Vermont towns vote to arrest Bush and Cheney

March 5, 2008
Vermont towns vote to arrest Bush and Cheney

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported.

The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues, instructs town police to "extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them."

Cheney's Actions Put Impeachment on the Table

July 13, 2007
Cheney's Actions Put Impeachment on the Table

Congressman Bob Filner, the chair of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, added his name, along with another veteran Democratic representative from California, Sam Farr.

The additional cosponsorships from Washington Democrat Jim McDermott, a Vietnam-era veteran who has been one of the House's sharpest critics of the war in Iraq, and Virginia Democrat James Moran bring the number of supporters for the articles to 14, including sponsor Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

But at the heart of the growing enthusiasm for putting the process in motion is a sense that Congress can no longer neglect abuses of power by a lawless executive branch.

"The Founders intended impeachment to be used when those running the government forgot that they worked for the people, and the Founders intended impeachment to be used when those running the government acted as though they were above the law," explains Congressman McDermott, who argues that, "The vice president holds himself above the law, and it is time for the Congress to enforce the law."

The Vice President's Record of Willfully Violating the Law

June 30, 2007
The Vice President's Record of Willfully Violating the Law

Vice President Dick Cheney has regularly claimed that he is above the law, but until recently he has not offered any explanation of why.

In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a law that Cheney believes does apply to him, whether that law be major or minor. For example, he has claimed that most of the laws passed in the aftermath of Watergate were unconstitutional, and thus implicitly inapplicable. His office oversees signing statements claiming countless new laws will not be honored except insofar as the President's extremely narrow interpretation allows. He does not believe the War Powers Act should be honored by the President. Nor, in his view, should the President be bothered with laws like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). In fact, it appears Cheney has actively encouraged defiance of such laws by the Bush Administration.

For Cheney, the Geneva Conventions - considered among the nation's most important treaties -- are but quaint relics that can be ignored. Thus, he publicly embraced their violation when, on an Idaho talk radio program, he said he was not troubled in the slightest by our forces using "waterboarding" -- the simulated drowning of detainees to force them to talk. There are serious questions as to whether Cheney himself has also conspired to violate the War Crimes Act, which can be a capital crime.

Reagan Lawyer: Impeach Cheney

June 27, 2007
Reagan Lawyer: Impeach Cheney

Under Dick Cheney, the office of the vice president has been transformed from a tiny acorn into an unprecedented giant oak. In grasping and exercising presidential powers, Cheney has dulled political accountability and concocted theories for evading the law and Constitution that would have embarrassed King George III. The most recent invention we know of is the vice president's insistence that an executive order governing the handling of classified information in the executive branch does not reach his office because he also serves as president of the Senate. In other words, the vice president is a unique legislative-executive creature standing above and beyond the Constitution. The House judiciary committee should commence an impeachment inquiry. As Alexander Hamilton advised in the Federalist Papers, an impeachable offense is a political crime against the nation. Cheney's multiple crimes against the Constitution clearly qualify.

House Progressive leaders sign on to Cheney impeachment motion

June 8, 2007
House Progressive leaders sign on to Cheney impeachment motion

The co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have signed on to Articles of Impeachment introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio Congressman who is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 2008. But a staff-member of one of the Congress members tells RAW STORY that the move comes only in their personal capacity.

"I don't know of any effort to whip members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to back the impeachment resolution," said a spokesman for Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), who is a co-chair of the CPC.

Conyers: Impeach Bush & Cheney

May 30, 2007
Conyers: Impeach Bush & Cheney

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit Congressman John Conyers says he supports a national effort calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

But he stopped short today of pledging to take action to back it.

The veteran democratic lawmaker chairs the House Judiciary Committee, which would lead any impeachment hearings.

Conyers did say that he encourages nationwide efforts to build support for impeaching Bush.

Cheney lawyer told Secret Service not to keep copies of visitor logs

May 29, 2007
Cheney lawyer told Secret Service not to keep copies of visitor logs

WASHINGTON – A lawyer for Vice President Dick Cheney told the Secret Service in September to eliminate data on who visited Cheney at his official residence, a newly disclosed letter states.

The Sept. 13, 2006, letter from Cheney's lawyer says logs for Cheney's residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory are subject to the Presidential Records Act.

Such a designation prevents the public from learning who visited the vice president.

13 State Democratic Parties Demand Impeachment

May 19, 2007
13 State Democratic Parties Demand Impeachment

Thirteen state Democratic parties have now passed resolutions demanding impeachment, nine of them since Nancy Pelosi ordered the Democratic Party away from impeachment.

"Whereas George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have:

• Deliberately misled the nation about the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war;
• Condoned the torture of prisoners in violation of the Geneva Convention & US law;
• Approved illegal electronic surveillance of American citizens without a warrant."

The majority of these resolutions have never been reported in the media. Therefore, this list is almost certainly incomplete. So are the following tallies:

• Cities and towns that have backed impeachment by resolution, public vote, or both: 79.
  
• Largest cities: Detroit, home of the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and San Francisco, home of the Speaker of the House.
  
• Earliest and most frequent city: Santa Cruz beginning in 2003.
  
• States where impeachment has been introduced into the legislature at least once: 10 (California, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont).
  
• State legislative bodies that have voted on impeachment: 3 (Vermont Senate, Vermont House, New Mexico Senate).
  
• State legislative bodies that have passed impeachment resolutions: 1 (Vermont Senate).
  
• National political parties backing impeachment: 1 (Green).
  
• Non-Democratic state political parties backing impeachment: 2 (Vermont Progressives, California Greens).
  
• Democrats Abroad Chapters backing impeachment: 1.
  
• Local political party organizations that have backed impeachment: 32.
  
• Labor unions backing impeachment: 1.
  
• Page listing all these resolutions: http://impeachpac.org/resolutions-list
  
• How to make corrections or additions to the list: http://afterdowningstreet.org/listadditions
  
• Organization helping promote Democratic Party resolutions, including those recently passed in Massachusetts and California: http://pdamerica.org
  
• Articles of impeachment introduced against Bush: 3 (by Rep. Cynthia McKinney).
  
• Articles of impeachment introduced against Cheney: 3 (by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, H Res. 333, http://www.impeachcheney.org ).
  
• Impeachment Resource Center: http://afterdowningstreet.org/resourcecenter
  

Poll: 39% support impeaching Bush AND Cheney

May 8, 2007
Poll: 39% support impeaching Bush AND Cheney

About four out of 10 Americans favor impeaching the president and vice president. But the biggest news from this survey is not the overall results, but the opinions of independent voters, who usually decide presidential elections.

Forty-two percent of independents want Bush and Cheney impeached. These aren't just voters who disapprove of the White House. Instead, they're for initiating a process that could remove them from office.

'Doonesbury' Character Calls for Bush anc Cheney Impeachment

April 18, 2007 (two articles)
'Doonesbury' Character Calls for Bush anc Cheney Impeachment

NEW YORK A day after "Doonesbury" character Mark Slackmeyer called for President Bush's impeachment, he said he wants the same fate for Vice President Cheney.

In today's comic, Mark continues to look at reader e-mails with Mike Doonesbury. "A.F." of Omaha writes, "Dear Mike: What do you think of the conservative strips that papers buy to balance your politics?" -- referring to comics such as "Mallard Fillmore" and "Prickly City."

Impeach Cheney First?

April 18, 2007
Impeach Cheney First?

The Nation -- It is no secret that Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has been toying with the idea of moving articles of impeachment against a member of the Bush administration. And he appears to be focusing more and more of his attention on the man that many activists around the country see as the ripest target for sanctioning: Vice President Dick Cheney.

Despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's efforts to convince Democrats to keep presidential accountability "off the table," Kucinich is just one of many House Democrats who have acknowledged in recent days that they are hearing the call for action loud and clear from their constituents and from grassroots activists across the country.

Vermont Votes to Impeach Bush/Cheney

March 7, 2007
Vermont Votes to Impeach Bush/Cheney

The Nation -- When Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, a Republican with reasonably close ties to
President Bush, asked if there was any additional business to be considered at the town meeting he was running in Middlebury, Ellen McKay popped up and proposed the impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The governor was not amused. As moderator of the annual meeting, he tried to suggest that the proposal to impeach -- along with another proposal to withdraw U.S. troops from
Iraq -- could not be voted on.

But McKay, a program coordinator at Middlebury College, pressed her case. And it soon became evident that the crowd at the annual meeting shared her desire to hold the president to account.

So Douglas backed down.