you say we want a revolution

This is a letter I wrote to Dan Gainor at the "Business and Media Institute". They are an extremely well funded (mega$) think tank dedicated to countering "liberal bias" in the media.

Hello Dan,

I stumbled upon your article "Left-Wing Cry of 'Revolution' More than Same Old Song".

I know personally some of the people you mentioned in that article. I think you were partly correct in your analysis. But also partly wildly off the mark.

It is true that sometimes we "liberals" use the term "revolution". But we use it to mean a significant change in direction, not a violent act. Many liberals see America as heading down the road toward corporate sponsored dictatorship. We would like to reverse that direction and restore government by and for the people as created by our Founding Fathers.

You ended your article with "too many lefties really want a revolution to destroy pretty much everything America has always epitomized – freedom, individuality and traditional values". Nothing could be further than the truth. I don't know any liberal that feels that way. I think you are creating division where there is none.

I think both liberals and conservatives value freedom, security and other traditional values. We just disagree sometimes on how to achieve those goals. To say that we have different goals is unproductive and just makes conservatives hate liberals for no reason.

In many ways, liberals are seeking a "conservative" revolution. We want to preserve American freedoms as expressed in the Constitution. Some liberals want to return to the days when food was grown locally by small farmers and was uncontaminated by chemicals. We want to return to the days when the President was not above the law. These are traditional American values.

Let's put our heads together and figure out to reach these common goals together.

Cheney Begs to be Impeached

Cheney is doing everything he can to resist oversight by Congress. John Conyers recently invited Cheney's Chief of Staff to appear at a hearing before the Judiciary Committee. Cheney's lawyers responded that the legislative power and inquiry powers are both limited. They said "For example, Congress lacks the constitutional power to regulate by a law what a Vice President communicates in the performance of the Vice President's official duties, or what a Vice President recommends that a President communicate in the President's performance of official duties, and therefore those matters are not within the Committee's power of inquiry."

But they are forgetting another power that Congress has: the power to impeach!

The only way that Conyers is going to get anything out of Cheney or his minions is if Conyers starts impeachment investigations. And if Cheney resists then he can be impeached for interposing "the powers of the Presidency against the the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, thereby assuming to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the sole power of impeachment vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives." That charge was from the 3rd Article of Impeachment against Nixon.

You can read Cheney's letter here.

Letter in Support of NH HR24

The New Hampshire legislature is considering a resolution that urges Congress to impeach Bush and Cheney. More info here:

http://www.impeachbush.tv/impeach/state_nh.html

Here is a letter I wrote in support of this action:

Please support HR24, which urges Congress to impeach Bushy and Cheney.

The President and every elected American official takes an oath to protect and defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic.

When there is strong evidence that the President has failed in his oath of office then Congress has the power to impeach. With that power comes a responsibility to use that power when necessary.

When Congress fails to fulfill their oath of office by not impeaching then it is the responsibility of every elected official to defend the Constitution by petitioning Congress to impeach.

When almost every elected official seems to ignore their oath, with the exception of NH Representative Betty Hall and other patriots, then it is the responsibility of every American citizen to raise their voices and call for impeachment. That is why I am writing this letter.

Congress a Bigger Threat to Constitution than Bush

I'm not so worried about Bush. Sure he is a corrupt President who has killed thousands of people and nearly destroyed America. And yes, he has violated many parts of the Constitution. But he does not threaten the integrity of the Constitution itself. That is because the authors of the Constitution were very smart. They knew there would be corrupt Presidents and provided a remedy just in case. That remedy is impeachment. When a President commits "high crimes and misdemeanors" the Constitution gives Congress the power to impeach, hold a trial, convict and remove from office the wayward miscreant.

This is not unlike the laws against robbing banks. People rob banks all the time. But people are not worried about the law itself being undermined. That is because the police and the courts catch most banks robbers, try them and send them to jail. The law works well in this case.

But imagine if the police said they weren't going to bother with catching bank robbers because it was a distraction. And suppose the courts said they were not going to try bank robbers because it would tie up the courts. Or even worse, imagine if the sheriff wanted to use the high crime rate to help win the next election, so he let the bank robbers go. If that happened then the laws against robbing banks would become meaningless. Banks would become obsolete. This behavior by the police would threaten the rule of law far more than the actual robbing of the banks.

Well this is exactly what happened when Pelosi said "Impeachment is off the table." The inaction of the Democrats in the face of these obvious crimes is doing more to undermine the Constitution than Bush's original crimes. Bush is just a crook. But Congress is far worse. They are the crooked cops who look the other way.

Every member of Congress takes an oath of office to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic". They don't take an oath to bring home the pork or to get reelected. It is time for Congress to do their most important job and to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney.

There are a few members of Congress who take their Oath of Office seriously. Dennis Kucinich has introduced HRes 333 to impeach Dick Cheney. He now has over 20 cosponsors. But the central leadership of the Democratic party continues to be complicit in Bush's crimes. If Congress does not impeach then history may judge them more harshly then it judges Bush and Cheney.