Articles of Impeachment

Yesterday on the floor of the House of Representatives, Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced a 35-count impeachment resolution against President George W. Bush. The detailed indictment outlines a litany of high crimes and misdemeanors and shows why George W. Bush deserves to be impeached and removed from office for violating his oath of office and his Constitutional duty that the laws be "faithfully executed."

Kucinich's impeachment resolution comes after revelations contained in the Senate Intelligence Committee's report that confirmed, once and for all, (and with the vote of two Republican Senators), that President Bush lied the American people into war.

Big news, right?

Not according to this morning's newspaper where the front page featured: plans for a suburban minor league baseball stadium; flooding in Wisconsin; poisonous tomatoes (though no cases of illness have been reported ... yet); a continuing series on sexual offenders; and a little piece explaining that it stinks to live next to a cattle feedlot.

Nope. You had to go all the way to Russia to find coverage of the articles of impeachment against George Bush: U.S. congressman moves to impeach Bush - Novosti (Russian news Agency)

Who ya gonna trust?

The United States is holding hostage some $50 billion of Iraq’s money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. We've refused to even consider giving them their money until they agree to three conditions:

1) more than fifty permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq;
2) allow American forces to continue to carry out arrests of Iraqi citizens and conduct military campaigns without consultation with the Iraqi government; and,
3) guarantee legal immunity for American soldiers and contractors.

The Federal Reserve holds Iraq’s financial reserves as result of the international sanctions against Saddam Hussein.

What is more, U.S. negotiators are threatening to permanently remove tens of billions of dollars of Iraq’s money as settlement of outstanding court judgments dating back to the 1980s unless Iraq immediately accepts the highly controversial military deal.

U.S. holding Iraqi funds for security deal - U.P.I.

100% Disabled

John McCain is 100% disabled, according to the U.S. Navy, and collected a U.S. government disability pension of $58,358 (tax free) last year. He's drawn that pension for more than 30 years even though his net worth is in excess of $150 million.

Last week the Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee voted against veterans' benefits legislation explaining that, because a college tuition benefit would be available after three years of service, the legislation would "encourage more people to leave the military after they have completed one enlistment... at a time when the United States military is fighting in two wars."

Of course none of that was front page news. Instead the big news was the Obama's fist pound, headlined on Fox News as "A terrorist fist jab."

We're all 100% disabled.

I wonder

Like the unfolding of one of those spy thriller novels, I can't help wonder what form it will take.

A plane crash? Dramatic and, initially at least, no one to blame for the sad tragedy. Of course there would be an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board that could drag on for years.

An assassination? What it lacks in subtlety it more than makes up in efficiency and effectiveness. And heaven knows the American people are all too willing to accept lone gunman cover stories.

What about a suicide bomber? Now there's a nice current events twist.

A crazed Islamofascist brings down the young, attractive, and energetic best remaining hope for change in America.

Then there would be a period of unrest, rioting in the streets all across the country.

Strong leadership would be required to restore order, to protect the citizens.

Indeed, the Bush administration's maneuvering to suspend posse comitatus and allow the deployment of military forces in the streets of American cities would seem down right prescient.

And the foresight to contract Halliburton to build detention centers around the country? Sheer brilliance.

But it's only a novel. Thank goodness it can't happen here.

The Power of Ownership

The system is broken. Most Americans understand it's broken. So let's quit wasting time and energy talking about whether or not it's broken. Instead let's get on with the important work of fixing what's broken.

Ah, but can the system be fixed? Are our pleas to those in power to "fix it" going to produce results?

"Please, Senators, could you create some better policies for the poor?"

"Congress, would you please try to create a little more balance between the rich and the poor?"

"Mr. President, sir, could you please stop sending our children to die in a pointless war and instead do something to get a few of our jobs back?"

Guess what. They're not going to do it. It really doesn't matter much whether it's a simple majority of Democrats, or a super majority, or total control. They aren't going to do it because they are a part of the problem. They're all beneficiaries of the way things are. John Edwards dared speak of "two Americas." As a consequence he was ignored and eventually run out of the race.

But even more importantly, even if by some miracle our elected officials did take bold action on these issues, it would not solve the problem. As important they are, the current issues framed by even the most progressive of our public officials are just bandaids.

We need to stop asking for bandaids after the wounds are inflicted. We need to stop being victims. We need to restore power to people. In order to do that we need to take power away from the corporations. The huge inequities of today will be repaired only when human beings make the decisions instead of those seeking only profits for the companies they run.

We need to purge our so democracy of every policy or law that gives more power to one citizen (or corporation) than any other citizen. What's wrong with America comes down to one real issue: Power.

Disowned by the Ownership Society - Naomi Klein

Poppin' Fresh

I wonder what the coverage would have been if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama had said something like this:

"When I was in college, we used to take a popcorn popper - because that was the only thing they would let us use in the dorm - and we would fry squirrels in a popcorn popper in the dorm room."

But instead it was Republican Presidential contender Mike Huckabee, and so there was hardly a mention.

Mike Huckabee plays up charm in S.C.

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

H.R. 1955 creates a government commission to investigate Americans who "adopt or promote an extremist belief system" for the purpose of "planning or threatening the use of force" in order to advance "political, religious or social change."

Sounds reasonable enough, huh? But wait. In other words, you don't actually have to commit a violent act or other crime. Merely thinking about committing a future crime, combined with an ideology that falls outside the mainstream, makes you a criminal under this law.

And this is scary: H.R. 1955 was introduced by California Democrat Jane Harman and promptly passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 404 to 6. Now it's off to the Senate where there is little opposition.

But have you seen any media coverage of this? Not a word. Search the Internet and you'll find only a few mentions on fringe web sites about H.R. 1955. And nobody is talking about this Orwellian thought crime law. Don't kid yourself, the commission created by H.R. 1955 will inevitably be tempted to exaggerate the extent of the homegrown terrorist threat in order to ensure increased funding, and its findings will be used to justify additional laws prohibiting Americans from engaging in whatever is determined to be "extremist" political dissent.

Don't take my word for it. Read the Library of Congress summary.