CIA Tape Update: Requesting a Special Counsel
Submitted by JC on January 16, 2008 - 8:43pm.
We're hitting the ground running at the Judiciary Committee this first week back in session. As the AP reported yesterday, I was joined by 18 other Committee Democrats on a letter to the Attorney General requesting that he appoint a special counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of interrogation tapes. An independent investigator is critical to a fair and thorough handling of this case.
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SINCE WHEN HAS TORTURE BEEN LEGAL?
My family, bonifide Republicans, just love waterboarding and torture, er... it's normalization in the mainstream by FOX propaganda shows that use it to elicite a viseral response from the viewer. They cheer each time they see it. It excites them.
Congressman,
Does torture excite you too?
==============
I M P E A C H
or RESIGN!!!
The Brittney Spears of the World's Stage... AMERICA!
Oops...
Canada puts U.S. on torture watch list: CTV
She's done it again...
She's breaking my hea-hea-hea-heart.
She's not that innocent!
America, the next train wreck...
But who will be Her Dr. Phil?
What, they didn't mention waterboarding?
I love the cute way America refers to torture. Instead of calling it what it is, it has morphed into a term the whelp of the learning class can associate with.
Water is melted snow. Snowboarding is fun. Waterboarding MUST be kinda like boogie boarding, eh?
It's water, with a board.
Then these rotten Canadians come out and blast America for forced nudity. How do you debrief prisoners and leave them clothed?
But Congress insists that the only torture worthy of discussion, is something the investor class does for fun, on a board.
No wonder Mr. Gates slammed the Canadians dying in Afghanistan. They've actually read the definition of torture.
Hey! Maybe we can get them to research the definition of a domestic terrorist act, so we can send Mr. Conyers, to join the republican that was supplying aide and comfort to the Taliban.
Bin Laden said he wanted to fundamentally change America, and damned if Mr. Conyers isn't furthering his goals, by refusing to impeach Osama's old friends.
Osama wants, Conyers fulfills, and Bush laughs all the way to the morgue.
Osama slapped us in the face, John stabs us in the back. I'll take a slap in the face any day. Backstabbing is fatal, faceslapping isn't.
Knowing our luck, they'll close Gitmo before Mr. Conyers arrives. Too bad. I'd love to see him waterboarding. I figure that since it isn't torture anymore, it MUST be recreational.
If not, then why are our enemies laughing so hard?
Silence is Complitity--Congress is Silent and therefore: Guilty
Those who stand by and allow such sameful acts to be committed by the leaders of this country--when they have the power to bring them to trial for these, and many, many more criminal acts-- share the guilt of those who commit these acts.
If Congress members are trying to deny their complicity by mouthing half-hearted scoldings and sending Sternly Worded Letters--with no "teeth", they are just fooling themselves. If they hope to distract citizens with long-drawn out legal procedures and a series of SWL's, unfortunately the citizens have seen through the smoke and mirrors. We see only weak, lukewarm, spiritless, perfunctory showmanship, which we know is designed to make us believe that something is being done, when in fact--nothing is being done.
THIS is what must be done--the only thing that can be done to stop the criminals: 206, 500 citizens have signed Representative Wexler's Petition calling for Impeachment. These citizens do not wish to be guilty of complicity in such crimes as torture and spying on fellow citizens--Nor Do They want their elected "representatives" to continue to be complicit in such despicable crimes.
Go ahead, write your letter. The CIA needs more toilet paper.
Since 2006, what have you made Bush do, that he didn't want to do? Nothing!
Look at the $696 no strings Billions you gave to him yesterday. You told him "we the people" needed an avenue to sue the terrorists, he told you to go fuck yourself. Was it as good for you as it was for him?
Waterboarding was declared illegal by the Geneva Convention. If Congress and the President signed off on this document, and no laws were passed declaring it null and void, waterboarding is illegal. It's simply a matter of determining whether the actions of America's intelligence gatherers, matches the description of the illegal act of waterboarding, as signed into law by Congress and the President.
Destruction of evidence is also illegal for most people. Arthur Anderson's people are legally allowed to destroy evidence, and the White House has been allowed to destroy all the e-mails regarding the Valerie Plame outing, but when I watch COPS and some punk is trying to eat a doobie, he is charged with a felony for attempted destruction of evidence. So I KNOW it's still illegal, at least for uneducated victim class members of society.
Listening to the MSM talk about the "3 times" waterboarding was used, and how it hasn't been used since 2003, tells me that BushCo isn't telling everyone to go fuck themselves, just us.
No wonder they call it the just-us department.
And If they Don't Comply, the Next Step is Impeachment?
Because, you see--SWL's (sternly worded letters), and ignored subpoenas without any consequences--just aren't getting the job done.
Criminals and Run-amok corrupt politicians merely laugh at threats without follow-up consequences.
I can just imagine how my kids would have ended up
if all I did was threaten. Even when they were toddlers, they knew that if I said something, I meant it.
If I used the Dem method of oversight, my kids would probably be real selfish, self-centered bullies by now.
Time for some tough love Congressman Conyers. Impeach!
Not IF they won't comply, WHEN.
I'm beginning to wonder if the writers strike is affecting Washington as well as Hollywood.
We might be mere ignorant voters, but we've seen how effective your strongly worded letters are. You always change the subject when the next steps you need to take, involve arrests and prosecutions.
Don't you even care that your actions are responsible for the public's mistrust of Congress? People like Bush are expected. But you. You're supposed to be protecting us from them, and here you are doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting different results each time.
In case you haven't noticed, we're looking at you like you're an idiot. You are apparently either real slow, or think we're stupid.
Americans don't want strongly worded letters FROM Congress. We know how useless they are, we've sent you millions of strongly worded letters requesting impeachment.
We already know you're trying to wait out the clock until election time, but please, at least try to be a little more original.
With the writers strike and all, watching repeats is getting old.
Stop wasting our time. Impeach or retire.
8 Years later- NH- 08-Diebold Miscounts Across Many Candidates..
OT, but a pertinent update to the last Thread:
rjones diary reports Diebold miscounts, “missing” memory cards, etc. and links to Bradblog’s account:
Mr. Chairman, we’ve had knowledge of Diebold’s malfunctioning—allegedly deliberately so—machines for years now, and still the “problem” persists. We’ve known that many (most?) Secretary of State Offices still do not have even minimal business-like methodology in place to ensure the validity of the votes nor to protect the integrity of the machines.
So my question is: “What is Congress Waiting for? Why hasn’t Congress had investigative hearings into the whole voting process? Why haven’t Diebold machines been decertified? Why isn’t there a mandated paper trail? Why isn’t there a required test of each machine following each election? Why isn’t there methodology already in place for a mandated hand count of a statistically valid sampling of paper ballots to validate the accuracy of each and every electronic machine?
Haven’t there been enough stolen elections?
With the knowledge of the stolen votes, both in Florida, and
Ohio, and the absolute awareness of the hackability of the Diebold voting machines, there has been almost eight years within which to correct the situation. During this time, there has been much talk and debate on the Diebold machines, including on this blog, but, again, nothing has been accomplished to rectify the situation. Albeit, some States have taken it upon themselves to be rid of the Diebold voting machines.
Another troubling aspect of the situation is that, as in Kucinich's and Hunter's case (and others in the past), in New Hampshire, where the machines are owned, serviced and operated by ONE company, which already is suspicious, when voting machine fraud appears to have been a factor, why should it become the financial burden of the individual(s) asking for a recount? Shouldn't the Secretary of State take responsibility for faulty machines and bear the burden of recount? It seems to me it should be the State's responsibility!
So, again, it appears that we will NOT have an honest election.
"There is nothing to fear but fear itself."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Rep. Holt Introduces Paper Ballot Legislation
(unfortunately most of his colleagues are either asleep at the wheel, clueless, or are just content to hope really, really hard that the republicans will just play fair in the next election.)
Rep. Holt introduced new legislation that would make it easier for states to audit their election results:
First there was Brad Friedman’s reports of NH recount findings of: blank ballots, corrupt counts, a private company—not the Secretary of State—in charge of counting the votes, and missing Diebold op-scan memory cards. Now, “Wired” reports that: GOP Figure Contracted to Deliver E-Voting Machines in Maryland
I’ve begun to wonder if the Democrats WANT to lose the next election…But things should be okay here--now that the republicans have managed to get the voter ID legislation passed. I had to show my driver's license to vote in the Primary--maybe that will make it easier for them to know which votes to throw out or before they're even cast.
Ladies and Gentlemen
I'm in serious doubt that, despite his assurances, Chairman Conyers actually reads his own blog. Yes, there are a few activists among us that insist on impeachment. Yes, we are in the minority. But we were the one's angry enough to get active and put Mr. Conyers in the Chairmanship in the last election. How did he and his party repay our efforts? By collapsing like a wet noodle within 48 hours of the election and taking impeachment "off the table".
Chairman Conyers, that was about the most unconscionable thing you could have done to us. You gave them tacit approval of their actions. All the rest is just playing politics; some meaningless rhetoric, a few unenforced threats, a bit of posturing; all meaningless gestures.
Let's face it folks, with just under a year left before they are out of office, there is precious little time and no congressional will to impeach left. So now we are all faced with a choice. We can either continue supporting Chairman Conyers and the DNC despite their backstabbing us, or we can withdraw our support and punish them for their profound impertinence. After all, why should we put forth our effort and hard earned money to a party that does not represent us in the only thing we asked them to do?
There's no point in any of us continuing to support Chairman Conyers. He has proven time and again to be ineffective as a moral leader. He can cheerlead with the best of them, but he has allowed all these crimes to go unanswered and has enabled the criminals to continue with but a few cautionary words and some unenforced threats.
Gone are the days of Mr. Conyers fighting for the cause of justice. Today, he's mostly a paper tiger - unwilling to use either tooth or claw. An independent investigator to investigate a crime for which there are only small fish to be had while the whale continues to shiver the keel of our Republic. An independent investigator who's job is unlikely to be done before those most deserving of prosecution have all settled into private do-nothing jobs; basking the showers of glory given to them by those who have made billions from their efforts; safe in their quasi immunity from prosecution that all former public servants enjoy. An independent investigator who will simply distract the uninformed voter from the real issues threatening the destruction of democracy, liberty, and the rule of law.
Chairman Conyers, you may consider these criminals in the White House untouchable, but rest assured, they are not. And neither are you or your peers. Your party (and your own) procrastination and unwillingness to get aggressive has exacerbated this crisis. The constitution is in even greater joepardy now as it was 2 years ago as a direct result of the Democrats inaction. You are telling all future would be dictators that the American system will not stand up to them; will not stop them. The Roman empire had it's Caligula because the Roman Senate would not assert itself to stop him. Histroy will say the American empire had it's G.W. Bush for precisely the same reason. In deed and action, G.W. Bush is more like our Commodus than Caligula - he bankrupted our nation at one of the worst possible times - coinciding, as it does, with peak oil production.
You are unlikely to see nearly the usual voter turnout in this election and you certainly bear personal responsibility for your part in it. You backstabbed us; and now we have no compelling reason to fight for you. You have refused to fight for us; preferring to go after guppies and enabling the whales in the White House in their continuing efforts at destroying the very foundations upon which our republic depends.
You refused to grant the phone companies retroactive immunity, but then what have you done to pursue justice on our behalf? Where's the indepenendant investigation? Where's the prosecution? Even a civil suit? You simply made a few inquiries and embarassed a few executives and then you let the whole issue go without a single prosecution or court case. What a waste. And what incentive do they now have to refuse the next administration? Nothing you've given them, I'll warrant.
Why is Guantonomo Bay still housing those people? Why are they not already here in America where American law is clearly applicable? And for that matter, where are all those innocent people that have been released? Why have their stories not been entered into the Congressional record? Why have you not had a full hearing on what they went through before being released? Why have you not investigated the crimes that were vistited upon them before they were found to be innocent enough to release? What compensation have they been given for their years of unjust incarceration? Why are we letting those responsible for their unjust incarceration to get away with what they've done? Where's the justice?
You once fought for those who were oppressed and beaten into submission. But now it seems you only fought to defend your own. When the oppressed are brown, white, red or pink, you don't seem to have any fight in you for them. Only for blacks. Are the rest of us not human enough for you? Are those born somewhere other than on American soil not good enough for you to defend? Or are you just getting to old to carry the torch like you once did?
My father once told me that if you're not going to do anything about it then quit bellyaching. I'm tired of words and rhetoric and posturing and meaningless gestures, Chairman Conyers - do something meaningful.
If you want to keep that Chairmanship, do something meaningful. Defend the Rule of Law, defend the Human race. We are all suffering oppression now - and waiting for you to do something meaningful. Just one meaningful gesture, Chairman Conyers, before history says this administration was the beginning of the end of Democracy in America; and of the republic because Congress refused to step up and defend itself.
Please, Chairman Conyers,
Step up
or step down.
Thank you, Jay.
I will put the "Close-Bold" tag here.
There is much to what Jay has said. In the end, democracy cannot be conducted by representatives, it is not not a spectator sport. That would be Oligarchy.
In an oligarchy, when those with power disagree with those that are ruled, those that are ruled shut up or get shut up. The situation we face today is dramatically different, in that it is our own inertia, our lack of experience in conducting our own affairs personally, which is the main factor holding us in the position we now occupy. This is not to say there is not, for be sure - there is - a truncheon hovering above all our heads. But that truncheon awaits the day the sweaty hands gripping it much too tightly gain the confidence to swing.
Knowing we are a well armed bunch of proud and freedom loving idiots.
That day remains a while in future. It will come ONLY in the event we invite it. Thru continued inaction. Or thru that which is equivalent, repeating ineffective measures, continuing to do that which does not work. Relying on representation to conduct democracy FOR us.
I refer to Article Five.
The article provides two methods of amending the Constitution : by getting Congress to do it, or by getting Congress out of the Goddamn way. The second would need be, in the event the Congress decided the People were a bunch of no account Bums. As of yet, the second has yet to be exercised.
Seeing as Congress has elected, unilaterally, to fail to represent.
Seeing as continued exhortation has come to resemble sitting on ones hands - in that the effect is obviously the same.
And seeing as the state of an organization is the result of the organizing heretofore, and the state an organization will be in later is the result of the organizing twixt then and now.
Perhaps it is time to begin to organize our government from without, rather than continue to ask those within to organize on our behalf rather than thiers.
The War on Terra is a revolt, against the Constitution, but it lacks the courage of it's convictions, lacks the courage to openly oppose the hand which feeds it. Probably because of all the privately owned firearms in that same hand. In sum, this means the terms of the Constitution stand, and may be used, effectively, to defend the Constitution, because those who oppose the Constitution lack the confidence to openly burn it.
However, there remains inertia. We sit, and watch the Circus. Two years of politicking, then an election, followed by two more years of politicking, then another election, all the while NOTHING GETS DONE. So why then all the politicking?
It may be that all that is needed is a point of exasperation to focus on to break the inertia, or mesmerism, that has America enthralled. Consider : the proposition that all Political Parties hold All their Primary elections on the same day, Everywhere, six months prior to the general election (AKA Tax Day. What a coincidence). That those Primary elections be open to any who choose to use their one vote there. That those primary elections use instant runoff voting. Congress would never do this. But the People would, instantly, because of the improvement it would make in their lives.
A petition, to the State legislature, to "Apply" for a Constitutional Convention. In order to open the floor for change to be propsosed and then voted on and then made to the one thing actually holding back the Neo-con agenda. Direct Democracy. Just like 1776.
Sure the Neo-cons would be there too. I wouldn't have it any other way. Because I want to kick their asses. Can't do that without a fight.
I appreciate this forum.
Frosted flake
Thanks Jay, Frosty
I had spent some time writing a comment about a week ago, only to have it disappear into the cyber ether when I accidentally hit the "Back" button on the browser (Hadn't done that in awhile). Afterwards, my inspiration was completely spent and I found myself unable to reconstruct what was lost. I am grateful for the reminder, so I will attempt to convey that idea again.
This idea was in that comment, but I took it one step further. Isn't it ironic that it now appears that the inaction by Congressman Conyers is completely undoing everything he and others ever stood for, including the high priced gains of the civil rights and voting rights movements. This idea too was in that comment. The founding fathers specifically chose two years for this exact reason. They knew that this would put the Representatives' reputations at stake and would force them to do the peoples will. They knew that if the Reps failed to do their jobs for the common good, they would not gain the favor of the people and could fairly quickly be replaced. Hence Congress would NOT have an excuse to drag their feet and sit on their hands, but for their own reputations sake, would be forced into supporting the common good.The problem arises when congressmen/congresswomen become too comfortable with their positions and electability. They become complacent and allow transgressions because they assume they will be there the "next time". Their arrogance needs to be humbled. The heat they need to feel is public backlash.
I think that the Democrats need to be asking themselves, "Is all-time lowest confidence ratings we are now receiving part of a larger a larger plan the neocons implemented when they understood that Democrats would win the House and if it is how do we correct the situation? The answer lies in the fact that the truth will set you free.
Here, we know the truth. Do you think any of us here could reasonably vote for a neocon if a better alternative were available? So, when a larger proportion of misguided and delusional Americans finally wake up to the truth, How could McCain, Giuliani, or Romney even stand a chance to win the presidency once it does comes out? Better yet, do you think we will forget the betrayal of the Democrats. I have sacrificed and paid a heavy price and I know this is something I will never forgive.
You too will pay a heavy price, but you have a choice. This last year will define your entire career and the path you chose is your own: A. Impeach and save what gains were made during the civil rights and voting movements or B. Fail to impeach and render everything gained and accomplished meaningless. Ponder, but do not tarry. There is NO MIDDLE ground here.
Chose wisely.
202,301 Citizens Can't Ignore Cheney Criminality
Representative Wexler's call for Accountability has so far been signed by (now) 202, 351 citizens.
Isn't there something fundamentally wrong with a "democracy" where elected "representatives" can continue to ignore the pleas of so many citizens--citizens who are concerned about the preservation of that democracy--because of the "representative's" own personal worries about whether doing the right, just, and moral thing that the people are demanding is politically expedient?
...
==============
I M P E A C H
or RESIGN !!!
“It Boggles the Mind”
Re: Erased CIA torture tapes—Federal Judge Hellerstein said he's: “Stunned that the C.I.A. investigators had not kept records about the tapes…”:
Personally, I’m “stunned” that the Congress finds the Administration’s continued lawbreaking, Constitutional violations, and cover-ups of so “little value” that they continue to accept the criminality--mounting only cosmetic token resistance. That’s what’s truly mindboggling. If Congress were indeed serious about performing oversight, after a year of ignored subpoenas and SWL’s—they’d admit that the Administration’s been playing them for fools and if they had an ounce of self-respect, they’d stand up and say, “Enough”.
If Congress were serious about oversight, they’d stand up and tell the Administration that time has run out. They would inform the Administration that since they’ve chosen to ignore subpoenas, (and SWL’s), and since they’ve obstructed justice by destroying: 1. tapes of possible criminal behavior and 2. White House e-mails that they were legally bound to preserve and specifically ordered to preserve—that the time has come for the only avenue left to Congress to investigate an Obstructive Administration: Impeachment.
If Congress were actually Serious about Oversight… We’ll know by their actions, not by their words.
203,202 Citizens have added their voices to Representative Wexler's call for accountability. That's 901 more signatures added in the 37 minutes since I posted the count of 202,301 in a previous comment.
Great American Election Charade
The Great American Election Charade
By Ernest Partridge, Co-Editor
The Crisis Papers.
January 15, 2008
In the United States of America, the public selects the candidates of each of the two parties. Several candidates of these parties offer themselves to the citizens of a number of states, the free US press presents the policy positions of the candidates to the public, and the free broadcast media conduct debates in which the issues are openly discussed. Then the states hold primaries and caucuses, in which delegates are chosen by the voters, whereupon the delegates choose the parties' nominees at open national party conventions.
And little George Washington really did chop down his daddy's cherry tree.
The more the American public is persuaded to believe this pleasant myth of the "free and open election process," the longer that public will believe that each new Chief Executive is the legitimate "people's choice." And that persisting public belief suits the powers that be in the military-industrial-corporate-media complex (MICMC) just fine.
In fact, the United States is one of the few two-party nations in which one party gets to choose both its own candidate, and also the candidate of the "opposing" party.
Well, OK, I exaggerate. But it's not much of a stretch to say that the GOP, with the help of its wholly-owned subsidiary, the mainstream media, has routinely exercised veto power over the Democratic Party's potentially strong opponents: Ed Muskie and the "Canuck letter" in 1972, Howard Dean and the infamous "scream" in 2004, and apparently, once again, John Edwards and his "anger" and $400 haircuts.
(As numerous polls have disclosed, John Edwards is potentially the strongest Democratic candidate against the Republicans, and Hillary Clinton is the weakest. Yet Edwards, who finished second in the Iowa caucuses, has vanished from the pages of the mainstream media, from the columns of the punditocracy, and even from the press conferences of The Democratic Leadership Council - the Republican wing of the Democratic party).
Following the conventions, the mainstream media rolls out the heavy artillery, and lays down its quadrennial barrage on the Democrats: Dukakis and Willie Horton, Clinton and "Whitewater," Gore's "invention" of the internet and "discovery" of Love Canal, Kerry and the "Swift Boat Veterans." Meanwhile, the GOP candidates are pelted with marshmallows: "compassionate conservatism," "uniter, not a divider," while the candidate's shady past is kept in a secure lock box: the National Guard AWOL, Harken and Arbusto and insider trading, DUIs and drug busts.
I am not suggesting that the voters have no significant role to play in the US elections, just that for the past fifty years or so, this role is much smaller than most American citizens dare believe. Even so, the citizens' voice in the selection of its leader is potentially formidable, and even decisive, and this mere possibility has the poobahs of the establishment MICMC terrified.
The founders called decisive citizen involvement in public decision-making, governing "with the consent of the governed." Lincoln called it "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Tom Donahue, the President of the US Chamber of Commerce calls it "populism," and has resolved that the CoC will spend as much cash as it may take to stamp it out.
That effort just might bankrupt the super-affluent Chamber of Commerce, for the fact of the matter is the American public is now as mad as hell and not going to take it any more. More significant, perhaps, than the candidates' totals in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary are the numbers of citizens participating in these contests: approximately twice as many Democrats as Republicans, and an extraordinarily large proportion of them are young people.
At long last, more and more ordinary Americans are getting the message that they have been lied to, that they can no longer trust the mainstream media, that their public treasury has been looted, that their children's and grandchildren's future has been mortgaged, and that they are living under the darkening shadow of despotism.
Still the establishment MICMC rolls on in its arguably pre-determined course, "populism" and the public be damned. Matt Taibbi on Bill Maher's "Real Time" last Friday summed it up perfectly:
The [campaign] theme for awhile was that the voters were sick and tired of being told by the media who was going to be their nominee. But it seems to have come full circle now, and it looks like we may end up getting the same people we were going to get in the first place: [McCain and Clinton]....
Seventy percent of the country wants to withdraw from Iraq, and we get two pro-war candidates. If that doesn't tell you how f****d-up the system is, I don't know what does.
So we are now at a crossroads. Here, for what it's worth, are two scenarios: To the right, we get McCain vs. Clinton and more of the same, whoever wins. If these are the candidates, Hillary will get a media pounding that will make the Swift Boats seem like a luxury cruise. The GOP will nominate McCain and a "smart Bush" – maybe Giuliani or even (God forbid!) Cheney - for Veep. The GOP/MSM noise machine will bring the McCain poll numbers upward toward 45%, which is close enough for Diebold, et. al, to do the rest. McCain, age 72, will win and after a year or two, retire "for health reasons." Bush's "enabling acts" will still be in place, and ... - the rest is too horrible to contemplate.
To the left, the public demand for change becomes irresistible. Edwards is nominated, or perhaps Obama with a populist enthusiasm not clearly evident today. A populist/Democratic tsunami overwhelms the black-box voting machines, a Democrat moves into the White House, and the Democrats take substantial control of Congress. By then, the Bush depression may be upon us, opening the door to substantial social, economic and political reform.
The latter scenario can not happen without a massive outpouring of public anger and demand for substantial change. If that anger is contained, we remain on a rightward course. If it breaks loose and the Bastille falls, all bets are off. It's in the hands of we the people.
Hold on tight: it's going to be a rough ride ahead!
*************
Copyright 2008 by Ernest Partridge
Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. He has taught Philosophy at the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He publishes the website, "The Online Gadfly" and co-edits the progressive website, "The Crisis Papers".
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0801/S00140.htm
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You can lead a republican to the truth, but you can't make him think it...
An observation
I can understand why chairman Conyers has not started impeachment proceedings. It's really simple. If the underlings can get away without obeying subpoenas, how in hell does anyone expect more serious criminals to act differently? A cop who will not enforce the law is an invitation to criminals to increase their criminal acts If Miers and others are brought to heel, maybe even Armitage will show up, but if not, impeachment would be an exercise in futility. The problem either is complicity on the part of the Speaker, or gutlessness on the part of the chairman - or both? They keep hollering at the chairman to IMPEACH OR RESIGN, but that's not the answer. The next Chairman would be even more gutless.
Chairman, it is past time to fish or cut bait. Even if Nancy fired you, the momentum towards impeachment is too great; even if you were drummed out of Congress, your pension would not be affected! Also, importantly, if Nancy DID remove you as Judiciary chair, she would at the same time, and by that action, be electing Cindy! The people of San Francisco WANT impeachment of BOTH the crooks, not just Dick, but they'll settle. Go for it! Show the spine you showed back when you DIDN'T have the power to do anything! GET WITH IT! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!
Cool...
...the next time I get ordered to go to court, I'll emulate our President.
I see no reason why, in a nation that prides itself on equality, why ANYONE has to obey ANY laws anymore. Precedent starts at the top.
Gee, maybe the execution style slaying of the Georgia police officers, can be attributed to the fact that the laws we are expected to follow, and the laws the police allow the learning class to break, are one and the same. It gets a little frustrating being sent to prison for crimes the learning class gets to call youthful indiscretions.
One way or another, the fratboys who control America, will make it my team vs your team.
If you ain't one of the learning class, you're a cockroach. You can't lie to cockroaches or monkeys, can you?
Cockroaches can't be expected to understand the ambiguity of watching Catholic priests rape their children, and get rewarded with our federal education money, either. If educated Catholic priests can rape our children and get rewarded, why can't their victims, rape the children of our politicians, and get federal funding too?
Got any daughters Mr. Conyers? Not for me, I ain't educated.
Enforce the law, or get ready for a tremendous backlash of anger from the victim class.
Why should we be the only ones pissed off? If it ain't against the law for educateds, it ain't against the law for me. Either America is equal, or it isn't.
I can adapt. Drop the ruse or go away.
Thank God for the Second Amendment. When I hunted, I didn't understand why people needed semi-auto assault weapons. I do now.
Soon it won't be about BushCo. It will be about gentrifying the educateds. The wealthy use laws and partisan police forces, the poor use Black Talon armoring piercing bullets.
Gentrification...it's the American way. Or you can impeach. People like you Mr. Conyers, are the reasons why communism had such a big following.
Cultural revolution anyone? I didn't think so.
Mark,
I'm in. Pass the ammo.
It's really amusing. For years the republicans were telling us to shut up, drop our pants, and bend over while they crossed every line they could with their partisanship. Now that the Dems are in charge of both houses, all I hear from the Republicans now is that we must put all partisanship behind us "for the good of the Country".
But I remember the informal hearings in the basement. I remember the marginalization of the minority committee members. I remember the gagging of dissent, the ignoring of criminal behavior, the winks and nods at breeches of ethics. The refusals to investigate; the blind eyes, the mean spiritedness; even the jokes.
My answer to them shall always be, "You started this, now shut up, bend over and drop 'em".
Too bad we don't have anyone in congress to represent us.