[Sosfbay-discuss] GP RELEASE Greens: Impeachment of Bush is last chance to assert rule of US law

Fri Apr 11 01:22:46 PDT 2008

Greens: 2008 is Congress's last chance to assert the rule of law and
impeach Bush and Cheney for high crimes and abuses of power

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org

Greens encourage passage of a New Hampshire House bill endorsing
impeachment, citing widespread Bush Administration war crimes, deception
and misinformation, torture, warrantless surveillance, 9/11 cover-up

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders and candidates called on Congress to
use the remaining months of the Bush Administration to impeach and remove
President Bush and Vice President Cheney from office for massive abuses of
power and violations of the law.

"This is Congress's last chance to show that presidents are not above the
law, and that grave abuses of power will not go unpunished," said John M.
Wages, Jr., Mississippi Green candidate for the US House (1st District) in
an April 22 special election and the November 4 general election
(http://www.VoteJohnWages.com).

Greens across the US are encouraging passage of a New Hampshire House of
Representatives bill on impeachment. NH House Bill 24, which was
introduced by State Rep. Betty Hall and will come to a floor vote on April
16, is similar to one passed in Vermont in November, 2007.

Harold Burbank, Connecticut Green candidate for the US House (District 5),
is helping to organize a major rally to promote the impeachment bill on
Monday, April 14, (3 pm to 11 pm) at the Capital Center for the Arts, 44
South Main Street in Concord, New Hampshire
(http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8480).

"Dan Ellsberg, Ramsey Clark and Bob Bowman, all supporters of my campaign,
responded immediately to my request of them to speak at Betty Hall's
Impeach Bush-Cheney Rally. An aircraft carrier task force organized around
the Abraham Lincoln is steaming to the Persian Gulf as we speak to engage
Iran. New Hampshire can help prevent World War III if it passes HR 24 on
April 16, and it should," said Mr. Burbank, who is also a member of
Veterans For Peace.

The four candidates seeking the Green presidential nomination -- Jesse
Johnson, Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, and Kat Swift -- have all
strongly supported the Green Party's call for impeachment. Ms. McKinney
introduced a motion for impeachment in December, 2006, her final month as
US Representative from Georgia.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, other top Democrats in Congress,
and the leading Democratic candidates have dismissed impeachment.

"The refusal of Democratic leaders and the two Democratic Senators running
for president to seek impeachment is a sign that Democrats, when they
regain the White House, wish to enjoy the same unrestrained executive
power and impunity. If Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton are elected in
November, some of the worst Bush policies will remain in place. Both Mr.
Obama and Ms. Clinton have supported and voted for the US Patriot Act, and
both intend to continue the occupation of Iraq in some form," said Carol
Brouillet, California Green Party candidate for Congress in District 14
(http://www.communitycurrency.org).

Green Party leaders listed impeachable "high crimes and misdemeanors"
committed by the Bush White House:

    * manipulation of intelligence and numerous deceptions to persuade
Congress, the public, and other countries to support an illegal war,
including fraudulent allegations about Iraqi WMDs, collusion between
Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, and attempts by Saddam to obtain nuclear
weapons materials; Vice President Cheney continued to repeat some
claims publicly after the White House had conceded that they were not
true

    * cover-ups of the administration's knowledge of information about the
impending 9/11 attacks, including Attorney General Michael Mukasey's
recent claim about a pre-9/11 phone call from Afghanistan about the
impending attacks, the Bush Administration's failure to pass this
information on to the 9/11 Commission, and Mr. Mukasey's misleading
statement about FISA restraints and the administration failure to
investigate the call (see article links below)

    * encouragement of torture, 'extraordinary rendition' of prisoners to
exact information, denial of habeas corpus and due process, in blatant
violations of the Nuremberg and UN Charters as well as the US
Constitution

    * warrantless surveillance of US citizens

    * hundreds of 'signing statements' meant to exempt the Bush
Administration from executing over 1,000 federal laws passed by
Congress

    * censoring and tampering with scientific research to conceal the
seriousness of global warming

    * threats to attack Iran despite Iran's lack of any real threat to the US

Greens noted the special role that Bush Attorneys General John Ashcroft,
Alberto Gonzales, and Michael Mukasey have played in advocating and
defending many of the above abuses, including Mr. Mukasey's recent lack of
objection to water-boarding.

The effects of these crimes and abuses of power include:

    * the deaths of more than 4,000 US service members and possibly one
million Iraqi citizens, as well as countless more maimed because of
the US invasion and occupation; displacement of possibly two million
Iraqi civilians

    * anger and hostility towards the US and US citizens throughout the
world, especially in Muslim nations

    * broken treaties and alienation of US allies

    * damage to US democracy and entrenchment of the administrations'
unconstitutional doctrine of 'unitary executive power'

    * danger to captured US military personnel and citizens in retaliation
for torture committed at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and other sites

    * a possible regional or global conflict if the US attacks Iran

    * plunder of taxpayers' money for the benefit of arms makers, oil
companies, and other corporate profiteers like Halliburton and
Blackwater

    * severe threat to public health and the environment in coming decades
because of the White House's failure to address climate change

    * cost of the war to US taxpayers, through 2007: $456,000,000,000
$4,100 for every American household $1,500 for every American $3,400
for every taxpayer $11 million per hour $275 million per day
(http://www.nationalpriorities.org/cms/publications/local_cost_of_the_iraq_war_through_fy2007)

Greens noted that some of the Bush Administration's offenses were carried
out with the cooperation of Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

The Green Party of the United States passed a resolution in July, 2003,
urging impeachment of President Bush
(http://www.gp.org/position/st_2003_07_impeach.shtml). Greens have
maintained an impeachment page (http://www.gp.org/impeachbush) and a
petition for impeachment (http://www.gp.org/action) on the party's web
site.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Video of Green presidential candidates
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/presidential-videos.php

Green candidate database for 2007 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml

Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml

Green Party Speakers Bureau
http://www.gp.org/speakers
For Green speakers on the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North
America, visit
http://gp.org/speakers/spp.shtml

Green Party ballot access page
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

Links to Green Presidential Candidates' web sites
http://www.gp.org/committees/pcsc/index.shtml

2008 Green National Convention: Live Green, Vote Green
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/index.shtml

Media credentialing
http://www.gp.org/committees/media/kit.shtml

Links to Green Presidential Candidates' web sites
http://www.gp.org/committees/pcsc/index.shtml

Articles on Attorney General Mukasey's testimony on a pre-9/11 call from
Afghanistan on the attacks and the Bush Administration's powers of
surveillance under FISA:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

Same article posted at
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/03/8071/
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/04/04/doj/index.html
http://citmedia.org/blog/2008/04/03/a-lie-or-terrifying-negligence-why-wont-journalists-demand-an-answer/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/28/BA69VROE9.DTL