Shoutout to Joseph V.
Thanks for your check for the TR Subscription Service. You forgot to attach your email address, so please contact me with your full name and address so I know it’s you. I’m at chet@rall.com
Thanks,
Ted
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Impeachment Column Mail Call
Zephyr asks:
You wrote, “More than a year after the Supreme Court decided in Rasul v. Bush that the nearly 600 Muslim men and young boys being held incommunicado at Guantánamo Bay were entitled to have their cases heard by U.S. courts, they remain in cold storage–no lawyers, no court dates. The Bush Administration simply ignored the ruling.”
Is there an agency of the government whose function it is to enforce Supreme Court decisions?
Strictly speaking, the US Department of Justice is charged with that function. On a practical level, however, it is directly overseen by and the Attorney General receives orders from the White House. When there’s a clash between the executive and legislative branches of this sort, therefore, the Supreme Court’s decisions can–as in Rasul–simply be ignored.
Steve writes:
I couldn’t agree less on the utility of the Constitution to deal with Bush and his acolytes. For one thing, the Constitution gives the president no immunity to the criminal laws. One courageous prosecutor has the means under the Constitution to bring down an entire government. That none is doing so is simply a tribute to the boldness and criminal expertise of our governors.
The Nixon case is unfortunate because Nixon stayed out of jail while his aides did time. It set a pretty bad precedent, but at least we removed Nixon from office. The Clinton case is even worse because it set a precedent that lying is not a serious enough offense to warrant removal from office. Bush is taking liberal advantage of the Clinton doctrine.
Despite all this, Bush could be called to answer in criminal court, especially if his aides begin to sense that they’re in jeopardy. Ultimately, a criminal complaint would force him out of office. The Constitution has what it takes to remove him, if the personnel responsible for enforcement haven’t yet manifested the fortitude to act.
And we may have that prosecutor in the form of Mr. Fitzgerald. I hope that he requests an extension of his mandate so he can pursue criminal charges, up to and including treason, against both former Texas Governor Bush and Mr. Cheney. Still, this hardly seems like a system that has worked very well so far. Furthermore, there are no criminal statutes against lying to the people–a crime that ought to be punished by removal from office.
Richard writes:
Ted,Thanks for your article.
Perhaps I misinterpreted the substance of your piece but haven’t you overlooked those having face the voters and run for reelection in 2006? Standing behind an increasing unpopular president will prove a political liability for many. I think the Harriet Miers “revolt” in Republican ranks may provide further evidence of this possibility even though those on that side feel she is too “liberal.” In order for Clinton to be impeached several Democrats were forced to go against party and back the inquiry, such as Dianne Feinstein. For this I hold out hope. And realistically, a reawakened Republican party and congress will have to occur even with a democrat president in order to set right the nation. The sooner the better.
One can hope. This would be an excellent example of the system working as it should or, in the words of one unaware pundit a few months ago, pandering to the voters–which is, of course, what elected officials are supposed to do every day, not just during election years. Still, many–too many–officials might be able to distance themselves from Bush without going so far as to vote for his removal from the office his lies and thievery have repeatedly dishonored.
Getting Clinton’s jizz out of the Oval Office was one thing, but how long will it take to mop up the blood of 160,000 dead?
Lee writes from Canada:
Thanks for “Why Bush is Unimpeachable”, which I saw on Common Dreams.
The US Constitution is pretty much a dead letter these days, and it’s not just because of Bush.
The power of Congress to declare war became a dead letter when LBJ used the Tonkin Gulf Resolution to ramp up a huge war involving millions of Americans. Since then, every president has felt free to send US troops hither and yon without worrying about Congress, especially if he can get some US troops killed. Once that happens, Congress and most other Americans want to “stay the course” and avoid “talking about the past” – until several years of failure cause “malaise” to show up in the polls.
Impeachment? It’s either an impossibility (Johnson, 1867) or a sick game (Clinton, 1998). The president has become a king, with all the sacredness of royalty and all the political power of a prime minister. I’m Canadian. I don’t even remember the name of Prime Minister Paul Martin’s wife. But Laura Bush is America’s queen, with a major role in selling her husband’s policies. Republic? – fuhgeddaboutit. You’ve got an elective, but not a constitutional monarchy.
Too many people look for similarities between today’s America and Nazi Germany. The real similarity is with Fascist Italy: the constitutional forms were hollow but continued a ghostly existence; the dictatorship developed over several years, and the nature of the regime was vicious and contemptible, not overpoweringly evil.
Eventually it took a disastrous defeat in WWII to rouse the king to fire Mussolini and arrest him. What will it take to rouse Congress to revive the Republic and get rid of the contemptible regime that has spat on the constitution and perverted the Republic while saluting the flag that “stands for” it?
Very articulate. That’s what learning to write outside of the American educational system will do.
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The Night Before Christmas
That’s what it feels like across the land, as special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald readies what with luck will be a set of indictments against Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and other members of the illegitimate Bush junta that has occupied the White House since stealing it via judicial corruption in 2000. Already the right wing is preparing its stupid-ass arguments, but they won’t stick any more. The American public is slow-witted but finally clued in to what has been done under their name, and they know that outing a CIA agent is treason plain and simple.
The next question, assuming that Rove and Libby get the frog-marching each richly deserves, is what happens to Bush and Cheney. Cheney, as the New York Times reported, was Libby’s original source for the information about Valerie Plame. And Bush knew that Rove was covering up the leak investigation from the start. That both men are traitors is plain to see for anyone who cares to take notice. The question is, will the GOP Congress fulfill their Constitutional obligation to impeach them or will the political pressure build via the media to the point where both mass murderers are forced to resign? I suspect rather the latter, with the scandal and its inevitable denouement–President Hastert, anyone?–unfolding sometime next year. Although, with this gang, anything is possible.
There are those who will point out that it’s a little strange to see a special prosecutor with the power to bring down a president, and those commentators will be correct. As I wrote in my column this week, however, the system is broken. All we have, the last hope of the republic, is this special prosecutor. If and when we rid ourselves of the Bush plague, one hopes that we won’t just “move on” but will take stock of what went wrong with our system of checks and balances and take action, including amending the Constitution to allow minority political parties to bring up impeachment procedings or setting up an independenty judicial means of removing a law-breaking president, to prevent such a disaster from again befalling the world.
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Geek Love
Now that Wish Lists have become a way for people to support cartoonists, at long last I’ve come up with one of my own. You may have noticed that some of these items are pretty expensive. Well, duh! If they were cheap I could afford to buy them myself. Like a certain orange credit card, therefore, I’ve developed a kickback scheme to sweeten the pot for those interested in improving my quality of life: Depending on how much you spend, you get everything from signed books to originals to, well, me.
Here’s the deal:
Under $50: I love you. Love is cheap!
$50 to $100: You get a signed Ted Rall book of your choice (assuming it’s in print).
$100 to $200: A small sketch of my choice.
$200 to $400: An original cartoon of your choice, from the last three months (assuming I still have it).
$400 to $600: An original cartoon of your choice, from any time (assuming I still have it).
$600 to $800: Two original cartoons
$800 to $1000: I will draw a custom cartoon to your personal specifications (provided that your idea isn’t totally embarrassing)
$1000 to $2000: One custom cartoon plus a complete set of every Ted Rall book ever published, including foreign editions, and out-of-print titles, signed
$2000 and up: We’ll hang out for coffee and/or drinks. You can take my photo, bring your friends, be fun and/or boring. Even Republicans will be accomodated. Caveat: Said event must occur in New York City or a city where I happen to be visiting, or a place that I agree to and that you’re willing to fly me to. The night’s on you. Added bonus: an original cartoon to remember me by.
Email me at chet@rall.com if you want to play.
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Tom DeLay to be Arrested
And so it begins. The thug who hired DC goons to shut down the Florida recount by acts of violence at a planned riot is being arrested today in Texas: fingerprints, mug shot, maybe (pleeeeeeease) even a perp walk. Let Tom DeLay be the first of many such arrests in coming days and weeks as the illegitimate Bush regime rightly falls upon the scrap heap of history.
Better late than never.
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New York Daily News: Could Bush Go Down in Treasongate?
When Treasongate broke last summer, right-wing psychos online and on TV lambasted my assertion that this was serious business that could lead all the way to the Oval Office. Now the New York Daily News has an exclusive story indicating that Piehole himself knew all along. If true, Bush should be arrested immediately since he is a traitor to the United States and thus possibly in the employ of foreign agents:
Courtesy of FOR Dave:
As you stated in your Blog, you called it. Found this on Drudge. If it’s true, then it shows that Bush knew
of Rove’s involvement in the Plame Affair TWO YEARS AGO. Which proves that he’s been lying all along.
Keep up the great work,
Dave
http://nydailynews.com/front/story/357107p-304312c.html
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Did I Call It Or What?
DC gossipmongers are focusing on Dick Cheney as a possible indictee (please…please…pleeeeeeease?) in Treasongate. The biggest bastard in the nest of vipers currently running America in the ground, CNN is reporting, could be indicted as early as tomorrow.
As usual, right-wingers mocked me for writing this in my July 5 column:
How far up the White House food chain does the rot of treason go? “Bush has always known how to keep Rove in his place,” wrote Time in 2002 about a “symbiotic relationship” that dates to 1973. This isn’t some rogue “plumbers” operation. Rove would never go it alone on a high-stakes action like Valerie Plame. It’s a safe bet that other, higher-ranking figures in the Bush cabal–almost certainly Dick Cheney and possibly Bush himself–signed off before Rove called Novak. For the sake of national security, those involved should be removed from office at once.
And as usual, I was right and they were wrong.
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ATTITUDE Presents: Stephanie McMillan’s MINIMUM SECURITY
It’s right here in front of me, and it’s a beautiful thing: outrageous and outraged cartoonist Stephanie McMillan’s book! Fresh off the press from NBM, this third volume in the “Attitude Presents:” series (following Andy Singer’s “No Exit” and Neil Swaab’s “Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles,” both of which are still available) is exactly what fans of the series and alternative comics lust for: a batch of high-quality work by an artist that most people haven’t yet discovered.
You can check out Stephanie’s cartoons at www.minimumsecurity.net, and you should. But the book is 160 pages, barely more than ten bucks on Amazon, and absolutely delicious. From politics to relationships, from Bush-bashing to global warming, Stephanie delivers the goods in piece after piece. If you’re a Ted Rall fan, you’ll love Stephanie McMillan. Please take my word for this and drop ten bucks on this.
Then send me an email to tell me what you thought. I’ll post the interesting ones here.
