Disorder in the White House

Last night, Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), presented 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush to Congress.

They began this way: "Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate. ...

"In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and to the best of his ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws by faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power..."

Many of the articles referenced the war in Iraq. For example, "Article 1 - Creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq."

The Raw Story has more details here.


From Buzzflash, we learn that at the same time as Bush comes under fire for war crimes, "the White House quietly pulled out of the UN Human Rights Council. ...

"The 47-member council addresses human rights violations worldwide. It was created in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights, which had been criticized for granting membership to countries with poor human rights records, such as China and Sudan. The U.S. voted against its creation and has since refused to become a seated member, though it remained an involved observer until the announcement this weekend."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack explained that the U.S. pulled out because the council was "pathetic" and "almost solely focused on bashing Israel." Reuters indicates that the U.S. "will soon 'disengage totally' from the council."

In spite of its perceived flaws, it would seem to make more sense to stay "engaged," even "seated," in order to be able to influence the work of the council. Diplomacy, tact, collaboration, however, are not descriptive as to how the Bushites go about relating to the rest of the world. Bomb, bomb, bomb is the Bush and the McBush mantra!


There's more. As McCormack was telling how the U.S. was taking its marbles and going home, "56 members of the House of Representatives called for an investigation into the possibility that the Bush administration may have committed war crimes in its advocacy for more intense interrogation policies that constitute torture.

"In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the congressmen called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate President Bush, his cabinet and others for having 'systematically implemented, from the top down, detainee interrogation policies that constitute torture.'"

This action was buttressed by a military defense lawyer who said that "a standard operating procedures manual instructs interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to destroy evidence, including notes on how confessions were obtained."

The problem is that Mukasey is not a "independent" or "unbiased," but a Bush appointee and a crony who has proven over and over again he will follow the Party line rather than the law or the Constitution.


Furthermore, "Last Thursday, journalist Patrick Cockburn reported details of a 'secret plan' by the Bush Administration that were recently leaked to the British newspaper The Independent. He said the long-term agreement currently being negotiated between the U.S. and Iraqi governments, which President Bush said he will not submit for Congressional approval, would establish permanent bases in Iraq and extend the occupation indefinitely."

In these negotiations, according to Cockburn, "American negotiators are also demanding immunity from Iraqi law for U.S. troops and contractors, and a free hand to carry out arrests and conduct military activities in Iraq without consulting the Baghdad government."

Read more from Mr. Cockburn here and here.


A frequent question from those who study the rise of the Nazis in Germany between the wars is how so many supposedly "good," "decent," "normal," "Christian" people could be sucked up into the system and so rapidly lose their souls? How could they not only become part of the Nazi party but be quickly and thoroughly infested by the Nazi poison that they simply dropped their whatever ethical and moral values they held?

I still don't have an answer for that, but I see the same thing happening in this country where we have "good," "decent," "normal," "Christian" people working as lawyers, judges, negotiators, military leaders, lawmakers, secretaries, etc., in the Bush administration doing jobs which can at best be deemed dirty, illegal, and unconstitutional.

Perhaps the best answer is the oldie: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.


May impeachment of the President proceed!