Many of the videos we post here at C&L are of politicians and pundits slugging it out, yelling over each other and trying to score a knock out punch. While the red meat gets a lot of attention, sometimes a calm and rational discussion of important and contentious issues is just what the doctor ordered.
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In this clip PBS’ Bill Moyers sits down with The Nation’s John Nichols and conservative constitutional attorney Bruce Fein from the American Freedom Agenda to discuss the crimes and abuse of power by George Bush and Dick Cheney and the need to impeach them both. While Nichols and Fein come from different ends of the political spectrum, they are in total agreement on this issue. Congress must put impeachment on the table because if they do nothing to stop Bush and Cheney now, we will see future presidents follow in their footsteps which would be a disaster for our country. This is definitely worth a look…
8 Trackbacks To “Bill Moyers’ Roundtable On Impeachment Of Bush & Cheney“
Saturday morning frist!
I can give a good debate about why Bush should be in jal, not just impeached.
and if he is impeached & hopefully removed, it will make the transition to the next admin more likely & less contentious.
Bill Moyers Journal is an excellent show. This is reminiscent of TV in seventies, where intelligent people came together and discussed current events with a composed and inquisitive host. I’ve been watching Moyers every week now and it is refreshing to get away from the mainstream media.
Write your Senator, write your Congressperson and beg them to impeach! This is about more than just Bush and Cheney. This is about every future president who will abuse the Constitution, Executive Privilege, etc. This is about our republic.
I saw this last night on PBS–it was excellent. Surprisingly, Bruce Fein was eloquent in his argument to impeach the criminals.
Highly recommended for all citizens, but more so for our lame Dem Reps and Senators, who Fein and Nichols correctly blast as weak and not understanding the constitution.
Well we all know getting a blowjob and lying about it is an impeachable offense so I guess we don’t have to worry about future presidents making that mistake again. But as far as stealing elections, lying a nation into war, giving companies connect to the Vice President no bid government contracts, sending the Louisiana national guard off to Iraq while Americans are drowning in New Orleans, outing CIA agents working to keep Americans safe from (real) WMDs, illegal wiretapping, constitution shredding, torture, wreaking environmental havoc, gross negligence, gross incompetence, deficit spending, etc, etc, etc….all acceptable non-impeachable offenses.
Ozymandias @ 5:
Beg? Fuck that. Demand. I think you’re forgetting that elected officials are supposed to work for their constituents.
I agree that something needs to be done and that Congress must find the spine to move forward with impeachment proceedings.
There is plenty of evidence to start the ball rolling. These people need to understand that laws and the Constitution trump their personal ideologies.
[Deleted. You’ve got to be kidding. Don’t be such a jerk-Sitemonitor]
Please Join the Over 150,000 who have already signed this Petition to Impeach Bush and Cheney.
http://archive.democrats.com/e.....gn=impeach
Pelosi, are you watching this?
This PBS discussion will be repeated on PBS on Sunday, July 22. It was the most interesting breakdown of all the NON political reasons to begin impeachment hearings . It was riveting. Bush and Cheney, are pushing this country into a Monarchy. How much do we want to preserve the Republic and the balance of power? Now is the time to restore that balance. A bi-partisan effort should occur to get the attention of Bush and Cheney. They need to recant their behavior.
#12. If she is she is blinking hysterically or staring like a deer caught in the headlights.
This was an absolutely fascinating discussion, and I say that as someone who was skeptical about the usefulness of impeachment at this stage of the game. The program goes a long way in explaining what impeachment is actually all about, its intended purpose as conceived by the Founders, and why it is a necessary course of action in this case. It prompted me to write to Speaker Pelosi and my Congressional Representative. This is worth your time to watch. Bruce Fein, the conservative at the table, is unrelenting and passionate in his argument.
Who are these dweebs?!?!
[One of them wrote the articles of impeachment against your favorite whipping boy-do you have anything to add to the conversation? I thought not. Move along. You really are out of your depth here-Sitemonitor]
Stefan @ 10:
I say lets make the contest between Gravel and Kucinich. How better to discredit the talking heads shilling for the corporate good shepherds?
[Quote edited-Sitemonitor]
[Deleted. Konservo has been shown the door, as have his comments-Sitemonitor]
I guess the fact that they LIED to America in order to start a War for Profits is OK with you.
I guess the fact that OBL still runs free and has more recruits now than ever before is OK with you.
I guess the Administration acting in secrecy even about releasing documents about covering up the Tillman affair is Ok With you.
I guess you must be one of those 28%rs, who are completely out of touch with real facts.
Go back to FOx and watch some more propaganda.
[Deleted. Konservo has been shown the door, as have his comments-Sitemonitor]
This was so incredibly refreshing and heartening–intelligent people passionately discussing an important issue without rancor, sarcasm, ad hominen attacks, viciousness, or screaming. And a host who doesn’t feel impelled to talk down to or over the guests, but asks thought-provoking questions and then listens to the replies.
On the other hand, it was extremely painful to realize how rare and unusual this is, and that only a small number of people have seen it.
I wish there were a way to get a copy to each legislator and force hir to listen to this dialogue and actually pay attention. For that matter, it would be nice if each of the media could do the same with an eye to emulating the style if not the content.
And, as my mother would have said, maybe the moon is made of bleu cheese….
we as a nation are in dire circumstances right now!!! and nobody in congress seems to be doing very much to fix it.
But it was a great point and something I’ve been saying for 25+ years now that President Ford robbed America of justice when he pardoned Nixon, our leagle system is set up so that we actually need to go through the proper leagle process so it doesn’t happen again or alteast we will have a decision on record that sets the presedent and we were truely robbed of that when Nixon was pardoned and also we were robbed of it when Bush41 pardoned all of the Reagan criminals and the stupid republican arguement is that everyone pradons criminals when they leave office and they always want to talk about Clinton’s pardons but the question nobody asks is for ANYONE to name a single member of Bill Clinton’s administration who was going to jail for a treasonous offence or for selling weapons to the enemy and was pardoned. I believe Clinton would have done the right thing if he had the chance and made sure that Bush41 and the Reagan criminals faced our courts for their crimes, and it probably would have cost him everything to do it…but that’s just my own personal fantasy…but you could never have even just that fantasy with Republican leadership…becuase they don’t believe in the equal rule of law and they do not believe in American standards, they believe only in the Dollar and they don’t care about ANYTHING else…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Republicans are the greatest enemy America has ever faced and they have already done more damage to our great country then any enemy we have ever faced. Even Al Queida couldn’t have hoped to cause the damage to America that the repugs have caused…and if your a republican and your reading this…eat shit…I really mean it at this point…get your head out of your ass and learn the truth about what is going on in your own country. You owe it to you children!
George Bush has never had to deal with consequences in his life. His insulated journey through life only works for him when he is working with a rigged game. Lacking this, his short comings become rather evident. It is time for him to have consequences for his actions.
One problem with the overall argument put forward here is that Bush and Cheney would not come clean with America once impeachment proceedings started. Their authoritarian conservative world-view does not recognize Constitutional limits to their power. They might claim to have seen the light, but nothing would change. They have to be removed from office by a conviction from the Senate, or lacking that all their funding cut off until their terms expire.
Pelosi is in a particularly tough situation with this since she would become president if Bush and Cheney were convicted by the Senate. She cannot lead the charge to put herself in the presidency.
Georgette Orwell @ 21:
and yes, Democrats have been equally insulated from consequences as well.
Flash @ 26:
to our peril.
This was an excellent program, and it was nice to see that there is support on both sides of the political spectrum for this move. Impeachment hearings should have begun several years ago, in my opinion. 3/4 of the country is unhappy with the direction we’re heading, and have rejected the imperial arguments we’re hearing advanced by these clowns. The time has long since come for Congress to heed the will of the American people.
I stumbled on this program. It was excellent. Some others have mentioned how surprised they were to hear Bruce Fein arguing in favor of impeachment. I was too. I’ve always respected his work but always considered him very conservative. His comments last night reinforced my respect for him.
The quote of the night? “Impeachment does not cause a constitutional crisis. Impeachment SOLVES a constitutional crisis.”
We have spineless narcissists in Congress now. I don’t think a single person there has the courage and intellect to actually consider saving our country.
Saw the show last night. I love Bill Moyers. Timmeh and Tweety take note, this is what a real journo looks like.
I hope Nancy Pelosi was watching this last night. If they don’t get this on the table this year I’m going to contribute to Cindy Sheehans campaign against her.
If you CARE About America, Go to this sight and sign this Petition to Impeach Bush and Cheney.
Sorry I missed Bill Moyers last night. This was by far the most intelligent discussion regarding impeachment that I have heard. Usually people are all fired up demanding impeachment. Emotions were left out of this discussion and reason prevailed.
AJ Fan,
I hadn’t seen that clip, and find it very interesting. Much as I thought this campaign started too early, it seems the only reason the “real” candidates (of both parties) have tolerated the “marginal” ones, expecting to get rid of them by attrition when people start paying attention. Bill Richardson’s comment was spot on, and the “no-chancers”–again from each party–have had the most substantial, honest, realistic comments in each of these sessions.
I’ll be contacting both the Clinton and Edwards campaigns to express my displeasure at their attempt to narrow the field.
(Why the problem with Obama having notes? Perhaps if others, especially Mr. Bush, were a bit more organized in his speeches we’d get more from them.)
This was a powerful assertion of what should happen in a democracy with a democratic constitution. Bruce Fein and John Nichols inspired many, including me, to write to Nancy Pelosi about her responsibilities under the Constitution.
This was a great segment. If you missed it last night (which I did), you can watch the whole thing on line. I believe impeachment is imperative, especially after watching this. I also think we need to strike now while the iron is hot. We’re facing a true Contitutional crisis, which I would argue is even more serious than the Iraq War because it threatens our system of government, which also affects the way we handle foreign policy and warfare. We can’t effectively fight international terrorism as long as we have a dictatorial president. It’s clear now, especially after the Libby commutation and DOJ scandal, that Bush and Cheney will remain forever defiant. Impeachment is the only option. Nearly half the country are on board with this. Pelosi needs to hear from us, as do our own representatives. Bombard local papers with letters-to-the editor, whatever it takes. WaPo and the NYT need to come around on this and start challenging this president on his numerous constitutional violations. They should also directly call for impeachment. Let’s roll!!!
Sorry, I forgot to post the Impeachment sight to sign with the over 165,000 other Americans who have already signed to Impeach.
Her it is:
http://archive.democrats.com/e…..gn=impeach
This is the most sane and compelling case for impeachment seen on this blog to date. The problem is that the dems and repubs are the same. The current dems play the game that they are offended by GWB’s fiasco in Iraq, thumbing his noise at subpoena’s, etc., however, when the cameras are off the dems, along with the repubs, roll around in the slop of cash and power this war brings DC. Congress will not impeach as they will not take any real steps that will kill the goose that keeps producing golden eggs that only they enjoy.
Also, I think impeachment would go a long way in healing the country and restoring confidence. It would help put us back on track. I don’t think we can afford to wait it out until the next election. If we do, we’re just playing politics rather than doing the right thing.
What is so hard to understand about ‘OUR SYSTEM IS BROKEN’ and really has been for quite some time. The experiment called America created in the laboratory of Professor Franklin has run it’s course and the results are not good. Scrap it in favor of a totalitarian military dictatorship. This should be an easy conversion from a republic as GWB has us well over half-way there and he is the perfect man to hold the position as our first Chancellor.
I look good in brown.
Another site to consider clicking on is:
www.impeachbush.org
and either participate or donate.
KONSERVO @ 16:
Constitutional scholars and American citizens. They don’t need any other qualifications, asshole.
Executive overreach. Wiping their sorry asses with the constitution.
I remember a LIBERAL college professor of mine making a side-comment (in a history class) about how conservatives always thought they were just “great people.” I also remember seeing conservative speakers advertised on this same college campus as “one heck of a great guy.” One of those appellations that have zero meaning or qualification. You, KONSERVO, don’t know anything about the true character of Bush or Cheney. You see only a fabricated image projected by a P.R. operation, aided and abetted by a compliant media.
Say it to my face, asshole. Say it to my face.
[While Konservo has been shown the door, and I’m wiping out his comments, I just have to let them stand here-Sitemonitor]
[Deleted. Konservo has been shown the door, as have his comments-Sitemonitor]
Boring… Can’t you trolls come up with some new words and new ideas and new phrases? Damn, it’s nothing but re-runs from the Cheney/Bush cartel supporters. You lack imagination.
A fantastic interview.
Listen up, Dems!!! Helloooooo….
The standard has been set, and it will continue until there is a democratic president elected. At that point, the repugs will impeach for a parking ticket.
The difference is that Democrats see impeachment as a horrible, last ditch effort to save the union. The repugs see it as another political tool to accomplish their agenda.
You support Bush and Dick Head Cheney then join the Army!! Assholes
For years, I have tried argued this same point: Impeachment is not about Bush or Cheney, but about upholding our Constitution. If impeachment does not take place, you are allowing the precedent of a dictatorial executive to stand and be exercised again. Unfortunately, Fox, CNN, et. al, will never let this happen. They will shrill about how it’s a Democratic power grab or coup. And our country will live with the legacy and re-emergence of the unitary executive for a generation to come.