Should We Thank Paris Hilton for Energizing the Impeachment Movement?
June Caldwell
July 08, 2007
The goal of the brand spankin new Los Angeles Impeachment Center is to support the movement to Impeach Bush and Cheney. Can we thank Paris Hilton for the enhanced media attention it is getting? We call out now to Paris to join the movement as the official Impeachment spokesperson!
At what we expected to be a quiet Los Angeles groundbreaking of the country’s first new official Impeachment office, we anticipated seeing the usual Impeachment crowd that has been working together since the 2000 Kucinich campaign. Yes they were there, but joined by hundreds at the picnic. And imagine our surprise at seeing NBC, KNX radio, Fox, KTLA news and the now predominantly right-wing slanted LA Times covering every word of Congresswoman Maxine Waters' speech at the event. The Impeachment office is the first of its kind in the country. Typically Impeachment related events, marches, speeches, etc are marginalized and all but ignored by mainstream media. What was different this time? We kept hearing the catch-phrase “Scooter Libby spent more time in jail than Paris Hilton!"
Of all the offenses this administration has committed, is it the fact that Scooter Libby spent more time in jail than Paris Hilton that finally lit the fire of the country's indignation?
As if pulverizing the Constitution, misleading a whole country into an endless genocide that benefit only oil corporations, legalizing torture, and murdering hordes of our own US citizens with lack of the responsiveness that any human decency would dictate in Katrina isn’t bad enough. If blatantly undermining our intelligence system in a time of war by outing an agent isn’t, then what is enough to get these guys impeached? If letting Paris Hilton’s disproportionate time spent in an unflattering orange incarceration jumpsuit is that last straw, then so be it.
Paris shared in her interview with Larry King after getting out of the big house (er, not the one she lives in, but the other ‘big house’) that her experience in jail made her want to engage in service to people, that it changed her. Joining the Impeachment movement will be the bold move that will get her the respect she has been lacking.
Is it just Paris, or is it also the fact that our highest government officials glaringly support intentionally putting a US spy in danger is such an offensive and treasonable crime that has captured the media attention? Imagine if you or I had exposed a spy. We would be put on the Al Qaeda sympathizer list immediately and be shipped off to a torture prison in Guantanamo. The fact that Libby who openly had been covering this at the orders of our Vice President, was responsible for this very high treason act, and the administration is condoning it in the form of a pardon is so out of the box, how do we as a country even process this without thinking of the “I” word? The offensive pardon being issued 2 days before Independence Day creates a sinister irony like a nauseating churn in the stomach that can’t be ignored.
Paris, your influence has already gotten the attention the movement deserves. In fact, the congress reps on board with the Impeachment resolution went from 9 to 14 in about a month. No doubt you, Paris, were a large part of that!
Cindy Sheehan on July 4, 2007 publicly announced she is back on board working on the movement. Cindy Sheehan and Paris Hilton walking hand in hand, forging the way, is just what our country needs. Of course, much needed funds could be provided by the Hiltons. Perhaps a new line of Impeachment couture and accessories could give this movement the much needed funding to compete with the highflying lobbyists that we all know are the real power in this administration.
Comparisons to pardons made by previous presidents fall way short. None even come close to Libby’s treasonous acts. He was convicted by a jury of his peers on 4 of 5 counts of perjury & obstruction of justice. The very conservative appeals court saw no basis for delaying his time in prison because there was little likelihood that an appeal would be successful. His actions covered up the outing of a CIA operative under deep cover who was directly involved in our nation’s defense against weapons of mass destruction. Assertions to the contrary are flat lies. 11 CIA officials gave sworn testimony to this fact before a Congressional investigation on July 22, 2005. At a press conference on Oct. 28, 2005 Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald further affirmed her classified status. “The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well-known, for her protection or for the benefit of all of us. It’s important that a CIA officer’s identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer but also for the nation’s security. Valerie Wilson’s cover was blown in July 2003. The first sign of that cover being blown was when Mr. Novak published a column on July 14th, 2003.” This in part was the basis for his successful prosecution of Libby and by proxy those he would protect by his silence.
Bush’s rationale for commuting Scooter the Shooter’s prison time was laughable. A man who as governor sent more prisoners to their death than any other governor in the country at that time expects the common voter to believe he has compassion for Scooter & his family because “ they have suffered so much”? Because 20 months in some white collar, low security, all-inclusive Club Fed with catered meals, tennis courts and free yoga classes “prison” was too excessive?
Paris, will this injustice get you on the bandwagon? Bring all your friends and neighbors. Join the Simple Life of the common voter who has chosen to stand up for Impeachment.
For more on the Impeachment Center, see: www.bcimpeach.com. Pictured: Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
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