Bill Moyers Puts Impeachment on the Media Table

[Guest Gandalf Grey]

Bill Moyers Puts Impeachment On the Media Table

 

By Dave Lindorff

Created Jul 15 2007 - 10:28am

 

Bill Moyers has put impeachment in the news, in the process shaming both the

national media and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the

Congressional leadership.

 

In his Saturday program, Bill Moyers Journal, Moyers and guests John

Nichols, the Nation's Washington correspondent and author of The Genius of

Impeachment and Bruce Fein, a former attorney in the Ronald Reagan

Department of Justice, made it clear that the Bush/Cheney administration has

gravely threatened the Constitution and the survival of tripartite, divided

government.

 

Moyers, feigning astonishment at the arguments of Nichols and Fein, asked if

it might be justified for the Bush administration to grab special

dictatorial powers in order to combat terrorism. His posited position was

demolished by both Nichols and Fein.

 

Nichols explained that the Constitution was designed by the Founders to be a

"fighting" document, capable of handling dangerous times. He noted that the

Constitution actually provides for the temporary barring of habeas corpus

(the right to have one's imprisonment brought before a court and

adjudicated), but he said that this was something that a president had to do

with the approval of Congress (not behind its back), and only if the Country

was under attack, which is of course not the case right now.

 

Fein for his part noted that most of Bush's and Cheney's abuses of power and

violations of the Constitution and the rule of law have been done not openly

and in consultation with Congress, but in secret and in the dark of night.

His secret monitoring of American's communications--phones, mail and

internet for example--went on in for four years before it was exposed in an

article in the New York Times. And the president has still not explained to

anyone why he felt the need to break the law.

 

Fein and Nichols both blasted the current Democratic leadership of Congress

for cowardice, lack of principle, and a basic failure to honor their oaths

of office to uphold and defend the Constitution, in refusing to impeach the

president. Fein said that in earlier administratiions, there were always at

least a few members of Congress who were honorable enough to put country and

the Constitution above party. "We don't have anyone like that in Congress

now," he said.

 

Actually, it was one failing of Moyers' program that neither he nor his two

guests mentioned that there actually are some honorable members of the

current Congress. They did not mention that Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), has

filed a bill of impeachment against Vice President Cheney, and that his bill

currently has 14 co-sponsors, with more people signing on every week. They

also failed to mention that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) only days before the

program, declared in no uncertain terms that Bush and Cheney should be

impeached, saying that the country was "closer to dictatorship than it has

ever been" because of the president's assertion of "unitary executive"

powers to ignore laws passed by the Congress."

 

Despite this one shortcoming, Moyers' program is a public shaming of the

tawdry and shameless corporate media, which has ignored the exploding

impeachment movement blossoming across the nation, pretending that it

doesn't even exist, or that it is the province of a few leftist wackos.

 

In fact, as Moyers noted, the most recent poll on the issue shows that half

of Americans want both Bush and Cheney impeached and removed from office.

 

It will be interesting to see what impact the powerful Moyers program has on

ther growing movement for impeachment, on how it is reported, and on the

response in Congress.

 

While not watched by too many ordinary Americans, the program is influential

among professional journalists and editors, and among liberals and

progressives, who will be increasing their pressure on Democratic leaders to

act.

 

Pelosi's efforts to block impeachment and keep it "off the table", will

continue to look more and more pitiful and self-serving.

 

The next challenge to do-nothingism will be a march on July 23 from

Arlington Cemetary to the office of Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House

Judiciary Committee, and the man who has the power to kick-start hearings on

impeachment--in particular to schedule hearings on the Kucinich bill (H Res.

333). (Click on the banner to the left for more information.)

 

A sit-in is planned in Conyers' office if he won't meet with the delegation,

which will be headed by Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war and impeachment activist

whose son was killed in action in Iraq.

_______

 

 

 

 

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their

spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their

government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are

suffering deeply in spirit,

and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public

debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have

patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning

back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at

stake."

-Thomas Jefferson

[Guest zzpat]

Gandalf Grey wrote:

And the president has still not explained to

> anyone why he felt the need to break the law.

>

> Fein and Nichols both blasted the current Democratic leadership of Congress

> for cowardice, lack of principle, and a basic failure to honor their oaths

> of office to uphold and defend the Constitution, in refusing to impeach the

> president. Fein said that in earlier administratiions, there were always at

> least a few members of Congress who were honorable enough to put country and

> the Constitution above party. "We don't have anyone like that in Congress

> now," he said.

>

 

Very good. Bush broke the law - congress knows he broke the law and the

congress is utterly void of leadership in both parties. Who needs al

Qaeda when we have Congress and Bush working together to undermine our

democracy?

 

--

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Impeach Search Engine

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[Guest zzpat]

Gandalf Grey wrote:

> Bill Moyers Puts Impeachment On the Media Table

>

 

 

I found only one major news source - the Baltimore Sun carrying this

story. A thousand voices are still saying the same thing - just like it

was when Bush was pushing WMD.

 

 

--

Impeach Bush

http://zzpat.bravehost.com

 

Impeach Search Engine

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=012146513885108216046:rzesyut3kmm