Bush impeachment comes up again
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/07/25/art.kucinich.gi.jpg caption="Kucinich is pushing for the impeachment of President Bush."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - At a crowded Judiciary Committee hearing today, House Democrats talked about impeaching President Bush.... to the disgust of the committee's Republicans.
It was purely stagecraft. The day's star witness, Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, received a noisy ovation filled with cheering, clapping and whistling as he walked into the hearing room. Kucinich, who has introduced articles of impeachment, exhorted the committee to "support and defend the constitution that has been trampled time and again over the last seven years."
The hearing, technically, was not about impeachment but about executive power and its constitutional limitations. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Michigan, ticked-down a list of items that included, in his words, "the politicization of the Department of Justice, the misuse of signing statements, the misuse of authority with regard to detention, interrogation and rendition, possible manipulation of intelligence regarding the Iraq war, improper retaliation against critics of the administration... and excessive secrecy."
While Conyers called the evidence "both credible and substantial," Republicans scoffed.
Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the senior Republican on the committee, dismissed the hearings as "an anger management class."
For more on the impeachment back-and-forth, tune into Campbell Brown: Election Center tonight at 8 pm ET.
"This hearing will not cause us to impeach the president; it will only serve to impeach Congress's credibility," Smith said. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Arizona, went further with his criticism, saying Friday’s session "amuses our terrorist friends greatly," and "would make Alice in Wonderland roll her eyes.”
In the end, the committee took no action toward beginning an impeachment inquiry.
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I agree 100%. Either way he's still going down as the absolute worst president is US history!
OBAMA '08!!!
Impeaching Bush and his cronies is about the only good idea to come out of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's mouth.
I will never understand why the Democratic Leadership said from the beginning that this idea was "off the table". Bush has committed more crimes than Nixon could have even thought about committing.
Clinton was convicted for lying under oath... I guess they can't get Bush on that one because he and his of band of thugs all claim 'Executive Privilege" and refuse to testify about anything.
Typical political grand standing. One side screams foul while the other side defends their actions until the end. I blame both sides, one side gave him the power to do these things without asking questions in order to protect their political career while the other side may have known that it was wrong but because he belongs to the same club that you do, you look the other way.
A little too little a little too late!
Kucinich who?
ahhhh...... yes impeachment is the answer to lower fuel cost.
This guy makes my skin crawl.
Your reporter mentions "stagecraft" - is this his editorial comment? Inappropriate. Despite the fact this impeachment wil never happen because of the complicity of 90% of the Republican Party who would love to emulate the Brown Shirts who ushered Hitler into power and completely emasculate and politicize the American Department of Justice, these impeachment proceedings should still be taken seriously. Over 1,011,000 people (at my last count) signed the petition to bring these articles of impeachment to the floor. Not exactly a drop in the bucket.
"It was purely stagecraft"????? Is that part of this news article? Is that statement objective news? Yeah, uh-huh, it's all for show, and Bush Admin hasn't done anything questionable in the last 8 years, and a majority of the CITIZENS of this country don't feel like there has been abuse of power, and all those congresspersons have no valid issues whatsoever or have any motive to do the 'right thing' or have any integrity, ... and on and on it goes... This is a perfect example of the trivialization and complacency of THIS MEDIA that has contributed to this governmant doing what it has done, for example, like, oh, start agression and kill a million Iraqi's!! CNN do your job!
The most proper impeachment of the US President history is president bush. He should have been impeached over a year ago. There are too many evidences that he has gone over the limit from being incompetent to lying.
Republicans cant handle the truth.
You know, I want to support the Democrats so badly, because the Republicans have messed up everything they've touched the last 8 years, but the Dems need to stop wasting time show boating. Everybody already knows Bush is a moron. Let's stop complaining about it and start cleaning up his mess.
They call those people: Coward's! Mr... Freeloaders.
None input; Baggage. George Bush Jnr, is a National Hero...
Why don't we just arrange a hunting trip for Bush and Cheney? It'll cost us less tax money and solves the problem.
American people are not interested in impeachment, move on – PLEASE!
How valid is a our democracy if we fail to hold those elected accountable? What message are we sending to future leaders of our nation if we carefully avoid reflection and evaluation of those most responsible for the stewardship of our freedoms.
The fact that anyone would not openly invite this kind of review shows their personal self-interest in party politics are above their desire to have a just and enduring nation.
Pursuing justice is not about left or right, it is about being American and holding those values true.
re: CNN's photo of Kucinich: yeah he's short. we get it.
The democrats have nothing else better to waste our money on then the impeachment of the president. They should be spending it ways to cut the price of gas.
Yeah. Impeach Bush. Presindet Cheney has a nice ring to it. Get real.
Just let his term run out... 5 months to go and one of those months, Bush will be clearing brush at his ranch in Crawford.
The sad thing is that impeaching the president is a reasonable proposal given the amount of corruption, manipulation, and death his administration has wreaked on this country and the world. Why isn't impeachment on the table? As much as I hate the Republicans, the spineless Democrats in Congress make me sick too.
God forbid, we actually have some accountability in the White House. That would just make too much sense.
Just another waste of time by a do-nothing congress
To portray impeachment motions against the Bush administration as 'purely stagecraft' is to fly in the face of the reality. Doing so wilfully ignores the glaring fact this is quantifiably one of the worst administrations in modern history–guilty of numerous abuses of power, breaches of ethics and oversteps of constitutional authority, not to mention enough bona fide criminal negligence to fill an encyclopedia.
Whether or not justice will be done before all sneak out the back door in '09 remains to be seen. But the facts laid bare, if they aren't all shredded or mysteriously deleted before they can come to light, will show that if ever there were a President worthy of impeachement–this is the guy.
Bush has clearly violated his oath of office–in fact, it is highly unlikely that he has ever read the Constitution he swore to uphold and defend; and if he read it, he certainly never understood or believed in it–and has done more to destroy the US and its Constitution than a thousand Bin Ladens could have done. He should have been removed from office years ago. At this point, all this talk about impeachment is just talk. Democrats and Republicans talk the talk, but never walk the walk.
We have bigger fish to fry, and we don't want Chaney to have any more control than he already does.
don't bring anything against Bush or his cronies until after he leaves office and cannot pardon people. Then go after Rove and them and start getting these people behind bars.
Dennis should be impeached as he has wasted so much money on his run for the presidency. Can you see him as president? I hope badrock picks him as VP
i support Mitt Romney and hope than McCain picks him.
I think badrock is a loser and what an ego?
WAR CRIMES IS WHAT HE NEEDS TO BE CHARGED WITH