Bob Fertik / Democrats.com – 2008-11-22 22:04:56
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardons?cid=ZGVtczM4NzkzZGVtcw==
ACTION ALERT: Petition to Oppose a Bush “Self-Pardon”
Bob Fertik / Democrats.com
One week ago, Democrats.com asked Americans to launch a massive movement against the possibility of the Bush administration issuing executive “self-pardons” to the president and top government officials — current and former. A petition to this effect was signed by more than 46,000 citizens and Congress took notice.
(November 22, 2008) — One week ago, Democrats.com asked Americans to launch a massive movement against the possibility of the Bush administration issuing executive “self-pardons” to the president and top government officials — current and former. A petition to this effect was signed by more than 46,000 citizens and Congress took notice.
On Friday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced H.Res. 1531 urging President Bush not to pardon senior administration officials for crimes the President authorized. It notes:
President George W. Bush may have committed crimes involving the mistreatment of detainees, the extraordinary rendition of individuals to countries known to engage in torture, illegal surveillance of United States citizens, unlawful leaks of classified information, obstruction of justice, political interference with the conduct of the Justice Department, and other illegal acts
and that
Bush has been urged to grant preemptive pardons to senior administration officials who might face criminal prosecution for actions taken in the course of their official duties.
Nadler’s resolution urges Congress to investigate those crimes and any pardons relating to them, and urges the Attorney General (current or future) to appoint an Independent Counsel to prosecute those crimes.
These are major steps towards holding George Bush, Dick Cheney, and other senior officials accountable for their crimes and thereby upholding the rule of law, rather than allowing Presidents to become dictators.
Rep. Nadler’s leadership is crucial because he chairs the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties and can use his credibility and clout to move the resolution forward either during the lame duck session in December or when the next Congress convenes on January 6.
So our next step is to persuade as many Representatives as possible to co-sponsor H.Res. 1531. Please sign our new petition:
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardons?cid=ZGVtczM4NzkzZGVtcw==
We also encourage you to call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and speak with the Legislative Assistant who handles Judiciary matters.
If your Representative says (s)he will co-sponsor, please let us know by commenting on our resolution “whipping” page:
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardon-resolution
The Petition
Dear Representative,
I urge you to co-sponsor Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s H.Res. 1531 urging President Bush not to pardon senior members of his administration for crimes authorized by the President – and to investigate those crimes both in the House and the Justice Department, and prosecute if warranted.
(1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the granting of preemptive pardons by the President to senior officials of his administration for acts they may have taken in the course of their official duties is a dangerous abuse of the pardon power;
(2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should not grant preemptive pardons to senior officials in his administration for acts they may have taken in the course of their official duties;
(3) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that James Madison was correct in his observation that “[i]f the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds [to] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty”;
(4) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that a special investigative commission, or a Select Committee be tasked with investigating possible illegal activities by senior officials of the administration of President George W. Bush, including, if necessary, any abuse of the President’s pardon power; and
(5) the next Attorney General of the United States appoint an independent counsel to investigate, and, where appropriate, prosecute illegal acts by senior officials of the administration of President George W. Bush.
Sincerely,
Ten Reasons to Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney
[Note: As of November 22, 2008, 159,330 people had signed the following petition.]
I ask Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney for the following reasons:
1. Violating the United Nations Charter by launching an illegal “War of Aggression” against Iraq without cause, using fraud to sell the war to Congress and the public, misusing government funds to begin bombing without Congressional authorization, and subjecting our military personnel to unnecessary harm, debilitating injuries, and deaths.
2. Violating U.S. and international law by authorizing the torture of thousands of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths, and keeping prisoners hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
3. Violating the Constitution by arbitrarily detaining Americans, legal residents, and non-Americans, without due process, without charge, and without access to counsel.
4. Violating the Geneva Conventions by targeting civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, and using illegal weapons, including white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new type of napalm.
5. Violating U.S. law and the Constitution through widespread wiretapping of the phone calls and emails of Americans without a warrant.
6. Violating the Constitution by using “signing statements” to defy hundreds of laws passed by Congress.
7. Violating U.S. and state law by obstructing honest elections in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
8. Violating U.S. law by using paid propaganda and disinformation, selectively and misleadingly leaking classified information, and exposing the identity of a covert CIA operative working on sensitive WMD proliferation for political retribution.
9. Subverting the Constitution and abusing Presidential power by asserting a “Unitary Executive Theory” giving unlimited powers to the President, by obstructing efforts by Congress and the Courts to review and restrict Presidential actions, and by promoting and signing legislation negating the Bill of Rights and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
10. Gross negligence in failing to assist New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, in ignoring urgent warnings of an Al Qaeda attack prior to Sept. 11, 2001, and in increasing air pollution causing global warming.
Congress Must Debate
The Implications Of A Bush Self-Pardon
Impeach Now / US Alone.org
Many people have been asking us, “Could Bush actually pardon himself?”. Would it be despicable? Sure it would. Would it be shameless and cowardly? Yes, that and that too. But all those adjectives fit Bush like O.J.’s glove before it shrunk from being soaked completely in blood. Which means he is absolutely is planning on doing it.
And only impeachment could stop it. We need to talk about this. We need Congress to talk about this. And Congress is in session this week, so we need you to speak out this week while there is still time.
Tens of thousands of you submitted the action page on this last week. Do it again. Please speak out again while we still can. There is already a drum beat in the right wing media calling on Bush to pardon his whole administration. Only our voices can raise the price of such action so that there would be real consequences.
We have not given up, and will never give up hope on justice. We will be taking delivery of another huge shipment of the “Impeach Both!!!” caps that are still so popular. But this might be the last batch. So if you want to demonstrate your support for impeachment, please request yours now from the return page of the action page submission.
Impeach Now Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/impeach_now.php
Will Congress now act? That is not the yardstick of the worth of our activism. We speak out because we must speak out, whether we are heeded or not. Let history record that we spoke out until the last minute to the eternal shame of those who did not. Because when enough of us speak out at once, the worst thing that can possibly happen is that we are building the progressive base for the REAL change of the future.
So Bush most certainly is planning on pardoning himself. And all the right wing lock down ideologues in the corporate controlled media will call it “healing”. Let’s all make nice with war criminals? Shall we all make nice with the gang rape of our economy, our environment and our Constitution? We think not.
And one more thing. You know that come January 20th the right wing will start calling for the impeachment of our new president, over a endless litany of the most ridiculous of trivial trifles. In fact it has already started even though he has not even taken office. If they are so hot on impeaching someone, let them speak out now, when it truly is called for, or shut the hell up in 65 days.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at http://www.usalone.com/in.htm
