Dave Lindorff: Bill Moyers Shames Corporate Media and Speaker Pelosi over Impeachment

[babylonsister]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/24684

Bill Moyers Shames Corporate Media and Speaker Pelosi over Impeachment
Submitted by dlindorff on Sat, 2007-07-14 22:50. Impeachment

By Dave Lindorff

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, devided 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 argument was demolished by both Nichols and Fein.

Nichols explained that the Constitution had been 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 witht the approval of Congress, 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.

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[Kurovski]

1. K&R. (nt)

[EFerrari]

2. Argh! He beat me AGAIN!

k&r

[Hubert Flottz]

3. Bill Moyers and his two guests did a great public service.

Bill Moyers, Bruce Fein and John Nichols are patriots. I hope everyone in congress will listen to what was said in that exchange. America is sick and congress has the cure. Let's just hope and pray that congress has the guts and the patriotism to do their jobs and impeach the criminals.

[mod mom]

4. When are going to take notice of the level of outrage over impeachment?

[Swamp Rat]

5. k&r

[Time for change]

6. Thank you Bill, for putting this back on the table where it belongs!

Nichols' book was very good. I think it would be pretty hard to read it and then explain why impeachment should be off the table.