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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (77771)	3/2/2007 8:59:39 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 93284

Giuliani Judges Lean Left politico.com -s2@McCain'sDirtyTrickstersWillHaveAFieldDayWithThisMaterial.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (77771)	3/3/2007 12:12:01 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

Wounded Troops: Bush's Second Katrina huffingtonpost.com Walter Reed. Delayed disability benefits and ripoff disability certifications where wounded troops who are 80% disabled are only given 30% disability. Underfunded local veterans care. Undersupported treatment of post traumautic stress syndrome and serious brain injury. Debt collectors threatening foreclosure or repossession of property of wives and husbands of underpaid troops. National Guard and Reserve units 88% unprepared. Chronic shortages of protective equipment. Still. This is Bush's second Katrina. Democrats should demand and Bush should agree to naming a high level Democrat as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Someone of high reputation. Max Cleland, Bob Kerrey, Wes Clark if he doesn't run for President. Deal with all problems in a bipartisan manner and give a new Secretary cabinet rank in the National Security Council on war issues as well as troop and veterans issues. End the escalation. Begin a new era in the treatment of wounded heroes. Now.

To: American Spirit who wrote (77771)	3/3/2007 1:47:28 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 93284

The Lunatic Right Returns ______________________________________________________________ Bad News For Republicans - Leading Conservatives Are Embracing Former Swift Boaters. by Rosa Brooks Published on March 2, 2007 by the Los Angeles Times IF YOU HATED IT the first time, you might like the sequel better. Remember Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the right-wing goon squad whose defamatory insinuations helped sink John Kerry's presidential campaign? They're back! This afternoon, key Swift boaters George "Bud" Day, Mary Jane McManus and Carlton Sherwood are holding a little reunion, in the guise of a panel discussion at the American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference. The panel topic? "The Left's Repeated Campaign Against the American Soldier." It's not hard to visualize the right-wing talking points that will emerge from this. The Swift boaters will be dusting off their 2004 scripts and reaching back still further to dredge up their Vietnam-era notes. Expect to see all the old myths revived: The antiwar left spits on returning troops and gives aid and comfort to the enemy. Oh, John Murtha, why do you hate our brave troops? The reemergence of the Swifties is depressing, but not because they're likely to do much damage to progressive candidates in the next election cycle. "Swift Boat II: The Sequel" will have a different ending from "Swift Boat I" because Americans just aren't that dumb. Polls show the American public — and the troops themselves — to be deeply critical of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq and concerned about the war's devastating effect on the American military. We've watched the situation in Iraq go from bad to worse, from worse to worst and then from worst to unthinkably awful, as "insecurity" morphed into "sectarian violence," then into chaos and civil war. We've seen the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq roughly tripled since the 2004 election. We've seen the war in Iraq fuel anti-U.S. sentiment worldwide; we've seen copycat suicide bombings increase in Afghanistan; we've seen the Iraq conflict further inflame tensions with Iran and throughout the Middle East; we've seen hostile states around the globe emboldened by the image of the U.S. caught in a quagmire; we've seen Al Qaeda regroup; we've seen Iraq become a top training ground for aspiring terrorists from all over. Most of all, we've seen the Bush administration consistently place ideology over reality, remaining willfully blind to the fact that its ill-conceived war is making us less secure — and breaking the back of the American military. If there's a "campaign against the American soldier," it's the administration that's been engaged in that campaign, not "the left" — and by now, most Americans know it. What's depressing about the reemergence of the Swifties, though, is that it's symbolic of the increasing takeover of the "conservative" movement by unprincipled, right-wing extremists. The Swifties began as a fringe group. Their anti-Kerry attack ads were effective in 2004 (thanks in part to Kerry's slowness in responding), but they were condemned universally as a new low in the history of bottom-feeding smear campaigns. John McCain criticized them as "dishonest and dishonorable," and the Bush campaign sought to distance itself from the group's tactics. Association with the Swifties forced the resignations of two Bush campaign aides, including Ben Ginsburg, the campaign's top election law expert. So why has the Conservative Political Action Conference resuscitated several already discredited Swifties for an inflammatory panel? The conference — cosponsored by more than 70 conservative groups and with an audience likely to exceed 5,000 this year — has long been a showcase for the heart and soul of American conservatism. Each year it attracts top White House officials and Republican presidential hopefuls (this year, big-name speakers include Dick Cheney, Tony Snow, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney). The inclusion of Swift boat operatives on the CPAC agenda demonstrates the continued radicalization of the conservative movement, which seems determined to render itself irrelevant. Yesterday's fringe has become today's conservative mainstream. The Washington Times, one of the right's main media outlets, approvingly refers to "The Left's Repeated Campaign Against the American Soldier" as "one of the more timely titles of CPAC's slate of panel discussions." Of course, the Swifties' presence on the agenda is hardly the only evidence that the lunatics have taken over the asylum at CPAC. Other giveaways include some unintentionally humorous agenda items: Oliver North — he of the Iran-Contra scandal — will be presenting the "Defender of the Constitution Award," for instance, while right-wing attack blogger Michelle Malkin, whose work has been repeatedly criticized for its cavalier attitude toward facts, gets the "Accuracy in Media Award." All this is bad news for the conservative movement, which will only become more marginal if it continues to embrace its lunatic fringe. But it's probably good for progressives, who stand to gain the most from conservatism's self-destruction. © Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Times

To: American Spirit who wrote (77771)	3/3/2007 2:19:04 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 93284

Impeachment resolution gets one-sided hearing ______________________________________________________________ By David Postman Seattle Times chief political reporter Friday, March 2, 2007 OLYMPIA — Dozens of speakers told state lawmakers Thursday that the Washington Legislature needs to do what Congress won't — push for impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Witnesses at a state Senate committee hearing called Bush and Cheney war criminals, decried the "Bush junta" and warned of American dictatorships to come. "The people have come here today to say to our state Legislature: 'You have the opportunity and you have the duty to do the right thing,' " Democratic activist Susan Harmon said. The hearing was on two measures: one by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, that asks Congress to block the troop increase in Iraq, and another by Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, that calls for Congress to investigate and consider impeachment. No one spoke against the impeachment proposal. Republicans boycotted the hearing of the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee. Minority Leader Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, issued a statement calling the hearing and an earlier impeachment rally "partisan, political displays." Impeachment and Iraq resolutions Senate Joint Memorial 8016: Calls on Congress to investigate and consider impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Senate Joint Memorial 8003: Calls on Congress to block the U.S. troop increase in Iraq. Democrats here and in Washington, D.C. — including state Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee — also have criticized the move. Murray and Inslee had urged Senate leaders to drop the impeachment proposal, calling it a diversion for Democrats that could cause bitter political divides in the nation's capital. The hearing provided a seamless blend of accusations of illegal activity by Bush and Cheney and of political cowardice by congressional Democrats. It all was met with near silence by Senate committee members. There was no cross-examination and not even a polite question of a witness. The only lawmaker who spoke at length was Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, a co-sponsor of the impeachment measure. He defended congressional Democrats. "Restraint sometimes is not just a political calculation, but a real reflection of the national interest," he said. "We are interested in governing a country and a state." At the rally and at the hearing, speakers congratulated Oemig for taking on the administration and applauded Washington for being one of a few states considering similar measures. Committee Chairwoman Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, said there was zero chance the impeachment measure would get a vote by the full Senate. Oemig said he will try to get a vote before the Legislature adjourns April 22. Fairley is a co-sponsor of Oemig's proposal and said she was glad people were given a chance to have their say. They did it calmly and followed Fairley's admonition that no clapping or hissing would be allowed. About 50 people packed the committee room. An additional 230 or so spilled into other rooms where they watched on TV. Oemig said his bill was not "directly about impeachment" but about a serious investigation of Bush and Cheney. But most speakers were clear that they saw it as a direct call for impeachment. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, a rising voice in the anti-war movement, was invited to Olympia by Oemig to testify. He said there's never been "such a compelling case for impeachment." Many speakers said congressional Democrats are too timid in their approach to Bush. "Even if it was true, which it's not, that starting impeachment hearings would disturb the agenda that Democrats have, so what? This is more important," said Elaine Phelps, of Shoreline. Activist journalist Geov Parrish said that "inaction in this case is a form of action." If there is no impeachment, he said, it would set Bush's action as precedent and possibly lead to a "legal dictatorship in the United States of America." Joe Colgan, whose son Benjamin was killed in Iraq in 2003, testified for the resolution opposing the troop increase. "I have come to the conclusion that our troops were abused and have been abused and are being abused," Colgan said. "It was hard to come to this conclusion because then you have to ask yourself, when you lose a son, what did he die for? I really believe my son died as a hero," he said. "But as far as protecting our country or our freedom, not at all." Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company