[Sosfbay-discuss] A Patriotic Impeachment Primer: Defeating the Bush / Cheney tyrannous cabal; Just what is impeachment? Official rebuke and pol. eqiv. of indictment!

[JamBoi]

A Patriotic Impeachment Primer 

Defeating the Domestic Enemy of Our Constitution: Bush / Cheney's
Tyrannous Cabal 

Q: Just what is impeachment?  A: An Official rebuke and pol. eqiv. of
indictment!
********************************

An original article by Drew Johnson (JamBoi at Greens.org) drawing
directly from the U.S. Constitution, and including excerpts from the
'Impeachment', 'High Crimes and Misdemeanors' Wikipedia articles and
other sources. [Note that time does not allow me include footnotes in
this particular version that would properly credit all the sources - My
apologies to those worthy sources ahead of time.  So be it. DJ]

+ Six years overdue: Impeachment

I offer my brief working definition of American constitutional
impeachment: An indictment by the U.S. House of Representatives against
a civil officer of charges of having taken an action that constitutes
an offence against the Constitution to include but not limited to
"treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."  Please
observe that impeachment is inherently a *very* political struggle, not
a legal struggle per se.  It is applied against a political actor who
has her or his own political base to defend.  We can count on the one
charged (in this case the tyrannts Bush / Cheney and their hench(wo)men
fighting tooth and nail against impeachment.  When we choose to enter
this political struggle we must count the cost and understand that the
cost of failure may have even personal consequences to us as
individuals.  It is not to be entered into lightly.  In order to be
successful it must be prosecuted with much commitment, spirit and elan.
 Ben Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
  This could be quite possibly be literally true in this case.  We the
People of the United States of America must gather all our courage and
fight with all our might We act out of loyalty to our American
Constitution even while we spit in the face and commit maximum treason
toward the never-elected nonpResident "The Decider" Bush and Darth
Cheney.

Constitutional 'Impeachment', 'Conviction' and the resulting 'Removal
from Office' is a political process taken by the Legislative Branch in
order to maintain the balance of powers between the three branches. 
Remember our civics lessons on 'checks and balances'???  We need those
checks and balances now more than ever. 

This two part procedure of 'Impeachment' and 'Conviction' has been
termed the 'crown jewels' of the constitution because the Framers
sought above all to create a structure that would help the United
States of America to avoid the tyranny - the arbitrary wielding of
power by a single individual or cabal as is present in unfettered
oligarchies, dictatorships and the very King George of history that we
Americans rebelled against, fought and died to win our freedom from.  

Let us not shrink back from wielding what we could call 'The People's
Nuclear Option' that the Framers gave us to maintain our freedom.  Our
framers did not give us a recall function - they gave us an impeachment
function and they did not give it to us for no reason.  They gave it to
us because they realized we would be forever engaged in a seesaw battle
against tyranny.  They gave us the remedy for tyranny.  Now we must
apply the remedy.

Benjamin Franklin was asked “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic
or a Monarchy?” Franklin replied: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”  In
order to restore the intended 'For the people, by the people of the
people' constitutional government to our land we must operate the
machinery of government as passed down to us or kiss our democracy
goodbye.  

I for one am not willing to see the blood of patriots who died to make
this land free go for naught due to the weak kneed complicity of the
unDemocratic Party who is more interested in maintaining power than in
maintaining just and constitutional government.  Stand aside and resign
you unDemocrats if you have no stomach for what our constitution calls
for in the face of tyranny - impeachment.  If you prove yourselves
criminally incompetent in this fundamental matter of American
government than we independents, third party members, Greens,
Republicans, Libertarians, American Independents, Constitution Party
members, Peace and Freedom Party members, conservatives, socialists,
communists progressives, etc., etc., etc. will gladly push you aside so
that we can spread real democracy to the United States of America!

In reality we need not accomplish the full two-step proceedure of
'Impeachment', 'Conviction' and the automatic result of 'Removal from
Office' in order to achieve our main goals - 1) the official
repudiation of Bush / Cheney's a) criminal actions against humanity, b)
against The American People (and remember in reality collectively we
are the bosses of the pathetic traitor who calls himself 'The
Decider'), and c) the very Constitution of the United States (which all
civil officers including Cheney/Bush and I would remind all the armed
forces of the United States are sworn to uphold!!! We are sworn to be
loyal to the Constitution against all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC)
and 2) to force Bush / Cheney  - traitors and Domestic Enemies to the
constitution out of office.  Why?  Because it is very likely that as
soon as we begin the process the Republicans will force Bush Cheney to
resign as they did with Nixon.

+ So Just what is impeachment?  An official repudiation of a 'civil
officer's ' actions and the political equivalent of indictment.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html
United States Constitution, Article II, Section 4:
"The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction
of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Thus the U.S. Constitution lays out a two step process for removal from
office of all civil officers of the United States, including the
President and Vice President.  1) Impeachment by a majority vote of The
House and 2) Conviction by a 2/3rds supermajority vote of The Senate.

+Penalties for Conviction:  We can still persue criminal (and war
crime) charges! 

Article 1, section
"Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office
of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment,
trial, judgment and punishment, according to law."

+ The Impeachment Function:

In our american constititutional system IMPEACHMENT serves two primary
purposes and some additional lesser functions. 1) Its an official
repudiation by the House of Representatives chamber of the legislative
branch against the actions of a U.S. governmental official ("The
President, the Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United
States.") who, in the judgement of the House has committed "treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors"  2) it is the first
step in the two step process for removal of a 'civil officer' from that
office. The articles of impeachment articulate the formal allegations
or the indictment if you will. Upon their passage, the defendant has
been "impeached."  Note that if the second step of CONVICTION is
completed by a 2/3rds majority vote of The Senate, the Senate is
allowed to impose the legal penalty that 'civil officer' is barred for
life from ever serving in U.S. governmental service again.

A U.S. 'civil officer' does not need to still be in office to be
impeached.  Indeed an official does not even need to be alive anymore
to be impeached.  Constitutionally and politically speaking impeachment
is not primarily about removal from office.  It is primarily an
official repudiation of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors".  More broadly in its common legal usage, "impeachment of
a person in the role of a witness is the act challenging the honesty or
credibility of that person."  That meaning gives us perhaps the best
understanding of what impeachment really is: it constitutes a public,
official statement that the scrutinized behavior of the civil officer
was unacceptable and repugnant, and the individual is officially
declared noncredible and dishonest in the eyes of the legislature by
extension in the eyes of The People.

Through U.S. history the House has initiated impeachment proceedings 62
times since 1789.  In the beginning of The Republic the House was far
more responsible in initiating this procedure frequently as the Framers
intended. More recently due to the 'gentleman's agreement between the
corrupt Duopolistic politicians in Washington The House has been
irresponsible in not applying this constitutional remedy as was
intended by our Founders. 

+ A brief picture of how impeachment has been used in the U.S:

In terms of full impeachment succeeding, the most recently impeached
was former President Clinton.  Through U.S. history the following 17
federal officers have actually been fully impeached by the U.S. House
of Representatives:
    * Two Presidents:
          o Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 after violating the
then-newly created Tenure of Office Act. President Johnson was
acquitted of all charges by a single vote in the Senate.
          o Bill Clinton was impeached on December 19, 1998 by the
House of Representatives on grounds of perjury to a grand jury (by a
228–206 vote) and obstruction of justice (by a 221–212 vote). Two other
articles of impeachment failed—a second count of perjury in the Jones
case (by a 205–229 vote), and one accusing President Clinton of abuse
of power (by a 148–285 vote). He was acquitted by the Senate.
          o Please note Richard Nixon was well on the way to
impeachment but technically he resigned prior to the vote taking place
so technically he was not officially impeached even though the
political effect was identical. The House initiated impeachment
proceedings against Nixon,  the House Judiciary Committee approved
articles of impeachment against him (by wide margins) and reported
those articles to the full House, but before the House formally
considered the impeachment resolutions Nixon resigned. Both his
impeachment by the House of Representatives and his conviction by the
Senate were near certainties; Nixon reportedly decided to resign after
being told this by Republican Senator Barry Goldwater.
          o Note also that Nixon's first vice president, Spiro Agnew,
asked the House to impeach him in an effort to forestall indictment and
prison on charges of tax evasion and money laundering. House Speaker
Carl Albert refused, and Agnew resigned as part of a plea bargain on 10
October 1973.
    * one cabinet officer, William W. Belknap (Secretary of War). He
resigned before his trial, and was later acquitted. Allegedly most of
those who voted to acquit him believed that his resignation had removed
their jurisdiction.
    * one Senator, William Blount (though the Senate had already
expelled him and it may have been illegal, see above).
    * Associate Justice Samuel Chase in 1804. He was acquitted.
    * twelve other federal judges, including Alcee Hastings, who was
impeached and convicted for allegedly taking over $150,000 in bribe
money in exchange for sentencing leniency. The Senate did not bar
Hastings from holding future office, and Hastings won election to the
House of Representatives from South Florida. Hastings' was mentioned as
a possible Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence, but was passed over by House Speaker-designate Nancy
Pelosi, presumably because of his previous impeachment and removal.
Source U.S. Senate

+ Treason: If the shoe fits, wear it!

Article 3, Section 3

"Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them
aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in
open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but
no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture
except during the life of the person attainted. "

+ What is impeachment for?  What are "high crimes and misdemeanors"

Impeachment proceedings can be brought for any offence - there is no
requirement in the Constitution that it can only be for "treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors"; these are merely the
circumstances under which removal from office is obligatory.

The oft-quoted tail end of that phrase "...high crimes and
misdemeanors" is a catchphrase.  The phrase covers allegations of
misconduct that do not fall under a more clearly defined impeachable
offence; e.g., high treason."

Its very worthwhile pointing out that the phrase "...high crimes and
misdemeanors" carried a different meaning when it was written into the
constitution than it carries in the popular mind today.  "High" in the
legal parlance of the 18th century means "against the State". A high
crime is one which seeks the overthrow of the country, which gives aid
or comfort to its enemies, or which injures the country to the profit
of an individual or group. In democracies and similar societies it also
includes crimes which attempt to *alter the outcome of elections*. It
is evident that in the absence of a contemporary clear legal
definition, determining what rises to "high crimes and misdemeanors" is
an inherently political process, which means that it is up to Congress
and what it thinks constitutes an impeachable offense.

In writing Article II, Section 4, George Mason had favored impeachment
for "maladministration," i.e., malfeasance incompetence.  James Madison
favored focusing only on criminal behavior per se and his language
regarding misfeasance was adopted by the framers.  Nevertheless since
the Consitution is a living document and since Congress determines what
constitutes an impeachable offense, the mal- and misfeasance evident by
Bush Cheney in such events criminal stealing of the 2000 and 2004
elections, as the criminal and deliberate suppression of scientists'
attempts sounding of the alarm against the global threat of climate
change, the the appointment of the manifestly incompetent and entirely
inexperienced Michael Brown to the vital job head of FEMA, the
deliberate cutting off of all telecommunications from New Orleans
during Katrina, the deliberate and criminal halting of transport to
rescue people trapped in New Orleans, the deliberate halting of food
and other vital supplies to people trapped in New Orleans and the
surrounding Katrina-ravaged areas, all constitute more than ample
grounds for impeachment!
 
I won't give a blank check in general to Wikipedia, however I'll
endorse the following extended quote from the Wikepedia Impeachment
article:
_______________________________

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment

"Impeachment
>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    This is about a step in the removal of a public official; for
challenging a witness in a legal proceeding, see witness impeachment.

(Depiction of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, then President
of the United States, in 1868.)

In the constitutions of several countries, impeachment is the first of
two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to remove a
government official without that official's agreement. The second stage
is called conviction.

Impeachment occurs so rarely that the term is often misunderstood. A
typical misconception is to confuse it with involuntary removal from
office; in fact, it is only the legal statement of charges,
parallelling an indictment in criminal law. An official who is
impeached faces a second legislative vote (whether by the same body or
another), which determines conviction, or failure to convict, on the
charges embodied by the impeachment. Most constitutions require a
supermajority to convict."
________________________________________________________

Impeachment is the remedy our Founders provided for Tyrannts like Bush
/ Cheney.  We must apply the remedy now.  It is what we can call 'The
People's Nuclear Option.'

Perhaps the American People can now see why lately I've started sign my
e-mails with things like. "Impeach early and often!"

Impeachment: the remedy for tyranny!

Drew Johnson

+ A proud patriot and Citizen of the United States of America
+ Veteran of the armed forces of the United States and associate member
of Veterans for Peace
+ Green Party of Santa Clara County County Council Member
+ Proud member of the Green Pary of California
+ Proud member of the Green Party of the US
+ Member of GPUS Media Committee, GPUS Dispute Resolutions Committee,
GPAX observer.
etc., etc., etc.

___________________

JamBoi
Jammy The Sacred Cow Slayer

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com


 
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