Impeachment needed to empty presidential toolbox

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/10199

Impeachment needed to empty presidential toolbox
by Ed Tant | Sep 29 2007


"No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country," wrote French author Alexis de Tocqueville nearly 170 years ago. His words ring true today. While President Bush's war of choice, not necessity, rages on in Iraq, freedom is in danger right here in America. In the wake of the twin tragedies of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the ill-advised American invasion of Iraq, Bush has assumed the mantle of "The Decider" and, with the aid of a compliant Congress and a fearful populace, the president has become a virtual dictator who can jail and wiretap citizens at his whim.

It is way past time to impeach the Bush/Cheney administration and to repudiate the policies of the whole White House cabal. If impeachment of men like Bush and Dick Cheney does not happen, then the next president - whether a Democrat or a Republican - will be handed unprecedented powers to roll back American freedoms in the guise of fighting a war on terror.

Speaking on the PBS television show "Bill Moyers Journal" this past summer, John Nichols, author of the new book "The Genius of Impeachment" said, "On January 20, 2009, if George Bush and Dick Cheney are not appropriately held to account, this administration will hand off a toolbox with more powers than any president has ever had, more powers than the Founders could have imagined."

In reality, unless Bush and Cheney are brought to heel, the next president will be handed not a toolbox but a Pandora's box of torture, surveillance, secret imprisonment and suppression of dissent.

Speaking on the same program, conservative Bruce Fein agreed, calling for the ouster of Vice President DIck Cheney for "his overweening power and his sneering contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law." He added that the U.S. Congress has "walked away from their responsibility to oversee and check" the powers of the executive branch of government. Fein was an official in the Justice Department under President Reagan and currently is an opinion writer for The Washington Times, proving that some true conservatives are angry and disillusioned with the faux conservatism of Bush and Co.

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Our so-called representatives in Washington need to listen to the voices of peace speaking from America's small towns and big cities. As Army general and Republican President Eisenhower said, "I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it."
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About author Tant has been an Athens columnist since 1974. His work also has appeared in The New York Times, The Progressive, Astronomy magazine and other publications.