AMERICA... big question

[Sui]

Soo.... why haven't we impeached Bush yet? I mean he's done enough shit to this country that you'd think that we would have him out of office...

I mean in retrospect, it seems kinda odd that we impeached Clinton for lying about a sexual affair, but we are perfectly content with the death of thousands of our own (millions even?) and other civilians!
What's wrong with people?! Can't we just get rid of this stupid ape-faced president already? -.-

[portugal_the_man]

Our elected representatives in Congress do not want to be labeled as traitors, which is what they would be labeled as if they impeached Bush. He has almost free reign to anything with mostly impunity. Hell, Congress couldn't even muster up enough votes to override the President's veto on the child health insurance program.

Congress is Weak and Powerless.

[GayComputerDude]

First of all .. we didn't impeach Clinton

they held trials and it was dropped

Second .. stop whining about the president and put the blame where it is .. in all the elected officials .. the president really doesn't have the power you think he might have .. he is more of a figurehead

[chibtm]

First of all .. we didn't impeach Clinton

they held trials and it was dropped

Second .. stop whining about the president and put the blame where it is .. in all the elected officials .. the president really doesn't have the power you think he might have .. he is more of a figurehead

computerdude, Clinton WAS impeached, on two counts in fact, he just didn't leave office. Let's not spread misinformation, okay?

[fjp999]

Some time ago I heard a good description of what happened to clinton but forgot so did a little googling...


Impeachment is so rare that the term is often misunderstood. A typical misconception is to confuse it with involuntary removal from office; in fact, it is only the legal statement of charges, paralleling an indictment in criminal law. An official who is impeached faces a second legislative vote (whether by the same body or another), which determines conviction, or failure to convict, on the charges embodied by the impeachment. Most constitutions require a supermajority to convict.

The Impeachment Trial in the Senate commenced on January 7, 1999, with the announcement by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the presence of the managers on the part of the House of Representatives to conduct proceedings on behalf of the House concerning the impeachment of the President of the United States. After Congressman Hyde read the Articles of Impeachment approved by the House, the Senate then adjourned, reconvening later that day with Chief Justice Rehnquist present, who was sworn in as presiding officer for the trial and who in turn swore in the 100 senators as jurors for the proceedings. The President's case was outlined in the White House Trial Memorandum submitted on January 13, which was countered by the House Rebuttal to White House Trial Memorandum. In subsequent sessions, the Senate voted to adopt a series of motions to limit evidence primarily to the previously video-taped depositions, affidavits and other documents previously introduced, and also voted to close its final deliberations to the public

.

The Senate voted on the Articles of Impeachment on February 12, with a two-thirds majority, or 67 Senators, required to convict. On Article I, that charged that the President "...willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony to the grand jury" and made "...corrupt efforts to influence the testimony of witnesses and to impede the discovery of evidence" in the Paula Jones lawsuit, the President was found not guilty with 45 Senators voting for the President's removal from office and 55 against. Ten Republicans split with their colleagues to vote for acquittal; all 45 Democrats voted to acquit. On Article II, charging that the President "...has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice"..., the vote was 50-50, with all Democrats and five Republicans voting to acquit.

So Clinton was impeached which means that he was charged or indicted. They say a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich... Then Clinton was found NOT guilty of the charges.

Maybe I will remember this next time it comes up, probably not...

later,
frank

p.s. so after some months of investigating GW Bushit would probably be impeached but he might get the NOT guilty thing since all those idiots voting in the impeachment gave Bushit the vote to go to war with Iraq. End of story.

[Michael]

Mostly it's because the American public has no attention span any longer for anything important. You're right of course, the things this administration has perpitrated are amazing. You can lay most of the genious of this lack of outrage at the feet of Bush's handlers...Chenney, Rove for the most part.

It's not really that we've never had administrations that have been less than honest...most in fact have not I would guess (it's the nature of politics)..but what this administrtion has done that no other ever did was this in your face "fuck you" attitude. Valerie Plame, illegal wiretapping, Abbu Grab, rendition, pre-emtive invasions, that whole circus performance with Powel in front of the U.N....and the almost endless list of other things....

What they evidentely decided to do was do everything out in the open as nasty and as hard as they could. Rove is of course an evil genious and a master of the American Psyche. 9/11 gave them the perfect chance to go "all out". With us or against us. Once we bought into it..and remember close to 80% of the American people followed along behind them after 9/11 like frightened little sheep...once we gave up our right to think for ourselves it was easy for them to keep us there and make us culpable in all their decisions.

It was all for our own good..remember 9/11? Remember how you all supported us? Remember how you had to continue to support us or look like traitors? Remember to look under your bed for a terrorist? Aren't they out to blow up Walmarts in South Carolina?

Then they just kept going until "outrage fatigue" (and guilt) set in, and of course the knwoledge that the Amercian people have an attention span of about 7 minutes.

Can't fit it onto Oprah or Jerry Springer? Then it takes too much thought to worry about. Give us Anna Nicole Smith and Don Imus and Baby Jessica..............

My rant for the morning!

[Jim]

computerdude, Clinton WAS impeached, on two counts in fact, he just didn't leave office. Let's not spread misinformation, okay?

President Clinton was impeached by the US House. He was tried in the Senate and the 100 Senators voted 50 Guilty and 50 Not Guilty, far short of the number needed to toss him out and allow Al Gore to become President.

President Nixon was NOT impeached. He resigned his office before the US House held a vote on his articles of Impeachment.

Andrew Johnson, who was US President from 1865 to 1869 was impeached in the House. In his Senate trial, the Senate was a single vote short of his conviction and removal, and he finished out his term.

Johnson had been vice President and became president when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday in 1865.

[princealbertofb]

President Clinton was impeached by the US House. He was tried in the Senate and the 100 Senators voted 50 Guilty and 50 Not Guilty, far short of the number needed to toss him out and allow Al Gore to become President.

President Nixon was NOT impeached. He resigned his office before the US House held a vote on his articles of Impeachment.

Andrew Johnson, who was US President from 1865 to 1869 was impeached in the House. In his Senate trial, the Senate was a single vote short of his conviction and removal, and he finished out his term.

Johnson had been vice President and became president when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday in 1865.

On the subject of Presidents, Jim, I was trying to remember all the presidents that the US of A had had since John Fitzgerald Kennedy... Can you help me here? I remember (not in any particular order) Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Bush father, Bush son, Reagan, Clinton, which ones served two terms?

[Jim]

On the subject of Presidents, Jim, I was trying to remember all the presidents that the US of A had had since John Fitzgerald Kennedy... Can you help me here? I remember (not in any particular order) Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Bush father, Bush son, Reagan, Clinton, which ones served two terms?

Since JFK

Lyndon Baines Johnson 22 November 1963 to January 20 1969
Richard Milhous Nixon 20 January 1969 to 9 August 1974
Gerald Ford 9 August 1974 to 20 January 1977
Jimmy Carter 20 January 1977 to 20 January 1981
Ronald Reagan 20 January 1981 to 20 January 1989
George Herbert Walker Bush 20 January 1989 to 20 January 1993
William Jefferson Clinton 20 January 1993 to 20 January 2001
George Walker Bush since 20 January 2001 term ends 20 January 2009

[princealbertofb]

Since JFK

Lyndon Baines Johnson 22 November 1963 to January 20 1969
Richard Milhous Nixon 20 January 1969 to 9 August 1974
Gerald Ford 9 August 1974 to 20 January 1977
Jimmy Carter 20 January 1977 to 20 January 1981
Ronald Reagan 20 January 1981 to 20 January 1989
George Herbert Walker Bush 20 January 1989 to 20 January 1993
William Jefferson Clinton 20 January 1993 to 20 January 2001
George Walker Bush since 20 January 2001 term ends 20 January 2009

Thanks, Jim.. I didn't realise that Johnson had finished Kennedy's term and added one of his own. But he was there during the Viet Nam war, indeed; So how many years will that be under Democrat governance, and how many under Republican rule?