Impeachment: It's Still an Issue

A few days ago I received an Email from an activist group called The Pen. It talked about impeachment and the possibility of Bush pardoning the whole bunch of his click up on the hill including himself. The Email was set up in a form that you could send your comments to your state representatives, your senator and a local paper in your area. I typed in my comments, answered a few questions, included a zip code, and hit send. A couple of days later I received an Email from my U.S. Senator, Herb Kohl, and then I got a call from the paper in Chippewa asking if it was my own words and then tell me it would be included in the letters to the publisher part of the paper within a couple of days. Following is that letter:

Bush and Cheney Should be Impeached

Everyone, not only in our country but around the world, is celebrating the U.S. election of Obama for president, but we shouldn't lose track of why it is that we are so happy to get rid of Bush.

The Bush Administration will be a dark chapter in American history. If we don't impeach Bush and Cheney for their illegal acts while in office I believe that there is a good chance that Bush will pardon everyone involved, including himself, forever closing the chance to ever bring to justice these people who did more harm to America's constitutional rights than all the dictators and communist leaders combined.

It is not the time to bury our heads in the sand and pretend this will never be an issue again, because it will be. If we don't make sure that these people are brought to justice, we guarantee that our rights and freedoms will be assaulted again from the inside, from the very people who take oaths to defend the constitution of the U.S. when they take office.

We've had the elections, so let's stop using the excuse that no one wants to do anything because it will effect the presidential elections. Lack of action on Impeachment and the Iraq war is the reason Congress has such poor ratings. We were promised action when they ran and we elected them, so they need to do their jobs.
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Here's the reply I received from Herb Kohl:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your
views on the current administration. I appreciate hearing from you
and welcome this opportunity to respond to you.

As a means of checks and balances, the Constitution
permits Congress to remove Executive Branch officials from office
if they are found to have committed "treason, bribery, or other high
crimes and misdemeanors." This critical power allows the
Legislative Branch to protect the nation from the abuse of
executive power.

As you may know, Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-
OH) introduced H.Res. 1258, 35 articles of impeachment relating
to President Bush, on June 10, 2008. Additionally, Rep. Kucinich
previously introduced H.Res. 799, three articles of impeachment
relating to Vice President Cheney, on April 24, 2007. These
resolutions seek to remove the President and Vice President from
office on the grounds that both of them intentionally deceived
Congress and the American public during the events that led to the
March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. House possesses the sole power of impeachment.
H.Res. 1258 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on
June 11, 2008, and H.Res. 799 was referred to the same committee
on November 6, 2007. Should the Committee determine that there
are grounds for impeachment, the resolution will be considered by
the full House. A simple majority is required to impeach. In order
for an official to be involuntarily removed from office,
impeachment by the House must be followed by conviction in the
Senate; this requires a two-thirds majority. I will be certain to
keep your thoughts in mind should this matter come before the
Senate.

Again, thank you for contacting me about this very serious
matter. I appreciate having the benefit of your views.

Sincerely,

Herb Kohl
U.S. Senator
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The following are my words: The Northern Politic

People, my fellow Americans, I can not stress this enough. If we don't stand up for our rights and freedoms, well then that Constitution is just what Bush called it, "The constitution is just a piece of paper." If we think of it that way, then we don't very much value the live's of the people, who faught for those rights and the ideals for which they stand, and who paid the ultimate price for those rights and ideals that are spelled out on, "just a piece of paper."

My Complaints Against Democrats

Although I lean more towards Democrats, there are things going on that disturb me. One of the biggest things that bother me, and I no doubt bothers other people who have been watching the Democrats is that they are not picking up the ball when it comes to doing their constitutional duty to protect our constitution.

When Senator Rockefeller, after giving a press release about how the Bush administration bent intelligence to rally support for the invasion of Iraq, was asked if anyone in Bush administration should be charged for misleading the people and congress to get support for going into war, his response was something on the order of, it would be a grand act. If I were asked whether in the grand scheme of things it is something that should be done the same as in the issue of impeachment, I would say yes, but if you are asking if we are going to do something about it now, the answer is no. If we were to take on something like this it would take up all our time, there would be no time left to take on the important issues of things like global warming.

While I agree that there are other important issues, I do think that the Bush administration and what has transpired during their control of Washington is riddled with very important issues that need to be addressed. Global warming is a big issue, but no more important than addressing the audacities of the Bush administration. Looking back on the last eight years there are the issues of leading the country into war with Iraq, presidential powers during war time, weapons of mass destruction, the illegal wiretapping, holding prisoners labeled as enemy combatants for years without charges, the secrecy of the administration on issues of releasing CIA agents names, the firings of prosecutors, missing emails, torture, non bid contracts, and the list goes on and on. These things are as important if not more than anything that the Democrats need to try to accomplish in the time left before the presidential elections. Democrats were voted into office on the platforms that they would end the war in Iraq and bring in government accountability, this they have not done. Instead they are mired down in the stonewalling of their investigations and the lack of enough votes to pass veto proof bills. Even though people and governments across the country want government accountability and impeachment for the wrongs they have observed, it seems no one in the Democratic party is listening. Basically in my opinion most Democrats have been totally spineless in the shadow of this falls elections and I'm willing to bet that has a lot to do with their low approval ratings.