Tag: Impeachment

Doc Marble Speaks Out: Impossible Cheney Sex Acts, Impeaching Dubya Gump and the Sorry State of Hurricane Reconstruction

Buck Banks

Heckling Mr. Cheney: Remember the guy who, last fall in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, told Vice President Dick Cheney to perform an impossible sexual act on himself during a live television interview? He actually said it twice, if you recall. More recently, the same guy appeared on Chris Matthews’ “Hardball” show to “debate” Rockey Vaccarella, the Republican operative who hauled his FEMA trailer to Washington and told George Bush that if he could have another term of office, he’d solve all our nation’s problems (video here).

The guy is Ben Marble, M.D., emergency room physician, husband, father of three, front man for the rock band dR.O, Katrina recovery activist and shameless self-promoter. On Sept. 8, exactly a year after he hollered at Dick Cheney in Gulfport, Miss. (see the video here), Marble set out on his “Mission Not Accomplished Tour,” headed for Camp Democracy in Washington, D.C., and for what has become an annual gig with his band — playing in New York City on the anniversary of Sept. 11.

Pensito Review caught up with Ben Marble via e-mail after he returned from his trip.

Pensito Review: What was the goal of your trip and can you give us a recap of your weekend in Washington and New York?

Ben Marble: Basically, the primary goal of the trip was to film the “Mission NOT Accomplished” documentary so that is a goal that we did accomplish … here is a rough draft of what we did:

Friday 090806, i.e., the 1-year anniversary of the day I said ‘Go F Yourself, Mr. Cheney’

We first went to Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House where we called for Dubya Gump to resign and/or for people to only vote for candidates in Nov. who have vowed to IMPEACH DUBYA GUMP! Afterwards we went to “Camp Democracy” where I spoke briefly calling on everyone to vote only for candidates who have vowed to IMPEACH DUBYA GUMP! While there we met the “Iraq Veterans Against the War” and went and had some food/drinks with them.

Saturday 090906
What we thought would be a 2 hour drive took 4 and a half hours as we drove to Phoenixville, Pa. We missed the governor due to the long drive but we met several local people who took us back to their house for a jam session/Mission NOT Accomplished party! dR. O played an impromptu concert for a bunch of small children which meant we had to cut half of our set list of songs to play only ‘kid friendly’ stuff. The grandmother cooked us some great food. We also visited a cemetery where a man who took part in the ‘Charge of the light brigade’ was buried. We had a great time with them but eventually had to leave. Later we went to Philadelphia where we visited the museum of art where I recruited 2 people to run up the stairs with me and we all raised our fists in the air at the end. Finally we went to “Jim’s” downtown for some Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches.

‘In November, good Americans will only vote for candidates who openly say they will VOTE TO IMPEACH DUBYA GUMP.’

arrived in NYC @ 2am Sunday 091006
I did an interview in the afternoon with the mediabloodhound (see www.mediabloodhound.com ) and near the end of that we heard Dubya Gump was at ground zero so we went down there to protest. I met the ‘granny peace brigade’ and we protested Dubya Gump shouting “VOTE TO IMPEACH” and “STOP EXPLOITING 911” among other things. Later we had dinner in little Italy.

Monday 091106
Traffic was insane causing me to miss my interview with Alex Bennett [of SIRIUS satellite radio]. Will hopefully get that rescheduled. We later went to ground zero again where we inadvertently ran into Alex Jones and his “911 truth” protesters. They believe “911 was an inside job’. I don’t personally believe that but I was standing in the middle of them holding up my 2-sided ‘VOTE TO IMPEACH’/“NEVER 4GET KATRINA” sign. What a strange day! That night my band, dR. O, played a concert at CBGB’s wrapping up the “Mission NOT Accomplished” tour!

PR: On a couple of Web sites that contain information about the Cheney incident a year ago, there appears to be some confusion about where that happened. One or two sites have it near your home in New Orleans, but you live in Mississippi. Can you give us a short description of what happened that day and where it happened?

BM: It happened 1 block off the beach on 2nd street in Gulfport, Ms. on Sept. 8, 2005

PR: Why did you call Dick “Mr. Cheney” when you told him to commit an impossible physical act?

BM: I thought it would be a bit more ironic if I called him “Mr.”

PR: Is it a Southern thing?

BM: probably so
[…]

Bush Adding Signing Statement to Geneva Conventions

Trish

It worked the first 750 times: You know about Bush’s signing statements: First, he signs a bill passed by both houses of Congress, the people’s representatives. Next, he signs a statement that cancels out, reverses, ignores, or undermines the letter and intent of that bill.

Since this technique has worked so well for Mr. Bush, allowing him to run things as he — and he alone — sees fit, why not expand it beyond domestic policy to international law?

Don’t like Article III of the Geneva Conventions? No problem! Just issue a clarification — aka signing statement — that says we’ll do whatever the hell we want, and the world can’t stop us because… Well, just because.

I think we should all do this. Got a hangover? Call work and say you’re sick, then sign a statement authorizing yourself to define “sick.” Having an affair? Swear to your spouse you’re true blue, then sign a statement authorizing yourself to clarify “monogamy.” Go ahead, it’s easy. I’m signing one right now authorizing myself to define “president.” Then I’m sending an email to Al Gore.

Don’t Miss “The Dark Side” Tonight

Trish

Everybody watch The Dark Side on PBS tonight so you can tell me how it was.

On September 11, 2001, deep inside a White House bunker, Vice President Dick Cheney was ordering U.S. fighter planes to shoot down any commercial airliner still in the air above America…

I have to work but you probably don’t, and the critics who got to preview the Frontline special, like the Seattle Times, make it sound pretty must-see.

Comedians have made countless Darth Vader jokes about Cheney, but the film’s title is no joke about The Force. It’s from Cheney’s own words about America’s response to terrorists: “We have to work the dark side, if you will. We’ve got to spend time in the shadows in the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies.”

But apparently he didn’t use the actual intelligence from the agencies.

The CIA and its then-director, George Tenet, knew immediately that al-Qaida in Afghanistan was responsible for the 9/11 attacks and said so. But author James Bamford says that while the Pentagon was still smoking, Rumsfeld said, “We’ve got to see, somehow, how we can bring Saddam Hussein into this.”

“The Dark Side” claims that 9/11 provided Cheney and Rumsfeld with a pretext for achieving their longstanding ambition to go after the Iraqi dictator and to boost executive power that they’d seen diminish ever since their days as allies in Nixon’s administration. As consummate political infighters, they resented and continually undermined Tenet — a sports-loving man’s man who had become pally with George W. Bush…

Damn. I might have to buy the DVD.

The President Pelosi Scenario

Jon Ponder

Bush and Cheney would fight the impeachment every step of the way, stubbornly refusing to give testimony and evidence, ignoring the entreaties of the party elders to do as Nixon did and fall on their swords, only to become the first president and vice president to be removed from office by impeachment.

That Nancy Pelosi could become the first female president of the United States next year is one of the longest long shots going in the current political environment. Nonetheless, it remains a technical possibility — and even a practical reality — if President Bush and Vice President Cheney were to decide to tough it out to the end of their impeachments in a Democratic controlled Congress in 2007.

We first wrote about this last June, back when the idea that impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney was all but unthinkable except to a few liberal extremist Bush haters.

Now about half of country would favor impeachment if there was reasonable cause to believe the president has broken the law. (And Bush has broken at least 750 laws, so take your pick.) And about a third favor impeaching the president based on what they know now, which is 7 percentage points higher than the number who wanted to impeach President Clinton in 1998.

I was reminded of my musings a year ago about possibility that Nancy Pelosi could become president when I saw this article Sunday at Ice Station Tango:

Impeachment is meaningless unless both Bush and Cheney go down. If Cheney stays in place the goal of the impeachment movement seems that much more daunting. Two impeachments?

Keeping Cheney is the equivalent of the Republican party going all in. If Bush and Cheney are impeached and removed, then the Presidency likely falls to Nancy Pelsoi. Convenient for a Rovian administration that has already successfully smeared her. Impeachment would then be a choice between someone Republicans call an “uber-liberal” and “staying the course. Could be a problematic frame for the impeachment movement.

If Democrats re-take the House this fall (and that is a big “if”), Pelosi will become the first female Speaker of the House. In that position, she would also be third in line to become president.

If Democrats also take control of the Senate (an even bigger “if”), the odds that the president and vice president will be impeached become all but a dead cinch.

Assuming all those conditions fall in place, we might expect that Bush and Cheney would follow the course set by the previously most corrupt presidential administration: Cheney would resign, as Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew did, and the party elders would force a new vice president onto Bush without consulting him — someone like John McCain.

With McCain in place as VP, Bush would be forced to resign, clearing the way to the McCain ascendancy.

But President Bush is not a student of history, as we have learned, and everything we have seen about his temperament indicates he would hold out until the end — that he and Cheney would fight the impeachment every step of the way, stubbornly refusing to give testimony and evidence, ignoring the entreaties of the party elders to do as Nixon did and fall on their swords, only to become the first president and vice president to be removed from office by impeachment.

Which scenario sounds more like them: falling on their swords for the good of their party and nation — or toughing it out to the bitter end, even though they know they are guilty?

Impeachment Petitions Delivered to Hastert

Buck Banks

Signed, sealed, delivered: At 9 a.m. yesterday, May 1, aka “Mission Accomplished Day,” Ellen Tenney of Rockingham, Vermont, presented Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert with petitions from three towns in Vermont calling for the impeachment of George Bush. The towns each passed resolutions to send the petitions.

These are the first of what organizers are hoping will be many petitions submitted by towns, cities and possibly states across the nation to Congress. Organizers say they are presented under the guidelines of Jefferson’s Manual, Section 603, and likely will be referred to a House committee — probably the Judiciary — for consideration.

Similar resolutions have now been passed by at least 13 cities and towns, and have been introduced in three state legislatures, with more expected this week.

Information on this procedure and a list of cities and states where resolutions have been introduced or passed can be found here.

Citizens Impeachment Commission

After Downing Street Coalition

Leaker of the Free World

Trish

Words escape me, except to compare and contrast, for the nine-hundred-eighty-four-thousand-millionth time what would be happening in the country right now if an aide of Al Gore’s said that Bill Clinton authorized him to leak the identity of a CIA agent because he felt snitty toward the person’s spouse. OMIGOD.

P.S. Maybe that impeachment idea isn’t so bad after all. Please, please, let’s all work to put Democrats back in office this year. Thanks.

Getting Smarter on Impeachment

Trish

Much as my fellow Pensito Reviewers will probably disagree with me, I have to pitch in with those who say Democrats are overreaching on this censuring and impeaching stuff. The plain, simple reality is that Republicans control both houses, and cows will climb trees before they go along with such moves.

Our best bet is to retake the Senate and House this year. When we’re in the catbird seat, look out Bush. Until then, we’re just venting, and venting is what the weak and powerless do. Don’t waste energy going after Bush. I’m not saying to give Bush a free pass, but that we should use his every misdeed as evidence to convince our fellow voters to throw the bums out. After we do that, we can have a little talk with the Boy King.

Pre-IED Blast from the Past: What Bush Said as He Sent Us Into Iraq

Trish

It’s hard to read the words our president uttered as he committed us to war in Iraq. It’s hard to remember life before this albatross was tied around our necks, and it’s hard not to wince at the utter pretense and sanctimony of this idiot.

I mean no disrespect to the men and women who accepted this burden…but the Iraq War sucks. Big time.

Here, with a couple of comments from me, is what Bush said three years ago. As you read this, please keep in mind that 2,316 Americans have died as a result of this indulgence, along with 204 “Coalition” members. Between 33,600 and 37,800 Iraqi civilians have been killed. And the numbers of wounded and maimed from all nations involved is inestimable.

I mean no disrespect to the men and women who accepted this burden, and sincerely thank them for being willing to protect me and extend the freedoms America once represented to other people. But the Iraq War sucks. Big time.

In his address at 0315 GMT Thursday, [March 19, 2003] Bush said:

“My fellow citizens, at this hour American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein’s ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign.

More than 35 countries are giving crucial support, from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense.

[…]

I Owe $30,000 — And So Do You

Trish

I just found out I’m deeper in the red than I thought. But at least I’m not alone. Every single American is right there with me, thanks to a Senate vote today to increase the national debt to $9 trillion. We’re all paying the price for Bush’s bad decisions, like tax breaks for the rich, pre-emptively going to war in Iraq and a delayed response to Hurricane Katrina.

It’s the fourth such move increasing the debt limit by a total of $3 trillion since Bush took office five years ago.

The measure allows the government to pay for the war in Iraq and finance Medicare and other big federal programs without raising taxes. It passed hours before the House was expected to approve another $91 billion to fund the war in Iraq and provide more aid to hurricane victims.

The partisan vote also came as the Senate continued debate on a $2.8 trillion budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year that would produce a $359 billion deficit for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

…It’s the fourth such move increasing the debt limit by a total of $3 trillion since Bush took office five years ago.

So how much is $9 trillion? Well, it’s got 12 zeros, but…

“It’s hard to understand what a trillion is. I don’t know what it is,” confessed Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, this week when debating the government’s staggering fiscal obligations.

This is so going to screw up my credit rating…
Comment by: mikefromtexas

It doesn’t help that the standard hand-held calculator comes nowhere close to computing numbers in the trillions. About the best it can do is 99,999,999.

John Nolan, a mathematics professor at American University in Washington, said… “But in terms of practical numbers it’s just overwhelming.”

So he conjured up a spending spree, something Americans might be able to relate to. “If you spent a million dollars a day for a million days (2,739 years),” you’d hit $1 trillion, Nolan observed…

The federal government has been on a spending binge. Just since 2002, the Republican-controlled Congress has had to hike the Treasury Department’s credit card limit four times, for a total of more than $3 trillion.

Allowing Bush’s tax cuts in the first place was idiotic but continuing to squander America’s former wealth this way is criminal. The worst part is we’re all going along with it. Is it O.K. if I post-date my check?

GOP Reps Call for Impeachment — in 1999

Jon Ponder

What will we tell the children?

In 1999, Republicans in Congress were outraged over presidential mendacity:

  • Former Representative, now Senator, Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina):

    “The president of the United States sets [sic] atop of the legal pyramid. If there’s reasonable doubt about his ability to faithfully execute the laws of the land, our future would be better off if that individual is removed. And let me tell you where it all comes down to me. If you can go back and explain to your children and your constituents how you can be truthful and misleading at the same time, good luck.”

  • Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Pennsylvania), current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee:

    “[The] rule of law should apply to everyone, no matter what excuses are made by the president’s defenders… We have done so because of our devotion to the rule of law and our fear that if the president does not suffer the legal and constitutional consequences of his actions, the impact of allowing the president to stand above the law will be felt for generations to come –laws not enforced are open invitations for more serious and more criminal behavior.”

  • Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), who was then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee:

    “There is a visibility factor in the president’s public acts, and those which betray a trust or reveal contempt for the law are hard to sweep under the rug…They reverberate, they ricochet all over the land and provide the worst possible example for our young people.”