House Judiciary Committee Decides It's Time To Investigate Bush Administration 'Abuses'
Bill Lindner
January 16, 2009
A 487 page report (PDF) entitled "Reining In The Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush" from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers says President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney committed impeachable offenses that must be thoroughly investigated in order to reaffirm U.S. Constitutional principles.
The report says the Obama administration should launch a criminal investigation of Bush administration officials to determine whether or not they broke the law in the name of National Security and recommends establishing a 911-style commission with subpoena power to gather facts and make recommendations on preventing misuse of power.
The report addresses Bush administration policies that include interrogation of foreign detainees (torture), extraordinary rendition, warrantless wiretapping and domestic surveillance, retribution against critics, intelligence manipulation, leaking the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and the politically motivated firings of nine U.S. attorney. 47 seperate recommendations are in the report to "restore the traditional checks and balances of our Constitutional system...and to set an appropriate baseline of conduct for future administrations."
In the report's foreword, Conyers writes "The Bush Administration's approach to power is, at its core, little more than a restatement of Mr. Nixon's famous rationalization of presidential misdeeds: 'When the President does it, that means it's not illegal,'" and "under this view, laws that forbid torturing or degrading prisoners cannot constrain the President because, if the President ordered such acts as Commander in Chief, 'that means it's not illegal.'" Conyers goes on to note that under this view, it is not the courts that decide the reach of the law --- it is the President --- and neither the Judiciary nor Congress can constrain him.
As noted by Consortium News, Conyers seemed to acknowledge that an impeachment battle was evaded over the past two years out of concern that the political repercussions might have kept the Democrats from winning larger Congressional majorities and the White House. In other words, instead of putting America and its people first and doing the right thing, Congress decided to put politics first, regardless of the cost or consequences.
Conyers claims he never wavered in his belief that "this President and Vice President are among the most impeachable officials in our Nation's history, and the more we learn the truer that becomes." In his report, Conyers tries to justify why he believes that impeachment would not have been the appropriate step at this time in our history when in reality, it would have been very appropriate. Conyers was reportedly threatened with removal of his chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee by House Speaker Pelosi if an impeachment inquiry was even opened so it's hard to tell if he really felt that way or if he was under duress. Only time will tell.
Putting Politics Above Impeachment
A large majority of Americans wanted impeachment. 100 cities passed resolutions demanding impeachment. Impeachment resolutions were introduced by Senator Dennis J. Kucinich and referred to the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Conyers, where a faux Imperial Presidency Impeachment Hearing was held.
As noted by The Daily Kos, three things that President Nixon was almost impeached for (he resigned before being impeached) were done by President Bush:
He "prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of Justice."
He "repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the Constitutional Rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the Executive branch and the purposes of those agencies."
He "failed without lawful cause or excuse to produce papers and things as directed by duly authorized subpoenas issued by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives."
Contrary to the bogus claims of Congress, it would not have taken years to impeach President Bush or Vice President Cheney. It wouldn't have taken long at all. It's time to take a long hard look at politics as usual in Washington. Our political system is corrupted and badly in need of repair. More information on the excuses for not impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney from Senator Conyers can be found at The Daily Kos.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has repeatedly insisted that impeachment was off the table while pushing draconian legislation through Congress, has personally been responsible for enabling and hiding high crimes and misdemeanors. Speaker Pelosi was informed of the waterboarding and torture in September 2002 --- along with various other endeavors of the Bush administration along the way --- but did nothing to stop it. Impeachment could have saved this country a lot of grief.
Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senators Jay Rockefeller, Jane Harman, Dianne Feinstein and a multitude of other "lawmakers" enabled high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush administration for years at the cost of the Constitution, civil liberties, rights, freedoms and too many lives. Repeatedly passing illegal, unconstitutional legislation after the crimes have already been committed shows exactly where the priorities lie. Congressional complicity and politics as usual have come with a hefty price tag these past eight years due to large lobbies and large corporations.
We Need To Look Backwards In Order To Look Forward
The problem with starting illegal wars and illegally usurping unconstitutional Presidential powers is the fact that it's illegal. We weren't attacked by Iraq and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 as Vice President Cheney still tries to claim in his ongoing quest to salvage a disastrous legacy of deception. Lies and propaganda were used to start an illegal war and Bush administration complicity in allowing terrorist attacks served as the catapult that launched multiple crimes against humanity. Acts of Terrorists destroyed the twin towers, but, as noted by Tom Junod from Esquire magazine, our freedom was not in their power to destroy. It was in ours.
President-elect Obama is reportedly "still evaluating how we're going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions and so forth" while going on to note that on one hand he doesn't believe anybody is above the law but on the other hand, we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards. Obama has not made a final decision about a 9/11-type commission yet. We need to look backwards in order to look forward to right a hellacious wrong.
Conyers says he firmly rejects "the notion that we should move on from these matters simply because a new administration is set to take office" and has already introduced legislation to form the commission.
The problem with federal commissions is that information is oftentimes manipulated or purposely omitted, most likely for political reasons and to protect the guilty. For example, information was purposely withheld and manipulated by the 911 commission in order to minimize criticism and complicity in allowing the attacks to happen. If a commission is put together to investigate the Bush administration "abuses," it's imperative that there is some civilian oversight.
Information on the attacks of 9/11 is still being covered up and withheld from the public. Many of the lies and ommissions of the 911 commission can be found in this article by Dr. David Ray Griffin.
The U.S. Congress is currently creating foreign policy resolutions that reinterpret international humanitarian law, apparently designed to exonerate nations with superior firepower from any liability for inflicting large-scale civilian casualties due to the ongoing U.S. sanctioned slaughter in the Gaza conflict --- Congress has been owned by the Israeli Lobby for years --- similar to the way they passed unconstitutional retroactive laws that attempt to exonerate the crimes committed by the Bush administration with the knowledge of Congressional leadership.
When corrupted politicians start allowing egregious crimes to happen because they're afraid of political repercussions instead of protecting the citizens they're elected to represent, you end up where we are today.
Courtesy of President George W. Bush, America has inherited a corrupted political system, a politicized Justice Department and a more politically corrupted Judicial system. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court --- whose judges are appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States, who was appointed by President Bush --- is reportedly about to conveniently validate the delusional claims that wiretapping is legal without a court order. When judges start making decisions based on political preference instead of the rule of law, you end up tarnishing the justice system and nullifying the rule of law, as has been repeatedly proven over the past eight years. Not impeaching Bush while condoning and covering up illegal activities committed by the Bush administration is going to cost this country, in many ways, for years to come.
Allowing the illicit activites and illegal power grabs performed by the Bush administration to remain active and unpunished would be a very dangerous mistake. If nothing is done to correct it, future administrations will be able to further what virtually amounts to an Imperial Presidency at the cost of Democracy. Allowing these crimes to remain covered up because of Congressional complicity is a bad idea. It's time to wake up America and so something about it.
The report says the Obama administration should launch a criminal investigation of Bush administration officials to determine whether or not they broke the law in the name of National Security and recommends establishing a 911-style commission with subpoena power to gather facts and make recommendations on preventing misuse of power.
The report addresses Bush administration policies that include interrogation of foreign detainees (torture), extraordinary rendition, warrantless wiretapping and domestic surveillance, retribution against critics, intelligence manipulation, leaking the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and the politically motivated firings of nine U.S. attorney. 47 seperate recommendations are in the report to "restore the traditional checks and balances of our Constitutional system...and to set an appropriate baseline of conduct for future administrations."
In the report's foreword, Conyers writes "The Bush Administration's approach to power is, at its core, little more than a restatement of Mr. Nixon's famous rationalization of presidential misdeeds: 'When the President does it, that means it's not illegal,'" and "under this view, laws that forbid torturing or degrading prisoners cannot constrain the President because, if the President ordered such acts as Commander in Chief, 'that means it's not illegal.'" Conyers goes on to note that under this view, it is not the courts that decide the reach of the law --- it is the President --- and neither the Judiciary nor Congress can constrain him.
As noted by Consortium News, Conyers seemed to acknowledge that an impeachment battle was evaded over the past two years out of concern that the political repercussions might have kept the Democrats from winning larger Congressional majorities and the White House. In other words, instead of putting America and its people first and doing the right thing, Congress decided to put politics first, regardless of the cost or consequences.
Conyers claims he never wavered in his belief that "this President and Vice President are among the most impeachable officials in our Nation's history, and the more we learn the truer that becomes." In his report, Conyers tries to justify why he believes that impeachment would not have been the appropriate step at this time in our history when in reality, it would have been very appropriate. Conyers was reportedly threatened with removal of his chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee by House Speaker Pelosi if an impeachment inquiry was even opened so it's hard to tell if he really felt that way or if he was under duress. Only time will tell.
Putting Politics Above Impeachment
A large majority of Americans wanted impeachment. 100 cities passed resolutions demanding impeachment. Impeachment resolutions were introduced by Senator Dennis J. Kucinich and referred to the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Conyers, where a faux Imperial Presidency Impeachment Hearing was held.
As noted by The Daily Kos, three things that President Nixon was almost impeached for (he resigned before being impeached) were done by President Bush:
He "prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of Justice."
He "repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the Constitutional Rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the Executive branch and the purposes of those agencies."
He "failed without lawful cause or excuse to produce papers and things as directed by duly authorized subpoenas issued by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives."
Contrary to the bogus claims of Congress, it would not have taken years to impeach President Bush or Vice President Cheney. It wouldn't have taken long at all. It's time to take a long hard look at politics as usual in Washington. Our political system is corrupted and badly in need of repair. More information on the excuses for not impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney from Senator Conyers can be found at The Daily Kos.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has repeatedly insisted that impeachment was off the table while pushing draconian legislation through Congress, has personally been responsible for enabling and hiding high crimes and misdemeanors. Speaker Pelosi was informed of the waterboarding and torture in September 2002 --- along with various other endeavors of the Bush administration along the way --- but did nothing to stop it. Impeachment could have saved this country a lot of grief.
Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senators Jay Rockefeller, Jane Harman, Dianne Feinstein and a multitude of other "lawmakers" enabled high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush administration for years at the cost of the Constitution, civil liberties, rights, freedoms and too many lives. Repeatedly passing illegal, unconstitutional legislation after the crimes have already been committed shows exactly where the priorities lie. Congressional complicity and politics as usual have come with a hefty price tag these past eight years due to large lobbies and large corporations.
We Need To Look Backwards In Order To Look Forward
The problem with starting illegal wars and illegally usurping unconstitutional Presidential powers is the fact that it's illegal. We weren't attacked by Iraq and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 as Vice President Cheney still tries to claim in his ongoing quest to salvage a disastrous legacy of deception. Lies and propaganda were used to start an illegal war and Bush administration complicity in allowing terrorist attacks served as the catapult that launched multiple crimes against humanity. Acts of Terrorists destroyed the twin towers, but, as noted by Tom Junod from Esquire magazine, our freedom was not in their power to destroy. It was in ours.
President-elect Obama is reportedly "still evaluating how we're going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions and so forth" while going on to note that on one hand he doesn't believe anybody is above the law but on the other hand, we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards. Obama has not made a final decision about a 9/11-type commission yet. We need to look backwards in order to look forward to right a hellacious wrong.
Conyers says he firmly rejects "the notion that we should move on from these matters simply because a new administration is set to take office" and has already introduced legislation to form the commission.
The problem with federal commissions is that information is oftentimes manipulated or purposely omitted, most likely for political reasons and to protect the guilty. For example, information was purposely withheld and manipulated by the 911 commission in order to minimize criticism and complicity in allowing the attacks to happen. If a commission is put together to investigate the Bush administration "abuses," it's imperative that there is some civilian oversight.
Information on the attacks of 9/11 is still being covered up and withheld from the public. Many of the lies and ommissions of the 911 commission can be found in this article by Dr. David Ray Griffin.
The U.S. Congress is currently creating foreign policy resolutions that reinterpret international humanitarian law, apparently designed to exonerate nations with superior firepower from any liability for inflicting large-scale civilian casualties due to the ongoing U.S. sanctioned slaughter in the Gaza conflict --- Congress has been owned by the Israeli Lobby for years --- similar to the way they passed unconstitutional retroactive laws that attempt to exonerate the crimes committed by the Bush administration with the knowledge of Congressional leadership.
When corrupted politicians start allowing egregious crimes to happen because they're afraid of political repercussions instead of protecting the citizens they're elected to represent, you end up where we are today.
Courtesy of President George W. Bush, America has inherited a corrupted political system, a politicized Justice Department and a more politically corrupted Judicial system. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court --- whose judges are appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States, who was appointed by President Bush --- is reportedly about to conveniently validate the delusional claims that wiretapping is legal without a court order. When judges start making decisions based on political preference instead of the rule of law, you end up tarnishing the justice system and nullifying the rule of law, as has been repeatedly proven over the past eight years. Not impeaching Bush while condoning and covering up illegal activities committed by the Bush administration is going to cost this country, in many ways, for years to come.
Allowing the illicit activites and illegal power grabs performed by the Bush administration to remain active and unpunished would be a very dangerous mistake. If nothing is done to correct it, future administrations will be able to further what virtually amounts to an Imperial Presidency at the cost of Democracy. Allowing these crimes to remain covered up because of Congressional complicity is a bad idea. It's time to wake up America and so something about it.
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