Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

COLUMN: Impeach Bush: Take matters into your own hands
By Jamar Osborne
Oklahoma Daily (U. Oklahoma)
03/14/2007

(U-WIRE) NORMAN, Okla. — What would America be like if the Supreme Court had not appointed Bush president? That's a question to which we'll never know the answer. Many Americans know, however, that we're tired of being held hostage by the Bush administration's scare tactics — the time for impeachment is now.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said during a news conference that "impeachment is off the table." She added during an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes that "making [the Bush administration] lame ducks is good enough for me."

The situation on Capitol Hill is quite the contrary. Unfortunately for America, it's the Democrats who have been the lame ducks when it comes to standing up to the Bush/Cheney criminal war machine and its war profiteering minions.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "When once a republic is corrupted there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption, every other correction is either useless or a new evil."

Still, Democrats continue to betray those who put them in office by putting partisan politics before the nation's welfare. When it comes to the war in Iraq, too many Democrats are playing both sides of the field, offering little leadership or challenge to Bush's catchphrase, "We must stay the course."

The reported number of Iraqi civilian deaths resulting from the U.S.-led military invasion is between 58,476 and 64,273.

As mortifying as these numbers are, most Americans are more concerned with Britney Spears' shaved head and whether O.J. Simpson is the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby.

Of all the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for this country, none of them ever knew their mission. Their families deserve justice.

While there have been nearly 3,200 military fatalities and nearly 33,000 nonmortal causalities to this war, most Americans have not lost a loved one, making the war seem impersonal to many.

Does Congress need to reinstate the draft in order for us to take a personal stake in our homeland? As Americans we can't stand idly by while more death and devastation is imminent.

Congress has failed to protect America and our military from the Bush administration's abuses of power. But I'll give Bush some credit — he has kept his promise of being a "uniter, not a divider."

Regrettably, however, Bush is uniting the world in opposition to the U.S. and destroying its credibility both domestically and internationally. There is danger still lurking.

Bush can still cause a lot of damage during the rest of his time in office. A war with Iran would be a worse disaster than Iraq and would leave America even more vulnerable.

Congress has effectively told America that short of receiving oral sex and leaving a stain on a plus-size blue dress, a president can do just about anything without fear of redress.

Congress is wrong — all due respect to Pelosi, but with so much bloodshed, lies and corruption, impeachment shouldn't be "off the table."

Impeach for Peace (impeachforpeace.org) has researched "Jefferson's Manual" and discovered America's best-kept secret. Parliamentary procedure empowers individual citizens to submit a memorial, or memorandum, for impeachment to initiate the impeachment procedure as an alternative to getting a resolution passed by the House of Representatives.

The memorial method for impeachment isn't without precedent. In fact, an 1826 memorial by Luke Edward Lawless was successful in initiating the impeachment of Federal Judge James H. Peck.

Impeach for Peace has created a convenient template called the "Do-It-Yourself Impeachment Kit." The goal is to get as many people as possible to flood Congress with stacks of impeachment memorials by March 20 as an effort to pressure Congress to take action.

Impeach for Peace lists six specific charges for impeachment and evidence against President Bush including:

(1) Intentionally misleading Congress and the public to justify war in Iraq in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371.

(2) Ordering the National Security Agency to conduct surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805.

(3) Conspiracy to commit torture and deny due process to prisoners in violation of the "Federal Torture Act" Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C.

(4) Illegally detaining Americans and designating U.S. citizens "enemy combatants" without access to legal counsel, without charge and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge detention.

(5) Illegally authorizing the leaking of classified information to expose covert U.S. intelligence agents to potential harm to further a political agenda.

(6) Illegally ordering the freezing of accounts and restricting freedom of assembly by creating blacklists ordering citizens "guilty by association."

The memorials are a start, but we can't stop there — the entire administration must be impeached.

The Bush administration would like us to believe that impeachment would be an act of extremism. On the contrary, it would be extreme not to impeach this administration given its flagrant and wanton disregard for American rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.

Let's finally get to the truth and put an end to the Bush administration's corruption and war profiteering at the expense of human life.

Impeachment is the only way to regain America's credibility; to do otherwise would set a dangerous precedent. The time to defend democracy and our constitution is now.

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