There is no question that the U.S. Congress has impeached presidents for lesser offenses

This afternoon Representative John Lewis (D-GA) used the "i" word in a letter encouraging his colleagues to pursue investigation into whether or not George W. Bush broke any laws when he spied on people without checking with anyone first. Representative Lewis is a civil rights leader and, according to Nancy Pelosi, "the conscience of the U.S. Congress."

It seems Mr. Lewis was a little peeved by George W. Bush's press briefing this morning, during which Bush defended his use of his domestic spying program and denounced the undignified person who leaked word of its existence to the press. Lewis stated:

"In my opinion, the President has violated the law, and the House and Senate must pursue their inquiries into this illegal program. The President must stop using the threat of terrorism and the tactics of fear to invade the privacy of American citizens. George W. Bush is the president. He is not a king. He is not above the law.

"This executive order takes us back to the dark past when our government spied on Civil Rights leaders and Vietnam War protestors. Without obtaining the judicial authorization required to wiretap American citizens, the American people have no protection against the misuse of this program for illegal or vindictive means. The very system of democracy the President seeks to protect is undermined by this controversial program. Principles fundamental to our Constitution and values central to the American way of life have been violated in this situation--the separation of powers, the right to privacy of American citizens, as well as the freedom of the press. In this country we have a press that operates independently from the government and its duty is to act as a check on government activity. The President should not chastise the press for exercising its Constitutional authority.

"President Bush and Vice President Cheney have said that the White House informed the leadership of Congress and ranking members of the intelligence committee about this questionable program. However, it seems clear that there was no respect for the objections of those elected representatives who raised concerns about this domestic spying program. I look forward to further inquiry in the House and Senate on these matters. The American people deserve the truth. We must gather the facts and determine once and for all whether the law was violated. There is no question that the U.S. Congress has impeached presidents for lesser offenses."

So I bopped on over to whitehouse.gov to see what Mr. Bush had said this morning that got Rep Lewis so hopping mad - riled up enough to use the dreaded "i" word. Now, I've read a lot of press briefings, and it's always special when we get to take a break from watching the close-to-dead Scott McClellan. But today's was extra special - not just because it was George W. Bush and not pickle-nuts up there, but because it actually prompted me to scream in disbelief, anger and/or desperation after almost every single line. Usually Bush can go on for a few paragraphs without saying anything I wouldn't expect him not to say and I can get through entire sections without weeping. But today, Bush was in prime form.

Let's start with a few things from his prepared statement, before he had to speak to questions from live human beings. Bush says:

Last night I addressed the nation about our strategy for victory in Iraq, and the historic elections that took place in the country last week. In a nation that once lived by the whims of a brutal dictator, the Iraqi people now enjoy constitutionally protected freedoms, and their leaders now derive their powers from the consent of the government. Millions of Iraqis are looking forward to a future with hope and optimism...blahblahblah...our mission in Iraq is critical in the victory in the global war on terror. After our country was attacked on September the 11th and nearly 3,000 lives were lost, I vowed to do everything within my power to bring justice to those who were responsible. I also pledged to the American people to do everything within my power to prevent this from happening again. What we quickly learned was that al Qaeda was not a conventional enemy.

Did you see that, folks? From Iraq to September 11 without a beat. Without a pause. Without a transitional sentence, even. From the reason we invaded Iraq to the words "al Qaeda" in four lines.

Here, Bush begins to really push his spy-without-permission policy with the most effective tool he has - the only tool he has - fear:

This new threat (al Qaeda) required us to think and act differently. And as the 9/11 Commission pointed out, to prevent this from happening again, we need to connect the dots before the enemy attacks, not after...As President and Commander-in-Chief, I have the constitutional responsibility and the constitutional authority to protect our country. Article II of the Constitution gives me that responsibility and the authority necessary to fulfill it.

Now I'm not a constitutional scholar and if there is one out there, please help me - but I can't find a thing in Article II that would legally support Bush's domestic spy program. In fact, the oath the president swears as outlined in Article II is not to protect our country, but to protect our Constitution. And Bush never really explains what he means. Three or four different times he strongly defends the constitutionality of his actions, but, never gets into specifics, and then responds to a reporter's question by saying, "We’ve explained the authorities under which I'm making our decisions, and will continue to do so." He's such a details guy.

Bush continues:

So, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, I authorized the interception of international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. This program is carefully reviewed approximately every 45 days to ensure it is being used properly Sisk Note: As Bush has said before, it's been reviewed by Harriet Meirs and Alberto Gonzales who, in a not-surprising turn, have found nothing wrong with their fearless leader's plan. Leaders in the United States Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this program. Sisk Note: Yes, and in fact, two years ago when West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller (top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee) was briefed on the program, he released a letter to Vice President Dick Cheney expressing concern, saying that information was so restricted he was "unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities."

But this next part is what I consider to be Bush's golden moment - the spew diet coke all over my keyboard moment. Bush assures the American people that this program is no threat to them because:

This program has targeted those with known links to al Qaeda.

What? Are you KIDDING? Who the FUCK are you to tell me who has "known links to al Qaeda"? You - who later, in this same press briefing, say that all of your intelligence about Iraq was wrong? You - who still, today, link Iraq and al Qaeda in the same breath? You - who later on in your speech, accidentally call Osama bin Laden SADDAM?

I'm sorry, George, but you've lost me here. You're asking me to trust that only people with known links to al Qaeda are targeted when you don't even know who has links to al Qaeda? And this whole "other terrorist organizations"? Who the hell are those? Democrats.com? Greenpeace? Billionaires for Bush?

Whew. Okay. Back to work. So Bush keeps talking and he says a lot of things, among which were my favorites:

Yet, key provisions of this law are set to expire in 12 days. The House of Representatives voted for reauthorization, but last week, a minority of senators filibustered the Patriot Act, blocking the Senate from voting to reauthorize key provisions of this vital law. In fact, the Senate Democratic leader boasted to a group of political supporters that the Senate Democrats had "killed the Patriot Act." Most of the senators now filibustering the Patriot Act actually voted for it in 2001. These senators need to explain why they thought the Patriot Act was a vital tool after the September the 11th attacks, but now think it's no longer necessary.

Of course, Bush fails to mention that the Democrats are pushing a provision that would extend the current Patriot Act for three months while a long-term solution is reached.

My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy.

I wonder how he feels about the outing of CIA agents.

But this one's my number one:

I mentioned in my radio address -- my live TV radio address -- that there was two killers in San Diego making phone calls prior to the September the 11th attacks. Had this program been in place then, it is more likely we would have been able to catch them. But they're making phone calls from the United States, overseas, talking about -- who knows what they're talking about, but they ended up killing -- being a part of the team that killed 3,000 Americans. And so -- I forgot what got me on the subject, but nevertheless I'm going to -- we're doing the right thing.

Well, what a freakin relief. I know I can sleep better now.

Today, Senator Barbara Boxer published a letter she sent to four presidential scholars asking whether or not John Dean's comment that the president had admitted to committing an impeachable offense held weight. Her letter says:

"Given your constitutional expertise, particularly in the area of presidential impeachment, I am writing to ask for your comments and thoughts on Mr. Dean’s statement. Unchecked surveillance of American citizens is troubling to both me and many of my constituents. I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter as soon as possible."

And tomorrow, according to Bradblog and The Raw Story, the House Judiciary Committee Democrats are going to release a report entitled: "THE CONSTITUTION IN CRISIS: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War." The report is said to be incredibly candid and potentially very dangerous to the Bush Administration. Check out After Downing Street and John Conyer's personal site tomorrow.

So stuff's going down. And now, maybe more people will start bandying about that word "impeachment" without feeling like traitors. Because, as John Lewis pointed out, we certainly have impeached presidents for far less than this.

Love

1:06 AM

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Tuesday, December 20, 2005

There is no question that the U.S. Congress has impeached presidents for lesser offenses