Matt Rothschild of The Progressive
Raises the Call for Impeachment at UNO

Amanda E. Flott,
NFP Omaha Coordinator

“It’s time for the impeachment process to commence and let’s not just stop with Bush. The case for impeachment should be extended to include Cheney, too,” Matt Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, stated to an audience of almost a hundred listeners at the University of Nebraska-Omaha February 23.

The Bush Administration clearly demonstrates a blatant disregard for its international treaty obligations under the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions, Rothschild said. There is massing evidence that Bush and Cheney intended to mislead the country into war in Iraq – war based on an apparently insatiable oil addiction and a propaganda-blitzed connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. And if that isn’t enough, we also have the monstrous torture scandals, detention of people in our own country, and the violations of U.S. criminal laws at the highest levels of our government.

Now, in a time when ‘freedom and security’ have become the justification for all of these atrocious high crimes and misdemeanors, Rothschild noted that yet another betrayal has occurred. Bush, exercising his selfreferential, unilateral power as Commander-in-Chief, sidestepped and ignored the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), resulting in unwarranted, illegal wiretapping of thousands of Americans. “We’ve reached the breaking point, and as Americans if we do not affirm our democracy now, Bush and Cheney will take it away from us,” he warned.

The Progressive editor continued making his case for impeachment by citing the constitutional guidelines that are beginning to circulate through the newspapers, Internet and even congressional legislation introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). “As a matter of Constitutional Law, under Article 2, Section 4, these and other misdeeds constitute grounds for impeachment of not just Bush, but Cheney too,” he said. Both have consistently exhibited their contempt for the rule of law. No president or vice president should be allowed to commit these egregious violations of our Constitution with exemption. “There is a groundswell for impeachment in this country,” said Rothschild. “We need to push the idea so the Bush regime is held accountable.”

Lying to Incite a War

One of the most abominable things for a president to do is usurp the authority of the people and Congress through a progression of lies to launch a war, Rothschild told the audience. Bush and associates deliberately deceived the public into giving their assent for a cruel and unnecessary war – resulting in the death of thousands and the waste of unimaginable sums of money.

Unchecked power and fraud cannot be tolerated in America. “This was a war of aggression that violated countless numbers of international treaties and charters. There was never any imminent danger of attack on the United States from Iraq,” he said. Bush created a war based on fraud, he noted, adding that, “There were never any WMD in Iraq; there was only a connection between 9/11 and Saddam birthed by the President to elicit the needed support for war from the nation.”

Recent historical examples of chief executives’ overstepping their legal mandate (i.e. Johnson, Nixon, Reagan) demonstrate the urgent need for the public and for our elected representatives to hold the Bush Administration accountable. The deceptions have been attributed to “bad intelligence.” Yet The Progressive editor said, “The administration was intent on war in Iraq for multiple reasons, none of which had anything to do with intelligence.” In the end, Americans now know that the Bush-Cheney rationale for war was all smoke.

Torture and Detention at Home and Abroad

Under the War Crimes Act of 1996, Rothschild explained, it is considered a crime for any U.S. national to order or engage in the murder, torture or inhumane treatment of a detainee. In fact, when a detainee death results, the act imposes the death penalty for not just the murderer, but for all those in the chain of command who condoned the acts of violence. No wonder Bush completely denies the legitimacy of the Geneva Conventions, the basis of our War Crimes Act. Ironically, the president recently proclaimed, “The United States does not torture!” A surprising statement, given the revelations that continue to surface, regarding the CIA’s secret jails and criminal methods of interrogation, which have resulted in more than 38 detainee deaths. “This torture is just embarrassing,” said Rothschild. “What’s even worse is that it’s not just at Abu Ghraib; the U.S. has been doing this in Iraq, at Guantánamo Bay with restraint chairs, Afghanistan and the list could go on.”

Regardless of official denials of the U.S.’s use of torture, there are many other indications that Bush and other higher-ups have knowingly approved such abuse. The clearest example of their intention resides in White House’s unwillingness to support the McCain Amendment, which would have banned torture. Instead, Bush supported Cheney’s efforts to change the language allowing the CIA to torture and degrade detainees. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Rothchild reported that, promptly after signing the legislation, Bush publicly announced that as Commander-in-Chief he has the right to violate the law when it suits his administration objectives.

Unrestricted Wiretapping

The original purpose of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, Rothschild told the audience, was to strike a balance between the legitimate demands for national security and the public’s constitutional expectation of privacy. As our nation learned from Vietnam and Watergate, a president is clearly able to make false statements regarding national security. Based on our system of checks and balances, Congress realized that there must be some kind of process to protect citizens’ privacy from an overly zealous executive branch. The president was given the right to start a wiretap without a warrant so long as court permission was obtained within three days.

Since 1978, when FISA originated, the court has approved around 10,000 warrants, with only 4 being turned down. “It’s been done in the past, so clearly there is absolutely nothing hard about obtaining court review… If the president is permitted to break the law on wiretapping on his own say-so, then who is to stop him from breaking any other law?” Rothschild asked. It seems clear that the Bush Administration will stop at nothing to justify their actions, he added. What isn’t clear is where exactly in the Constitution it is written that the president has the authority to violate U.S. laws, even in a ‘time of war’, by engaging in actions against U.S. citizens.

Impeach Now!

Upon assuming leadership of this country, Rothschild reminded the crowd, President Bush swore an oath of office in which he promised to uphold the laws of our nation. The call for his impeachment and for censure and removal of his cronies should not be taken lightly. The law permits those types of actions in only the most extreme cases of incompetence and reckless disregard of our Constitution. But, the editor of the Madison, Wisconsin-based magazine editor stressed, “Such blatant abuse of power and disregard for the laws of the land warrant the use of the only recourse the Constitution gives us. The only alternative is despotism, in which the public becomes despondent and paralyzed.”

It’s time to take action against the Bush imperial presidency, he said, and since the Republican Congress will not move to discipline our “compassionate conservative” leader and his followers, then the Democrats, civil libertarians and peace activists must. By their arrogance, lawlessness and endangerment of our security and good standing in the world, Bush & Co. is daring the citizens of this country to stop them in their tracks. And we must, Rothschild stated. Nothing less than removing the offenders is adequate to protect our Constitution and preserve our ideal of democracy.

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