RECOVERINGLIBERAL PUNDIT, HANK HONIG SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY WITH CONGRESSMAN JERRY NADLER ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S PLANS TO CRIMINALLY INDICT HIGH RANKING MEMBERS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

A while back I attended two meetings, one an invitation only event and the other a meeting of my local Democratic Club. Congressman Jerold Nadler (D-NY) was at both. The purpose of the meetings was a discussion of the potential for impeaching and removing both the President and Vice President for the unspeakable high crimes and misdemeanors perpetrated on the American people and all of humanity during their infamous time in office.

You see, we elected a Democratic Senate and House of Representatives with two thoughts in mind. Virtually all of us wanted to bring about an end to the immoral incursion our country has made into the sovereign state of Iraq. Some of us also wanted to have the new Congress initiate hearings leading to the removal of this twice unelected administration.

And, so, there was Congressman Nadler explaining to us that, for the most part, the Democratic members of Congress felt that impeachment was an exercise in futility. He said that the process could take up to 18 months, about what was left in the Bush Administration at the time of the meetings. He also told both groups that there wasn’t a large enough Democratic majority in the United States Senate to assure that Bush and/or Cheney would actually be removed from office if they were impeached.

Then he made two other comments. The first was that if we were to get a Democratic Administration in the White House in 2009, it would be very likely that such an administration would seek indictments at the highest level of the Bush Administration. He also said that this all could change if a smoking gun were to turn up between that time and the elections of 2008.

Well, Congressman, there is not only one smoking gun. There seem to be two.

There is the National Intelligence Estimate that has just come to light, the one which indicates that Iran ended its quest for nuclear weaponry years ago. It appears that the leaders of the Bush Administration, right up to the President, have known this for at least twelve months, if not more. Yet, they are trying to lead us into another war in the Middle East based on lies that they are telling us about intelligence. Yes, I know there should be a pun there, but, frankly, this is no laughing matter.

These guys want to put our troops and our country into further danger by opening another front in a war from which we can never emerge victorious, and they want to do it knowing full well that the case they are building is based on lies. If there isn’t smoke pouring out of the barrel of that Colt, then, perhaps, a little more ammo is in order.

Moving to the other smoking gun;

Torture is something so against everything American that it makes the hair on the back of the necks of all but the most deluded Conservative fools stand up. Yet, we continually hear stories of our intelligence services routinely torturing the prisoners we are capturing in the Iraq and Afghanistan.

Let me be perfectly clear about this. Torture is against our laws, and it is against the agreements we have made with other nations, most notably, The Geneva Accords. That hasn’t seemed to matter to the Bush Administration. In fact, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is most noted for the memos he wrote justifying such torture.

Since we all know that the torture regularly approved by this administration qualifies as a high crime, that, alone, should have provided sufficient reason for impeachment. For some unexplainable reason, Speaker Pelosi has not taken that position, and the Bush Mafia has continued their Reign of Terror.

This week, we learned that a delegation of White House lawyers was dispatched to the offices of the Central Intelligence Agency to strong arm “The Company” into destroying video tapes of their agents torturing Iraqi POWs. Certainly, the tapes would have been a smoking gun, had they not been destroyed. But the mere fact that those lawyers were sent by the White House to do its dirty work should be more than enough to bring about an impeachment, shouldn’t it?

It’s all an eerie reminder of the White House Plumbers and another rogue attorney, John Dean, over 30 years ago.

But the questions that should be asked before moving forward with any potential hearings would be these; will we succeed in an effort to impeach and remove Bush and/or Cheney? And, if we don’t succeed, what will we gain?

The answer to the first question, as I see it, is that we will probably pass an impeachment resolution, if one were to ever be allowed by the Speaker to reach the floor of the House of Representatives, but that removal is a long shot, at best.

If that is the case, then why go through the process?

Well, that takes me to the second question. A hearing in the House and a trial in the Senate will accomplish three things. First, it will keep the Bush Boys so tied up that they will be forced to curtail their evil activities. Second, it will finally put their feet to the fire and expose every vile deed that they have done in our names. And, third, when the final votes are taken, and the country has become fully sickened by the Administration’s exposure to the light of day, we will know exactly which Republicans have the cajones to stand up and do the right thing and which ones will roll over and vote to acquit. At that point, we will truly know who the most vulnerable targets in the House and Senate are, and those are the people for us to go after in upcoming elections, including Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), a lap dog who will, without question, vote in favor of his President

To all the members of Congress who, like Congressman Nadler, have been reluctant to act on this matter, there is no longer an excuse to sit on your hands. To Speaker Pelosi, it’s OK to stand up and use the power given to you as leader of the House of Representatives to achieve some good. It is not acceptable to accept the status quo of this Administration and to allow it to remain in power.

For G-d sakes, Nancy, do something, anything.

And to all of the members on the Republican side of the aisles in both Houses, you can’t win for losing. You’re damned by your own party if you support impeachment and removal and damned by the rest of us if you don’t

Fee, fie, foe, fum, I smell the blood of some Republicans.

HENRY A. HONIG – THE PUNDIT