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ISN’T IT ENOUGH?

Isn’t it enough that they lied you into an illegal and immoral invasion of a weak country unconnected in any way to 9-11, resulting in the deaths and maiming of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Americans and the displacement of 4.2 million Iraqis?

That’s not enough?

Isn’t it enough that they brought shame to the name of America worldwide through their torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the secret rendition of hundreds of captives to prisons in other countries to be tortured, and the continuing abuse of those who have been imprisoned in Guantanamo for years without being charged with any crime?

That’s not enough?

Isn’t it enough that they have assaulted your Constitution, wiretapping your phones and establishing a secret, illegal surveillance program, the extent of which you still do not know?

That’s not enough?

Isn’t it enough that they continue to send your sons and daughters, wives and husbands into the maelstrom of an Iraqi civil war and sectarian violence, unable to admit their administration’s failures, while all around knowledgeable observers are telling them that your sons and daughters, wives and husbands cannot secure Iraq, however many will die trying to do so?

That’s not enough?

Isn’t it enough that they have spent you, your children, and your grandchildren into a $9 trillion gross national debt, with over $200 million a day being wasted in Iraq, at the same time, spreading their incompetence, willful neglect, and reduced support across governmental programs designed to protect and assist you?

That’s not enough?

Isn’t it enough that they have repeatedly subverted the will of Congress and you through Presidential signing statements, refusing to produce documents requested by Congressional committees, and ignoring Congressional subpoenas for testimony by administration personnel and office holders?

That’s not enough?

Isn’t it enough that they have turned your Justice Department into a political arm of their party and put in place an Attorney General who is a disgrace to American jurisprudence and who lied to protect them from you?

Isn’t all of this that the Bush/Cheney administration has done enough to bring impeachment proceedings against Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, so that you will know exactly everything they have done and the full extent of the damage they have done to your country and the world, and, in the process, eliminate unconstitutional precedents set by these men for your future Presidents and Vice-Presidents?

If not; if all of this is not enough, then, please, good citizens of America, tell me,

just what would be enough?

Mary Oleary-McGlinn

(Number of displaced Iraqis: The Detroit Free Press, August 29, 2007; Gross national debt: ZFacts.com; Daily cost of Iraq war: Congressional Research Service)

Those of you who are opposed to the policies of this administration, join other good citizens of America in the September 15, March in Washington, to protest our continued military occupation of Iraq, and to tell Bush and Cheney: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

ImpeachBush@VoteToimpeach.org

If you want to find out what is really going on currently in Iraq, including the effects of the surge, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/opinion/19jayamaha.html?ei=5090&en=5a8349a0e9

The War as We Saw It, authored by “infantrymen and non-commissioned officers of the 82nd Airborne Division

Environment Illinois last week presented BP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials with more than 70,000 thousand signatures from Great Lakes region residents demanding a halt to BP’s unprecedented expansion of pollution into Lake Michigan.

“This is the swiftest and strongest support we’ve received for a petition drive,” said Max Muller, environmental advocate at Environment Illinois. “”I think people are motivated by BP’s hypocrisy.” said Muller “How can a $216 billion company which claims to be the most environmentally responsible firm in its field think it can get away with this? Shouldn’t the company that is ‘Beyond Petroleum’ also be beyond polluting our waters?”

Today’s petition has garnered more than 70,000 supporters so far. 12,000 people have also signed a boycott pledge to BP which reads: “I’m going to buy gas somewhere else today, and every day until you agree to avoid any increase in pollution into Lake Michigan.”

The petitions are in response to a pollution discharge permit granted in June by Indiana’s Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). The new permit will allow BP’s oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana to increase its discharge of ammonia to 1500 pounds and sludge particles to nearly 5,000 pounds every day into Lake Michigan.

TAKE THE ‘NO BP GAS PLEDGE’
A way to keep up the heat is to sign the ‘No BP Gas Pledge’ today and tell BP that as long as they’re still planning to dump more toxic chemicals into our lake, you won’t be buying their gas.
https://www.environmentillinois.org/action/protect-lake-michigan/no-bp-gas?id4=ES

I’m sure you have heard, Nancy Pelosi has stated that “impeachment is off the table.” Yes, that’s right, Mrs. Pelosi, the Speaker of our House of Representatives has told the American people that “impeachment is off the table.” I thought, perhaps, I had missed something in my reading of the Constitution, and, so, I checked it out. But, I had remembered the words of the Constitution accurately; Article 2, Section 4 of our Constitution does not read:

“The President and Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States
shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason,
Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors. . . . . .

if the Speaker of the House approves.”

It appears that Mrs. Pelosi has contracted the deadly “bug” that is sweeping through Washington these days: off-the-table-itis. The name of this disease doesn’t do justice to its far-reaching negative effect on the lives of the American people.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney were the incubators of this illness. Sick Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney took the statecraft of diplomacy and international dialogue and cooperation off the table and replaced it with unilateral, preemptive, and unending war.

Feverish Mr. Bush and Mr Cheney then went on to take adherence to the Geneva Conventions off the table and replaced it with torture and extraordinary rendition of our captives.

As the disease raged on, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney took the law against unwarranted domestic surveillance off the table and replaced it with secret, warrantless, electronic wiretaps of American citizens.

And, as with all such contagious illnesses, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney have infected many of their close comrades in their administration (you know their names). Working together in unison with Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, each of these sick persons has taken truth off the table and replaced it with lies.

And now, it appears that a variant of off-the-table-itis has infected the Speaker of our House of Representatives, who has decreed that “impeachment is off the table.” One wonders what she has replaced it with. Oh, that’s right–Mrs. Pelosi has replaced our constitutional act of impeachment with a political manuever that she believes will insure a Democratic sweep in the next election. She doesn’t believe the American people would approve of the impeachment of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. She doesn’t believe the American people can deal with impeachment hearings for Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I think she is wrong. I think Mrs. Pelosi needs a large dose of political courage and stateswomanship to boost her immunity to this Washington disease. What do you think?

Note: When asked if she would bar amendments in the upcoming debate on fuel standards, Mrs. Pelosi is quoted as saying, “These are issues of major concern to the American people, and I wouldn’t think of prohibiting them from receiving permission from going to the floor. (Detroit Free Press, August 1, 2007) Evidently, Mrs. Pelosi does not feel the same about the concerns of the 45% of the American people who favor impeachment hearings for Mr. Bush and the 54% of Americans who favor impeachment hearings for Mr. Cheney. (American Research Group)

For those who are undecided about the value of impeachment, go to:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07132007/profile.html

Video and text of “Tough Talk on Impeachment” with Bill Moyers, Bruce Fein, and John Nichols

Mary Oleary-McGlinn