Conyers Threatens Impeachment if Iran Attacked

[davidswanson]

Coming out of today's meeting with John Conyers, these seem to be the significant developments:

He is circulating a letter among his colleageus for signatures, a letter addressed to Bush letting him know that an attack on Iran will result in impeachment hearings. LET'S ASK EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO SIGN ON! I know it seems bassackwards and we want impeachment before a new war, not after, but this is a way for us to show Conyers the support that will be there any time he moves forward.

He is open to the new argument that we have been making to him, namely that impeachment hearings for Cheney or Bush (on torture, signing statements, spying, war crimes, etc, etc) would hurt John McCain's candidacy by forcing him to defend the crimes.

He is open to meeting with experts allied with us to hear their arguments for impeachment.

All of that is positive. Still, Conyers continues to believe that elections are more important than justice, that impeachment would be bad for the elections, and that impeachment hearings would be stonewalled by the White House. There are a couple of possible responses to the last point. One is that impeachment hearings, including taking up H Res 799 as instructed by the full House last November, and even marking it up to add new charges, overrule claims of "executive privilege." Of course Bush and Cheney could claim otherwise, but there is an answer to that. When Nixon refused a subpoena, the House Judiciary Committee passed an article of impeachment against him for that refusal. Cheney and Bush have already refused subpoenas. There's no need to wait.

[ORDagnabbit]

1. blah blah blah..impeachment... blah blah blah...different day ...same lie...

[DemocratInSoCal]

2. And Then I'll Huff & I'll Puff & I'll........

I'm SUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE that Impeachment will be viewed as important, once we're involved in another War against Iran.

[mmonk]

3. I'm not one that feels an attack on Iran is a prerequisite for impeachment

of past and ongoing crimes and malfeasance. The new argument is good however as well as his being open to meet with experts.

[Mme. Defarge]

4. K&R! n/t

[ThomWV]

5. This is horseshit - he should be impeached for what he has already done, not what he will do.

[King Coal]

11. Hell, it ain't even horseshit, its still hay.

[bdamomma]

6. shouldn't they take action before this insane act is illegally considered.

[HALO141]

27. Well, if you really intend to promote...

prior restraint as a viable enforcement paradigm then, by all means, lets start at the top!


But I suspect you wouldn't like where that philosophy would lead.

[mahina]

7. Finally.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Kinda like watching a guy rape a girl and threatening to arrest him if he does it again.

John must have missed the little squabble in Iraq.

[Pacifist Patriot]

9. Precisely my reaction.

[lutefisk]

That's an appropriate analogy. It's sickening.

I'm so tired of the idle threats. All this Congress has done is enable and embolden the treasonous slime-ball regime.

Conyers might as well arrest himself for being an accessory to the crimes. Just do something and stop talking about it.

[Ghost in the Machine]

10. Big whooptie shit... blah blah blah Conyers blah blah impeachment blah blah

Way too little, wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too fucking late. Conyers is nothing but mouth anymore. No guts at all, just like Pelosi & Reid. They came into power and became complacent and complicit with the criminal regime.

Fuck 'em all... vote their asses out, they're all worthless....

[EFerrari]

12. Thanks, David.

[The Stranger]

13. Will the Nancy Disaster sign you think? Or you think it might oppose him?

[mzmolly]

14. I've often felt that this is one of the reasons we were holding off.

Bush would have had nothing to lose if we started impeachment now.

[Solly Mack]

15. Because invading Iraq for lies, profits, and ego wasn't bad enough

Because government implementing a torture program wasn't bad enough
Because continuously violating the Constitution isn't bad enough

but if he should do something he hasn't done yet...well, that would be bad enough!

[Kurovski]

16. K&R. (nt)

[flor de jasmim]

17. I want a PREEMPTIVE impeachment --

[rsmith6621]

18. YAWN......

.....Conyers has tired me out......Conyers should be impeached/removed right along with Pelosi and Ried.

[struggle4progress]

19. If true, there must be considerable concern on The Hill about a new war

[OneBlueSky]

20. too little, too late . . . Bush has already committed a myriad of impeachable offenses . . .

that Congress has refused to hold him accountable for . . . they literally let him get away with mass murder, and in the process established a horrific precedent that will enable future presidents who want to wage war without Congressional consent . . .

and waiting until AFTER Bush attacks Iran is asinine . . . by then it will be way too late for the nation of Iran, its people, and whatever is left of respect for the US internationally . . .

"Stupid is as stupid does" . . . to quote Forrest . . .

[Individualist]

21. Conyers is only open to his marching orders from DLC

via Reid and Pelosi. It's all a dog and pony show that continues on and on and on....

[Norrin Radd]

22. Lucy van Pelt holding the football for Charlie Brown again, and again...

[Karenina]

23. Oh John, you are such a DEEP disappointment...

Once that button is pushed, ALL BETS ARE OFF! :eyes: Nail these *suckers to the wall before they get us all killed!!! :grr::mad::grr:

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Once I respected John Conyers. Not any longer

new day, same lie.

And yes John, YOU ARE complicit

[bean fidhleir]

33. That's exactly how I feel, too.

I've begun to wonder whether "complicit" is a strong enough term.

[jtrockville]

25. What magic line does attacking Iran cross, that hasn't been crossed already? nt

[librechik]

26. What a scam--if they deserve it for Iran, they already deserve it for Iraq!

I'm tired of this endless obfuscation!

Conyers, the King of Copouts!

[HALO141]

28. So F'ing what?

Elections will be over and Bush will be kicked back on his front porch sipping whatever the hell he sips before impeachment hearings even got going full swing. If Conyers was ever going to do such a thing he missed his chance quite a while back.

[bluesmail]

29. K&R for Conyers, who Always Wanted to do the right thing

we may not yet understand his strategies, but I believe in him, I'm putting faith in him.

[Jack Rabbit]

30. The new argument is a red herring

I am for impeaching Bush and Cheney because they are guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and multiple violations of the Constitution, to include abuse of power.

It may have the added benefit of hurting John McCain's presidential bid, insofar as he wants to continue to prosecute the war against Iraq, which is a war crime on its face. However, I really don't care what it does to McCain's candidacy. This isn't about him.

[Horse with no Name]

31. yeah okay whatever

:eyes:
Sorry conyers...getting tired of watching you be the boy who cried wolf.
Check back with us when you actually do something.:yawn:

[Senator]

32. Stage4 Impeachophobia -- Delusional Babbling ... But Still ...

We need to keep hammering: "It's The Torture, Stupid!"

Only impeachment can stop the torture. Forget all the "other impeachable offenses."

If they mention elections to you, demand to know "Why Our Side Gets To Benefit From Torture?". Who told them it was impossible to win an election by opposing torture instead of defending torturers?

If they say it's impossible, tell them "only because you refuse to act."

Impeachment remains our ONLY moral, patriotic option.

---

[spanone]

34. oh, but that torture stuff is just okie dokie