Thursday 12 July 2007

Is it really worth the energy to pursue impeaching V.P. Cheney?

Read this, and then decide for yourself:

I sent an opinion to The Elkhart Truth on this matter, which they published on Friday, July 6:

"When Bruce Fein, former Reagan deputy attorney general, and an alumni of the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute calls (in Slate last week) for the immediate impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, well, then the whole world knows that Cheney has really gone bad!

It is quite clear now that Cheney 1) fabricated a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, 2) purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida, and 3) has threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the United States, all to the detriment of America's national interest.

Sen. Evan Bayh, Sen. Richard Lugar and Rep. Mark Souder, when are you and your colleagues in Washington going to catch up with the will of the American people?" (Signed: Clair Hochstetler, Goshen, IN)

I got a lot of "heat" for it, as you can see (if you are willing to sign up and log on to the web version of "The Truth") by scrolling down and reading the responses here, some of which are quite assinine, others extremely vindictive or reactive - which I expected. As you also might notice if you scrolled down far enough, earlier this evening I replied to my naysayers there as follows:

"Some of you have claimed that my opinion is unfounded -- not researched or based on valid points. However, I have been doing research for quite some time on the issues and it's not because I'm "liberal" or "libertarian" or whatever. I am simply very concerned about the cohesiveness of civil society and upholding the Constitution.

Today's news regarding the President forbidding his former counsel to respond to a subpoena by Congress is just one symptom of a very dangerous mindset, in my view -- this cabal in power now considering themselves "above the rule of law."

1) Here's a good summary of what I've been reading about Mr. Cheney's legacy.

2) This provides a succinct rationale for "The Articles of Impeachment" of the Vice President as laid out currently in H. Res. 333


3) Further, my opinion is no longer in the minority! We know that holding the Vice President to account has also now become a mainstream opinion in America; a poll conducted over the weekend by the American Research Group asked 1,100 people a simple question: "Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney?" They found that 54% want Cheney impeached!

Clair

(Comments are welcome -- post them right here, just below.)

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