Requesting the prosecution of a known criminal ought not to be an action that requires any particular consideration or debate. If we are a society based on the rule of law, then this is simply what must be done. John Yoo, Professor of Law at Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley, California, (but a lawyer with the Pennsylvania bar from which he should be debarred and would be if enough people demanded it) counseled the White House on how to get
Pick up some “ARREST BUSH & CHENEY” sweatshirts and t-shirts for the holidays and to join us in front of the FBI building during the January 20th inauguration parade! Our friends have a permit for 3,000 people wearing or carrying this message. I guarantee we’ll have more fun that anybody dressing for prom and taking out a high-interest loan to buy a ticket to a formal ball.
Dress Tough on Crime Read More »
The ACLU sent out an Email on December 4th joining a chorus of voices in declaring that Bush has the power to pardon crimes he authorized but shouldn’t use it. This is a step forward for many organizations and publications that have never supported impeachment or prosecution. But it is potentially less than helpful. The impeachment power was created precisely in case a president ever pardoned someone for a crime he was involved in. Both James Madison and George Mason made this argument.
For the past two years, Congress has pretended that ending a war requires passing a bill and blamed its failure to pass a bill on Republican filibusters and presidential vetoes. The veto excuse is gone. But the pretense that a bill is needed is firmly entrenched, and the filibuster excuse lives. The Democrats will have, at best, 59 senate seats in their caucus, unless Obama appoints a Republican senator to a plum position or Congress provides the people of Washington, D.C., with representation
The Filibuster Excuse Lives Read More »
By David Swanson
I know, I know, Bush liberated the Iraqis. But when will we liberate them from Bush’s liberation? Well, ideally, the American people will rise up tomorrow and force Congress to cease funding the occupation and to vote an immediate and complete withdrawal with a veto-overriding supermajority, not to mention impeaching Bush and Cheney. I raise that possibility not so much because I’ve been drinking as because long-term movements for systemic reform require awareness
When Will We Liberate the Iraqis? Read More »
By David Swanson
So, now we discover that Bush was warned in detail of the looming foreclosure crisis and told what would prevent it and what would make it worse. He chose to make it worse. Funny, he was also warned about Hurricane Katrina (we have the videotape), but he claimed he had no possible way of knowing what could happen. He was warned exactly how the Iraqis would react to an occupation of their country, but he said he had no idea. He got a memo describing the 9-11 attacks pretty clearly
Nobody Could Possibly Have Expected Read More »
By David Swanson
The debate among progressive activists and commentators in recent weeks has tended to range from the leave-Obama-alone-and-he’ll-fix-everything position to the stage-a-protest-at-Obama’s-house-for-the-next-month position, including numerous stances in between those extremes. What all these positions share is acceptance of the incredible shift of power from Congress to the White House that we have seen in just the last eight years. It is in these concluding moments
As Congress Lay Dying Read More »
