Dennis Kucinich didn't manage to get Articles of Impeachment passed against Vice President Dick Cheney today but he sure got his point across. The Cleveland area Congressman is slowly picking up steam for his Presidential aspirations because his ideals are a modern day profile in courage. He voted against the war when it meant his political life but was proven correct in his position. Iraq proved to be a bloody mess that was orchestrated, not because of weapons of mass destruction or that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat, due to the GOP's war mongering propaganda. That was the vote was about today and again his Democratic colleagues were afraid to go vote with their consicience. In the end, Kucinich came out smelling like roses because the GOP took the bait. They wanted to debate the issue to "show the Dems up" and boy wouldn't that have been fun. The Democrats, afraid of political backlash if the debate actually took place, quickly moved the resolution to the Judiciary Committee.
The articles of Impeachment will move to the a committee where they will probably die a slow death. While Kucinich's resolution won't pass or be debated in the full House of Representatives, one imagines that he most likely picked up a lot of strong public support. Dick Cheney has an approval rating at record lows and his "boss" George Bush set a Gallop Poll Record today with a 50% "Strongly Disapprove" rating. Where are the Democrats who, in the 2006 elections, were voted to stop the war and have the moxy to actually lead the country out of war? It seems they put their tails between their legs and scurry at any hint of confrontation. Three in four Democrats, and a majority of all Americans, favor impeaching the vice president. Isn't the legislatures job to listen to their constituents? Isn't this the basis of democracy?
The above is from The Cleaveland Leader's "Kucinich a Big Winner Today, Democratic Party a Loser Once More" and Sabrina noted it. Via the Sacramento Bee, McClatchy's David Lightman and Renee Schoof explain the burying of the proposal in committee:
That was done to end the debate. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., adamantly oppose the measure. They say it takes time and energy away from more pressing concerns. They also don't want to rile partisan passions going into a presidential election year.
Because heaven forbid voters be anything other than apathetic going into an election. Passionate? It's too much for the Dem leadership to handle! As we all saw at the end of August and the start of September 2004 when they responded to the Not So Swift Floaties by . . . not responding. Passion and charisma free Steny Hoyer insisted, "Impeachment is not on our agenda." After awhile, don't they all start to sound like zombies?
Meanwhile a city in Montana steps up. From Michael Moore's "Missoula approves withdrawal referendum" (Helena Independent Record):
If voting Missoulians were in charge, the United States would make an immediate and orderly withdrawal from the war in Iraq.
In a mail-in election, Missoula city residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of a referendum that asks Congress to get the United States out of the contentious war.
The referendum passed by a vote of 7,897 to 4,421, or 64.1 percent to 35.9 percent.
One of the measure’s chief supporters, Betsy Mulligan-Dague of the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center, said the vote was encouraging.
"I think it’s a shot in the arm for people who are feeling very discouraged about the work they’re trying to do," she said Tuesday night. "Even to get their voices heard has been difficult. The message here is intended to get people talking, to get a dialogue going about what is the right thing to do."
But voting Missoulians are not in charge -- a spineless, craven Democratic leadership is in charge and they've opted to be non-responsive to the people. And the people should be as hollow and uncaring as the Democratic leadership (best example being Nancy Pelosi). That's the message by the 'adults' at Morton West High School outside of Chicago. Crystal Yednak's "Students Call Protest Punishment Too Harsh" in this mornings' New York Times tells a tale of apathetic adults who apparently also enjoy lying to students -- what a lesson in civics the 'adults' are teaching! From the article:
A school superintendent's decision to suspend, and perhaps expel, about two dozen students who took part in a protest against the Iraq war at a suburban high school drew criticism Tuesday from the students and their parents, who demanded that their children be allowed to return to classes.
[. . .]
But several students said the protesters, whose numbers had dwindled to about 25, obeyed the administration's request to move from a high-traffic area in the cafeteria to a less-crowded hall near the principal's office. There, they intertwined arms, sang along to an acoustic guitar and talked about how the war was affecting the world, said Matt Heffernan, a junior who took part.
"We agreed to move to another side of the building," Matt said. "We also made a deal that if we moved there, there would be no disciplinary action taken upon us."
Matt said the group had been told that the most severe punishment would be a Saturday detention for cutting class that day.
While students stand up Dem leadership in Congress tries more shell games. Susan Cornwell (Reuters) reports on how Dems yesterday approved a Pentagon spending bill (an excessive spending bill to begin with) "but without extra funds for the conflict." Dem leadership wants applause and hopes no one pays to much attention because "NO FUNDS" isn't as powerful as their plan to ("later this week") approve "as much as $50 billion" in additional funding for the illegal war.
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