A new Zogby Poll, just announced, to be officially release tomorrow shows that a majority of Americans would support Congressional consideration of the impeachment of George W. Bush if, in fact, he wiretapped U.S. citizens without obtaining a legal warrant to do so!
The poll was conducted by Zogby International, the highly-regarded non-partisan polling company. The poll interviewed 1,216 U.S. adults from January 9-12.
The poll found that 52% agreed with the statement:
“If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.”
…
Impeachment Supported by Majorities of Many Groups
Responses to the Zogby poll varied by political party affiliation: 66% of Democrats favored impeachment, as did 59% of Independents, and even 23% of Republicans. By ideology, impeachment was supported by Progressives (90%), Libertarians (71%), Liberals (65%), and Moderates (58%), but not by Conservatives (33%) or Very Conservatives (28%).
…
Support for Clinton Impeachment Was Much Lower
In August and September of 1998, 16 major polls asked about impeaching President Clinton (http://democrats.com/clinton-impeachment-polls). Only 36% supported hearings to consider impeachment, and only 26% supported actual impeachment and removal. Even so, the impeachment debate dominated the news for months, and the Republican Congress impeached Clinton despite overwhelming public opposition.
Earlier today, we posted a video of Arlen Specter, of the Senate Judiciary Committee, admitting on ABC’s This Week that “impeachment” was one of the first remedies for the illegal wiretapping by a President of U.S. Citizens.
Well, it is a little more serious than getting your peter puffed……
Not to rightwingers.
These knuckle-draggers need to be impeached then indicted/convicted then incarcerated before they bomb/invade another country. This needs to happen before they institute martial law here. Hell, they have already suspended the Constitution. Military patroling the streets is not far off.
Newsweek covers the story of DiStefano, but not his link to voting vendors yet???? Why?
"Coffee and DiStefano (who did not respond to requests for comment) arranged for Ney and a staff member to fly over to London, where Winfield and his Syrian-born business partner, Fouad Al-Zayat, pitched the congressman on their business plan. Back in Washington, Ney talked to Powell, Tuohey said. But "nothing ever came of it," Tuohey said, because the company’s deal fell through."
The media needs to do its job…
Doug E.
Heh, Doug… "The media needs to do its job…" Ya think? There’s a guy over on HuffPo calling for Soros to buy CNN. That might turn the tide away from covering el corporatto butto first and above all, simply buy making possible the venue in which covering that butt becomes about doing its job instead of about failing to do it while still claiming to do it. Personally, I think, right now, they might be excused on the ground that there is such a tsunami of things to cover that they are completely overwhelmed.
That might turn the tide away from covering el corporatto butto
Soros? The guy who made his billions from hedge funds? Somehow I don’t think that much would change if he bough CNN.
I’ve read Soros’ work. I think things definitely would change if he owned CNN. But it’s all speculation, isn’t it?
On the Zogby polls (which I am happy to say I am a Progressive/Very liberal participant in)if the Democrats don’t use this to push for impeachment hearings, it is yet another reason to clean our Congress of ineffectual panderers in ’06.
For anyone in Washington state, Mark Wilson is running against Maria Cantwell in here incumbent bid. Wilson (www.votemark.com) is ex-military and a member of Veterans for Peace. I wish he was running as a Green, but in retrospect if he gets a lot of support from Democrats it will send a message to senators like Cantwell, who has repeatedly voted for war funding and against election investigation, that enough is enough. If you are elected a Democrat, then act like and vote like one. No more of this Lieberman bullshit. It is likely that the GOP challenger will be Dino Rossi, the guy who lost out to Christine Gregoire in some questionable election bungling. It is likely that the outcome of the governor’s race in ’04 will have implications in Cantwell’s ’06 campaign because a lot of folks here in WA think that Rossi got screwed and may be more likely to support him. So Maria’s in the hot seat, and her push against ANWR legislation was good, but IMHO not good enough to make up for the crap that she has voted for. Of course, Rossi is a punk and won’t do anything good for our state, but it may send a message to Democrat incumbents in other states that they need to stand on the principles for which they were elected.
So bring on the hearings, Democrats, else you are worthless as the day is long!
That’s a lot of "lib kooks," 52%. Guess it’s become fashionable to be a lib kook.
Soul Rebel: You are correct but Soros would not change anything….soros is just a opportunist, CNN would still be corporate news with a whor-ic bent.
They need to simply replace it alltogether with a new news network such as independent world television…
Push the wall for impeachment investigations, or watch all of congress drop like flies.
Doug E.
I thought Soros (safely) swore that if he could be 100% guaranteed of getting rid of *, he would give away every cent of his fortune. What about his foundation? Nobody means that Soros ought to buy it to make money, but rather as one of his philanthropic pursuits.
No question Soros will push the wall to get * and Cheney impeached, but maybe I’m dreamin’ to think he’d buy a mainstream tv network.
Seems to me what’s left of Big Labor could help get enough people behind forcing MSM and government on this subject, right away, by shutting down tons of businesses. You get a big enough sector taking overt action in protest, and exponentially more overcome their reticence and join them. Even though, it seems, Gore’s not going to stump for impeachment tomorrow, I’m still thinking of it as the starting gun for the masses indicated in the Zogby to make themselves unmistakably SEEN. The abstractions aren’t working.
These thugs need tangible evidence.
IMPEACH and IMPRISON!
NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Somebody tell Specter so this is known to him during the upcoming hearings in his committee.
If these political winds fill the political sails the hearings might get very interesting.
A Rove indictment would be jolly about this time … Fitz, what’s happening over there …
Illegally spying on American citizens warrants impeachment proceedings. However, the outing of a CIA operative, the uncaring incompetent handling of the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, misleading the Congress and the American people regarding the war in Iraq, the failure to capture Bin Laden, tax cuts to the rich and gutting programs to help the poor and elderly are all reasons to unseat this president. The scandals of this Administration are too numerous to keep up with — and all largely ignored by the mainstream media. Bush has sealed his records for good reason. The records need to be unsealed and he and Cheney must be held accountable for their high crimes and misdemeanors. Tragically, it seems hopeless to expect that the republican-controlled House and Senate will seriously investigate anything the Bush Administration does. With Alito soon taking a seat on the Supreme Court, the future of our democracy looks bleak and dark.
Comment #1:
Bob, peter puffing only applies if your a democrat, lol. As long as sex isn’t involved, the neo con fascist could’nt care less if the Constitution is violated. The funny about that, is that these stupid bastards think the rules only apply to liberals.
ELECTION REFORM IS THE ANSWER.
BGRS #13
I take it you’ve probably read Molly Ivins’ "Shrub"…
Only 3 things we needed to know about the job Bush would do as President (from the 2000 election): Look at the record, look at the record, look at the record.
Would I be remiss if I said that part of me (albeit a small egotistical part) wants Alito to get the SCOTUS job so that all of the fascist shit can go down and I can finally say "Told ya!" to all of the idiot naysayers who need a frying pan in the face before they realize the danger we are in. Of course, then its too late…Catch-22.
Bluegirlredstate couldn’t have put it better, the only thing bush and chaney care about are their rich friends, power and …well I guess thats all they care about. I live here in Louisiana and all we have gotten down here are the instructions"bend over and say ahhhhh!"
Wait… isn’t that what they told the rest of the world????
OT
Fitzgerald Maintains Focus on Rove
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is said to have spent the past month preparing evidence he will present to a grand jury alleging that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove knowingly made false statements to FBI and Justice Department investigators and lied under oath while he was being questioned about his role in the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity more than two years ago, according to sources knowledgeable about the probe.
#18… Jason Leopold pays it a little fast and loose with the research, I think. I just spent hours on the document in support of his assertions about * illegally wiretapping BEFORE 9/11, and that document can’t even be said to HINT at it, unless you already think the cabal had everything ready to make him sign as soon as he took office. It was a damn NSA overview for the new administration. No signatures, no nefarious orders… pft. And, this piece on Rove you link could be pure speculation. My eyeballs are bleeding.
I always heard that Zogby is the most reliable poll out there – most unbiased, so it’s not just "sour grape" Dems as the trolls would lead us to believe! Maybe the country is waking up!
99 we’ll have to wait and see
Re #19
Agent99,
Can you post a link to the document? I can’t seem to access it. I’ve only read the Truthout piece he wrote…
We should be calling & writing senators, pushing for a filibuster of Alito!!
A very good read:
Filibuster Bush, Impeach Alito
By Paul Rogat Loeb
t r u t h o u t Perspective
Sunday 15 January 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011506Z.shtml
It’s interesting. Kerry had 52% nationwide in exit polls on Nov. 2, 2004.
Interesting, but no coincidence.
The problem with impeachment with Bush is not the concept nor the mechanism for doing it.
It is the majority in congress. The house has to do the impeachment, and the senate follow up with conviction.
In the case of Clinton, the first part was done, but it failed in the senate. There was no conviction.
As we stand today, there is no way this congress would impeach. No way.
They will have to take a hit in November, get voted out, then the new congress with a different majority can be expected to consider the matter seriously.
Are you sure about that, Dredd? Aren’t alot of Republicans either disgusted with Bushco or leery of "going down" with them (so to speak)?
I suspect there may be more in the the House who feel that way than we might think.
Joan #26
The House is the center of corruption right now.
The Senate is where Specter is conducting the hearings.
He laughed when the idea of impeachment came up and only discussed impeachment in the abstract.
I would like to be wrong on this issue, however, politics will fashion the debate. And since corruption is the driving factor, cover ups and avoidances and ignoring will carry the day.
A good beating of the majority republican party at the polls in November will change all of that. Nothing else will.
I think they’ll keep an eye on the polls, and on the e-mails from constituents. If it doesn’t get any worse from here, there will be no impeachment attempt before November. But if that 52% number gets up around 60% or higher, and Bush’s approval number gets down around 30% (it’s already back down to 39%), then it wouldn’t surprise me to see a gutsy Republican take the lead…just to "explore" the question, of course.
I can see the strategy now, orchestrated by Rove with Bush’s approval. Someone like Specter, with a legalistic manner, comes forward before the election with the explanation that "The Constitutional questions are too important not to examine them closely." Hearings are held, but key information can’t be divulged else we’ll "warn the terrorists of what we’re doing." In the absence of convincing proof that Bush broke the law, no action is taken. Republicans claim credit for taking up the issue, then take their "forward-looking" agenda to the electorate in November.
One problem with impeachment is that Congress passed the USA"PATRIOT" Act overwhelmingly – an act which requires judges to issue warrants on phone taps and other surveillance when part of an ongoing criminal investigation (which could be anything.) And there are so many other dangerous, sham, and, frankly, treasonous elements to the "PATRIOT" Act that I’m sure they will be brought up as "we all knew the danger of terrorism."
Not that I think impeachment shouldn’t be pushed. The above is just a comment on the issue. I believe we have a responsibility as citizens to impeach the president and others for "treason, high crimes and misdemeanors" and that it is very important that the subject of impeachment snowball in the next few months up to the elections.
I wasn’t able to see Al Gore’s speech, but I understand he called for repeal of the "PATRIOT" Act? Is this true? If so, it’s a milestone – and something else that has to be followed up on in various ways.
A matter that was never mentioned during the entire confirmation hearing: On January 16, 1984 Assistant Solicitor General Samuel Alito argued in "FCC v. League of Women Voters" that there should be a ban on editorializing on public air waves (radio & television). He lost the case and Justice Brennan wrote the decision: that it was unconstitutional (First Amendment Right) to ban free speech on public broadcasting. Time is provided for counter arguments and there is no reason to ban editorializing on public broadcasting. Therefore, we can say truthfully that Samuel Alito opposed "Free Speech" which is protected by the U. S. Constitution. That ALONE should be reason enough to block his confirmation. He argued that commercial broadcasting, however, has every right to editorialize. Conclusion: another corporate shill being considered for the SCotUS.
Well, I see Gore didn’t actually call for a repeal of the "PATRIOT" Act, but put in a strong pitch for safeguards and no extension until they are in place.
Personally, I think it needs to be scrapped and the subject looked at closely again (or the first time?) by representatives who have read the Constitution.
Joan, #22:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NS...BB24/nsa25.pdf
I need to learn how to make links, but you can copy and paste this url to get to the Transition 2001 NSA report that does not constitute proof of any criminal activity, or even the desire to act criminally. It acknowledges that its recommendations would require changing legislation to accommodate its use.
I guess there are witnesses/whistleblowers who can testify that the capabilities alluded to in this report almost immediately were put into play, without lawful authority, but this document does not constitute proof of any wrongdoing, or intent to do wrong.
Whether congress can deal with Bushco’s usurpation of our Constitution remains to be seen. Given Rethuglican control of the House of Unrepentant and the Seenot it is doubtful.
I therefore have an idea for you: We know that the NSA is conducting an illegal operation to spy on Americans using sophisticated "recognition" software to lock onto calls or emails containing certain key words. Data mining.
The only way any citizen can combat an illegal program such as this is by civil disobedience, SO IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF ALL AMERICANS, COUNTRY-WIDE, BEGAN USING TRIGGER WORDS IN EVERY TELEPHONE CALL THEY MAKE OR RECEIVE? The system would soon be overwhelmed by far too many "hits" for them all (or perhaps ANY) of them to be further investigated, potentially destroying the usefulness of the illegal program.
So what if every liberal blog, or any others believing Bushco has gone too far, asked ALL THE VISITORS to their site to include certain trigger words IN EVERY CONVERSATION THEY HAVE WITH ANYONE.
You know, words like: Osama bin Laden, jihad, dirty bomb, nuclear material, anthrax, chemical weapons, Zarqawi, Allah akbar, infidels, Iran mullahs, and everything else the readers could come up with. Perhaps even run a contest for your readers to add to the probable list that would "flag" their number for further investigation. The sheer numbers, if we could pull this off, would render it impossible or impractical for the program to continue.
I am sick of our Imperial President and his constant violations of the law and the erosion of my civil rights. It is time, in my opinion, to demonstrate to Bushco that this IS a government by, for, and of the People. This could perhaps be engineered into the greatest single act of civil disobedience in history.
What do you think? Do we stand by and gripe, or do we take action?
impreachment is long oversdue
Impeach Bush yourself! That’s right. This is much more than just a petition.
There’s a little known and rarely used clause of the in the rules for
the House of Representatives which sets forth the various ways in
which a president can be impeached. Only the House Judiciary
Committee puts together the Articles of Impeachment, but before that
happens, someone has to initiate the process.
That’s where we come in. One of the ways to get impeachment going is
for individual citizens like you and me to submit a memorial.
ImpeachforPeace.org has created a new memorial based on one which was
successful in impeaching a federal official in the past. You can find
it on their website as a PDF.
You can initiate the impeachment process yourself by downloading the
memorial, filling in the relevant information in the blanks (your
name, state, etc.), and sending it in.
http://ImpeachForPeace.org/ImpeachNow.html
More information on the precedent for submitting an impeachment
memorial, and the House Rules on this procedure, can also be found at
the above address.
If you have any doubts that Bush has committed crimes warranting
impeachment, read this page: http://ImpeachForPeace.org/evidence/
If you’re concerned that impeachment might not be the best strategy
at this point, read the
bottom of this page: http://ImpeachForPeace.org/
It just takes a minute to save our democracy.
Impeach Bush yourself! That’s right. This is much more than just a petition.
There’s a little known and rarely used clause of the in the rules for
the House of Representatives which sets forth the various ways in
which a president can be impeached. Only the House Judiciary
Committee puts together the Articles of Impeachment, but before that
happens, someone has to initiate the process.
That’s where we come in. One of the ways to get impeachment going is
for individual citizens like you and me to submit a memorial.
ImpeachforPeace.org has created a new memorial based on one which was
successful in impeaching a federal official in the past. You can find
it on their website as a PDF.
You can initiate the impeachment process yourself by downloading the
memorial, filling in the relevant information in the blanks (your
name, state, etc.), and sending it in.
http://ImpeachForPeace.org/ImpeachNow.html
More information on the precedent for submitting an impeachment
memorial, and the House Rules on this procedure, can also be found at
the above address.
If you have any doubts that Bush has committed crimes warranting
impeachment, read this page: http://ImpeachForPeace.org/evidence/
If you’re concerned that impeachment might not be the best strategy
at this point, read the
bottom of this page: http://ImpeachForPeace.org/
It just takes a minute to save our democracy.
Impeach Bush yourself! That’s right. This is much more than just a petition.
There’s a little known and rarely used clause of the in the rules for
the House of Representatives which sets forth the various ways in
which a president can be impeached. Only the House Judiciary
Committee puts together the Articles of Impeachment, but before that
happens, someone has to initiate the process.
That’s where we come in. One of the ways to get impeachment going is
for individual citizens like you and me to submit a memorial.
ImpeachforPeace.org has created a new memorial based on one which was
successful in impeaching a federal official in the past. You can find
it on their website as a PDF.
You can initiate the impeachment process yourself by downloading the
memorial, filling in the relevant information in the blanks (your
name, state, etc.), and sending it in.
http://ImpeachForPeace.org/ImpeachNow.html
More information on the precedent for submitting an impeachment
memorial, and the House Rules on this procedure, can also be found at
the above address.
If you have any doubts that Bush has committed crimes warranting
impeachment, read this page: http://ImpeachForPeace.org/evidence/
If you’re concerned that impeachment might not be the best strategy
at this point, read the
bottom of this page: http://ImpeachForPeace.org/
It just takes a minute to save our democracy.