Democrats Robert Wexler of Florida, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin on Friday distributed a statement, “A Case for Hearings,” that declares, “The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens.”
Below are 2 bills I pulled in regards to the articles of impeachment submitted to the judiciary committee.
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1106
Articles of Impeachment against George Walker Bush, President of the United States of America, and other officials, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 8, 2006
Ms. MCKINNEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
RESOLUTION
Articles of Impeachment against George Walker Bush, President of the United States of America, and other officials, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, That George Walker Bush, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following Articles of Impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of Impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of all the people of the United States of America, against George Walker Bush, President of the United States of America, and other officials, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled that:
ARTICLE I. FAILURE TO PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION
In violation of the oath of office, which reads: `I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States', George Walker Bush, in his conduct while President of the United States has demonstrated a pattern of abuse of office and of executive privilege, and disregard for the Constitution itself.
This conduct includes the following:
Manipulating Intelligence and Lying To Justify War
In violation of the separation of powers under the Constitution and his subsequent obligation to share intelligence with the Congress, George Walker Bush, while serving as President of the United States of America, in preparing the invasion of Iraq, did withhold intelligence from the Congress, by refusing to provide Congress with the full intelligence picture that he was being given, by redacting information by, for example, removing portions of reports such as the August 6, 2001, Presidential Daily Brief, and actively manipulating the intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons programs by pressuring the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies to provide intelligence such that `the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy' as revealed in the `Downing Street Memo'. To this end, President George Walker Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld created the Office of Special Plans inside the Pentagon to override existing intelligence reports by providing unreliable evidence that supported the claim that Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction posed an imminent threat to the United States of America. By justifying the invasion of Iraq with false and misleading statements linking Iraq to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and falsely asserting that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program for which it was importing aluminum tubes and uranium, these assertions being either false, or based on `fixed' intelligence, with the intent to misinform the people and their representatives in Congress in order to gain their support for invading Iraq, denying both the people and their representatives in Congress the right to make an informed choice, George Walker Bush, President of the United States, did commit and was guilty of high crimes against the United States of America.
ARTICLE II. ABUSE OF OFFICE AND OF EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
In violation of his oath to `faithfully execute the office of President of the United States', George Walker Bush, in his conduct while President of the United States, has consistently demonstrated disregard for that oath by obstructing and hindering the work of Congressional investigative bodies and by seeking to expand the scope of the powers of his office.
This conduct includes the following:
Failure To Uphold Accountability
In abrogation of his responsibility under the oath of office to take care that the Laws be faithfully executed, by which he agreed to act in good faith and accept responsibility for the overall conduct of the Executive Branch, a duty vested in his office alone under the Constitution, George Walker Bush, failed to take responsibility for, investigate or discipline those responsible for an ongoing pattern of negligence, incompetence and malfeasance to the detriment of the American people.
Those whom George Walker Bush, as President of the United States of America, has failed to hold to account include but are not limited to the following top-level officials in his administration:
(a) RICHARD CHENEY- In violation of his oath of office to support and defend the Constitution, Richard Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America, played a key role in manipulating intelligence in the interest of promoting the illegal invasion of Iraq by pressuring analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency to `fix' their intelligence estimates of the danger posed by Iraq in relation to weapons of mass destruction, whereby Richard Cheney, Vice President of the United States, did commit and was guilty of high crimes against the United States of America.
(b) CONDOLEEZZA RICE- In violation of her Constitutional duty to share and provide accurate and truthful intelligence information with the Congress, as former National Security Advisor to the President, did play a leading role in deceiving Congress and the American public by repeating and propagating false statements concerning Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction program, including false information that the purchase of aluminum tubes demonstrated that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear weapons program, false information that Iraq was seeking to purchase uranium and false information that Iraq sought help in developing a chemical and biological weapons program; whereby Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State of the United States of America, did commit and was guilty of high misdemeanors against the United States of America.
By neglecting to superintend the conduct of these officials and to hold members of the Executive Branch responsible for their negligence or violations of law, George Walker Bush, President of the United States, did commit and was guilty of high misdemeanors against the United States of America.
Wherefore, by their aforementioned conduct, George Walker Bush, Richard Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice warrant impeachment, trial, and removal from office.
ARTICLE III. FAILURE TO ENSURE THE LAWS ARE FAITHFULLY EXECUTED
In violation of his duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States of America to `take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed', George Walker Bush, during his tenure as President of the United States, has violated the letter and spirit of laws and rules of criminal procedure used by civilian and military courts, and has violated or ignored regulatory codes and practices that carry out the law.
This conduct includes the following:
Illegal Domestic Spying
In violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [50 U.S.C. Chapter 36], George Walker Bush did clandestinely direct the National Security Agency and various other intelligence agencies, in secret and outside the lawful scope of their mandates, for purposes unrelated to any lawful function of his offices, to conduct electronic surveillance of citizens of the United States on U.S. soil without seeking to obtain, before or after, a judicial warrant, thereby subverting the powers of the Congress and the Judiciary by circumventing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) courts established by Congress, whose express purpose is to check such abuses of executive power, provoking the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to file a complaint and another judge to resign in protest, the said program having been subsequently ruled illegal (ACLU vs. NSA); he has also concealed the existence of this unlawful program of spying on American citizens from the people and all but a few of their representatives in Congress, even resorting to outright public deceit as on April 20, 2004, when he told an audience in Buffalo, New York: `any time you hear the United States Government talking about wiretap, it requires . . . a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so', whereby said George Walker Bush, President of the United States, did commit and was guilty of high crimes against the United States of America.
In all of this, George Walker Bush has repeatedly and unapologetically misled the American people and has sought to undermine the system of checks and balances established by the Founding Fathers. Wherefore George Walker Bush, by such conduct, and in the interest of saving our Constitution and our democracy from the threat of arbitrary government, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to... (Introduced in House)
HRES 333 IH
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 333
Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2007
Mr. KUCINICH submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
RESOLUTION
Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article I
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, to wit:
(1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction:
(A) `We know they have biological and chemical weapons.' March 17, 2002, Press Conference by Vice President Dick Cheney and His Highness Salman bin Hamad AL Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain at Shaikh Hamad Palace.
(B) `. . . and we know they are pursuing nuclear weapons.' March 19, 2002, Press Briefing by Vice President Dick Cheney and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem.
(C) `And he is actively pursuing nuclear weapons at this time . . .' March 24, 2002, CNN Late Edition interview with Vice President Cheney.
(D) `We know he's got chemicals and biological and we know he's working on nuclear.' May 19, 2002, NBC Meet the Press interview with Vice President Cheney.
(E) `But we now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons . . . Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.' August 26, 2002, Speech of Vice President Cheney at VFW 103rd National Convention.
(F) `Based on intelligence that's becoming available, some of it has been made public, more of it hopefully will be, that he has indeed stepped up his capacity to produce and deliver biological weapons, that he has reconstituted his nuclear program to develop a nuclear weapon, that there are efforts under way inside Iraq to significantly expand his capability.' September 8, 2002, NBC Meet the Press interview with Vice President Cheney.
(G) `He is, in fact, actively and aggressively seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.' September 8, 2002, NBC Meet the Press interview with Vice President Cheney.
(H) `And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.' March 16, 2003, NBC Meet the Press interview with Vice President Cheney.
(2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice President was fully informed that no legitimate evidence existed of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Vice President pressured the intelligence community to change their findings to enable the deception of the citizens and Congress of the United States.
(A) Vice President Cheney and his Chief of Staff, Lewis Libby, made multiple trips to the CIA in 2002 to question analysts studying Iraq's weapons programs and alleged links to al Qaeda, creating an environment in which analysts felt they were being pressured to make their assessments fit with the Bush administration's policy objectives accounts.
(B) Vice President Cheney sought out unverified and ultimately inaccurate raw intelligence to prove his preconceived beliefs. This strategy of cherry picking was employed to influence the interpretation of the intelligence.
(3) The Vice President's actions corrupted or attempted to corrupt the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, an intelligence document issued on October 1, 2002, and carefully considered by Congress prior to the October 10, 2002, vote to authorize the use of force. The Vice President's actions prevented the necessary reconciliation of facts for the National Intelligence Estimate which resulted in a high number of dissenting opinions from technical experts in two Federal agencies.
(A) The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research dissenting view in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate stated `Lacking persuasive evidence that Baghdad has launched a coherent effort to reconstitute it's nuclear weapons program INR is unwilling to speculate that such an effort began soon after the departure of UN inspectors or to project a timeline for the completion of activities it does not now see happening. As a result INR is unable to predict that Iraq could acquire a nuclear device or weapon.'.
(B) The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research dissenting view in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate also stated that `Finally, the claims of Iraqi pursuit of natural uranium in Africa are, in INR's assessment, highly dubious.'.
(C) The State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research dissenting view in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate references a Department of Energy opinion by stating that `INR accepts the judgment of technical experts at the US Department of Energy (DOE) who have concluded that the tubes Iraq seeks to acquire are poorly suited for use in gas centrifuges to be used for uranium enrichment and finds unpersuasive the arguments advanced by others to make the case that they are intended for that purpose.'.
The Vice President subverted the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than 3300 United States service members; the loss of 650,000 Iraqi citizens since the United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the invasion of Iraq.
In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
Article II
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, to wit:
(1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and the Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda:
(A) `His regime has had high-level contacts with Al Qaeda going back a decade and has provided training to Al Qaeda terrorists.' December 2, 2002, Speech of Vice President Cheney at the Air National Guard Senior Leadership Conference.
(B) `His regime aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaeda. He could decide secretly to provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists for use against us.' January 30, 2003, Speech of Vice President Cheney to 30th Political Action Conference in Arlington, Virginia.
(C) `We know he's out trying once again to produce nuclear weapons and we know that he has a long-standing relationship with various terrorist groups, including the Al Qaeda organization.' March 16, 2003, NBC Meet the Press interview with Vice President Cheney.
(D) `We learned more and more that there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda that stretched back through most of the decade of the ྖs, that it involved training, for example, on biological weapons and chemical weapons . . .' September 14, 2003, NBC Meet the Press interview with Vice President Cheney.
(E) `Al Qaeda had a base of operation there up in Northeastern Iraq where they ran a large poisons factory for attacks against Europeans and U.S. forces.' October 3, 2003, Speech of Vice President Cheney at Bush-Cheney ཀ Fundraiser in Iowa.
(F) `He also had an established relationship with Al Qaeda providing training to Al Qaeda members in areas of poisons, gases, and conventional bombs.' October 10, 2003, Speech of Vice President Cheney to the Heritage Foundation.
(G) `Al Qaeda and the Iraqi intelligence services have worked together on a number of occasions.' January 9, 2004, Rocky Mountain News interview with Vice President Cheney.
(H) `I think there's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government.' January 22, 2004, NPR: Morning Edition interview with Vice President Cheney.
(I) `First of all, on the question of--of whether or not there was any kind of relationship, there clearly was a relationship. It's been testified to; the evidence is overwhelming.' June 17, 2004, CNBC: Capital Report interview with Vice President Cheney.
(2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice President was fully informed that no credible evidence existed of a working relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, a fact articulated in several official documents, including:
(A) A classified Presidential Daily Briefing ten days after the September 11, 2001, attacks indicating that the United States intelligence community had no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11th attacks and that there was `scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda'.
(B) Defense Intelligence Terrorism Summary No. 044-02, issued in February 2002 by the United States Defense Intelligence Agency, which challenged the credibility of information gleaned from captured al Qaeda leader al-Libi. The DIA report also cast significant doubt on the possibility of a Saddam Hussein-al-Qaeda conspiracy: `Saddam's regime is intensely secular and is wary of Islamic revolutionary movements. Moreover, Baghdad is unlikely to provide assistance to a group it cannot control.'.
(C) A January 2003 British intelligence classified report on Iraq that concluded that `there are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the al-Qaeda network'.
The Vice President subverted the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than 3,300 United States service members; the loss of 650,000 Iraqi citizens since the United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the invasion of Iraq.
In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
Article III
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and done so with the United States proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining the national security of the United States, to wit:
(1) Despite no evidence that Iran has the intention or the capability of attacking the United States and despite the turmoil created by United States invasion of Iraq, the Vice President has openly threatened aggression against Iran as evidenced by the following:
(A) `For our part, the United States is keeping all options on the table in addressing the irresponsible conduct of the regime. And we join other nations in sending that regime a clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.' March 7, 2006, Speech of Vice President Cheney to American Israel Public Affairs Committee 2006 Policy Conference.
(B) `But we've also made it clear that all options are on the table.' January 24, 2007, CNN Situation Room interview with Vice President Cheney.
(C) `When we--as the President did, for example, recently--deploy another aircraft carrier task force to the Gulf, that sends a very strong signal to everybody in the region that the United States is here to stay, that we clearly have significant capabilities, and that we are working with friends and allies as well as the international organizations to deal with the Iranian threat.' January 29, 2007, Newsweek interview with Vice President Cheney.
(D) `But I've also made the point and the President has made the point that all options are still on the table.' February 24, 2007, Vice President Cheney at Press Briefing with Australian Prime Minister in Sydney, Australia.
(2) The Vice President, who repeatedly and falsely claimed to have had specific, detailed knowledge of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction capabilities, is no doubt fully aware of evidence that demonstrates Iran poses no real threat to the United States as evidenced by the following:
(A) `I know that what we see in Iran right now is not the industrial capacity you can [use to develop a] bomb.' Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency, February 19, 2007.
(B) Iran indicated its `full readiness and willingness to negotiate on the modality for the resolution of the outstanding issues with the IAEA, subject to the assurances for dealing with the issues in the framework of the Agency, without the interference of the United Nations Security Council'. IAEA Board Report, February 22, 2007.
(C) `. . . so whatever they have, what we have seen today, is not the kind of capacity that would enable them to make bombs.' Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency, February 19, 2007.
(3) The Vice President is fully aware of the actions taken by the United States towards Iran that are further destabilizing the world as evidenced by the following:
(A) The United States has refused to engage in meaningful diplomatic relations with Iran since 2002, rebuffing both bilateral and multilateral offers to dialogue.
(B) The United States is currently engaged in a military buildup in the Middle East that includes the increased presence of the United States Navy in the waters near Iran, significant United States Armed Forces in two nations neighboring to Iran, and the installation of anti-missile technology in the region.
(C) News accounts have indicated that military planners have considered the B61-11, a tactical nuclear weapon, as one of the options to strike underground bunkers in Iran.
(D) The United States has been linked to anti-Iranian organizations that are attempting to destabilize the Iranian government, in particular the Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK), even though the state department has branded it a terrorist organization.
(E) News accounts indicate that United States troops have been ordered into Iran to collect data and establish contact with anti-government groups.
(4) In the last three years the Vice President has repeatedly threatened Iran. However, the Vice President is legally bound by the U.S. Constitution's adherence to international law that prohibits threats of use of force.
(A) Article VI of the United States Constitution states, `This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.' Any provision of an international treaty ratified by the United States becomes the law of the United States.
(B) The United States is a signatory to the United Nations Charter, a treaty among the nations of the world. Article II, Section 4 of the United Nations Charter states, `All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.' The threat of force is illegal.
(C) Article 51 lays out the only exception, `Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.' Iran has not attacked the United States; therefore any threat against Iran by the United States is illegal.
The Vice President's deception upon the citizens and Congress of the United States that enabled the failed United States invasion of Iraq forcibly altered the rules of diplomacy such that the Vice President's recent belligerent actions towards Iran are destabilizing and counterproductive to the national security of the United States.
In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
Did I say they were dumb?
I just have a problem with women (even Oprah) demeaning themselves for a pageant that is really just for men to drool over women. Oooh, look at me - I'm purdy.
I suggest some of you go to the following link and read what the people are thinking. I read just about all of them and the one that strikes me is a Canadian making a comment about this election.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/29/1307122.aspx
I may be dumb s/m
but I'm smart enough to read the handwriting on the wall.
VOTING FOR LOU DOBBS FOR PRESIDENT!!!! Add T. Boone Pickens for VP!!!!!
now you are just being dumb
You are putting words in my mouth. You know nothing about me. I asked for some backup when people post things. You finally provided it, after whining in 3 other posts. I never ever claimed to be an ACORN fan. I just was trying to get the point across that if you post backup, you look a little smarter, but I guess it took you a while to get that ... Big shock.
How could someone so dumb
do so many good things for her state? If she was that stupid, her state would be bankrupt like California is.
dumb statement
she gets what she deserves? All the woman wants is to meet with the person who is supposed to be our servant, the person WE put into office. That is not asking too much, in my opinion. It is not like he is a king or dictator. He is supposed to be working for US. If he had met with her, she would have went home and none of this shooting guns, crashing into crosses, etc., would have happened. He is the reason she is getting all this press coverage. Gets what she deserves? What a dumb statement. He should get what HE deserves, impeachment, a criminal trial and imprisonment for this illegal immoral war of his.
I felt dumb because
I had to look up officiousness. But then I found this:
"Officiousness is used about 3 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English" and then I did not feel so dumb. LOL
I think we are beating a dead horse here. You have your opinion, not going to change. I have my opinion, not going to change. I do regret that you think someone must be "dumb" to have my interpretation, or that I am acting "deliberately dumb." Thank you so much for that assessment.
Why do those who call others dumb object so much...
..to having their own dumbness actually demonstrated in an undeniable way? You start that nonsense, it's going to come back and bite you on the butt. And usually, it's just too easy to make that happen.
Oh and by the way, who's avoiding the issue by launching a personal attack on someone else? Oh my, the very person who is complaining about someone else skirting the issue? Very typical. In fact, I didn't skirt anything. I was actually alive during the Gulf of Tonkin incident and my brother was in line for the draft at the time. My family was following events quite closely and even now continue to read and research the events of the VN war. You, my dunderhead, are out of line - and as usual, display a regrettable lack of character and credibility.
This whole thing is dumb and idiotic
you just go back several months and pull out an obscure post from somebody passionately talking about their support. She didn't sign any dotted line for you. You all are OBSSESSED to the point it's scary. Maybe she will go back...gosh this is sooooooo freakin' stupid.
You seem to be enjoying your dumb little games.
Illustrates the high intellectual functioning behind your posts.
That and the fact that you have been too many times to recount to not bash on this board and to be respectful. In looking at other postings I see you are unable to follow this very very simple request from the moderator.
Is'n't it time to grow up a little, Nan and AG?
W gave dumb a bad rep. 80% want change.
su
I think privatizing SS is a dumb idea and
you think it's a dumb idea but, hey, I guess all the rabid Republican posters on this board are so wealthy they don't need to worry about mundane things like Social Security, affordable insurance,homes, jobs and stuff like that. Guess they're like their hero and own so many houses they've lost count.
Dumb and uneducated followers?
Most Americans do not want to take that step back 50 years to buy into the bigotry you are promoting. Others never left it behind them, or simply passed it along to their children. Either way, that kind of thinking belongs WAY behind us back in the annals of some of the most shameful days US history ever recorded.
I hope that Hillary isn't dumb enough
to accept the job as SOS. It would be political suicide. In four, maybe eight years, Obama will be just as hated as Bush is right now and anyone associated with his administration might as well have the plague. I'm hoping she realizes this and stays in her senate job for now.
You said DUMB AS A GOURD. That's bashing.
Raed your own message, R-tard.
Yes, we know who is pulling the strings on the dumb
Obama started off saying he was confident in his FOREIGN POLICY experience ("Foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident that I know more and understand the world better than Senator Clinton or Senator McCain"). He then proceeded to talk about his visit to Pakistan.
SO WHAT? I visited and lived in several foreign countries, too. Does that mean I understand foreign policy better than someone who may have spent less time but has had actual interaction and policy discussions with those countries' leaders? And with the leaders of 80 countries?
If 3 weeks in Pakistan is the extent of Obama's foreign policy credentials, then I am way more qualified on the "foreign policy" front.
My point is that Obama's claim is ridiculous. Better that he stick to his "better judgement" mantra, since the "3 weeks abroad = foreign policy experience" is just pathetically weak.
The author has strong opinions, but I think he is right on!
Simon Winchester's recap of the events of April 18, 1906.
Teddy Roosevelt was President the morning San Francisco was hit by its devastating earthquake.
We were a DIFFERENT AMERICA then, Puppies. Just read this:
1. There was no warning...ZERO...than anything was amiss. Unlike August, 2005, there was no 10 days of warning ahead of the disaster. There were no satellites, no wireless, no TV. 2. In a city of 400,000...3,000 died and 225,000 were homeless. This happened in minutes...not days. At 5:12 a.m., the massive tectonic shake brought down a city, Rich and Poor alike. 3. The military responded instantly...in 153 minutes, the troops from the Presidio presented themselves...armed and ready...to the Mayor. Unlike the appalling delays with Katrina, the General in charge took instant command and moved his troops. FEMA stalled everything, including relief water trucks from Wal-Mart! (Ask yourself what sort of people we have become...when we need to wait for a Permission Slip from Brownie to move to help our neighbors?) 4. Mayor Schmiz, commandeered a boat to rush to Oakland, to wire the news to America. (Via Morse Code):San Francisco is in ruins. Our city needs help. 9 simple words. Which was how America found out about the catastrophe. No CNN. No Fox. No Geraldo. And how America responded. 5. The first relief train from L.A. arrived that night. Packed with food and clothing. Nobody in LaLa Land had to ask. They just DID IT. And there was no FEMA to turn back the train. 6. The Navy and the Coast Guard rushed in ships and boats to help. Nobody needed to go through channels. 7. The NEXT DAY Congress had passed legislation that allowed Roosevelt to dispatch rescue trains west....including the LARGEST HOSPITAL TRAIN EVER ASSEMBLED!!!. How is it, way back in 1916, from a standing start, Congress could assemble a massive train like that...when Bush had a hospital ship offshore (the Bataan)...which was never used???? 8. The guy in charge of the Post Office issued an order...signed by him, that NO UNSTAMPED LETTER WAS TO BE HELD UP FOR LACK OF POSTAGE! Can you IMAGINE any of our functionaries in today's wimp world of CAN'T DO Americans...issuing an order like that!! The brave pilots who got relegated to Kennel Duty for rescuing civilians know better.
Winchester does not mention the wonderful story of the founder of the Bank of America...who stood on the sidewalk and made sure his depositors could get cash, even as the bank lay in ruins. That speaks to an ATTITUDE about HELPING everyday Americans, and not just the Tax Pampered rich.
IN TODAY'S AMERICA...THE PUBLIC DOESN'T MATTER. INSTEAD...AT ALL COST PROTECT YOUR JOB, YOUR SENIORITY, YOUR RETIREMENT PACKAGE. Go along, shut up and mind your business.
America..where are you?
Tens of thousands, both American and Iraqi, have died for NOTHING..and when the truth is told finally, we will see the war was based on lies. Bush and his crew need to have something done to them, stand trial, impeachment, imprisonment, whatever..we cannot let this crime against humanity just slide by. I am outraged by it all and deeply saddened but I did not lose a loved one in this immoral war..I cannot even begin to think how I would react if I had lost someone to a war that did not have to be waged..I know, for sure, I would be one extremely rageful person..Give me a president who has had love affairs because of his weakness of loving women anyday over a president who loves to kill and wage war. I cannot believe what America is becoming..There are truly bad times..
America's war on the web
America's war on the web
While the US remains committed to hunting down al-Qaeda operatives, it is now taking the battle to new fronts. Deep within the Pentagon, technologies are being deployed to wage the war on terror on the internet, in newspapers and even through mobile phones. Investigations editor Neil Mackay reports
IMAGINE a world where wars are fought over the internet; where TV broadcasts and newspaper reports are designed by the military to confuse the population; and where a foreign armed power can shut down your computer, phone, radio or TV at will.
In 2006, we are just about to enter such a world. This is the age of information warfare, and details of how this new military doctrine will affect everyone on the planet are contained in a report, entitled The Information Operations Roadmap, commissioned and approved by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and seen by the Sunday Herald.
The Pentagon has already signed off $383 million to force through the document’s recommendations by 2009. Military and intelligence sources in the US talk of “a revolution in the concept of warfare”. The report orders three new developments in America’s approach to warfare:
Firstly, the Pentagon says it will wage war against the internet in order to dominate the realm of communications, prevent digital attacks on the US and its allies, and to have the upper hand when launching cyber-attacks against enemies.
Secondly, psychological military operations, known as psyops, will be at the heart of future military action. Psyops involve using any media – from newspapers, books and posters to the internet, music, Blackberrys and personal digital assistants (PDAs) – to put out black propaganda to assist government and military strategy. Psyops involve the dissemination of lies and fake stories and releasing information to wrong-foot the enemy.
Thirdly, the US wants to take control of the Earth’s electromagnetic spectrum, allowing US war planners to dominate mobile phones, PDAs, the web, radio, TV and other forms of modern communication. That could see entire countries denied access to telecommunications at the flick of a switch by America.
Freedom of speech advocates are horrified at this new doctrine, but military planners and members of the intelligence community embrace the idea as a necessary development in modern combat.
Human rights lawyer John Scott, who chairs the Scottish Centre for Human Rights, said: “This is an unwelcome but natural development of what we have seen. I find what is said in this document to be frightening, and it needs serious parliamentary scrutiny.”
Crispin Black – who has worked for the Joint Intelligence Committee, and has been an Army lieutenant colonel, a military intelligence officer, a member of the Defence Intelligence Staff and a Cabinet Office intelligence analyst who briefed Number 10 – said he broadly supported the report as it tallied with the Pentagon’s over-arching vision for “full spectrum dominance” in all military matters.
“I’m all for taking down al-Qaeda websites. Shutting down enemy propaganda is a reasonable course of action. Al-Qaeda is very good at [information warfare on the internet], so we need to catch up. The US needs to lift its game,” he said.
This revolution in information warfare is merely an extension of the politics of the “neoconservative” Bush White House. Even before getting into power, key players in Team Bush were planning total military and political domination of the globe. In September 2000, the now notorious document Rebuilding America’s Defences – written by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a think-tank staffed by some of the Bush presidency’s leading lights – said that America needed a “blueprint for maintaining US global pre-eminence, precluding the rise of a great power-rival, and shaping the international security order in line with American principles and interests”.
The PNAC was founded by Dick Cheney, the vice-president; Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary; Bush’s younger brother, Jeb; Paul Wolfowitz, once Rumsfeld’s deputy and now head of the World Bank; and Lewis Libby, Cheney’s former chief of staff, now indicted for perjury in America.
Rebuilding America’s Defences also spoke of taking control of the internet. A heavily censored version of the document was released under Freedom of Information legislation to the National Security Archive at George Washington University in the US.
The report admits the US is vulnerable to electronic warfare. “Networks are growing faster than we can defend them,” the report notes. “The sophistication and capability of … nation states to degrade system and network operations are rapidly increasing.”
T he report says the US military’s first priority is that the “department [of defence] must be prepared to ‘fight the net’”. The internet is seen in much the same way as an enemy state by the Pentagon because of the way it can be used to propagandise, organise and mount electronic attacks on crucial US targets. Under the heading “offensive cyber operations”, two pages outlining possible operations are blacked out.
Next, the Pentagon focuses on electronic warfare, saying it must be elevated to the heart of US military war planning. It will “provide maximum control of the electromagnetic spectrum, denying, degrading, disrupting or destroying the full spectrum of communications equipment … it is increasingly important that our forces dominate the electromagnetic spectrum with attack capabilities”. Put simply, this means US forces having the power to knock out any or all forms of telecommunications on the planet.
After electronic warfare, the US war planners turn their attention to psychological operations: “Military forces must be better prepared to use psyops in support of military operations.” The State Department, which carries out US diplomatic functions, is known to be worried that the rise of such operations could undermine American diplomacy if uncovered by foreign states. Other examples of information war listed in the report include the creation of “Truth Squads” to provide public information when negative publicity, such as the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, hits US operations, and the establishment of “Humanitarian Road Shows”, which will talk up American support for democracy and freedom.
The Pentagon also wants to target a “broader set of select foreign media and audiences”, with $161m set aside to help place pro-US articles in overseas media.
Like 70% of America, I have BES sm
(Bush Exasperation Syndrome), same with Congress. I am active in trying to do something about it though. Tommy Chong has common sense, and Paris is just the art of distraction day in and day out by the media to keep people from paying attention to the real issues. Sure wish people would wake up. Real news: 3,682 dead US soliders. Very sad photo from Rosie's blog. http://www.rosie.com/blog/files/headers/53_large_4mkep2w-1.jpg
And that is what America is all about....
finding common ground. I agree also with your points here...and I am not 100% on McCain, there are some issues there too. But he comes way closer to what I think is good for the country than Obama does, and that has to be my main concern in this election. Because of the Dem stand on abortion and spending and many other things, it would be difficult to vote for a Dem anyway who was hard line. Now you take Zell Miller...there is a Democrat I could love. Old school conservative Democrat like a lot of my family. God bless'em. Their party has left them behind. :)
america first
There is no way we can put the world on our shoulders anymore.
That's what America needs!!!
To be yelled at to wake up!!!!!
Maybe you should go back to American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and Survivor and keep focused on those mind-numbing brainless shows for the brain dead while the country goes down the tubes.
As more people lose their jobs and as others' insurance premiums rise to become the most expensive monthly expense, the "majority" may find themselves unemployed, uninsured and unable to afford health insurance.
I became ill six years ago with a disease for which there is no cure, and I've kept trying to work, but over these six years, my income has dwindled very dramatically as a result of my illness and frequent hospitalizations. (As of this date, I've grossed less than $800.00 total for the year 2009, compared to the $40,000 to $44,000 I grossed prior to the onset of my illness.) I've been hospitalized twice this year, and when I'm not in the hospital, I'm trying to treat myself at home rather than be in the hospital. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. I'm on a multitude of drugs (12 total), including a Duragesic pain patch that I wear 24/7. (This drug is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine.) This, along with other medications I take, is very expensive. I'm fortunate enough to get most of my medications for free from the manufacturers' patient assistance programs. The others I can find on Walmart's list. The ones that I can't, I'm able to use a little card that I printed from the internet for free, and I receive a pretty substantial discount. (I believe anyone can get one of these; it's called a PS Card. In case you need one, the web address is: http://www.pscard.com/)
In addition, I've recently been diagnosed with major depression (I wonder why!), as well as PTSD (for other personal reasons), and I'm at the point where I'm eligible for and am applying for Medicaid benefits. I can't even begin to describe the shame I feel, since I've worked for 40 of my 56 years on this planet, and I know that eventually, my employer is going to fire me for my lack of production. (So far, she's been very kind and understanding and lets me work when I can.) But I've always been healthy, and I've always been easily able to pay my bills, including my health insurance. The thought that I may now be on the government "dole" is a very disappointing thought for someone who has always worked and has always been independent. Since becoming ill, I've lost my health insurance, my car and even my phone. I'm now barely able to pay my cable internet bill and am jeopardy of losing that, as well. If that happens, then my job will be gone. I certainly need that job much more than my employer needs me at this point, because that job is the only source of self-esteem I have remaining in my life, even though I know my contribution is less than minimal.
Since my initial diagnosis, I lost my health insurance when it rose from $622 to $711 a month. Before being forced to cancel my insurance, I called around to a few insurance companies and was literally laughed at and told there was no way I'd be insured by ANY company with my preexisting condition of pancreatitis. (This was before they discovered I have cystic fibrosis, the cause of the pancreatitis, so I'm now forever uninsurable by for-profit insurance companies.)
I just saw the doctor yesterday, and there's now a lump on my abdomen. He says if it's there a month from now, I need to see a surgeon. (I promised him that it WON'T BE.) That's where I draw the line. If I have no insurance, then NO SURGEONS AND NO SURGERY. Same reason I haven't had a mammogram. If they find something, I just can't deal with incurring astronomic medical bills that I can't possibly pay. We all have to go sometime, and if I'm in that position, then I'll just have to go because quality of life is an important issue, as well, and being hit with bill after bill after bill that can't possibly be paid can seriously destroy anyone's quality of life.
I used to feel like a lot of you on this board feel. However, I'm walking in different shoes now, and that has certainly changed my opinion and forced me to understand how others may be forced to live -- forced -- not through any choice of their own. Though I wouldn't wish "my shoes" on my worst enemy, if I could wave a magic wand and just have someone walk in these shoes for a very brief time, it might help others to understand that there are two sides to every story. If my application for Medicaid is accepted, I will be both relieved and ashamed at the same time, but I just might live longer.
This is the time America comes together.
We roll up our sleeves, and roll up our pant legs and we get in there and help. We know that God is great and prayer never wasted. We lend a helping hand and we volunteer. We contribute to charities. We got and help rebuild. We sink in the mud and we come out victorious. What we don't do is blame our President, make excuses for victims who shoot at their rescuers, who are now also patrolling the streets in full body armour with assault weapons raping women. What is WRONG with you? What has happened to this country that people like you are posting things like this. I must say, I am speechless at your impropriety and lack of willingness to do anything but place blame. Shame on you all!
Wake up America
America is becoming a shadow what it once was. Time to clean house from the president down to our state representative. Whether you be Republican or Democrat we need to get new blood in our government. Everyone needs to get out and vote and remember all of these tragedies. Time has a way of healing and being amnesiac at the poles, remember, always remember.
Below 40%, OMG, America is finally *getting it*
September 10th, 2005 11:57 am President's Approval Rating Dips Below 40
President Bush's job approval has dipped below 40 percent for the first time in the AP-Ipsos poll, reflecting widespread doubts about his handling of gasoline prices and the response to Hurricane Katrina.
Nearly four years after Bush's job approval soared into the 80s after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush was at 39 percent job approval in an AP-Ipsos poll taken this week. That's the lowest since the the poll was started in December 2003.
The public's view of the nation's direction has grown increasingly negative as well, with nearly two-thirds now saying the country is heading down the wrong track.
you are innocent until proven guilty? DeLay says it a political vendetta. Who knows, let's let is play out. And I wouldn't be so smug about wrongdoings on the right...There are plenty of those skeletons in the Democrat's closet to last us a lifetime. Remember Ken Starr? Of course THAT was an attempt to destroy a man, but of course THIS can only be wrongdoing by a Republican. Don't embarress yourselves just yet.
Hope we won't hear too much whining about innocent until proven guilty however - DeLay's indictment spells it right out and despite his predictable claims of witch hunt and fanatic partisan vendetta, there really doesn't seem to be any question about what happened. They have the check copies and they have the testimony. So yes, we have to wait for the formal sentencing after the facts have been heard by the Grand Jury - but there is no other side to the story so far as I can see, and no alternate explanation possible about what happened.
.....convince thousands of people that it is all right to exterminate a race of people simply because they believe them to be inferior or subhuman. It happened once and it could happen again.
It has happened many times in many countries. Sometimes the U.S. tries to intervene, sometimes we ignore it and sometimes we, ourselves, are the perpetrators (as with the Native Americans...we viewed them as subhumans as well as supporting regimes that to part in mass murder). We are not a guiltless superpower.
Al Sharpton doesn't have to look far for fuel...see the following story on racism in America.
On June 28 2007 a young black defendant Mychal Bell was found guilty of aggravated assault against a young white man by an all white jury despite conflicting testimony from witnesses.
His defense lawyer was incompetent at the very least and didn't even call the only adult to witness what happened to the stand. This man's testimony could have concievably blown the prosecuters case out of the water.
Originally the prosecuter tryed to charge Mychal and others with attempted murder for being involved in what was basically a fight and only backed off because of a worlwide public out cry. Learn more about the case from documents sent to me by Alan Bean, the founder of Friends of Justice a group dedicated to making sure all people are given a fair trial. You can read the documents by clicking the links below:
Article from yesterday's Times Herald documenting in a nutshell Bush's dynamic and equally distrastrous first year for America. It packs a wallop. In hindsight and in black and white, it certainly portends to everything that follows. I wonder if we shall ever recover from the damage that has been done to this country and abroad.
Seven down, one year to go for America
January 14, 2008
As I watched Americans caucus in Iowa and enter voting booths in New Hampshire these past two weeks, I felt the first stirrings of hope for my country that I've felt in a very long time.
It is as though we are peeking out of our caves of fear and despair, still wearing our winter coats and galoshes but preparing to shed them as we step into the promise of springtime.
For seven years, this country has been held in the grip of men who have used us for their own ends. On Sunday, it will be exactly one year until we see the last of the Bush administration.
That is reason for celebration. But it is not reason for turning our attention away from the criminals in the White House. There are times when I barely recognize the carcass of America that they continue to strip as they prepare to discard us.
Only one more year. But we know from experience the kind of damage George Bush and his crowd can do in the space of 12 months. Lest we forget, let's look at just a single year — 2001 — under this, the worst regime in America's history.
Jan. 20, 2001: On the day of Bush's inauguration, his chief of staff issued a moratorium halting all new health, safety and environmental regulations issued in the final days of the Clinton administration.
Jan. 23: Bush reinstates the global gag rule barring U.S. funding for abortion counseling abroad.
Feb. 5: Bush suspends the "roadless rule," which protected 60 million acres of forests from logging and road-building.
Feb. 17: Bush signs four
See Beth Quinn page 18
anti-union executive orders, including measures to prohibit project labor agreements at federal construction sites.
March 7: At Bush's urging, Congress repeals ergomonic regulations designed to protect workers from repetitive-stress injuries.
March 15: Bush abandons his campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
March 20: The Bush administration moves to overturn a regulation reducing the allowable levels of arsenic in drinking water.
March 28: Bush backs out of the Kyoto treaty on global warming.
March 29: Bush shuts down the White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach.
April 4: Bush's Department of Agriculture proposes lifting a requirment that all beef used in federal school lunch programs must be tested for salmonella.
April 9: Bush's Department of Interior proposes a limit on lawsuits seeking protection of endangered species.
May 11: Bush abandons the nation's international effort to crack down on offshore tax havens for the rich.
May 16: Vice President Dick Cheney's task force releases its National Energy Policy report, calling for weaker environmental regulations and massive subsidies for the oil and gas, coal, and nuclear power industries.
May 26: At Bush's urging, Congress passes a $1.35 trillion tax cut.
June 19: Cheny refuses to release records of his energy task force meetings to the General Accounting Office.
June 28: Attorney General John Ashcroft announces a policy that would require gun records be destroyed one day after a background check rather than 90 days later.
July 9: Bush opposes a UN treaty to curb international trafficking in small arms and light weapons.
July 26: Bush rejects an international treaty on germ warfare and biological weapons.
Aug. 6: During the presidential daily briefing, Bush is warned that Osama bin Laden is determined to strike in the United States.
Aug. 9: Bush limits stem cell research to existing lines.
Sept. 11: Terrorists organized by bin Laden crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing thousands.
Sept. 22: Bush signs a $15 billion airline bailout.
Oct. 26: Bush signs the USA Patriot Act.
Oct. 29: Bush's Justice Department acknowledges but won't identify more than 1,000 individuals detained since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Oc.t 31: Ashcroft authorizes monitoring of attorney-client conversations in terrorism investigations.
Nov. 1: Bush issues an executive order blocking the release of presidential records.
Nov. 13: Bush orders that "enemy combatants" be tried in military tribunals.
Nov. 14: Bush's Justice Department issues regulations allowing illegal immigrants to be detained indefinitely.
Dec. 11: The Bush White House recommends privatizing Social Security.
Dec. 12: Bush announces that he intends to pull out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty unilaterally.
Dec. 27: Bush repeals the "responsible contractor rule" that had required scrutiny of safety and environmental law violations in the awarding of federal contracts.
There are 372 days left 'til Jan. 20, 2009. Let us hang onto hope for the future.
with eight years of Bush. Who knows what is coming? We have earned our dues....slavery, sterilization of mentally ill and retarded, tanks crawling over those people in the cardboard houses and tents in Hooverville (go read about it, doubt you know any history).....yeah, I think we earned some damnation. If the Rev. Wright is the worst of it, we got it pretty good....Doesn't seem to be getting any traction anymore except of course on FAUX News.
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