Cheney’s ‘Tortured Logic’ and America’s Apathy
Originally posted by Nadir at LastChocolateCity.com
What is it going to take for Congress, the media and the American people to wise up and impeach Dick Cheney?
Obviously it isn't enough that he lied us into an illegal, unjust and immoral war. It doesn't matter that he ignored a Congressional subpoena and still refuses to release details of his energy task force that may have outlined the administration's imperial oil-grabbing tactics pre-911. It makes no difference that the vice president ordered the outing of the undercover CIA operative in charge of finding Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction" because her husband publicly refuted the administration's falsehoods about said wmds.
The fact that he lead the military in its use of interrogation tactics that amount to torture (until Congress allowed the administration to change the definition of torture), is apparently irrelevant. No one seems to care that Cheney was in charge of war games on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 that may have slowed military and air traffic control response to plane hijackings. And shooting that guy in the face? Well, it could have happened to any experienced hunter shooting caged quails.
Now it is revealed the vice president hasn't been complying with an executive order that requires executive branch employees to report on the nature of the classified documents they create. The VP justifies his noncompliance by claiming that his role as President of the Senate separates him from the executive branch. Who cares what the Constitution says, right?
According to Capitol Hill Blue:
The result of what Senator Dick Durban called Cheney's "tortured logic", is the creation of a fourth branch of government or in other words, Cheney's contention that he is above the law. Rep. Rahm Emanuel says that if Cheney's office isn't part of the executive branch, then he should lose his executive branch funding.
But empty political posturing hasn't worked for the Democrat-led Congress so far. When are they going to DO SOMETHING about Cheney's lawlessness?
Detroiters: We must pressure Congressman John Conyers to place House Resolution 333, Articles of Impeachment against Dick Cheney, on the Judiciary Committee agenda. It wasn't long ago that Conyers said, "I have a choice. I can either stand by and lead my constituents to believe I do not care that the president apparently no longer believes he is bound by any law or code of decency. Or I can act."
John Conyers, Congress members and US citizens : How long will you stand idly by while this administration spits on the US Constitution and all that is supposed to make America great? Impeach Dick Cheney now.
What is it going to take for Congress, the media and the American people to wise up and impeach Dick Cheney?
Obviously it isn't enough that he lied us into an illegal, unjust and immoral war. It doesn't matter that he ignored a Congressional subpoena and still refuses to release details of his energy task force that may have outlined the administration's imperial oil-grabbing tactics pre-911. It makes no difference that the vice president ordered the outing of the undercover CIA operative in charge of finding Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction" because her husband publicly refuted the administration's falsehoods about said wmds.
The fact that he lead the military in its use of interrogation tactics that amount to torture (until Congress allowed the administration to change the definition of torture), is apparently irrelevant. No one seems to care that Cheney was in charge of war games on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 that may have slowed military and air traffic control response to plane hijackings. And shooting that guy in the face? Well, it could have happened to any experienced hunter shooting caged quails.
Now it is revealed the vice president hasn't been complying with an executive order that requires executive branch employees to report on the nature of the classified documents they create. The VP justifies his noncompliance by claiming that his role as President of the Senate separates him from the executive branch. Who cares what the Constitution says, right?
According to Capitol Hill Blue:
In 1995, President Bill Clinton issued an order intended to ensure that classified data was properly labeled and stored within executive-branch agencies, and established an Information Security Oversight Office within the National Archives to ensure that it was.Of course, we know what will happen to the oversight office's justice department appeal -- nothing. Gonzales himself still evades expulsion. So the question once again is, what will Congress do about yet another breach of constitutional authority by the vice president?
President Bush modified the order in 2003, which, coincidentally or not, was when Cheney's office, which had complied in 2001 and 2002, stopped cooperating with the oversight office and blocked oversight investigators from the vice president's offices altogether in 2004.
Following standard procedures, the oversight office appealed to the Department of Justice, where the matter now rests with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Cheney aides -- in a hardball manner said to be typical of the vice president's operatives -- tried to have the appeals process eliminated. When that failed, they tried to have the oversight office eliminated altogether.
The result of what Senator Dick Durban called Cheney's "tortured logic", is the creation of a fourth branch of government or in other words, Cheney's contention that he is above the law. Rep. Rahm Emanuel says that if Cheney's office isn't part of the executive branch, then he should lose his executive branch funding.
But empty political posturing hasn't worked for the Democrat-led Congress so far. When are they going to DO SOMETHING about Cheney's lawlessness?
Detroiters: We must pressure Congressman John Conyers to place House Resolution 333, Articles of Impeachment against Dick Cheney, on the Judiciary Committee agenda. It wasn't long ago that Conyers said, "I have a choice. I can either stand by and lead my constituents to believe I do not care that the president apparently no longer believes he is bound by any law or code of decency. Or I can act."
John Conyers, Congress members and US citizens : How long will you stand idly by while this administration spits on the US Constitution and all that is supposed to make America great? Impeach Dick Cheney now.
posted by Nadir at 9:44 AM
2 Comments:
I stand with you in the following charges against Cheney:
1. Opposing the torture of anyone, including people who themselves torture others. I agree with you that the Bushie definition of torture is meaningless to this discussion.
2. Publicizing documents pertaining to, and reporting on the contents of, the pre-911 meeting with petro execs.
3. Defining the Vice President as a member of the executive branch. Clearly to me, the office's role as President of the Senate represents part of the executive check on the legislative branch.
4. Cheney's special powers helped him with the face-shooting incident; I assume he was either drunk or worried that he would test drunk, and he used his powers to buy time.
5. You didn't mention this, but Cheney (and Bush, Rummie, and others) were Vietnam draft dodgers, and they dodged the draft using unsavory, cowardly, unprincipled means.
6. Bush's legislative "liner notes" (or whatever they are called) are shams, just as the earmark riders are.
7. Bush and Cheney deserve impeachment, but I only agree with some of your reasons (torture, violating legislative checks on the executive branch).
But I refute your other charges:
1. The Bushies didn't lie in selling their war to the public.
2. The Bushies didn't "out" Plame as punishment for Wilson's NYT article; rather they "outed" her to undermine the credibility that Wilson was claiming for himself. If Wilson and Plame wanted to keep Plame's employment out of the public, they should have not used a job by Wilson obtained via Plame to enter the public discourse.
3. The Bushies did not in theory or practice or intention "grab" Iraq's oil. They have attempted to advance the prosperity and security of the USA by doing so for Iraq, though so far unsuccessfully.
I'm glad to hear that you are in favor of impeachment. Will you join me in actively advocating for such over the coming months?
Let's talk about your sticking points:
1. The Bushies didn't lie in selling their war to the public.
You honestly don't believe that by "sexing up" the intelligence the Bush and Blair administrations didn't mislead the world about Iraq's imminent threat?
Evidence shows that there was no imminent threat. Evidence also shows that the warmongers were told this by their intelligence agencies. The Niger yellowcake incident is an example of this. Intelligence officials have gone on record to say they were pressured to sex up the intelligence to make the case in favor of war. Why do you deny what is in plain sight here? This was a clear case of fraud.
2. The Bushies didn't "out" Plame as punishment for Wilson's NYT article; rather they "outed" her to undermine the credibility that Wilson was claiming for himself. If Wilson and Plame wanted to keep Plame's employment out of the public, they should have not used a job by Wilson obtained via Plame to enter the public discourse.
This is ridiculous. George W. Bush got his job largely because of who his father is. Hilary Clinton has her current job largely because of who her husband is, and is seeking a new job with the tacit understanding that she shares a bed with Slick Willie. Nepotism is as American as violence and cherry pie.
You admit that Bush and Cheney outed Plame. This is a violation of federal law, and is therefore an impeachable offense. The fact that this illegal action was the result of political warfare, which may seem to make it fair game, doesn't diminish the illegality of the act. Jail for Bush, Cheney, Rove, Libby and maybe Tim Russert and Bob Novak as well.
3. The Bushies did not in theory or practice or intention "grab" Iraq's oil. They have attempted to advance the prosperity and security of the USA by doing so for Iraq, though so far unsuccessfully.
Why then is the most important benchmark that must be met by the Iraqi government, the passing of a law that would open Iraqi oil profits to foreign corporations?
The only way that they have attempted to "advance the prosperity and security of the USA by doing so for Iraq" is through their attempt to use Iraq as a linchpin for control of Middle Eastern oil. That is the primary reason for the invasion and occupation of that nation.
Such high-minded ideals as "democracy, prosperity and security for Iraq" are only a means of selling the war to conservative ideologues such as yourself, and to the general public who doesn't pay attention to the nuances of such actions.
You love to hold up Iraqi Kurdistan as a model of how American imperialism has aided Iraq. Well, guess what? The US backing of the Kurdish separatists has undermined that regions security. Now Turkey is staging raids in that part of the country.
US actions have caused Iraqi Kurdistan to become less secure, and there is no central Iraqi government that can protect them from these raids. And the US is unwilling to stop Turkey. Has the US abandoned the Kurds in favor of appeasing Turkey? How does that help your fledgling democracy?
Post a Comment
<< Home