DEPARTMENTS
ANTI-WAR
DEATH PENALTY
ELECTIONS
ENVIRONMENT
GLBT ISSUES
HEMP
INTERNATIONAL
NATIONAL
REVIEWS
|
Departments National Issues The genius of John Nichols Nichols makes an overwhelming case that the regular use of impeachment is necessary for the survival of our constitutional government, that impeachment proceedings usually have beneficial consequences even if unsuccessful, that promotion of impeachment is not nearly as politically risky as is failure to do so when it is merited, that a move to impeach Bush in the U.S. House would be greeted with enthusiastic public support, and that failure to impeach Bush would contribute to an ongoing dangerous expansion of executive power from which our system of government might not recover. Did you know that articles of impeachment have been filed against nine U.S. presidents? Did you know that in seven cases, Republicans or Whigs were either the chief sponsors or major supporters of impeachment? Did you know that Republicans, in a minority, concerned about the rule of law and the presidential seizure of wartime powers, launched a major effort to impeach President Truman, an effort that ended only when the Supreme Court took up the same concerns and ruled against Truman (and Congress and the President obeyed the Supreme Court)? Did you know this effort benefited the Republicans in the next election? Did you know that Republicans who put the Constitution above a Republican president cast the votes that sealed President Nixon's fate? Of course, they did so only after the Democrats had acted. While Nichols covers the history of impeachment from the 1300s on, including recent efforts to impeach Prime Minister Tony Blair, obsessed with the present as I am, I want to pull out a few of Nichols' remarks on the recent history of the Democratic Party in the United States. These will not mean as much in isolation; you really must read the book. http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Impeachment-Founders-Cure-Royalism/dp/1595581405/sr=1-1/qid=1160319793/ref=sr_1_1/104-3068756-8551945?ie=UTF8&s=books But here's a taste of it: "When the congressional Democrats failed to pursue impeachment as the necessary response to the Iran-Contra revelations of rampant illegality in the Reagan White House – rejecting the advice of Henry B. Gonzalez, the wily Texas congressman who alone introduced the appropriate articles in 1987 – they thought they were positioning the party for victory in the coming presidential election. Instead, Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush, having recovered from the gentle slap on the wrist he received from Congress for his own involvement in the scandal, was elected to the presidency in 1988 by a landslide, and expected Democratic advances in Congress failed to materialize. "Pulling punches in a political battle usually results in a knockout, with the party that holds back collapsing to the mat and struggling, often for a very long time, to finally get up again. And the Democratic Party of the George Herbert Walker Bush years, with its inexplicable penchant for pulling punches, runs the very real risk of being flattened not once but repeatedly if it fails to confront the issue of rampant wrongdoing on the part of the Bush administration." ___________ "'I think that we should solve this issue electorally,' Pelosi repeatedly argued, conveniently avoiding mention of the fact that – like Andrew Johnson when he was impeached in 1868, like Harry Truman when Republicans discussed impeaching him in 1952, like Richard Nixon when the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach him in 1974, and like Bill Clinton when he was impeached in 1998 – George Bush and Dick Cheney were unlikely ever again to face the American electorate." ____________ "'How can we impeach this guy?' [Columnist Harold] Meyerson's answer was 'we can't' – not because Bush is beyond reproach but because 'to dwell on impeachment now would be to drain energy from the election efforts that need to succeed if impeachment is ever truly to be on the agenda.' So the counsel from Meyerson, one of the savvier political writers on the left, was to try a bait-and-switch. Run on health care and education, win the Congress and then, perhaps, begin to entertain questions of impeachment. The problem with such strategies is twofold: First, they misread the politics of impeachment. Second, they make impeachment nothing more than a partisan political act – precisely what House Minority Whip Leslie Arends, an Illinois Republican, termed it in 1974 when, on the eve of the House Judiciary Committee vote on articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon, he declared 'Impeachment is purely a Democratic maneuver. We ought to recognize it as such and we ought to stand up as Republicans and oppose the whole scheme.' Within days, Arends looked very much the fool, as more than a third of the Judiciary Committee's Republican members, including several key conservatives, cast votes in favor of impeachment. Within weeks, Arends no longer looked but indeed was the fool, as voters swept from office dozens of Republicans who had opposed impeachment…." http://www.amazon.com/Genius-Impeachment-Founders-Cure-Royalism/dp/1595581405/sr=1-1/qid=1160319793/ref=sr_1_1/104-3068756-8551945?ie=UTF8&s=books |
|
Recent National Issues Articles The ethics of Palestinian resistance And the Empire Mourned . . . Dissecting the Big Lie A 'vast carelessness' - the president's and ours Gerald Ford’s historic mistake New year's utopianism needed fast Obama scores as exotic who says nothing Ignorant armies The GOP, butterflies' wings and the withering of empire: could your climax be the decider? If you don't try, you'll never know Announcement of candidacy for President of the United States Call me Ebenezer, but Christmas as we know it needs to go..... Intolerable questions: the search for the heart of New Orleans, part II Dear Mr. O’Reilly, THIS is culture: the search for the heart of New Orleans, part III Hillary Clinton and my Visa bill The Tin Man Challenge: Overcoming technology without Heart Bread, bread, everywhere, yet not a morsel to eat O come let us adore them: treasuring our American values of greed, self-interest, and enlightened oppression Blood fatigue Blind obedience to the canons of capitalism: of sick societies, American Dalits, and a nation of Lady Macbeths The peace majority U.S. v. Bush Milton lost: can we regain paradise? Progressive caucus rising: this election was no victory for centrists Rumsfield replacement (Robert Gates) was director of voting company Is there meth in Ted Haggard's heaven? The politics of hope Corrode your conformity: Big Brother doesn't practice fraternal love Grassroots matching grants: my five minutes as a donor The trek down to N’Orleans: home to hotel in a couple of bounds: the search for the heart of New Orleans, part I Peace Activists Arrested on Grounds of U.S. Capitol Foley's meltdown - the seductions of clicking Naked and afraid Piercing the simulacrum: Of faux democracy, petty tyrants, and painful realities The genius of John Nichols The arrogant, the misguided, and the cowards Mommy, what's waterboarding? Nuclear winter, global warming, or impeachment Here's why it's personal Reclaiming Omelas The brilliantly profitable timing of the Alaska oil pipeline shutdown My city, our president and exploiting 9/11 Palast charged with journalism in the first degree 9-11 compromise - the mini-series The fugitive girl act The year the levees broke Semper why? The smell of fear Cynthia McKinney's election night remarks Bush versus the Constitution The Lamont victory -- next steps for citizens Bush heir cut: Awards tax break to son of an Astor Where were you when they took your rights away? Chicago City Council passes living wage bill Conservatives and conscience They don't call it the "White" House for nothing Kansas Attorney General is Bush’s kind of guy Containing the military industrial complex Kinks among us: contemplations on pride and democracy Republican Congressman says Bush should be removed from office It's time Democrats aggressively play the terrorism card Cindy Sheehan to move Camp to National Mall Joe Lieberman's loyalties So much for "We'll Get bin Laden Dead or Alive" The Supreme Court issues a stinging blow to Bush. Score one for the little guy. Has this country gone completely insane? A line in the sand: why the Busby/Bilbray election and their voting machine "sleepovers" matter (or should) to the entire nation Bush at the tipping point: a lawless and incompetent leadership Shushing the big money The startling contrast betweeen Dems and Repugs this fall The strange case of San Diego's: lazy independents, self-destructive Minutemen, and closet Libertarian, voters Support the troops Gathering to demand the truth about 9/11 Building green websites Nine state Democratic parties back impeachment: Whose table is it, Nancy? Photo essay: Poverty and homelessness in San Francisco Safe passage on the Earth Why John Kerry is going to have it tougher the second time around Eleven excellent reasons not to join the military Another Swiss cheese Gore denial that leaves the door wide open for 2008. Who's he kidding? Bush pal says gay marriage is nothing more than a political issue for the Prez American capitalism and the moral poverty of nations Twenty-fifth anniversary of first reported case of AIDS a time to recommit to the fight Uproar downwind Last Call FTC and credit reporting reform -- or the next wave of multi-district national class actions Lay convicted, Bush walks (and Ahnold gets Lay'd) Used the phone lately? Worried? Enron's good fight So, how WOULD a Patriot Act? Shadow America When Ahnold Got Lay'd…and California got Screwed Blocking justice Fighting back in the language war and winning elections Immigration: Myths and Reality Let's raise gas taxes and lower income taxes Bush beats out Nixon: Least liked President ever The spies who shag us: The Times and USA Today have Missed the Bigger Story -- Again Divine strake Divine strake RNC attack on John Conyers demands action from Democrats Act now, pray later Impeach Cheney first Crossing the border The Bush administration and Wall Street – Two peas in a pod The "New Totalitarianism" now defines a desperate neo-con end game Rove's status as "Official A" spells indictment The FEMA gap Have a Koch and a smile: free markets and property rights Trump humanity and the environment! We are the deciders Out of the shadows -- the Seattle immigration march The beloved Cynthia McKinney: a White ex-cop speaks out about a Georgia Congresswoman An interview with fifteen term Congressman Andy Jacobs A Message from Dennis Kucinich Democracy be damned - Republicans need another war Loser nation Censure movement catching fire Gangster government: a leaky president afoul of 'Little Rico' The real problem with Bush's leak Public energy is misdirected An interview with Norman Birnbaum What’s really scary about the “new religious right” and their politics Fitzgerald will seek new White House indictments Housing cuts for the poor, tax cuts for the rich The definition of insanity House leader not home when peace knocks Just a Thought Americans call Bush "Incompetent, Idiot, Liar" Most Democratic senators fail as presidential candidates The age of anxiety redux National Lawyers Guild calls for the impeachment of South Dokota Governor Michael Rounds for signing anti-abortion legislation Libby attorneys identify CIA officials in Plame leak True to its history, FBI is still violating civil liberties On the executive branch and war powers, continued Obstruction trial may jog Libby's memory A powerful new voting block emerges: The anti-war movement becoming a political force that cannot be ignored Beating a dead horse Did Bush make mistakes in good faith? Hungering for justice at my first congressional testimony You know it’s hard out here being pimped: Thoughts Hustlin’ and Flowin’ in my mind Chicago pro-immigrant, anti-HR4437 rally CIA leak path: Cheney, Libby, Woodward Detroit's other Super Bowl Carnival Post-Katrina Port insecurities In the spirit of Lysistrata Details emerge in latest round of plame emails ‘found’ by the White House 15 arrested at White House torture protest Bush and Gandhi NY Times bungles coverage of AP video which proves Bush lied about breached levees White House ‘discovers’ 250 emails related to Plame leak Time to disband Homeland security and renew democracy Huge march planned for eve of Katrina evictions Bush violated the law on port sale Check your conscience at the door: we're building an empire NSC, Cheney aides conspired to out CIA operative Bush, Republicans, and Judas Priest: Breaking the law, breaking the law For whom does the Secret Service's bell toll? Guns don't shoot people--Vice Presidents do Impeachment could be the Democrats' best get-out-the-vote message DINO stands for "Democrats In Name Only" Founding Fathers, baseball, apple pie, and impeachment Road to peace goes through Santa Cruz Pogo was right The Republican talk radio “big lie” Gonzales withholding Plame emails The Nader effect The most incredible thing about Cheney's shooting The polite majority Debating impeachment among Democrats Removing Attorney General Gonzales What really happened back at the ranch The Bush pattern of deception continues Cheney spearheaded effort to discredit Wilson Give peace a vote What every Jew should know about new House Majority Leader John Boehner New discoveries about the Lucasville uprising Brown calls President's '07 budget "morally reprehensible" U.S. detention camps for political subversives Bring regime change home Evolution is intelligently designed: Social Darwinism, silver spoons, and our emperor’s call to arms to sustain the rich Cindy Sheehan terrorizes Bush and his trained clapping seals at the State of Disunion speech "Fixed" intelligence from Feith's "Gestapo Office" the CIA and the Bush administration's impeachable lies about Iraq's prewar links to al Qaeda Enron: The Bush Administration's first scandal What an idiot! Being a national activist Responses to State of the Union Address The State of the Union: Blah, blah, blah (Yawn) Bush & Cheney Are The Great "Protectors?" Give Us a F***king Break Rev. Jesse Jackson mourns Coretta Scott King What we didn't hear tonight Eggs Roll, Eyes Roll Unfathomed dangers in Patriot Act reauthorization Halliburton's Sleeze Relevant Saint Alito and Roberts: Evasion Confirmed Open letter to members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee How Dick Cheney used the NSA for domestic spying pre-9/11 The war on dissent gets creepy The polite majority NASA ready for the worst, response will be prompt if Atlas 5 explodes Woolsey's way to peace Bush and Republicans vs. rule of law Dr. King: Drum Major for Justice Filibuster Bush, impeach Alito Filibuster evasion Poll: Americans support impeaching Bush for wiretapping Birth of awareness Anti-war group has documents proving NSA spied on them Pants on Fire: The Liars of the Bush Administration will take the world down in flames if we let them Fitzgerald maintains focus on Rove but attorney says 'Architect' not a target It's been a long trek since Nov. 2, 2004 -- now getting shorter Man of the Year: Patrick Fitzgerald Another unqualified Bush appointment A peace movement demanding the rule of law On Martin Luther King Day: giving ourselves to the struggle Forum with Congressmen Moran and Murtha packs hall, 500 turned away Primal smirk A new year’s message from Ramsey Clark Extraordinary circumstances indeed ImpeachPAC forms Citizens Impeachment Commission Go to the light! Can Cheney save Bush's presidency? Read National Issues Articles by Year: |
FREE PRESS EMAIL UPDATE
Donate to the Free Press Election Protection Fund to help us investigate and monitor election fraud in this year's election.
FOLLOW US ON
twitter
facebook
SEARCH THE FREEPRESS
1021 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43205 | 614.253.2571 | truth@freepress.org
All content © 1970-2012 The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer