Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Calls for Impeachment (Democracy Now Interview)

[kpete]

September 08, 2008
Rfkjrweb

“We Need to Remind People that You Cannot Trample the Bill of Rights”–Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Calls for Impeachment

A day after Ted Kennedy addressed the Democratic convention in Denver, the Kennedys gathered at the historic Brown Palace Hotel in Denver to remember another Kennedy, Ted’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy. He was assassinated forty years ago, the night he won the Los Angeles Democratic primary. After the event, I sat down with Robert F. Kennedy’s son, environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He spoke about torture, impeachment and the most poignant memories of his father.

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AMY GOODMAN: So, what do you make of Nancy Pelosi? I mean, the fact is, it’s not the Republicans who control the House and the Senate, it’s the Democrats who do. And she says impeachment is off the table. They say just consider the election a way to get rid of the President.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Well, I don’t believe it. I think, you know, what I’ve said to Nancy Pelosi publicly and to every Democrat that comes on my show, I say, “Why aren’t we impeaching these people, just as a civics lesson to the American public? You know, we need that. We need to remind people that you cannot trample the Bill of Rights. You cannot ignore your oath of office to protect the Constitution.”

You know, there’s no doubt that they committed a crime. Everybody admits it. When it was FISA, when they—you know, when they illegally eavesdropped, there’s no justification for that. It is a crime, and it’s a high crime. And it’s a high crime that’s prescribed, you know, for—as the basis for impeachment. And they ought to be impeached, just so that nobody does it again. We can’t just keep—you know, if somebody is murdered. You just don’t say, “Well, let it go, and move on. Nobody really wants to deal with a trial and all that problem.” It’s our responsibility as a generation to impeach these people now as a showcase, to show future presidents of the United States that the Bill of Rights is not something that can be trifled with, that the Bill of Rights is not just a luxury that we can no longer afford.

AMY GOODMAN: Perhaps their calculation is they are courting Republicans to leave the Republican Party and vote for a Democrat and that if they polarize the country, that they won’t have that option.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Well, sometimes you have to do what’s right. And I think, in the long run, it’s the politically smart thing to do, because I think Americans—you know, and I’ve been prosecuting polluters and suing people for years, and when you sue somebody—when you say bad things about somebody, everybody just dismisses it as criticism. But when it becomes a court case, everybody begins taking it seriously. And at this point, you know, it’s clearly the right thing to do, because you can’t let somebody—all of these people, Nancy Pelosi on down, have sworn to protect the Constitution. How can you protect the Constitution when you’re letting somebody violate it and then just say, “Well, we’re going to let this one go, and then we’ll move on to the next one”?

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’ve just come into a Democratic convention here in Denver, where the Democrats joined with the Republicans in granting retroactive immunity to the corporations like AT&T that spied on the American people. And now, all the delegates carrying around their bag have that logo of AT&T. They’re helping to sponsor this convention.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Oh, I know. Well, I always say that Republicans are 95 percent corrupt, and the Democrats are 75 percent corrupt. And the level of corruption reflects the amount of money, of corporate money, they’re taking. I mean, they’ve got AT&T all over their bags, and they’ve got these clean coal signs that are, you know, up and down the streets, that you get mugged by these clean coal people who are apparently paying for half the convention. So, it’s very disturbing to me, Amy.


(includes rush transcript)

more at:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/8/we_need_to_remind_people_that

[flvegan]

1. Call me an idealist, but imagine a Kucinich/Kennedy ticket one day.

Not tomorrow, not next year...but just imagine that Oval Office.

I fail to think of a better pair. I really do.

[countryjake]

2. Great interview!

"You put on a flag lapel pin so you can free both hands to tear up the Bill of Rights, you know"

We should all be making this point, over and over!

Thanks so much for this!