Image: Salvador Dali, Premonition of Civil War
Hard Rain Journal 4-26-07: Edwards & Kucinich Show Bold Leadership; Meanwhile, Clinton & Obama Seem Not to Have Learned the Lessons of the Last 7 Years
By Richard Power
In Hard Rain Journal 2-2-07: Forget about 2008, the Fate of the Republic could be Decided in the Next Six Months, I wrote that handicapping the 2008 presidential campaign was a luxury that we could not afford, and that the fate of the Republic would likely be decided in the next six months.
Well, here we are, three months in --
Monica Goodling, the young woman who declared she would plead her 5th Amendment rights when she found herself at the center of the DoJ scandal, has been granted immunity by the Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and the House Judiciary Committee. (Think Progress, 4-25-07)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have issued subpeonas to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice (concerning the forged Niger yellow cake documents) and two RNC officials (concerning deleted e-mails from White House user accounts). (Raw Story, 4-25-07)
Raw Story also reports that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and the Senate Judiciary Committee have "approved - but did not issue - a subpoena on the prosecutors’ matter to Sara Taylor, deputy to ... Karl Rove.”
In the struggle to extricate the US military from the Mega-Mogadishu of Iraq, several retired generals have endorsed Congress’ Iraq withdrawal legislation. Maj. Gen. John Batiste called it "important legislation [that] sets a new direction in Iraq," while Lt. Gen. William Odom said it will "re-orient US strategy to achieve regional stability, and win help from many other countries - the only way peace will eventually be achieved." (The Gavel, 4-24-07)
Nothing is more important than these efforts to expose the Bush-Cheney regime's abuse of power and roll back its military adventurism, but recent developments compel me to comment on the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Going into tonight's first face to face debate, the two DLC-annointed frontrunners, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL), are looking increasingly overwhelmed by events. They seem not to have learned the lessons of the last seven years. Their words and deeds do not reflect the state of national emergency that grips us. They are triangulating with a political center that no longer exists.
Meanwhile, two other candidates, former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), are once again demonstrating boldness, passion and clarity of mind.
At the Michigan Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner on Saturday night, John Edwards boldly broke with Beltwayistan's "conventional wisdom" on so-called "free trade," and announced his opposition to the pending South Korea trade deal.
David Sirota offers some cogent analysis: "Will the other Democratic candidates join Edwards' call, or will they stay silent in deference to K Street and Wall Street? I ask this question honestly, and it is one Edwards is certainly going to start pressing. He knows that, for instance, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are surrounding themselves with and relying on Citigroup executive Bob Rubin's Wall Street machine - a machine that exchanges massive amounts of campaign cash for candidates' complicity in a trade policy that includes stringent protections for corporate profits, but no protections for human rights, labor rights or the environment." David Sirota, Working for Change, 4-22-07
And, as this message from David Bonior declares, Edwards is also calling for Karl Rove's termination:
There is a trail of rot making its way through our government—and it leads straight to Karl Rove.
New evidence shows that Rove has been methodically working to twist even the most impartial branches of the federal government—including the Justice Department—to serve the Republican Party at the expense of the American people.
Enough is enough. Impartial justice must be protected. Integrity in government must be defended. Karl Rove must be fired.
Tomorrow, John Edwards is going on national television to take part in the first presidential debate. And that night, he's going to call on George Bush to fire Karl Rove.
Will Bush listen? Not to John alone. Not to you or me alone. But if thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of us speak out together to demand accountability for Karl Rove and end their era of cynical, destructive, partisan government—we cannot be ignored.
Please add your name, so when John speaks out at tomorrow's debate it's clear that he's speaking for thousands. We'll keep a signature counter online to show how many have joined the call.
www.johnedwards.com/fire-rove
For his part, in an act of conscience and political courage, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has filed three articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney (H Res 333):
Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis demeanors.
Article I
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, to wit:
(1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction...
(2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice President was fully informed that no legitimate evidence existed of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Vice President pressured the intelligence community to change their findings to enable the deception of the citizens and Congress of the United States.
(3) The Vice President’s actions corrupted or attempted to corrupt the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, an intelligence document issued on October 1, 2002 and carefully considered by Congress prior to the October 10, 2002 vote to authorize the use of force. The Vice President’s actions prevented the necessary reconciliation of facts for the National Intelligence Estimate which resulted in a high number of dissenting opinions from technical experts in two Federal agencies.
The Vice President subverted the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than 3300 United States service members; the loss of 650,000 Iraqi citizens since the United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the invasion of Iraq. In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States.Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
Article II
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests, to wit:
(1) Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and the Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda...
(2) Preceding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq the Vice President was fully informed that no credible evidence existed of a working relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, a fact articulated in several official documents, including...
Article III
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and done so with the United States proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining the national security of the United States, to wit:
(1) Despite no evidence that Iran has the intention or the capability of attacking the United States and despite the turmoil created by United States invasion of Iraq, the Vice President has openly threatened aggression against Iran as evidenced by the following:
(2) The Vice President, who repeatedly and falsely claimed to have had specific, detailed knowledge of Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction capabilities, is no doubt fully aware of evidence that demonstrates Iran poses no real threat to the United States as evidenced by the following:
(3) The Vice President is fully aware of the actions taken by the United States towards Iran that are further destabilizing the world as evidenced by the following...
(4) In the last three years the Vice President has repeatedly threatened Iran. However, the Vice President is legally bound by the U.S Constitution’s adherence to international law that prohibits threats of use of force..
Wherefore Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.
The full text and extensive supporting documents are available at Rep. Kucinich's official web site.
I urge you to sign the Edwards petition; I also urge you to contact your elected representatives and demand that they relentessly pursue the investigations of the DoJ scandal and the fabicration of pre-invasion intelligence on Iraq, and also that they sign on to Rep. Kucinich's articles of impeachment.
Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net
John Edwards, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Hillary Clinton,, Sen. Barack Obama, Monica Goodling, Condoleeza Rice, Rep. Henry Waxman,Rep. John Conyers, Bush, Cheney, Karl Rove, Sen. Patrick Leahy, DoJ, David Sirota, Richard Power, Words of Power
