“Scoop” NZ—Bush IMPEACHMENT Resolution, Illinois– Michael Collins(autrank)

[autorank]

Bush Impeachment Resolution Introduced In Illinois

Representative Yarborough, Illinois State Legislature Introduces Bill
Invokes Never Used Provision from Thomas Jefferson’s Rules

Scoop News http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00294.htm

By Michael Collins (DU autorank)
For “Scoop” Independent Media
Washington, DC, Monday, 24 April 2006, 2:03 pm

Representative Karen A. Yarobrough, a Democratic member of the Illinois State Assembly, introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush. House http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=50&GA=94&DocTypeId=HJR&DocNum=0125&GAID=8&LegID=25794&SpecSess=&Session">Joint Resolution 125 was introduced on April 20, 2006 with two co sponsors, Representatives Sara Feigenholtz and Eddie Washington, also both Democrats. Derided by Thomas Jefferson as “scarcely a scarecrow,” the presidential impeachment process is a rarity in United States history. The impeachment of federal judges is more common but also a rare event.

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Illinois Resolution Sponsors


(Left to right) Illinois State Assembly Representatives Karen
Yarborough, sponsor; Sara Feigenholtz and Eddie Washington,
co-sponsors. All Democrats, the three representatives are from
the Chicago area.

Jefferson’s Revenge

There is a little known set of supplementary rules for both the US Senate and House of Representatives developed by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was clear on his opposition to centralized federal power and frequently sought balances giving states greater liberties and rights. Jefferson’s rules, Section 603, state:

Inception of impeachment proceedings in the House: … there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate; by charges preferred by a memorial, which is usually referred to a committee for examination; by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee; by a message from the President;by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State or territory or from a grand jury…”

The language in Jefferson’s parliamentary guidelines is clear. State legislatures can set “an impeachment in motion” with a “Joint Resolution” approved by the legislature (both the state Senate and Assembly). No state has taken advantage of this provision. In fact, it is so obscure; the majority of Vermont legislators who asked for impeachment did so in a formal letter to the House of Representatives rather than invoking Jefferson’s Rule 603.

Illinois Joint Resolution 125

Bush is charged with the following “high crimes and misdemeanors” in Representative Yarborough’s resolution (summary):


1. Ordering the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens without a warrant (a “felony”).
2. Violating the Torture Convention of the Geneva Conventions, “a treaty regarded as supreme law by the United States Constitution;”
3. Holding American and other citizens as “prisoners of war without a charge or trial;
4. Manipulating intelligence to start the Iraq war “resulting in the deaths of large numbers of Iraqi civilians and causing the United States to incur loss of life, diminished security and billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses; and,
5. Leaking “classified national secrets to further a political agenda” thus exposing U.S. agents “to potential harm and retribution while simultaneously refusing to potential harm and retribution while simultaneously refusing to investigate the matter.”

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RESOLVED, That George W. Bush, if found guilty of the charges contained herein, should be removed from office and disqualified to hold any other office in the United States.

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Flight of Fancy or Emerging Reality

Bush’s popularity ratings have taken a nose for the past two years. The only point that he approached 50% was on Election Day 2004. For months prior to that day and subsequently, his popularity has trended downward. His most recent approval rating was only 33% as measured by the sympathetic Fox News public opinion poll. His disapproval rating is in the 60% range in almost all polls. Nearly two out of every three Americans strongly disapprove of Bush. State by http://www.usasurvey.com/50State2006/06041850StatePOTUSApproval.html">state polling shows only four states in which Bush has an approval rating over 50%.The



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