Impeach Them All

What does it take to impeach a president?

Does it take accusations of voter fraud?
Are questions about the handling of terrorist threats enough?
What about the likelihood that there was secret collusion between the president and energy industry officials?
Perhaps ignoring efforts to investigate what happened during the nation's largest terrorist attack?
How about lying to Congress and the general public in order to begin an unnecessary, illegal war?

Nope? None of these?

Well, how about this: an administration that

(a) slashes funds for federal disaster management (including prevention and response, both for terrorist attacks and natural disasters);
(b) hires incompetents to manage such important positions simply because of their personal connections to the president;
(c) yuks it up with cakes and guitars and thousand-dollar-shoes and goes on vacation at exactly the same time the first requests for aid are going out;
(d) refuses aid from other countries or plays tennis with Monica Seles instead of processing them;
(e) holds photo ops that not only interfere with the distribution of needed aid, but which substitute for that aid;
(f) laughs and talks about rebuilding a rich colleague's second house while people are trapped in sewage and toxic waste;
(g) simultaneously calls for increased private donations to aid agencies while barring those agencies from assisting dying and desperate people;
(h) makes sure that political cronies and corporate friends are first in line at the trough;
(i) lies repeatedly to the press about its role in the worsening of the disaster; and
(j) spends more time, energy, effort and money spinning its image than it ever did or does provide for the disaster itself...

Isn't that enough? Isn't it? In the name of all that is holy, isn't that enough?

What are our representatives waiting for? Another goddamned blowjob or something?

(If you have a blog, I encourage you to blogswarm this. If you don't I encourage you to write to your representatives. We really, really need to get this crew out of office NOW, and not wait for the election.)

Comments

[ianqui]

How any politician can lie so much and still be president is mind-boggling.

Super G keeps hoping that the shock and horror of all of the stranded people will spell the death of the conservative movement. I'm not so hopeful yet, but maybe someday.

[bright star]

My spouse and I were talking today trying to figure out why or how GWBush could get impeached. I like your list. Can we connect any of them to breaking specific laws? That's where I get stuck. :(

[jo(e)]

Yeah, that is the problem. I don't think that being a selfish, incompetent, lying bastard is an impeachable offense. Maybe it should be, but I don't think it is.

[Rana]

God, it keeps getting worse. This is NOT the first time Bush has reacted this way to a disaster on his watch.

[Rana]

Well, the lying to Congress is indeed considered a criminal act. Not to mention the events in Abu Ghraib could be considered a breech of Geneva Conventions, which, as the US is a signatory, constitute US law -- failure to act on that could be seen as a failure to uphold the oath of office. The matter of Valerie Plame could be seen as compromising national security; again, failure to respond to that could be argued as a sign of collusion or conspiracy to betray national interests.

Depraved indifference to loss of life may also be a possible hook.

But, really, all that seems to be lacking is Congressional will. I mean, they got Clinton for _perjury_, and it was perjury after they'd already started the attack! If they really wanted to, there are a LOT of angles from which to attack this administration. It's nearly criminal that they _haven't_ in my opinion.

[DM]

We need a revolution, and we need it now. I just don't think the American people are capable of one. Not only does Bush deserve impeachment and arrest - as do many of the other lying, incompetent thieves in his administration - we need fundamental change in our entire political system. We need leadership. We are not going to get this from the Democratic party, or the Clintons.

Out here in my fortress in the red jungle, I find many young minds, who, once they peg me as an obvious leftie from California, want to share their ideas with me. They give me some hope. Unfortunately, outside of this fortress, it is really a jungle. And it is thick and dark. (dark "red" I guess!)

[Daybreak]

I've already written twice this last week to my representative urging impeachment. I've also written to my senators to ask that they encourage their House colleagues to impeach. My representative and senators are all republicans, so I recognize that it is unlikely to have any effect, but I think that it's crucial that they see that they have constituents who are fed up and are not going to be intimidated this time around.

anbruch
\*/

[inlandchi]

Not to be glib, but I thought being a "selfish,incompetent,lying bastard" were QUALIFICATIONS for being U.S President, or was that Prime Minister of Japan? We have an election called here for the purpose of "reforming" the Postal System, for crying out loud, when Koizumi and his party have cut into women's rights saying their place is "in the home", we have no HUMAN RIGHTS legislation and we desperately need it, and the government are blindly following Bush down the "terrorist under every bush" ( pardon the pun) policies of the U.S. It's not just the U.S. government that's gone crazy, but they're leading the march.

[Rana]

There is an excellent rant here.

It's not just the administration. It's starting to look like nearly the whole government has abandoned us.

[Rana]

On the topic of the "blame game" Dr. B has an excellent post here.

[Rana]

An amazing indictment, told in pictures and song lyrics.

[Rana]

Another good take on the blame game.

[bright star]

Rana -- I think you're right. -- Congress could take this on if they wanted to. My husband and I were brewing up sorts of questioning situations which would lead this president to commit perjury. That's all it would take, one would think.

[Joel]

The press, I note, has often been complicite in the lie -- not only by reprinting it but by embellishing it.

Yes, Rana, the whole government has abandoned us. What do we do? To paraphrase the song "Joe Hill", whatever they cannot drown in New Orleans, goes on to organize.

[DM]

Any case you have not heard of this group yet. They are trying.

http://www.votetoimpeach.org/

[Rana]

I hadn't heard of that site; I'll have to check it out. There's also a Bush-resign petition over at PetitionSpot.