Thursday, January 17, 2008

"The Gallery Will Refrain from Applause"

Rep. Wexler of Florida was on C-Span last night calling for impeachment. I think it was about the best five congressional minutes I've seen in a long time. You can watch his speech by clicking on this direct link:

Wexler on C-Span

Or watch it and read comments on Politico.Com by clicking on this direct link:

Wexler Renews Call for Cheney's Impeachment

Reading some of the comments at Politico.Com reveal real fear on the part of the right wing.


If you haven't already done so, click here to sign Wexler's Impeachment Petition.

Wexler points out that if we don't at least begin impeachment hearings to find out what there is to find out (as Rep. Conyers of Ohio promised but failed to do), history may well hold US accountable and complicit:

“In the history of our nation, we have never encountered a moment where the actions of a President or a Vice President have more strongly demanded the use of the power of impeachment.”

Wexler delivered his remarks to a nearly empty House chamber, just after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members left to attend a reception. At the end of Wexler's speech, as spectators in the gallery began cheering, the acting speaker told the gallery to refrain from applause. WE are the gallery, folks! WE are the ones being told to refrain. How long until we are ordered to do so? Or worse...

8 comments:

Cartledge said...

I personally think impeachment is far to lenient for Cheney. Squeezing every last crooked cent out of greedy arse should be part of the deal.
Still, kicking the bastards as they are going down sounds good to me. The puppet master must be made to pay. The puppet is hardly worth considering.

abi said...

Pathetic, isn't it? Wexler is absolutely right. If these guys aren't deserving of impeachment, who is?

D.K. Raed said...

Cartlege: in order to get to the criminal phase, impeachment proceedings must begin in the House Judiciary Committee. That's what Wexler is trying to achieve. Impeachment hearings are probably all that could be accomplished before the B-C team leave town Jan '09, but those hearings are necessary to bring the evidence out in the light of day. And that's just the House of Reps. From there, it would go to the Senate. That's where Clinton's impeachment died.

The idea behind impeaching Cheney is if Bush was impeached, Cheney would step into the presidency & then heaven help us all. I'd like to do a two-fer.

Abi:
Welcome, thanks for stopping by! Yup, the impeachment clause in the constitution seems tailor-made for this situation, almost as if the founders had a crystal ball or something.

Fran said...

How sad that he spoke to an empty room... it was a great & passionate speech- and it's so true... the things we impeached Nixon & Clinton for, were child's play compared to the crimes of this administration. And, not just a crime or two, the list is long, and people have died & suffered greatly because of the actions of this administration. I think Cheney had hoped to stay in hiding, and bide his time making war profiteer deals till the end of his term. He needs to go to impeachment trials-- I consider him the puppeteer, or evil mastermind of teh Bush admin.
Listen to George very long & you can know he is a pawn in this game.

Honestly, I would not be surprised to see Cheney pull a Ken Lay.... drop dead w heart problems just before it would be time to go to jail, or trial.
His heart could not withstand the rigors of having to tell the truth under oath.

Good point tat the damning tapes came out during the trial, in the Watergate impeachment hearings.

I read an article about the e mails of a few years of Bush admin erased, having been taped over. Ooops! All the evidence is gone. Shucks! It's the 21st century and that techno stuff is tricky for the highest level of office of the Superpower country. Yet they figured out a way to rig the voting machines, wiretap the country, and other anomalies..... Dang that technology really IS tricky.

High 5 to the gallery applauders.

Cartledge said...

Okay, faced with my cobber abi and the feisty redhead I concede - just a little. But remember, I'm just a downunder city boy.
Also, I am distracted fighting for the remote and the cricket because some people want to watch that bloody tennis.
All the same, I still think Cheney is enemy number one.... Sorry, i think the Australian Federal Police are at the door...

D.K. Raed said...

Cartledge:
concession not necessary; Cheney is PE#1. I'm sympathizing with you now as I'm listening to balls being thwacked around a tennis court in Melbourne. Oh wait, it just started raining, so everyone is running to a covered court (this is an earlier recorded event). Boy, those tennies are such weenies.

Fran:
all so true, so sad but true ... the amount of damage these pricks have foisted on the world should surely qualify for a special rush impeachment job. If not now, when? And yes, if hearings commence, no telling what all will come out, where the blood will lead, eh.

TomCat said...

Been there and signed that. Impeachment is only step 1 and needs to be followed by indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration.

D.K. Raed said...

Tomcat: it's be nice to just skip to the incarceration part ... and not some Halliburton Golf Course Jail or Ft Blackwater cushy excecutive private cell either.