes was still wet.Clothes Line Saga

Bob Dylan