President Musharraf of Pakistan has announced his resignation this morning, in an address to his nation in advance of impeachment charges which were expected to be filed tomorrow.

In a one-hour long televised address, Musharraf defended his nearly nine-year rule and rejected accusations against him, but said he was leaving office.

"After consultations with legal advisers and close political supporters and on their advice, I'm taking the decision of resigning," a somber Musharraf said.

"My resignation will go to the speaker of the National Assembly today."

His resignation had been rumored for weeks and speculation peaked yesterday, with the new civilian government in particular pushing it as an alternative to messy court proceedings, although until today Musharraf had insisted he would stay to fight the charges. There's little doubt that his Western allies have pressured him to accept a deal, seeking to keep Pakistan a little more stable at a time when it seems in danger of falling apart at the seams.

I was highly sceptical that he would step down as it implied a level of complicity by the military and ISI intelligence that I believed was more touted than real. It seems I was wrong. It remains to be seen whether the new government's further claims that it has complete control over the military and intelligence agencies now are also real following some very embarrassing setbacks - and whether it will curb the ISI from using Islamist terror groups as foreign policy proxies against its traditional bugbear India.

The other interesting question is "what will Mushie do next?" Exile seems likeliest and there have been rumors that the US, which has long backed the former dictator, would offer him asylum. But it appears that the Saudis have stepped in, as major mediators of the resignation deal, and so Musharraf will probably retire there. Which is ironic, in that it will put the man who was ultimately in charge of the intelligence agency that was pulling Al Qaeda's strings prior to (and post) 9/11 in the country that furnished most of the hijackers - and both Musharraf and the Saudi rulers are staunch Bush allies.

Nancy Pelosi is quickly learning that being a reliable and powerful liberal voice in the House of Representatives doesn't necessarily translate into blind support. During an event in Los Angeles to promote her new book, Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters, a group of protesters started screaming in anger over her unwillingness to open impeachment inquiries against Bush.

LATimes:

She was in Los Angeles to discuss her recently published book "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters." Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got slammed by protesters screaming that she has been derelict in her duties for not authorizing impeachment hearings against George W. Bush.

The venue: more than 300 people paid $30 each Monday night at the American Jewish University (formerly known as the University of Judaism). The format: a 75-minute interview by the Rabbi Robert Wexler (not to be confused with the Palm Beach, Fla., congressman of the same name). The questions: tough but respectful. Wexler asked Pelosi about a recent Rasmussen Poll that showed a 9% approval rating for Congress.

Update: The Public Record broke the story.

If you've seen the Dennis Kucinich part of this video, start watching at 5:10 or so.   A citizen shows Nancy Pelosi a copy of the articles of impeachment at one of her book signings  [Know Your Power:  A Message to America's Daughters].   I'm raising my daughters to recognize what an appalling, self-interested, complicit, beltway insider you are, Madame Speaker. 

Oh.  Cindy Sheehan is running against Pelosi and has a book review here.  Heh.

So why don't we impeach Pelosi and show her what that impeachment thing is all about?

Download | play    Download | play   (h/t Heather)

Flying Spaghetti Monster bless Dennis Kucinich.  He's in the middle of an absolutely sisyphean task of trying to make Congress actually do their job -- one that far more Americans support than they did the impeachment of Bill Clinton -- and one that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is frustratingly and blindly ignoring, as evidenced by her stop-me-before-I-throw-something-at-the-screen appearance on The View.  

JOY BEHAR: You’ve ruled against impeaching George Bush and Dick Cheney, and now Kucinich is trying to pass that. Why do you insist on not impeaching these people, so that the world and America can really see the crimes that they’ve committed?

REP. NANCY PELOSI: Well, I think that it—I think it was important, when I became Speaker—and it’s, by the way, a very important position—President, Vice President, Speaker of the House—I saw it as my responsibility to try to bring a much divided country together to the extent that we could. I thought that impeachment would be divisive for the country.

In terms of what we wanted—set out to do, we wanted to raise the minimum wage, give the biggest increase in veterans benefits to veterans in the seventy-seven-year history, then pass research for stem cell research, all of that. This week, we’re going to pass equal pay for equal work. It has been a long time in coming—pay equity. We’re going to pass legislations for product safety, for toys that children put in their—there’s an agenda that you have to get done. You have to try to do it in a bipartisan way. The President has to sign it.

If somebody had a crime that the President had committed, that would be a different story.

Have you not been paying fricking attention for the last eight years, Nancy???  What do you mean, IF???? Say it with me now: warrantless wiretapping; waterboarding, lying to Congress and the American people to illegally invade and occupy a sovereign nation that posed no threat to us, firing US Attorneys for not pursuing partisan prosecutions, outing a covert CIA agent.  And those were just ones you knew about and did nothing to stop, Pelosi.  How dare she play stupid on national television and insult all our intelligence and what this country (once) stood for?  How. Dare. She.

So it makes me love the undaunted Kucinich that much more.  He appeared on Democracy Now! and tried to spin this in the best way possible.

(T)he reason why the Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on the impeachment itself is because there needs to be a public airing of this. So, I have a great deal of respect for Speaker Pelosi, and I think that since she made that statement on The View, there's an opportunity now for us to come forward and to lay all the facts out so that she can reconsider her decision not to permit the Judiciary Committee to proceed with a full impeachment hearing. 

Give 'em hell, Dennis.

full transcript below the fold

Continue reading »

  For all the things to raise the specter of impeachment over, Lou Dobbs chooses poison tomatoes. Go figure.

Download | play   Download | play  

"You know, I have heard a lot of reasons over the years as to why George W. Bush should be impeached. For them to leave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in this state, its leadership in this sorry condition and to have no capacity apparently or will to protect the American consumer - that is alone, to me, sufficient reason to impeach a President who has made this agency possible, and has ripped its guts out in its ability to protect the American consumer. It's insane what is going on here."

All the major newspapers refused to print Wexler, Gutierrez, and Tammy Baldwin's impeachment op-ed recently so it's surprising to see The Washington Post finally allow an argument to be made for just that on their sacred pages: "Why I Believe Bush Must Go: Nixon Was Bad. These Guys Are Worse." The Village elders will be most upset.

Check this out from the Tournament of Roses Parade on KTLA5!

Way to go! I'll send this to Rep. Wexler.

 Don't you just love the smell of freedom in Raleigh?

RALEIGH - Inside the Gov. James G. Martin building, the headquarters for State Fair security, stands the most interesting attraction fairgoers won't see. They call it the Wall of Shame. It's a cubicle partition where the police post information about the 25 people, as of Wednesday, who have been banned from the fair.

One guy had brass knuckles. Two people jumped the fence instead of paying admission. A teenager was tossed and accused of "attempted larceny of a stuffed zebra." Andy Silver was booted Saturday for carrying a sign that called for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Silver is with the Grassroots Impeachment Movement.

They said they needed to expel me because my sign might anger people and that someone might attack me. I was told I would be arrested for trespassing and taken to jail if I came back."..read on

It was for his own good. Well, that settles it. (h/t Daniel)