POLL: Do you want Bush impeached?

Do you want Bush impeached?

  • Yes

    Votes: 55 66.3%

  • No

    Votes: 28 33.7%
  • Total voters
    83

FreeChile

Graduate Poster
F
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
1,039
JREFers, now is the time! Voice your real opinion on this. Do you want Bush impeached?
 
Somebody will point it out eventually, you left out the Planet X option and, possibly, the Don't Care option.
 
AnotherSillyAlias said:
Somebody will point it out eventually, you left out the Planet X option and, possibly, the Don't Care option.
Click to expand...
Why would someone not care and why would we want to know that they did not care at this point? I think everyone knows that most Americans don't care anymore. They see no difference between this and the next administration. Those four small towns in Vermont seem to care. Why?
 
I love the polls here now! You never know where you'll end up after voting, it's like leaping into an alternate dimension. Now, where are my superpowers? :D
 
I despise the Bush presidency. I think he may be the worst president since Grant. But I don't believe impeachment on some trumped-up charge should be used because you don't like someone. The Republicans were willing to stoop to this tactic. I am not.
 
AnotherSillyAlias said:
the Don't Care option.
Click to expand...
I think that's a subset of "no".

Tricky said:
I despise the Bush presidency. I think he may be the worst president since Grant. But I don't believe impeachment on some trumped-up charge should be used because you don't like someone. The Republicans were willing to stoop to this tactic. I am not.
Click to expand...
It's one thing to say the charges didn't justify impeachment, quite another to say they were trumped up.

These charges, on the other hand, are silly. Especially the Iraq thing:
1. It's not the president's decision to declare war, it's congress'.
2. No one has been able to name a single lie in the resolution authorizing war.
3. This charge is based on information that available before the election, so the American people have already declared that it is insufficient to remove him from office. For congress to overrule this determination would be a gross abuse of power.
4. No one has been able to name a crime that has been committed.
 
Art Vandelay said:
1. It's not the president's decision to declare war, it's congress'.
2. No one has been able to name a single lie in the resolution authorizing war.
3. This charge is based on information that available before the election, so the American people have already declared that it is insufficient to remove him from office. For congress to overrule this determination would be a gross abuse of power.
4. No one has been able to name a crime that has been committed.
Click to expand...
I think you are interupting a circle jerk.
 
I also think that Bush/Cheney is the worst presidency of my life.

I don't know about impeachment though. For me there are two broad issues here.

1. Do any of Bush's actions qualify as high crimes and misdemeanors and as such justify the successful impeachment of Bush.

2. When a presidency has reached the level of failure that the Bush presidency has would it be a good idea to have a constitutional mechanism for getting rid of him just because he's an incompetent bozo without requiring that he actually have committed a high crime or high misdemeanor? Under the British system would Bush have been replaced by now? I suspect not because one of the main failures of the Bush presidency has been his failure to control the excesses of congress and congress doesn't like their excesses controlled so I suspect that a legislature of Bush's party wouldn't vote to get rid of him even if they had the chance.

As to the first issue I think there are three possibilities for high crimes and misdemeanors.

1. Lies about the strength of the evidence for WMD's in Iraq and lies about the strength of evidence for an Al Qaida connection to Iraq that led the congress to vote to uthorize a war that it otherwise would not have authorized.

Problem: I believe the evidence is overwhelming that Bushco lied about the strength of evidence that was used to justify the Iraq war. I doubt that a Republican congress would ever make such a finding though. And even more problematic, it is unprovable as to whether Bush lied about the existence of WMD in Iraq. I suspect that he didn't. I just think that his biases, his poor analytical skills and his reliance on Cheney/Rumsfeld for advice led him to the wrong conclusion. So would lies about the strength of the evidence as aopposed to actual lies about the conclusions be a legitimate basis for impeachment?

2. Illegal NSA spying

I suspect that Bushco has been engaged in actions that the supreme court would find to be unconstitutional.

Problem: Even if that is true the point is mostly moot right now. It appears that the Republican congress is going to approve the actions after the fact. So even if it could be proven that the Bush administraiton acted illegally with regard to NSA spying would an impeachment be justified if the actions of Bushco were now legal?

And further, this is an issue that not enough is known publically to form an informed opinion about. If it could be shown that Bushco acted illegally for some kind of political or personal gain I'd favor impeachment on this issue. But I don't think enough information is available to conclude that (and there won't be as long as the congress has a Republican majority)

3. Corruption

All the Haliburton stuff is mighty suspicious. There is also lots of stuff happening that makes it looks like Bushco has been selling out the country for political and/or monetary gain for what they believe is the conservative cause. Would any of that rise to the level of an impeachable offense. I might be persuaded if some smoking guns could be found.

Problem: Republican congress will probably stifle any significant investigations of their own corruption or Bush's so it's unlikely enough information will become available to decide whether the level of Bush administration corruption qualifies as a high crime or misdemeanor.
 
Art Vandelay said:
This charge is based on information that available before the election, so the American people have already declared that it is insufficient to remove him from office. For congress to overrule this determination would be a gross abuse of power.
Click to expand...
Wasn’t that the case with Clinton? He was impeached for something that occurred during his first term. Also, additional information became available during his second term. Since when has impeachment had a statute of limitation?
 
Impeachment (and conviction) is a political process. Has the Bush administration committed crimes worthy of impeachment? Sure it has. Does that mean I want Bush impeached? Not quite. I'm too tired.
 
Interesting site. Pretty effectively scuttles the odd notion that Bush has done nothing to deserve impeachment (OK, he didn't lie about a bj, which, as we all know is the ultimate guideline for wrongdoing in the history of the US):

Grounds for Impeaching Bush - lies, war, illegal wiretaps to name a few. See also "Bush should be Impeached" argulet.

Constitutional Basis for Impeachment - The Constitution spells out who can be impeached, what for, and by whom.

Rules and Laws relating to Bush Impeachment - collection of links to important government documents.

Articles of Impeachment for George W. Bush - Proposed resolution for the House of Representatives.

What are Impeachable Offenses? - Discussion of the meaning of "high Crimes and Misdemeanors".

How to Impeach Bush - Impeachment is started by the people and finished by Congress. Also a little known precedent allows a State Legislature to pass a Resolution of Impeachment and transmit that to the US House through their Representative.

Several cities have passed, or are considering, calls for impeachment.

Tally of Impeachment Charges from various Articles of Impeachment

Impeachments of Past Presidents - Andrew Johnson and William Clinton
Click to expand...
http://www.impeachbush.tv/impeach/
 
You don't have a "yes and no" option.

Thing is that as much as I'd like to see his sorry ass booted out, I shudder at the climate that we would be left with. The best solution, IMHO, is to get a democratic majority in congress at the midterm elections thus performing a testiculectomy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom