Time for a Grand Inquest

I agree with this article that the calculus has changed for whether to pursue indictments of the Administration. What with Hillary out of the race and Barack effusing making peace with the Republicans, and with McCain the GOP candidate, the Dems have NOTHING TO LOSE by pursuing impeachments, etc.

From OurFuture.org:

And there is the rub. According to the leading case on presidential powers, if Bush's extreme assertions of power are not challenged by the Congress, they end up not simply creating new law, they could end up rewriting the Constitution itself. Inaction can alter the Constitutional division of powers by establishing the president's claims as authority that the Congress or the courts may not infringe.

Given Obama Victory, Now Impeachment Makes Sense

I think the political calculus has changed regarding impeachment, what with Obama now the Democratic candidate. His popularity, based on perceived charisma, is immune to the potential blowback from the sensation caused by impeachment proceedings. Also, given McCain is the GOP candidate, that means the GOP presidential campaign will be boxed into a corner: either McCain is consistent with his complaints back in Bush 2003 or he has to defend Bush 2003.

The reason impeachment is so important, EVEN AT THIS LATE STAGE, is that the precedents set by Nixon were never fully addressed in law, because of the resignation and pardon, and so allowed, years later, for the Bush Administration to take huge strides towards secrecy while skirting any legal processes.

Bush Guilty of Felony: CIA Leak Case

Former press aide blames Bush in CIA leak case
Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:13pm EST

By JoAnne Allen

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says in an upcoming book that he was misled by President George W. Bush and other high officials into misinforming the press about a CIA leak case that fueled debate about the Iraq war.

McClellan says he publicly exonerated former top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby because Bush had called on him to help restore his credibility after the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

"There was one problem. It was not true. I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff, and the president himself," McClellan said in an excerpt released on Tuesday.

McClellan, a long-time Bush aide, whose job as White House press secretary from 2003 to 2006 was to field questions from the press, was not available for comment.

His book "Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong with Washington" is due out only in April, but the publisher, Public Affairs, posted the excerpt on its Web site as a teaser.

Asked about the excerpt, White House press secretary Dana Perino said: "The president has not and would not ask anyone to pass on false information."

A criminal investigation into who leaked the identity of former CIA analyst Valerie Plame reached into the ranks of top White House aides and resulted in the conviction of Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice charges in March.

Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was sentenced to 2 1/2 year in prison. Bush commuted the sentence in July.

Plame's cover was blown after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to build its case for war.

No one was charge with criminally disclosing Plame's identity.

Rove, Bush's former White House political adviser, was investigated but not charged, in the CIA leak probe.

On the day when Libby's verdict was announced, McCllelan was asked in an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live" whether he had been lied to by those involved.

He responded: I did speak directly with them and I was careful about the way I phrased it at the time, even though I believed what they had told me to be the truth." (Reporting by Joanne Allen, editing by Chris Wilson)

Impeachment in Conyer's Court!

This is absolutely amazing parliamentary play-by-play!!

Cheney Impeachment Resolution Sent to House Committee at the Washington Post

The History of Nixon and the Future of Cheney

I liked where this video was going, but they could have used much more relevant Cheney clips.

Bush Commutes Libby Sentence

So Paris Hilton will spend more time in jail for a DUI misdemeanor than Scooter Libby will spend for 4 felony convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice.