Impeach Bush and Cheney Now, Before They Declare Martial Law

[Elliot D. Cohen]

Elliot D. Cohen
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 07/30/2007 - 9:41am. Guest Contribution
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

There is presently a serious possibility that America will come under martial law before the 2008 presidential election and be irretrievably turned into a totalitarian state. If this happens there won't even be a free election in 2008. We can and should eliminate this ominous threat to national security by impeaching Bush and Cheney now. But the man in charge, John Conyers, is afraid of what Fox News might say about him.


In my recent article, This Summer, will America Officially Become a Totalitarian State?" I presented the following facts:


In May 2007, Bush posted a national continuity policy to the White House Web site that bypasses Congress and puts him in charge of all three branches of the federal government if there is a "catastrophic emergency" -- vaguely defined to include anything from a destructive hurricane to a terrorist attack. This leaves democracy in America dangling on a thin thread of chance that such a "catastrophe" doesn't happen.

On Wednesday , Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said he has a "gut" feeling that Al Qaeda will launch another terrorist attack on the U.S. mainland sometime this summer. Chertoff's "gut feeling" comes on the heels of the latest National Intelligence Estimate , which maintains that in the past year, Al Qaeda has reconstituted its core structure and has grown stronger along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.


Curiously, the story about Bush's national continuity policy received (virtually) no mainstream media coverage, and its significance in light of the recent NIE report was not broached. Yet, these facts point to a serious and disturbing possibility that a "catastrophic emergency" in the form of a terrorist attack on the homeland will occur before the next presidential election, giving the Bush administration the green light to turn the United States into a totalitarian state. Notice that this is not based on speculation or groundless conspiracy theory. It is based only on the facts: With the posting of the current national continuity policy, Bush has ipso facto announced his intention to take over all three branches of the federal government in the event of another serious terrorist attack. And the NIE does "judge that the United States is currently in a heightened threat environment."


Never mind that this is "only a possibility" and not a certainty. The NIE itself is very clear that it is not saying a terrorist attack is "certain." But, it is irrational to demand certainty in matters of national security before taking action. Imagine you had a suspicious growth, which was steadily enlarging, and your physician told you there was a serious possibility that it would become malignant. Would you ignore it because you could never be sure, or would you remove it? The advice you would hear from any competent physician would be to get rid of it. This is not unlike the present state of our democracy. The stakes are its very survival. The only reasonable response to this national security risk is to eliminate it, and this can be done by starting impeachment proceedings now. Unfortunately, Congress (Democrats and Republicans alike) have fallen asleep at the wheel.


The Bush administration has shown an ever-increasing and blatant disregard for the rule of law. This is a White House that has recently used "executive privilege" to thwart investigations into impeachable offenses (from the firing of federal prosecutors for political reasons to the illegal spying on American citizens). It has turned the Department of Justice, under the direction of Alberto Gonzales, into a rubber stamp for its own illegal activities. It has canceled habeas corpus and engaged in serious breaches of the Geneva Conventions (in the torturing of prisoners of war). It has engaged in fraudulent "caging" of minority votes in order to install itself in the White House. To expect that this regime will voluntarily follow the rule of law in relinquishing the power it has steadfastly amassed by ransacking the United States Constitution is wishful thinking. This flies in the face of the evidence of the last seven years.


So as the Democrats look to 2008, they neglect the serious possibility that there will not even be a free election. To ensure a constitutionally valid transfer of power in 2008, it is necessary that Bush and Cheney be impeached now. However, John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, refuses to pursue impeachment proceedings because "Fox News would go after him and accuse him of being partisan." He is afraid of jeopardizing his legacy. The irony is that his legacy may already be dead in the water. The patriotism and magnanimity of a public servant is not measured in the self-serving sacrifice of the public welfare, but instead in the courage of personal sacrifice for the greater good.


So, how might we, the American people, send Conyers and others in Congress a clear message before it's too late?


There have already been eighty one towns, cities, and counties that have voted to impeach Bush. More local municipalities need to follow this lead. But what is also needed is an organization to go to bat for them in Congress. The National League of Cities (NLC) is such an organization. It is the largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States. Its mission is "to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance." According to the NLC website,


"Working in partnership with the 49 state municipal leagues, the National League of Cities serves as a resource to and an advocate for the more than 18,000 cities, villages, and towns it represents. More than 1,600 municipalities of all sizes pay dues to NLC and actively participate as leaders and voting members in the organization."


Since, the NLC engages in lobbying and grassroots campaigns in Washington, D.C. on behalf of local municipalities, it might well provide the resource we need to give our local governments a voice in Washington.


All Americans have a duty to advocate for impeachment proceedings now. They should join forces at the level of their local municipalities, and the NLC should represent them in Congress.


America is now in grave jeopardy of being besieged and forever lost. Impeaching Bush and Cheney now is not only good preventative medicine; it would be malpractice not to do so.

Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D.is a media ethicist and critic. His most recent book is The Last Days of Democracy: How Big Media and Power-Hungry Government are turning America into a Dictatorship. He is also first prize winner of the 2007 Project Censored Award.

[blondie58]

1. great article

and yes, I do think that the possibility is very real. Just like a cornered animal, they will do anything to survive.

We have to impeach. NOW. We must send a message to future leaders.

Welcome to DU.

[Lugnut]

2. K&R n/t

[madamesilverspurs]

3. And if Congress fails to act in time,

how are we, each of us, going to respond if/when Bush completes his attempts to invalidate the Constitution? Do we have a "Plan B" for this kind of thing? Rightwing survivalist groups have scenarios for dealing with such eventualities. Do we?

[PoconoPragmatist]

4. Jesus Christ You Are Scaring the FUCK Out Of Me!!!

Why the hell aren't the people in Congress scared yet??

THIS IS OUR FUCKING COUNTRY AT STAKE!!

Do these morons actually want to live in a Bush dictatorship??

Please, God...make the fucking nightmare END, already!!

[puebloknot]

9. We have to do it! God, like Nancy Pelosi, is holding His/Her cards...

...close to the chest.

[checks-n-balances]

5. I had already read this on Buzzflash & didn't know you were a DUer!

THANK YOU for writing this and posting it here; I'm sending it to friends far and wide. Just wondering: have you sent it to any congressional Dems yet? As you point out, most of them appear to be clueless about putting this urgent matter at the top of their agenda.

Welcome to DU, and please keep up your good work!:patriot:

[Poindexter]

6. "Terror" attack in DC likely to be the trigger for martial law

The greatest threat now is "a 9/11 occurring with a group of terrorists armed not with airline tickets and box cutters, but with a nuclear weapon in the middle of one of our own cities."
- Dick Cheney on Face the Nation, CBS, April 15, 2007

As reported in the Washington Post, the FBI and other federal agencies are moving outside of the Washington DC nuclear blast and fallout zone, something that did not happen even at the height of the Cold War. I personally am curious as to the identity of the person who made the decision to make the move, and the evidence for the need to do so, possibly being deliberately kept secret, that factored into the decision.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500637.html

Of course, if the nuke wipes out Congress, all the better for Cheney & Co.

And Cheney's plans for the event that Congress is wiped out are deliberately being kept secret from Congress:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/118489654058910.xml&coll=7

Remember, the person who conducted the anthrax attack against Congress and specifically against the senators who were holding up passage of the Patriot Act is still at large. Because he had access to weapons-grade anthrax from a government facility, he might also be able to get a nuke from the government. Also remember that Bush and Cheney started taking the anti-anthrax drug Cipro one week before the first anthrax attack took place and a month before it appeared on Capitol Hill.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/1967.shtml

And the FBI is refusing to provide Congress an update on the status of its anthrax investigation:
http://holt.house.gov/list/press/nj12_holt/121206.html

[puebloknot]

7. K&R "...besieged and forever lost." Yes, it's just that serious.

That phrase just makes me want to scream and run through the streets tearing my clothing -- but, of course, I'd be escorted to the nearest mental hospital.

As someone who was an infant in World War II, and the daughter of a soldier who fought in Europe, I am so frustrated that the general public thinks that sentiments like "forever lost" are just the rantings of an older generation. Tyranny is just content for a video game, and Can't Happen Here. Survivors of the Holocaust who point out the many similarities between then and now are looked at, too often, as people who are mentally damaged over their experience, and not to be seen as rational.

America, America, PLEASE DON'T GO!!!!

Thanks for something concrete we can do...and yes, before it's too late.

Good to have a strong voice for sanity at DU!

[niceypoo]

8. I say, let them try

Let the cards fall where they may. If it means the end of the GOP as an entity, which is exactly what would happen in the end, then it will be fully worth it.

[Jim Sagle]

10. Even if a hundred million Americans "have" to die?

Must be nice to be so sure of your beliefs.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. So, for you, ending the GOP is more important than saving our country

Amazing.

[niceypoo]

19. The end of the GOP IS saving our country

The GOP would get worse and worse and worse until they have achieved a dictatorship, if allowed (which would fail because they are incompetent idealogues). The timid democrats in congress are allowing this to happen as we speak. Right wing political parties were outlawed in Germany after WW2, ever wonder why? We are seeing why, right now. It's because they cannot handle power, their way of doing things is rooted in a 19th and early 20th century worldview and is doomed to fail. Saying, "100 million will die," might get attention, but it has no basis in reality. The military hates Bush. The country hates Bush. The world hates Bush. Let them do something stupid. Lets see where it leads them, and who will follow them. It will lead them right down the toilet. Sorry if I destroyed your utopian view of the GOP in America.

The United States, as it stands now, is doomed to fail politically. The divide between right and left has made this country totally dysfunctional. This is largely due to the right wing noise machine, aka, limbaugh, etc. They have driven the republicans to near lunacy. Of course the timidity of the democrats has enabled it. Face it, the US has passed its heyday with our present way of doing things. This country is moving backwards. Where do you see things headed as they are now?

[stevietheman]

11. I predict Bush will leave right on schedule in January, 2009

Why? Because most Republicans *also* want him out, not necessarily because they think he's done a bad job, but because they want a new standard bearer. And Republicans are largely Federalists -- the last thing they want to do is have a President extend his tenure into a third term, especially because they know that a Democratic President will be somewhat constrained by the economic and foreign policy ruins Bush is leaving him/her, and they will get another chance again in 2012 to take it back.

[rhett o rick]

21. Sorry but I think you missed the point entirely. If I read you right you think Bushco

will step down Jan 2009 because the people want him to? you think he cares what the people, democrats or republicans want? I am not sure of the legalities but if he declares martial law, what would be the mechanism to remove him? Impeachment is way too slow.

[stevietheman]

37. I am extremely confident Bush will leave office on cue.

If he doesn't, he will regret it.

[rhett o rick]

38. Just for the sake of discussion, why would he do that?

He seems to like being King and i doubt he wants to leave office. He is completely delusional. And his master Cheney won't give up power willingly either. So I ask you, Why would he voluntarily leave office. He hasn't followed the Constitution up to this point. He believes God gives him direction (actually it is Cheney behind the curtain). Are you familiar with Directive 51? It says in a time of emergency he can assume complete control of the Country. Why would he choose to not use that seemingly legal way of staying in office. The SCOTUS will back him all the way.

And if he does, how will he regret it? Will the people go to the streets? I don't think so. At least not enough to matter. Who went to the streets when he started torturing people? or suspended habeas corpus? or started Big Brother spying? or invaded Iraq. Need i go on? Don't forget the Patriot Act allows the government to arrest anyone participating in civil disobedience as a terrorist and held and tortured indefinitely w/o any rights.

[CJCRANE]

41. Look around the world...

it's full of "elected" dictators who overstay their welcome and drain their country's wealth. These are the people Bush-Cheney model themselves after.

[emlev]

12. Great article. A couple of questions:

Welcome to DU!

I don't know anything about the National League of Cities. How likely is it that the NLC would take this action, how much influence would it be likely to have if it did, and how might people encourage the action you suggest by the NLC?

I very much appreciate your putting various piece of evidence together the way you did. It seems that there's a great balancing act required in getting people even to begin to think about the possibility you suggest. Either they push away the idea entirely or they get so sunk in despair that they can't function. Do you have any further thoughts about how to convey this information to people in a way that really spurs them to take it seriously and take serious action?

Thanks again. Very much.

[bluedonkey]

13. I agree with you

wholeheartedly. I've been saying this for years now and been ridiculed for it. Maybe we're both paranoid? ;)
Seriously,everything they do and they're behavior of utter disregard for the constitution is scary.

[Senator]

14. K&R

[Tab]

15. Be afraid

Be very afraid.

I agree. I've warned about this too, since he signed that "If I have to, I'll be in charge of everything until I decide I don't need to be in charge of everything" document.

That document is the scariest piece of shit I've seen come out of the White House yet, and as you point out, no one has said a word.

[broadcaster]

16. I think people will wait until it happens....

and THEN as we always do, become ready to act. Congress included.
Although I believe that Congress---Democrats included---is very well
aware of the signing statements and special orders Bush/Cheney have
executed.

Democrats in Congress--with very few exceptions--seem strikingly willing
to accomodate Bush (example: the rush to 'work something out' regarding
FISA), so I do not believe Congress will act preemptively, and as you
point out, citizens just cannot believe that martial law is a possibility,
that the internment camps are real, and that Bush did decree order 51 and
others. This all looks to most Americans as unbelievable even though
the orders are on the record.

One last comment about Congress. I believe Congress has been, by its lack
of oversight, complicit in all this, (including the data mining
controversy) and they realize their guilt AND
complicity, most of Congress being lawyers, they surely do know.
Don't ask, don't tell, and willfull ignorance seem the rule of the day.
Signing the Patriot Act without reading it, etc.

The only power citizens have is via the ballot box, and if it were me,
I'd be looking at candidates who are not incumbents, but who have strong
resolve, who are ethical, who are in touch with the citizenry. To put
it another way, we've seen since 6pm CT yesterday, that Minneapolis
had a tragedy, and that the city threw all it had into this---nurses,
firefighters, EMS, etc. Minneapolis didn't just say 'well those on the
bridge should have known of the risk and so it's up to them to take personal
responsibility for being on that bridge,' abandoning people to their Darwinian
fate. People actually came out to help.

I'm sorry if this is too polemic, but claim the right to a gut feel.

[truedelphi]

34. Quoting "citizens just cannot believe ..."

When I try and tell a friend how badthings are - executive orders, FISA etc, they say "Well if it was as you say, the news media would at least mention it."

For most people, they believe that the revolution will occur when Wolf Blitzer asks them to revolt - as if that is gonna happen.

[Demeter]

17. So Bush Declares Martial Law. Everybody Laughs At Him and Ignores It

Bush AND WHAT ARMY? He hasn't got it anymore. Impeach him because he really, really deserves it, and we need it to be done. Do it before, after, or during his insane machinations. But don't think for a moment that this coup will ever get that far. The laws of physics and nature are not mocked.

[niceypoo]

20. My point exactly

All it would do is show their hand. They wouldnt be able to obfuscate it any longer. A few, "the world is a haunted house infested with demons," types would fall for it, as would some illiterate hicks, but so what....It would drive america to the left like nothing before it.

[rhett o rick]

22. Except for one major problem. After 9/11 the gullibles couldn't wait to get

behind him. Another 9/11 and I think they will do the same thing again.

[truedelphi]

35. And if the gullibles don't get behind him

he can always pull the 100,000 mercenaries fighting (for Hallibruton and Cheney) back here inside the drop of another executive order.

[Amonester]

24. These "new" ol' dic-ktatortots don't need an army. They have...

their "new" weapon$: The "Active Denial System," which is to be used against "rioters".

It is essentially a weapon resembling a radar/microwave dish that is mounted on a humvee platform, which emits a beam of microwave that is directed at a group of people.

The microwave beam slowly heats the water under your skin, to an uncomfortable level, forcing you to flee the area.

It will have roles to play with some law enforcement departments, unruley demonstrators in occupied lands, and against enemy soldiers/Resistance/Insurgents taking cover beind fortifications.

The "new" Penta-gone-away-with-trillions already has all the over-paid mercenaries they'd ever need ready, AND all the "new" generation of "micro-wave" weapons that such a "final" K-O to the "lib'rul" democracy the U.S. once was (in their "opinion"). Ever heard of that new "machine" they R ready to use against all "potential" protesters? "Cooking civilians" using "micro-wave weapons" would have been the Gestapo's wet-dream of a weapon!

But "It can't happen here" for sure... :sarcasm:

For them, their over-paid mercs can direct the microwave beam, and just cook the "insurgents" alive.

Just like it did to the Iraqi Resistance and civilians of Fallujah, when they bombed them with Thermobaric Weapons and White Phosphorous...

Cooking civillians in a Civillized™ manner in line with the principles of Liberty™ and Freedom,™ and no right to personal injury claims™.

Buh-bye, Good Germans ... uhhhhh, sorry, Good Americans. :cry:

[blondie58]

32. well, that would be the mercenary army

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=108106&ran=202193

which worries me, as I'm sure that there are many renegades and rogues employed, who care nothing of the law and what is right, after all they are mercenaries.

[CJCRANE]

42. Bush may be an idiot

but the neocons are smart - they would never just "declare martial law".

They would slowly change policies in the background to arrive at a de facto state of martial law with very few people actually noticing.

[rhett o rick]

23. I agree there is a concern and we should take action and not wait to

react. This is my earlier post.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rhett%20o%20rick

[kiteinthewind]

25. Hell, yes! K&R! nt

:kick:

[earth mom]

26. K & R! eom

[rabies1]

27. All the more reason for congress to act NOW - while they can.

I don't know what's taking them so long.
Impeach
Gonzo
Cheney
and Bush.

[Fearless]

28. I understand all of the arguments given before me

however, I still find it hard to believe that we would accept a dictatorship. I know that many people are easily fooled, but... I just don't see it. I refuse to believe that this nation will take that sitting down. I refuse because I have to. The alternative is to horrible to comprehend.

[truedelphi]

36. How many degrees are we currently away from dictatorship??

The news media is corporate owned and presents almost exclusively the viewpoint of the Administration

The war is being fought with middle class personnel and middle class tax payer money and opposed by that same middle class - yet goes on and on despite what we do.

We even voted a different group of people into office last November - only they are now appeasers with the Administration that we hoped that they would oppose.
(Whether in order to appear as "nice people" or because they are paid off or because they are blackmailed OR EVEN THREATENED AS WELLSTONE WAS - I wouldn't begin to guess.)

Yet still the war is funded.

About the only thing we have left is the Internet. And the thing is - there are constant pieces of legislation kicked around in Congress to switch that over to a more "corporate-friendly" info service.

[Fearless]

29. From the Boston Globe around May-ish...

http://bp2.blogger.com/_aXt8qKjM52M/RjcgPVGE91I/AAAAAAAAAFM/G5-KPvOgxaY/s1600-h/1177992302_4815.gif

Hmm... for some reason the link isn't showing up as a
picture.... well copy and paste then... you'll like it.

[provis99]

30. I wonder if Bush will federalize the state and local police forces?

My guess would be that must be on his agenda somewhere. It would be a logical next step.

[rhett o rick]

39. I think it is covered by Directive 51. I believe everything is in place. nm

[djjimz]

31. HR:333 - IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST!

Call your representative; tell him or her, that he or she, is speaking for you and your neighbors, remind him or her that they are only a neighbor, who you put your faith in. You chose him or her to be the voice of the neighborhood. Then, let him or her know, in no uncertain terms, he or she won’t be speaking for the neighborhood after 2008 if he or she refuses to sign on to HR:333. We are a neighborhood of people who get together every two years and elect a person to be our voice in congress, not a cheerleader for others.
Call your ‘VOICE’ and tell him or her to, use it, for the benefit of those in your neck of the woods.
Fuck, what he or she, may think is popular.
URGE THEM TO SIGN ON TO HR:333
Otherwise, there goes the neighborhood, yours, mine, and ours.

I know and I like my rep; I have met him personally many times and have gone to many of his victory rallies, but I wrote him yesterday and told him straight out, start representing us all, or get the hell out! You’re no longer welcome in the neighborhood. That rep is Jack Murtha.

And don’t let them say they are ‘for’ impeachment, if they do, take no excuses, tell them sign the damned resolution.
IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST!
HR:333

[sarcasmo]

33. Kick. It must be done before it happens.

[rabies1]

40. My guess is most Americans don't belive it's THAT serious.

Maybe they think they'll just take care of it in the voting booth next time.

But what if there is no election.
I, after repeatedly being shocked by this administration over the years, wouldn't put anything past them.