Mike's Election Guide (14 page)
As you can see, we have no choice. We ARE a nation of laws, laws that are based on a common code of decency, of right and wrong, and, dare I say, of the religious teachings that tell us it is a sin to steal, a sin to lie, and most of all, a sin to kill. If we cannot bring ourselves to take a simple stand for everything we know to be right and good and true . . . then who are we? What have we become? And what legacy do we leave those who come after us? History will not judge us kindly, my friends, if we fail to act.
(On June 9, 2008, against the orders of his party leadership and the Democratic Speaker of the House, Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, Ohio, submitted Articles of Impeachment on the floor of the United States House of Representatives against President George W. Bush. Though impeachment is not ultimately what is needed, these 35 counts against the president do serve as a guide for the list of crimes and acts of negligence committed while in office by the 43rd President of the United States. For a full reading of the charges and the evidence to back them up, go to http://kucinich.house .gov/NEWS/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID= 93581.)
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
ARTICLE I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.
ARTICLE II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.
ARTICLE III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.
ARTICLE IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.
ARTICLE V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.
ARTICLE VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of H. J. Res114.
ARTICLE VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
ARTICLE VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.
ARTICLE IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor.
ARTICLE X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes.
ARTICLE XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq.
ARTICLE XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources.
ARTICLE XIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries.
ARTICLE XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency.
ARTICLE XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq.
ARTICLE XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors.
ARTICLE XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives.
ARTICLE XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy.
ARTICLE XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture.
ARTICLE XX
Imprisoning Children.
ARTICLE XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government.
ARTICLE XXII
Creating Secret Laws.
ARTICLE XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
ARTICLE XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment.
ARTICLE XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens.
ARTICLE XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements.
ARTICLE XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply.
ARTICLE XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice.
ARTICLE XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
ARTICLE XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare.
ARTICLE XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency.
ARTICLE XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change.
ARTICLE XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 9/11.
ARTICLE XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001.
ARTICLE XXXV
Endangering the Health of 9/11 First Responders.
Mike’s Handy Candidate Guide
Whoever wins the White House, it will really be about who controls Congress. Here are 12 Senate and 30 House Seats the Dems Can Win.
While all the attention in the past year has been on the upcoming presidential election, little notice has been given to the House and Senate races for Congress. Every seat in the House and a third of the Senate seats are up for grabs in November. Republicans this year are stuck with having to defend a whopping 23 of the 35 seats that are up for election. The Democrats, if they don’t screw it up (a caveat that I know is already implied when using the word “Democrats”), have a chance to take
real
control of the Senate (which now votes 51–49 in their favor, meaning that “independent” Joe Lieberman votes with them most of the time to give them a nominal majority).
Whereas many of us hope that we don’t end up with four more years of a Republican in the White House, we also know the chances of that happening are clearly there. We also know that, should the Democrat win, he will be fought tooth and nail by the Republicans on every piece of legislation—and will need all the help he can get.
The one way to guarantee that President Obama will have the Congress he needs in order to get his work done—and for the rest of us to have a filibuster-proof, and perhaps even a veto-proof, Congress should the Republican win—is to elect a Senate in November with at least 67 Democrats and a House with 290 Dems. This way we have an insurance policy no matter what happens in the presidential election.
So what are our chances of getting the Foolproof Congress? Quite good, actually—if we all band together and do the work that needs to be done. Many analysts believe that the Democrats have a chance to pick up so many seats this year, it’s almost ridiculous. That’s because the Republicans have sunk the nation, the people know it, and a few days after Halloween the Republicans up for re-election are going to watch themselves starring in a horror movie called,
Revenge of the Voters.
Here’s the lay of the land:
Four Senate Republicans are defending seats in states where the majority of voters have consistently been voting Democratic in the past two Congressional elections and in the last presidential election. Republicans John Sununu of New Hampshire, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and Susan Collins of Maine are all up for re-election in blue states. The Dems need to snatch away these four seats,
plus
win the open seats in Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia where the Republican senators are retiring. Assuming that no Democrat will be thrown out of the Senate this November (a safe assumption), the Democrats have to pick off just TWO Republican senators who are currently in red states. The most likely chances are in Alaska, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. It won’t be easy, but if there ever were a year in which the public is in a mood to “throw the bums out,” this is the year. Especially with a popular Democratic presidential candidate who’s bringing millions of new voters to the polls.
This takeover will only happen if each of you reading this decides to devote a small or large chunk of your time (and a few dollars if you can) to these campaigns. You may already live in one of these states; give the campaign a call and volunteer to help. If you live in a safe area, think about spending a week or two or more in a congressional district that could use the help.
You can find out how to get involved by going directly to any of the candidates’ websites or simply go online at ActBlue.com, which is the online clearinghouse for Democratic action. Their website enables you to volunteer or contribute to any Democratic candidate anywhere across America.
So let’s begin by taking a look at where our best chances are to remove a few Republicans from the United States Senate . . .
Twelve Senate Seats We Can Win
COLORADO
Mark Udall
Senator Wayne Allard, Republican of Colorado, is retiring this year. In his 12 years in the Senate, he was most noted for . . . well not much. In 2006
Time
listed him as one of the country’s five worst senators, pointing out that although he serves on two powerful committees, he has actually pushed through very little legislation. With Democrats being elected by the crate-full these past four years in Colorado, Allard is wisely keeping his promise to serve only two terms.
Which is good news because the very popular Democratic congressman from Colorado,
Mark Udall
, is running for Allard’s Senate seat.
Udall has worked tirelessly for a wide range of important causes, including the environment, public education, and strengthening Social Security and Medicare. He has been an advocate for protecting Colorado’s wilderness areas and wrote legislation that turned the site of a former nuclear weapons plant into a wildlife refuge. Udall bravely voted against giving the president authority to go to war in Iraq and was a staunch opponent of the Patriot Act. Udall is pro-choice, pro-conservation, and pro all the good stuff which will make us a better country.
Udall’s Republican opponent in this election is Bob Schaffer. Schaffer must have done something right during his six-year tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives. When he quit to run for a failed Senate attempt in 2004, he immediately landed a cushy job with Aspect Energy, an oil and gas exploration company. And who better to have running against you this year than a mouthpiece from the oil and gas industry. Schaffer’s only chance of winning will be if he literally gives away tank-loads of free gas to voters in the month before the election.
Back in the 1990s, Schaffer took it upon himself to personally remove AIDS pamphlets from a safe-sex display at the Capitol. According to the
Durango Herald,
“He was offended that children visiting the Capitol might see descriptions of unsafe sexual practices and a poster displaying condoms as ‘Smart Sportswear for the Active Man’.” Somebody should remind Senator Schaffer that although the Catholic Church has banned condom use, the state of Colorado has not.
NEW MEXICO
Tom Udall
