Senator Feingold deluged with demands for Impeachment

Yesterday, an amazing watermark was reached on Daily Kos.

Senator Russ Feingold (highly respected and an occasional blogger on Kos) posted a diary updating his efforts to end the war in Iraq. This in and of itself was not unusual. The comments (responses from the Daily Kos community) were unprecedented.

With only one or two exceptions (including Feingold's own comments) nearly every single response to his diary was an entreaty, demand or request for the impeachment of Dick Cheney and/or George Bush.

At one point Feingold responded to the impeachment avalanche by commenting:

As many of you have pointed out, articles of impeachment originate in the House, not the Senate. While I agree that the President has committed offenses right in the strike zone of impeachment (most notably with his illegal warrantless wiretapping program) and I share the outrage of many Americans at this President’s conduct, I am not sure multiple impeachment trials would be best for the country.

This comment did nothing at all to stop the flow of impeachment requests, but seemed to add fuel the fire. There are over 340 comments posted to the diary, and it is difficult to find any that aren't impassioned cries for impeachment. The arguments are intelligent, heartfelt and compelling. Take a look... and sit back and ponder.

There have been discussions about impeachment on Kos for months. Some argued pro, some con. There were reasonable and valid arguments made to support each point of view. In the last few weeks, and especially the last week, this has changed.

One by one, the opposition hardliners have had second thoughts. First the Libby 'get out of jail free' card. Then the refusal of the White House to turn over evidence. Then the refusal of the White House to allow Harriet Miers to appear before the Senate. Add to this the outrage over the Washington Post series on Cheney, news of the CIA 'Family Jewels,' and FBI abuses of the Patriot Act.

We have reached a pivotal moment, at least on Kos; in once voice, one collective scream, we are demanding that our government be rescued, the 'unitary executive' overturned, and our constitutional rule restored. And heaven help the congressman or senator who posts to the site these days, because he or she will be buried in impeachment demands. Democracy it seems is far from dead, and the people are determined to revive it to full strength.

In the end... we are American first. We want our country back.

$#%@& Stop spinning me!

Warning: This is a rant, and I've been writing it for days... although due to a planetary convergence (and the outrageous gall of our commander-guy,) I am posting it at the apex of my fury. Because I started it several days ago, you will be spared much of my current vitriol. Know that it is there.

I am no longer asking... I am demanding impeachment. I am not kidding.

Master of Destruction

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. - Abraham Lincoln

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." --Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776.

Money for nothin

I keep receiving emails from the DCCC, asking for money.

This of course is no surprise; every day I am bombarded with requests for money from presidential candidates, environmental groups, independent progressive newsletters and advocacy campaigns. I try to support progressive candidates that I know will really step up and make a difference.

My trust in the Democratic Party, however, has worn quite thin. Quite thin indeed. The DCCC can get in line. The last few emails I've received illustrate perfectly the moral bankruptcy inherent in this money-based election system. Rather than governing, the party is focused only on the next election - a year and a half away.

Meanwhile, our democracy is falling apart before my eyes. Our morality as a nation - not RELIGION, but the basic morality of our grandfathers and ancestors who DID NOT TORTURE, honored HABEAS CORPUS, and who believed in THE RULE OF LAW, separation of church and state -- and simple REASON: all of this is disintegrating.

And the DCCC writes emails, singing about some upcoming election - shades of the emails I received less than a year ago, about another 'upcoming election' and how that one would rock my world.

Right. Tell that to some other sucker.

Perhaps I wouldn't mind as much - that the DCCC is already hanging around in my inbasket, daily begging for my money - if I could see that the Democrats really meant business: that they plan to clean up this disaster that once was our Federal Government.

But from what I heard in April - supposedly from Democrat staffers 'in the know' - they plan to investigate solely to draw attention to Bush and Cheney's mishandling of our government; then leave them untouched, so they can use these scandals to draw voters to the Democratic Party.

The reason we should all vote for Democrats? "Because we aren't as lousy as the neocons!"

Friday's DCCC email was supposedly from Rahm Emanuel, and entitled 'Dick Cheney':

According to Dick Cheney, everything we learned in school is wrong. Instead of three branches of government, there are now four – the legislative, the executive, the judicial, and Dick Cheney.

In an attempt to obstruct meaningful oversight and avoid being held accountable, the Vice President said he did not consider himself part of the executive branch.

We both know the power to hold Dick Cheney accountable belongs to Congress. Could you possibly think of a better reason to have a stronger Democratic Majority?

My reply?

"When you decide to actually use that power to 'hold Dick Cheney accountable' and file impeachment articles against him.... then I will donate."

In other words: We already GAVE you the majority you need to impeach. Now pay me what you owe me, by honoring your constitutional oaths of office, before you come back asking for money! (That, and give me a little time to get over my disappointment in your lack of performance after the last election... please...)

Stop spinning me! Damn it! I'm sick to death of this endless propaganda! I know what 'nothing' looks like - and you're giving me nothing!

The DCCC obviously thinks that I am really stupid (or they are hoping that I'm really stupid.) Because by the time Rahm's fellow congresscritters are elected, in theory, Dick will be out of office.

I say 'in theory' because of course, we cannot bank on that, can we? No, we cannot bank on that because no one will touch him, so it's really up to Dick whether he steps down... or not. Our Constitution has been thrown under the bus, and the Democratic majority is refusing to lift a finger to save it.

We daily read about amazing breaches of governmental law, accountability and Constitution, and still impeachment is "Off the table." That is so outrageous it is very nearly criminal.

Madam speaker, if I may respectfully remind you... you swore an oath to protect the Constitution! I intend to hold you to that oath, and I suspect a huge percentage of my fellow Americans concur.

For God's sake: FIND A TABLE!

Cheney is still in office; a very real, constant danger to our democracy and to the world. And in spite of their majority, the Democrats sit on their hands. They don't even use impeachment as a threat.

NO: I won't give you any more money for not representing me or honoring your oaths of office - sorry guys. I like some return on my investment. I'm sure the lobbyists got theirs, now I want mine.

I think what irritates me the most is that Rahm (or someone pretending to be Rahm) thinks he only has to mention the word 'Dick Cheney' and I will immediately pull out my checkbook - even though he doesn't plan to actually do anything about Dick Cheney and his rampant abuse of power. Is Dick Cheney now the DCCC's bestest-buddy fundraiser-helper? Say it isn't so!

Anyway - I refuse to play.

Saturday's email was entitled 'Bush's 15 million':

Midnight tonight is the deadline. We are just $65,000 away and just hours from our Million Dollar Challenge before the critical June 30th FEC deadline where we report our fundraising totals and the media and pundits will use them to judge our chances for success in 2008.

What the hell...? Now I am supposed you give you money because you are cowering about what the 'media pundits' will say?

Like hell!

You don't care about protecting the rule of law and democracy - you just want us to help keep the media off your backs. Could you not - perhaps - have taken a different tack, and requested our citizen contributions so that you wouldn't have to go crawling to big business for cash? I might have signed on for that, because then I would know you were truly accountable to me - the voter.

No - of course you didn't say that, because you plan to go crawling to big business anyway. You always do. And you represent them quite well, I might add. Tell them about Bush's millions. Don't bother me again until you plan to represent me.

It's this poll thing - this fear of the bully media, that motives you guys, not the interests of your base. The media is now nothing more than a giant, corporate bully club; used by corporations and their lobbyists to beat you, intimidate you, and keep you all in line. And of course, to keep you from actually doing anything on my behalf.

Sorry, I won't play.

No free lunch

I don't give a flying @&$*% what the media pundits say. Because you don't give a flying @(*$*% what I am saying right now. Damn it: FIX MY GOVERNMENT. Fix it right now, and get your eyes off the damn 2008 calendar. We just elected you!

Imagine if an employee was hired on the basis of his willingness to do a job, and several months later - after doing absolutely no productive work, including the job he was hired to do (get us out of Iraq) - came asking for a raise. He'd be tossed right out of the employer's office, and most likely find himself in the unemployment line. Think about that.

The future is promised to no one... and that is especially true right now. How do you know we won't be at war with Iran in 2008? You're taking a huge chance with our freedom, and with the safety of the world. These guys won't even take nukes off the table. Imagine what their hero Reagan would think of that... he'd think they are madmen.

You couldn't even do the one thing that we absolutely demanded you accomplish: get our troops out of Iraq. You couldn't manage to exercise your budget oversight and cut the gravy train - which was your job, not some scary option - and you did nothing to demand your lawful oversight for any planned attacks on Iran. Oh some smart progressives that we sent to Washington suggested this, but you wouldn't have it.

You totally caved.

And sure, Bush was going to say 'no' anyway. We all knew this. You could at least have stood your ground, don't you think? Once again, you were worried about what he would say about you, while you were out of town and on vacation.

Did you give UP your vacation to do the right thing? HELL NO.

Terrific representation and dedication to country! We have people dying for us in Iraq and Afghanistan - sent there by you - and you couldn't even give up your Memorial Day on their behalf? What a sick way to honor their sacrifices.

This president has one of the lowest approval ratings in history, and is breaking laws and issuing signing statements at a rate that puts Nixon to shame -- and you refuse to hold him accountable. Oh sure you are investigating... but to what end? Simply to win an election that is over a year away? What about responsibility for the future - setting a precedent that should have been set with Nixon? Yes, that national nightmare is back! That you refuse to impeach Bush and Cheney for behaving worse than Nixon... is mind-boggling to me.

Cheney is outright lawless... and you won't even support one of your own, Dennis Kucinich, who had the courage to move forward with impeachment seemingly on his own. Brave Dennis, the people's champion. He must drive you crazy. Always whipping out that Constitution. Well let me tell you -- I'd take an entire Congress full of Dennises right now! A Congress full of Dennises and a Senate full of Russes. That might do the trick.

Even angry Republicans are supporting you, hoping and praying that you would reign in their own party - and still you fold, repeatedly, like a cheap suit!

Last night at the Giant's game, as the National Anthem began some unidentified people unfurled a banner about 14 feet long and 5 feet high that simply said IMPEACH. They were up in the walkway above the bleachers so the majority of the fans could have seen it, though it would have been easy enough to miss.

Within a minute, stadium people were on the scene and the banner was taken down. I took a picture on my camera phone which isn’t great, but good enough.

Frankly you're worth neither my vote or my money without action.

As they say in business - and this is something you should understand: it's all about results. I'll pay you when I see a return on my last investment.

Right now, I'm losing - and losing big. I'm losing my Constitution, my Bill of Rights, my country's troops are still in Iraq, my Federal agencies of oversight have all been outsourced, my food - and my pets' food - is tainted, my planet is heating up, our jobs have been outsourced, our Federal coffers are being looted (and that's my Social Security money you're blowing, or should I say 'handing off to Halliburton.')

Leahy, Feingold, Conyers and Waxman are the exceptions to your party capitulation, along with a handful of other progressives that you label 'fringe' because they actually get it. Dennis Kucinich is an American hero. And do you intend to back them as they deal with this 'larger-than-Watergate' scandal in the Executive Branch?

All over the world, people are watching you... watching us. Watching this once great democracy, and beacon of freedom for the world flounder around like a gutted carp in a row boat. They are waiting to see what YOU WILL DO:

Vice-President Dick Cheney was personally responsible for American policies that subjected terrorist suspects to cruelty and denied them the right to a fair trial, according to revelations from senior US government officials.

The details have laid bare more than ever before the remarkable influence of Mr Cheney in shaping the prosecution of the war on terror which led to the scandals at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

You wring your hands and you cower - and secretly you think you can just leave Bush and Cheney there to draw our ire so that we will magically re-elect you with an even greater majority - all for doing NOTHING. You haven't even reigned in the war profiteers, and you gutted your own oil-gouging legislation. And you wonder why you're polling so low? You're polling low because you have betrayed us!

That dog won't hunt

My own 'Blue Dog' representative is a total disgrace; simply a lump in the system, clogging up the workings of democracy. He's not a Republican - and he certainly isn't a Democrat. He's a lump. Slightly better than a Joe Lieberman, and slightly better than the Republican he replaced. But that's about all.

That dog won't hunt; and both the DCCC and Moveon.org actually asked me to spend hours calling voters on his behalf, insisting he was part of this 'great and glorious Democratic majority' that would change the world (or at least reign in the Bush Administration.)

I'm quite sure - especially given the letter I received from him concerning impeachment of Dick Cheney - that he is one of the reasons impeachment is 'off the table.' He doesn't want to 'rile his Republican friends.' I'd recall him for failure to honor his oath of office if I could. He is no representative of mine, and as far as I am concerned -- he is an oath-breaker!

I will give what little money I can spare to progressive candidates - even if they're other people's representatives, because I obviously can't get any decent representation of my own. I will give to the online, independent media that keeps me informed while the corporate media talks about Paris Hilton. I will support the environmental causes that are fighting to save the places that I love, and I will do whatever I can to make a difference with my money. But I no longer trust Moveon or the DCCC to spend it wisely.

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. - Abraham Lincoln

A word of advice to this Democratic Majority: I'm not the only one that feels this way. You'd better wise up and start acting on those campaign promises - start defending our constitutional rights - or you're going to be very unhappy when the 2008 elections finally do roll around.

Paybacks are a mother.

All it will take is one credible Independent candidate... and people will start flocking to the banner. I know you think it can't be done, but you have completely misread the seriousness of this situation, and underestimated the wrath of the Democrat and Republican masses that feel entirely unrepresented out here.

We're pissed - no, we're MAD AS HELL - and we want results. We demand justice! This is a nation of law, of order. That goes from the 'lowliest citizen' to the highest official. No special favors, no double standard. With Liberty and Justice FOR ALL.

We want our Constitution protected, this Executive Branch reigned in and prosecuted for breaking the LAW, starting this ILLEGAL WAR, TORTURING PEOPLE and TAKING THEM HOSTAGE WITHOUT DUE PROCESS, and destroying everything this country once represented around the world... and yes, we want our government back.

WE THE PEOPLE. You may have forgotten, but I'll be damned if we have.

Oh... and if you do impeach these monsters? If you do come through for us? I'll personally walk all the way from Indiana to Washington D.C. and bring you cookies. Seriously. It will be well worth it.

MSNBC Poll: Should Bush be Impeached?

MSNBC is apparently, actually conducting a live vote - right now - asking whether Bush should be impeached.

Seriously... I followed a link from another blog, and by God, there it was. There have been 469661 responses so far, and 88% say yes. Get out there and vote!

This is an amazing opportunity. A major mainstream media giant is actually ASKING our opinion about impeachment. Get the word out - we aren't likely to be asked again any time soon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

Salon: Why Bush hasn't been impeached

Hey - guess what? According to Salon, its our fault Bush will never be impeached.

Yep - even though we 'cleaned House' and gave the Democrats a resounding majority (the House impeaches a president, by the way.. the Senate serves as the jury, the Supreme Court as the judge.) And even though we even went that extra step and gave the Democrats a 'surprise' majority in the Senate, signed impeachment petitions, slapped bumper stickers demanding impeachment all over our cars... even though we still write letters to the editor that are never published, sign more petitions, call our 'representatives' ad nauseum... according to this commentary in Salon, we're not really interested in seeing Bush, Cheney and Rove impeached.

We don't have the will to see it through. Just ask Gary Kamiya.

According to Kamiya, "even though Bush cheated on us, lied, besmirched our family's name and spent all our money, we the people, not to mention our elected representatives and the media, seem content to stick it out to the bitter end."

And my answer to that? BULLSHIT.

Kamiya compares the Bush administration to nothing worse than a 'bad marriage', and the American people and their 28% approval rating to merely disgruntled wives or husbands who just aren't willing to pull the plug. He suggests that we - all of us, who have been ignored whenever we have spoken out, by congress, the media, by everyone, "haven't done the necessary work to separate ourselves from our abusive spouse" and "need therapy."

Please... more insults to our intelligence! Beat us some more! Please - can't you go a little further? Why don't you just call us all 'idiots' and be done with it?

Believe me, we're quite used to this from media pundits of all rank and file. We're perfectly aware we're COMPLETELY ON OUR OWN out here. But thank you for reminding us once again, with such superior disdain and sweeping judgment

So really now. In your opinion, that is all this is... a 'bad marriage?'

How many bad marriages involve compulsive lying, illegal wars, spying on the victim spouse, torture, obstruction of justice, obliteration of constitutional rights, removal of habeas corpus protections, secret prison camps... allowing an entire city to first drown, then rot without assistance, for years? Who in their right mind would remain in such a 'marriage,' if they had any way out?

Do we have any way out? I ask you Mr. Kamiya... what exactly is our way out? As I recall, we never voted for this administration in the first place. Both elections were stolen. We all know this now - everybody knows it, even the Republicans - but the media just never seems to cover it. And when they do, Congress just never seems to want to deal with it.

Most 'marriages' with even a fraction of these frightening ingredients end up splashed across the front page of the local newspaper when the controlling and wildly unstable husband eventually kills his hostage spouse.

Gary Kamiya... you have the temerity to tell us - to our faces - that we are so weak-minded and deluded that we will live with this horror, right up until it kills us?

Oh, you give some lip service to our 'feeble' attempts: such as the growing impeachment movement sweeping through the entire state of Maine... (other states have tried as well, but no one state has a monopoly on cowardly politicians bowing to their corporate masters.) Representative Kucinich introduced a resolution to impeach Cheney, but of course everyone in Washington laughed at it. The corporate media laughed as well. What did you expect?

Many American cities are trying to impeach. Vermont citizens have been holding 'village green' meetings for months, raising thousands of signatures to impeach. Hundreds of thousands of American citizens - those who can be ripped away from American Idol - have signed petitions begging Congress to impeach. People have painted 'impeach' messages on overpasses, on buildings, on billboards... the people have even taken out full pages ads demanding impeachment (apparently the ever-greedy media will print such ads if we are willing to pay for them.)

The problem isn't the people... the problem is the influence of the Washington, corporate lobbyists.

What would you have us do? How many phone calls will it take? God knows - we weren't able to stop, or even slow this war.

We called, we marched - people even occupied representatives' offices - all in a desperate attempt to end this illegal war. Today, I heard that the Democrats finally threw in the towel, and are backing off from their weakly worded 'benchmarks.' Bush gets his money, all of it, no strings attached. Congressional Democrats hold the purse strings... but they won't use them.

And this too is somehow... our fault?

Are you really so naive as to believe that if every household in America were to call their representatives and demand impeachment... that it would magically happen? Hardly.
If you believe we matter - at all in this equation - you are naive indeed.

The corporations own Congress. They will never let impeachment happen, not while they're raking in the cash. Bush and Cheney have made them wealthy and unfettered by government oversight, well beyond their wildest dreams. They will never willingly let this looting party end. Ever. Bank on it.

Washington lobbyists don't want Bush impeached, pure and simple. Come on Kimiya... just follow the money! If you know anything at all about Washington politics, it stopped being about 'the will of the people' and became 'the will of corporate investors' years ago. Just look at our pathetic election process.

Ever been on a peace march, Mr. Kamiya? Seriously - have you ever gone?

I've only been on one, this January in front of the Capitol building. I learned a lot. Its amazing how you can actually be there, in the crowd, and see one reality with your very own eyes... then later read an entirely different 'reality' (or nothing at all) in the national media. The handful of 'counter demonstrators' suddenly become a 'crowd'; the hundreds of thousands of mothers, fathers, grandparents, doctors, lawyers, students, and professionals who made the exhausting pilgrimage, hoping for real change and a working democracy... suddenly they are lessened to a mere 'thousand marginal radicals.'

How do you suggest we overcome this overwhelming power, wielded so undemocratically by the mainstream, corporate media?

What would you have us do?

We can't even eat our food anymore, not without wondering what unmonitored poisons have crept into our salads, meat, packaged meals and pet food. You think our only concern is the war in Iraq? What about our health care? What about our jobs? Please... insult our intelligence some more! Do you really think we haven't been watching the sum total of this catastrophe?

Do you think I watch these political atrocities - me, an avowed hater of everything political - and blog out here because I'm bored? I'm sure I could find something 'fun' to do with my time, believe me. I'm doing this because - heaven forbid I will end up as one of those 'silent German citizens' I once judged so harshly as a child, those average citizens who never spoke up when the Nazis rose to power and over threw their democracy. Heaven forbid that I might become, as Lincoln worded it, a coward that 'sins by silence when I should protest.'

Well, I'm protesting. We're all protesting. And what good will any of this do for America, if there is no will for change in Congress?

Of course we know about the signing statements! Of course we know about the Gonzales scandal and all the other scandals (no thanks to mainstream media, but we have other ways, thank God, of finding out whats going on in the Beltway. We have the BBC, McClatchy News and progressive media.)

Do you really think we don't remember Katrina? Have you asked us?

Better question might be... do you really think anybody in Washington cares what we think about, and what we want? Do you think anybody in Washington is really listening?

If they cared - if they were listening - they would have burst into this locked house with its broken television set and severed telephone wires, cut loose our chains, removed the duct tape from over our mouths -- rescued us from our prison, and found us a good lawyer!

Hell YES we want a divorce!!

Yet the public's dislike of Bush has not translated into any real move to get rid of him. The impeach-Bush movement has not really taken off yet, and barring some unforeseen dramatic development, it seems unlikely that it will. Even if there were a mass popular movement to impeach Bush, it's far from clear that Congress, which alone has the power to initiate impeachment proceedings, would do anything.

What would you have us do?

You're inching closer to the truth when you finally admit that:

The main reason is obvious: The Democrats think it's bad politics. Bush is dying politically and taking the GOP down with him, and impeachment is risky. It could, so the cautious Beltway wisdom has it, provoke a backlash, especially while the war is still going on. Why should the Democrats gamble on hitting the political jackpot when they're likely to walk away from the table big winners anyway?

This is what I've been saying all along. Its all about politics (well, that and greed.) Partisan politics. The GOP doesn't have a monopoly on partisan politicking - they're just willing to break a few more laws to 'win.'

We sent a Democratic majority to Washington, and demanded that they clean up this mess and to fix our broken government. Instead, they are actually quite happy to let it remain broken. They are banking on their assumption that continuing anger towards the Bush administration will lead to a huge Democratic victory in 2008. In this way, they are really no better - certainly no different than Karl Rove. Party before country... and the will of the people be damned.

I for one hope they gamble and lose.

Its time we all woke up from this two-party illusion, and created a third alternative - one that will actually represent us in our government. After this last and epic betrayal by the Democratic party, it is time to leave this broken, two party bandwagon and elect an independent to the White House in 2008.

Seriously - wouldn't you like to read these cynical, arrogant 'party' politicians a little history lesson? "We the people". Not the corporations. Not the banks. Not the lobbyists. We are the ones who put them in office. And when they betray our precious votes and slam the door in our faces, we can put someone else into those offices just as fast. It doesn't have to be a Republican or a Democrat. It doesn't have to be someone 'crowned' by the corporate media.

Congress, the media and most of the American people have yet to turn decisively against Bush because to do so would be to turn against some part of themselves. This doesn't mean we support Bush, simply that at some dim, half-conscious level we're too confused -- not least by our own complicity -- to work up the cold, final anger we'd need to go through impeachment. We haven't done the necessary work to separate ourselves from our abusive spouse. We need therapy -- not to save this disastrous marriage, but to end it.

I'm sorry Mr. Kamiya... but that is just... total... bullshit.

Stephen Colbert strikes again!

Impeach Bush

Saw this on the Colbert report last night and couldn't believe it. Stephen - exactly what are you trying to say?

Ziiiing.