Bush's Gravest Impeachable Crime.

[IChing]

When my co-author Barbara Olshansky and I wrote The Case for Impeachment during the waning months of 2005 and early 2006, it seemed clear to us that the biggest impeachable crimes of the Bush regime involved the illegal war against Iraq, and the trashing of the rights and civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution. Almost as an afterthought, we also included a proposed article of impeachment against the president for his insidious efforts to block any regulatory, Congressional or international action on confronting global warming.

Now that the first two UN reports on the causes and magnitude of the threats posed by global warming have come out--albeit in watered down form, thanks in part to the administration’s continuing efforts to downplay the crisis--and now that independent scientific research is suggesting that the disaster facing life on earth, and human life and civilization in particular is of catastrophic proportions, it seems that perhaps we should turn things around.

At this point, arguably, Bush’s greatest crime is not the Iraq War, terrible as that has been. Nor is it his revocation of habeas corpus or his authorization of torture. It is not the usurpation of the legislative power of the Congress. It is not the felonious violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or his obstruction of the investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. His biggest crime is a deliberate campaign of inaction and active obstruction in the face of a clear need for the United States to act decisively to stop or slow catastrophic climate change.

This president has not simply denied the reality of global warming. He has actively lied to the American people about the dangers ahead, and has had his administration, through intimidation and post-hoc editing by political hacks, block the publication of government scientific reports on global warming. He has defunded projects that would help document the growing crisis, for example cutting funding for satellites that would measure the effects of climate change on the surface of the planet. He has pulled the U.S. out of the Kyoto Protocol--the first global effort to confront the problem and try to limit production of greenhouse gasses. He even went back on a 2000 campaign promise to limit carbon emissions from power plants, and instead has given virtual carte blanche to power companies to build the most carbon-spewing coal-powered generating stations possible, complete with gratuitous tax breaks. He has threatened countries with trade sanctions for trying to take actions that would combat global warming, and has even had the US government go to court against state governments, like California’s and Vermont’s, to try to block them from acting to reduce carbon emissions on their own, by for example setting mileage standards for vehicles sold in-state.>>>>snip


http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/21200

[aquart]

1. Agreed.

He has worked actively AGAINST the best interests of the American people.

[Double T]

2. The 'Impeachable Offenses' of the bush crime regime grows longer.........

with each day. I believe 'WE' may be getting close to drawing up the Articles of Impeachment.

WHAT IS IMPEACHMENT ?

Impeachment is the removal of a high ranking official in the United States government. The Constitution states that any official articles it be a member of the President's cabinet or a member of the Senate or House of Representatives. The Process proceeds as follows.

The process begins when formal charges are brought against the official in question. These are examined by an independent prosecutor designated by a House judiciary committee and the Attorney General of the United States. They are then presented to the House of Representatives in a report. If the impeachment process continues to a hearing then this evidence is then called "The Articles of Impeachment".

An impeachment proceeding can begin with a direct impeachment resolution or an inquiry of impeachment resolution. An inquiry of impeachment resolution differs from a direct impeachment resolution in that an inquiry constitutes a preliminary investigation. While a direct impeachment resolution simply call for a vote to impeach the official, an inquiry resolution commences an inquiry into whether an impeachment resolution would be appropriate. It is a prudent first step in the impeachment process.

If the Judiciary Committee finds the grounds for resolution if impeachment exists. It may then submit the articles of impeachment to the House for a vote. The House votes on each article separately and any articles that pass by a majority vote are sent to the Senate for trial.

The Constitution gives to the Senate "the sole power to try impeachment." Like the House, the Senate has also adopted rules for its impeachment proceedings. Once the House has approved the articles it requests that the Senate "order the appearance of the accused to answer the charges and demands a conviction and appropriate judgement, and presents the articles of impeachment." The Senators then try the case according to the Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate When Sitting on Impeacment Trials. A conviction requires a 2/3 majority of the Senate to find that the accused official committed reason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. The Constitution also prescribes the consequences for an impeachment conviction, including removal from Office and the possible disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office, Trust or Profit under the United States.

[yurbud]

3. This is what could fill the Bush presidential library: the catalog of impeachable offenses

Volumes I through MMIX.