Uppity Wisconsin

The right wing is out to get Robert Wexler for leading the impeachment drive.

Wexler is the first member of the House Judiciary Committee - the body that would initiate impeachment proceedings - to call for hearings.

Now Wexler faces two self-funded opponents blasting his support for impeachment and a hostile local paper ridiculing Wexler.

Writes Daniel Ellsberg in an e-mail:

Help me support Robert Wexler's re-election. ... If Congressional leaders in 1973 had 'put impeachment off the table,' Nixon would have served out his term -- despite demonstrably criminal behavior-- and he would almost certainly have renewed the bombing of South and North Vietnam through 1976, to no effect other than countless additional deaths. Today, members of Congress have a similar moral challenge – as they weigh their duty to the Constitution against perceived political risk. ... If you would like to contribute to Robert Wexler by mail, please send a check to:

Wexler For Congress Campaign
2500 North Military Trail
Suite 251
Boca Raton, FL 33431

See Original Post

Matthew Yglesias pointed out this video from bloggingheads.tv:

Bob Barr is running for President on the Libertarian ticket. What makes this video interesting is that Bob Barr initially attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Now, he saying that what President Bush has done to our constitution is much worse.

I've been skeptical of the calls to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney, fearful that acting this late in their terms will create a circus that overshadows the question of who will succeed them in January.

David Swanson, of www.Democrats.com, www.ImpeachCheney.org, and www.AfterDowningStreet.org, will surely disagree when he speaks in Milwaukee Thursday. His topic is, "Peace, Impeachment and Election Day: Which Comes First." Swanson's own writings make a strong case for impeachment.

Dennis Kucinich, who read his 35 articles of impeachment against Bush into the record on C-Span the other night, clearly thinks there are more than enough grounds to impeach.

But the person who may convince me that it's time to act is a conservative Bush backer, a Marquette University professor and blogger named John McAdams.

McAdams lives in fear that a Barack Obama administration might prosecute Bush or others for crimes they may have committed while in office, based on this statement from Obama:

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers sent a letter to President Bushlast week warning that the possibility of an impending pre-emptive strike against Iran, without Congressional approval, will result in impeachment proceedings.

Here's the super creepy part of Conyers' letter:

"Our concerns in this area have been heightened by more recent events. The resignation in mid-March of Admiral William J. "Fox" Fallon from the head of U.S. Central Command, which was reportedly linked to a magazine article that portrayed him as the only person who might stop your Administration from waging preemptive war against Iran, has renewed widespread concerns that your Administration is unilaterally planning for military action against that country. This is despite the fact that the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003, a stark reversal of previous Administration assessments."

Get Uppity!

Contact your Wisconsin Congressional reps and ask them to co-sign Conyers' letter.

This was intended as an op ed column authored by three members of Congress, including Tammy Baldwin, who want to begin impeachment hearings.  For some reason (no conspiracy theories here), some leading papers refused to publish it, so the trio has taken it to the Internet. 

In one day, they've collected tens of thousands of online signatures to a petition calling for hearings.  To join the list, go to www.WexlerWantsHearings.com

Since it appears that the White House will not ask for Gonzales' resignation no matter how badly he and the Justice Department behave, there's a growing call for impeachment of Gonzales. Open for discussion here ---- and if you are convinced, go to the web site mentioned to sign the petition.