Liberals are stuck -- They need to Impeach for Peace

Liberals are in a difficult situation: Few progressives or liberals voted in the Republican presidential primaries. But plenty of Republicans voted in the Democratic primaries. And they voted for either the moderate candidates they liked or the most moderate candidates they hoped McCain can beat.

Result: Dems are stuck with two moderates, Obama and Clinton, who support the concept of a world wide American empire supporting corporate interests cloaked as American interests. Both call for OUT of Iraq (but not too fast) --- and INTO Afghanistan with all possible speed!

On the right, we have pro-war McCain and President Bush hunting for war #3 with Iran. January 20th is 10 months off. Bush has plenty of time to plunge the Middle East into all out war and hand the next president a blood drenched Middle East in flames.

Economically, anti-American CEO’s with their NAFTA, outsourcing, greed and corruption have crushed our economy. Our economy is also sinking to its knees due to Democrats concurring with Bush’s irresponsible financing of the wars with debt for our kids rather than war taxes for adults and corporations.

We need to get out of these wars, re-establish fiscal responsibility and stop the debt hemorrhaging of our economy. How? By introducing a bit of reality therapy into politics.

We need to Impeach Bush and Cheney. We must force our House members to conduct impeachment investigations for the Bush/Cheney high crimes of wars of aggression, torture and wiretapping. By impeaching Bush for illegal wars, the next president will be forced to leave Iraq and Afghanistan or he/she ALSO will be impeached.

Impeachment is the most powerful, and only tool, we have to stop the wars. Why? Because impeachment is entirely controlled by Congress -- Bush cannot veto it. All the rest of the efforts to stop the war have and will be vetoed. You play the game on Bush’s turf and he’s got you. Congress must work to stop the wars on its own turf. Both wars violate the United Nations Charter, our Constitution and our laws. Thus impeachment is in order.

Oh, just wait - Bush will soon be gone. What hooey! If an elderly man with terminal cancer and heart disease came into your local supermarket and gunned down 30 people including your family member, would you say, “Oh just let it go. He’ll be dead in 3 or 4 months anyway.” Not likely.

Bush and Cheney have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands in illegal wars, forced millions to become refugees to save their families and caused the ruin of Iraq. They must be impeached, removed from office and prosecuted as the war criminals they are. If they are not impeached and prosecuted, we prove to the world the US enforces laws against little people (you and me) but the big shots go scott free to retirement super pensions we pay enforces laws against little people (you and me) but the big shots go scott free to retirement super pensions we pay for.

How can we impeach? Urge Representative Dennis Kucinich to introduce his Bush impeachment resolution. This will place two bills, one to impeach Cheney and one to impeach Bush, in the House Judiciary Committee, putting enormous pressure on Chair John Conyers. He must be forced by us to tell Speaker Pelosi, “Nancy, impeachment is on the table and you can’t stop it.” Contact Kucinich at 800-828-0498. American politicians must be forced off their duffs. The American people are right on impeachment -politicians are wrong. In an April 2007 Stoughton, WI referendum 45% of the voters said impeach Bush and Cheney. A July 2007 national poll* showed 54% think Cheney should be impeached and 45% think Bush should be impeached. Four months later in an October Vermont statewide poll** 64% said impeach Cheney and 61% said impeach Bush. In March of 2008, in the 7th year of the Afghan war and the 6th of the Iraq war, the public is now strongly in favor of impeachment hearings.

Oath of Office. American politicians, from town and school boards to all federal officials, pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United States in their oath of office. But they are not doing so. The Constitution is being shredded before their eyes. Their silence is deafening as America self-destructs.

Our nation is being killed by greed, fear, corruption and political and corporate lawlessness. No terrorist is doing this. We are doing it to ourselves.

It is outrageous that we must push politicians, threaten them, force them to do their duty. Only 27 of the 435 House members have signed HR 333 calling for Cheney’s impeachment. Thankfully Tammy Baldwin of Madison and Gwen Moore of Milwaukee have the wisdom and political courage to defy Pelosi and cosign HR 333.

Americans must also get off their duffs. We have been too polite. We don’t want to get our hands dirty in politics. We hope a knight will ride in to save us. There are no knights. There are only nights of horror in Iraq, Afghanistan and in secret US prisons.

Kerry lost in 2004 because he could not bring himself to say, “The wars are wrong. We should get out.” Obama or Clinton may go down to defeat in November without a peep on impeachment nor calling for withdrawal from both illegal wars. Just what does the oath of office to support and defend the Constitution mean to these people?

In the 2000 presidential election, 50%, or 102 million Americans, CHOSE NOT TO VOTE – imagine that! In 2004 44%, or 98 million people, CHOSE NOT TO VOTE saying the heck with voting, they’re all crooks, all liars, etc. A presidential candidate speaking truth to Americans can draw tens of millions more voters to the polls and win! Americans can take the truth but we are sick of the lying and fudging the truth.

Act Now! Liberals must organize, educate and agitate. We need to conduct town meetings on “impeach for peace”, rallies, demonstrations, marches, civil disobedience, pressure elected leaders face to face, gather petition signatures, write letters, call in to talk shows, run as liberal challengers in House primary races or as third party candidates, etc., etc.

We must push the impeachment issue into the Obama Clinton battle. Then push impeachment into the fall presidential campaign with McCain, the Greens and the Dems.

Liberals must stand up and force the politicians to work on OUR agenda not corporate America’s. We must push to impeach for peace, restore the rule of law, replace corrupt campaign financing with public funding, bring our troops home now, provide national health care, eliminate poverty, and rebuild our public education systems.

Start today. Get involved. Tell them you are mad as heck and won’t take it anymore. You will not condone illegal wars, torture and wiretapping and neither should anyone else. You will not condone a small group of men and women ruining America for your kids and grandkids.

We act, and America will be rejuvenated. We sit still, and we are done for.

Check the statewide calendar of events at the Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice. Find an event near you. Protest the March 19th anniversary of 5 years in Iraq. The killing has not stopped. Check the calendar or call the office at 608-250-9240.

*7-1-07 poll at americanresearchgroup.com/impeach
** 10-31-07 poll by WCAX News at wcax.com/Global/story.asp?s=7294910

Buzz Davis is Chair of the Wisconsin Impeachment/Bring Our Troops Home Coalition & a member of Veterans for Peace. He is a former VISTA Volunteer, Army officer, and elected official from Stoughton, WI. He is a retired state government planner, union activist and active Democrat. dbuzzdavis@aol.com