Joe Klein is backing off from his Time column - Does not call for impeachment

[Poiuyt]

Despite the rancor expressed in his critique, and reacting to the perception in some corners that he was obliquely condoning the impeachment and removal of the president, Klein vigorously denied hinting at impeachment in a follow-up post at Time's Swampland blog.

"There are no 'high crimes' here," writes Klein. "Just a really bad presidency. In fact, I consider impeachment talk counterproductive and slightly nutso."

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Times_Joe_Klein_says_Bush_unfit_0406.html


I guess I'm a nutso

[radfringe]

1. me too

to paraphrase a freeway blogger sign "impeach bush for blowing the job"

[MrModerate]

2. Hint, my ass!

His closing statement is about how it's impossible to contemplate another 2 years of this presidency. If he's backing away from that implication, then he's lost his nerve.

As for "no high crimes" shall we start a list: condoning/implementing election fraud (twice!); lying to congress (more times than I can count); felonious violation of the FISA act; waging a war of agression; condoning torture; obstruction of justice, etc., etc.

Makes Nixon look like a frakking saint!

[loudsue]

13. Prolly not lost his nerve: prolly got taken to the woodshed by the

rightwingers who own the place.

:kick:

[spanone]

28. wanna bet cheney has a dossier on every journalist in this country of any stature.

[Ken Burch]

17. LOST his nerve? Klein HAD nerve? as Bill Cosby would say:

"...rrriiiigggghhhtttt..."

This is the Joe Klein who's STILL trying to push the Dems FURTHER TO THE RIGHT!

(and the same Joe Klein, who, moments after David Dinkins beat that scumbag Koch in the '87 Democratic mayoral primary in NYC, started pushing for a "fusion" campaign for Rudy Giuliani.)

[MrModerate]

19. A goniff for sure . . .

But he did write -- and get them to publish -- the original article.

[H2O Man]

24. Right.

"When Bush came to office--installed by the Supreme Court after receiving fewer votes than Al Gore--I speculated that the new President would have to govern in a bipartisan manner to be successful. He chose the opposite path, and his hyper-partisanship has proved to be a travesty of governance and a comprehensive failure. I've tried to be respectful of the man and the office, but the three defining sins of the Bush Administration--arrogance, incompetence, cynicism--are congenital: they're part of his personality. They're not likely to change. And it is increasingly difficult to imagine yet another two years of slow bleed with a leader so clearly unfit to lead."

The last paragraph, and especially that last sentence, make it rather obvious that -- at least at the moment he wrote it -- the author felt Bush was incapable of leading, and at risk of doing severe damage to the nation. If he wasn't advocating impeachment, what exactly is he saying? That the nation should endure the administration's "arrogance, incompetence, (and) cynicism" without considering the Consitutional alternative?

[loudsue]

31. That's the point! I think he got called on the carpet for saying what so many are thinking.

He's doing a "David Gregory" right now...I think he might have found a horse's head in his bed, with a nice Hallmark card from Karl Rove attached to it.

:kick:

[H2O Man]

38. I agree.

I do not think that he has as much character as Mr. Gregory, who appears to have been ordered not to editorialize when reporting. I think he has compromised his integrity. With Mr. Klein, I am more inclined to paraphrase an old banner from Chicago in '68 that addressed Humphrey's willingness to humiliate himself: "There are two sides to every issue, and Klein will gladly take each one when it suits his needs."

[AndyA]

3. No high crimes? I wonder what his definition of "high crimes" is?

Robbing a bank while standing on a ladder?

What is the definition of high crimes? Treason isn't one of them? Outing a covert CIA agent during a time of war isn't a high crime?

What about lying to Congress (or intentionally misinforming them through the use of bad information) and the American people to start a war so your oil buddies can get rich and your buds at Halliburton too?

What the hell does it take?

Clinton got a blow job. What the hell does * need to do?

[grannylib]

44. I keep wondering the same thing, and so do most of the folks I work with...

there has been NOTHING but lies and theft and fraud and scandal and corruption and nepotism and cronyism and favoritism and greed and fear-mongering and death-dealing since the day these unelected fuckers took office.

WHAT the HELL is it going to take to get rid of these worthless cretins???? Holy shit, any ONE of their offenses should have been enough; we've endured SIX FUCKING YEARS OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY by Chimpy and Cheney the Dick and Donald McDumsfeld and Condosleaze-a and the whole sorry cabal...
What will it finally take to make people realize that they should have been impeached the minute they took the oath of office, never having been elected to those offices.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Somebody made a call folks

[IChing]

9. Yep, no doubt about it n/t

[meldroc]

11. Yep. Shit flowed downhill.

Cheney (or his Angels of Death) probably called the Time CEO, that CEO dressed down Klein's boss, and his boss screamed at Klein.

If Klein wants to keep his job and his articles flowing in the pages of the right-wing media, he's going have to tone things down.

[rfranklin]

18. It is the editor's fault for placing the article...Klein does not...

make that decision. Everything he writes has to be approved by the editors.

[meldroc]

41. Yep, his editor probably got a boss-induced wedgie as well.

[MrModerate]

15. Yes, the Masters have spoken among themselves . . .

And Klein has been instructed to back off.

However, here's the upside: He thought things had gone far enough down the road that he could get away with it. Who would have thought so a few months ago?

Despite Klein having been slapped down, this is another hole in the dike, and Karl Rove is rapidly running out of fingers.

Can you say "death spiral" everyone?

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. yep

:)

[paparush]

33. The Masters are in Augusta : -)

[MrModerate]

37. But they do involve hitting your balls with a club . . .

Which Klein is clearly trying to avoid.

[Benhurst]

5. Klein is such a pissant!

:hurts: the media whores!

[greenman3610]

6. gutless wonder

[Kurovski]

7. You don't have to bother with the nuts, but...

blow me, Joe.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. One step forward, 2 steps back.

Fuck Klein. May he be sodomized with a giant rat-tail rasp.

No "high crimes." Lying to start a war isn't a high crime.

MIHOP isn't a crime.

Legalizing torture, illegal spying, aw shit, you guys know the list as well as I do. No high crimes. Kinda like saying Hitler showed deplorably poor taste in his hospitality to the Jews.

[loudsue]

32. I just blew coffee all over my monitor!

Get over here and clean up this mess! :rofl:

" Kinda like saying Hitler showed deplorably poor taste in his hospitality to the Jews."


:kick:

[EVDebs]

10. So, we're supposed to tolerate this incompetent for how much longer into '08 ?

And impeachment ISN'T an option ? No 'high crimes here ?', the Dems have just been in office less than 4 months and Attorney-gate is leading directly into this, from Lisa Myers

"It's all part of a growing ongoing investigation into corruption in defense and intelligence contracts, which already has sent former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham to prison and, legal sources say, may threaten others in Congress and the CIA. "

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12634250/

What, praytell, DOESN'T M$M's Joe Klein want the US public to find out ? Hmmm ? Maybe exactly WHO these "others" are....


BTW, it will be interesting to see if NBC's Myers follows up.

[PATRICK]

12. LOL

Now there is a secret e-mail, telephone call or visitor at the door I would like to have intercepted.

Career headlights flashing. Remember what magazine you are working for Joe. They pay better than The Nation but have a slight anger management problem.

I also wonder what was said to the people who gave the green light for Joe's foot over the side of the ship.

[mdmc]

14. just toein the dlc line

chImprachment bad for corporation$.

[FightingIrish]

16. Too late now, Joe

I just wrote my Republican congressman and demaned that he suport impeachment. Ironically the first person to read it my representative's office will probably be my own brother.

[AndyA]

20. OK, I got some information about impeachment.

You tell me how Bush DOES NOT fit this:

What are “High Crimes and Misdemeanors”?

Bribery and treason are among the least ambiguous reasons meriting impeachment, but the ocean of wrongdoing encompassed by the Constitution's stipulation of “high crimes and misdemeanors” is vast. Abuse of power and serious misconduct in office fit this category, but one act that is definitely not grounds for impeachment is partisan discord. Several impeachment cases have confused political animosity with genuine crimes. Since Congress, the vortex of partisanship, is responsible for indicting, trying, and convicting public officials, it is necessary for the legislative branch to temporarily cast aside its factional nature and adopt a judicial role.

So are we to believe that Bush hasn't at the very least abused the power of his office? What about misconduct? Violating the Constitution is not misconduct?

The most famous of these cases is of course that of President Richard Nixon, a Republican. After five men hired by Nixon's reelection committee were caught burglarizing Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate Complex on June 17, 1972, President Nixon's subsequent behavior—his cover-up of the burglary and refusal to turn over evidence—led the House Judiciary Committee to issue three articles of impeachment on July 30, 1974. The document also indicted Nixon for illegal wiretapping, misuse of the CIA, perjury, bribery, obstruction of justice, and other abuses of executive power. “In all of this,” the Articles of Impeachment summarize, “Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.” Impeachment appeared inevitable, and Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974.

Has George Bush not "acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States?"

How many coverups have happened in the Bush Administration?

[MrModerate]

26. Your highlighted phrase is as compact an indictment . . .

of Bush's crimes as we're likely to see.

[loudsue]

34. Where did that come from?

Is there a link?

:kick:

[AndyA]

35. I'm so bad, I meant to include a link and didn't.

Here it is:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0764613.html

Sorry about that.

[loudsue]

39. Thanks! n/t

:kick:

[TwilightGardener]

22. No, what's "nutso", Joe, is impeaching a President for lying about

adult consensual oral sex, but implying that good Americans are "nutso" for desiring impeachment for a President that lies to take us into a war that kills thousands of people, including our own.

[BuyingThyme]

23. Joke line:

"There are no 'high crimes' here."

[flyarm]

25. what a weenie!!...Joe is a weenie!!..eom

[mmonk]

27. Slightly nutso is saying there are no grounds for impeachment.

What's everybody scared of and what's everybody hiding?

[pretzel4gore]

29. maybe bush reveal that 911 was domestic...

bush has the mediawhores by the nutz, really

[jazzjunkysue]

30. Joe doesn't want to be thrown off the TV pundit circuit.

I hope he keeps making statements and then taking them back.

I think he's also one of the better pundits out there. No wonder they muzzled him.

[ClintonTyree]

36. Just as I thought, gutless as ever.

Impeachment is counterproductive........HOW? The man is totally fucking up our country but apparently Klein thinks that's OK? :wtf:

Eat shit and die, Klein. You gutless worm! :grr:

[AndreaCG]

40. I expect no better from Anonymous.

[Gregorian]

42. COLOR ME NUTSO!

I'll let Congress determine whether the crimes are high enough.

[checks-n-balances]

43. So, Joe, you believe that neither Johnson, Nixon, nor Clinton deserved

impeachment?? (Not that I ever believed impeachment was appropriate for Clinton, but it stands to reason that that Klein did.)

Either that MUST be what Joe Klein believes; otherwise he doesn't believe in impeachment AT ALL. Or maybe he just doesn't accept The U.S. Constitution as it is written...

Maybe it's just been such a long time since he's written anything courageously insightful; and he's so used to being in the good graces of the Corporate Media owners by not speaking the truth; that when he FINALLY did the right thing, he scared himself silly. Shame.

[GeorgeGist]

45. Well that's a relief ...

for a while there I thought Joe Klein might have found his lost sanity.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

46. Joe placed substantial words (those that are true) upon his core of

jounalistic integrity.

The weight of those words was too much for Joe's core of jello to keep them raised and visible. MKJ

[timtom]

47. Wow!

I'd sure like to get a peek at that memo his boss sent him.

[tblue37]

48. I stand by what I said before abotu Joe Klein:

He's stupid enough to run for president on the GOP ticket.

(And let me add, he's also slimy enough!)

[symbolman]

49. Probably woke up

with a litter of strangled kittens adornin his bed..

Yep, THE Phone CALL was made alright.

"It's for you, Karl 'Waterboard' Rove on the line." :)