User:Woozle/2007-07-07 webmail to congress

Overview
This petition was created by ActForChange. I inserted some of my own writing before sending it off; both versions are below. Any links were added for this page only, and (as usual) I've made minor formatting changes for easier reading.

My Version
Subject: Impeach Cheney and Bush, and damn the torpedoes.

Bush and Cheney have both shown their utter disregard for the principles of freedom and democracy, the democratic process, and the Constitution itself. The sooner we can be rid of them, the better -- regardless of how this might affect Democratic chances for the Presidency in 2008. They have done tremendous damage, and it seems clear that they will continue to do it for as long as they can hold the keys of power.

When Bill Clinton "lied under oath", it was about trivia -- his personal life, which should not have been a matter of public investigation, much less the wasting of millions of dollars of the taxpayers' money.

George W. Bush has lied under oath, too. The oath of office he took included a promise to defend the Constitution, and he has instead consistently worked to undermine it and the values it puts forth. Unlike Clinton's transgressions, however, this is actually a serious matter of concern to every American, especially those who claim patriotism as a virtue. Clinton may have been sleazy at times, but Bush is either almost unbelievably incompetent or actively working to take America back to the days of feudal lords and plutocracy -- in stark violation of the ideals of the Founding Fathers and the principles upon which the United States was founded.

Those "patriotic" voices who howled for blood during the Clinton investigation yet remain strangely silent now -- or even rise to the defense of Bush and Libby -- are clearly hypocrites of the deepest sort. They do not represent the voices of the people for whom they supposedly speak, but the voice of Big Politics. Nobody expects politicians to be honest, in this day and age, but Bush and company have crossed the line so far that they would need binoculars to find it. (If they cared where it was, which they plainly don't.)

Testimony from the Scooter Libby trial has made it perfectly clear that Libby did not act on his own in "outing" covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. Rather, he acted at the direction of his boss, Vice President Cheney, when he spoke with multiple reporters about Plame. Disclosing a CIA agent's identity -- or directing others to do so -- is a crime of treason against our nation; Vice President Cheney must be impeached and removed from office immediately.

In addition to this crime, Mr. Cheney:


 * Repeatedly lied to the nation about the potential threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, provoking the invasion and occupation of that country, with catastrophic results for our nation;
 * Continues to lie and distort intelligence regarding links between Iraq and al Qaeda; when such links simply did not exist before our invasion; and
 * Continues to threaten aggression against Iran, in violation of the United Nations charter and in a manner that destabilizes the region and harms our national security.

Bush himself is also guilty of a number of impeachable offenses; I have listed some of them on this web page: http://issuepedia.org/Bush_impeachable

All of these actions certainly meet the constitutional threat of high crimes and misdemeanors. So I ask that you join your colleagues in co-sponsoring H. Res. 333, Articles of Impeachment Against Dick Cheney, and to pursue any avenues available to you towards impeachment for Mr. Bush as well. I look forward to your response to my letter on this most serious of topics.

Original Version
Subject: Punishment for outing a CIA operative should be...???

Testimony from the Scooter Libby trial has made it perfectly clear that Libby did not act on his own in "outing" covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. Rather, he acted at the direction of his boss, Vice President Cheney, when he spoke with multiple reporters about Plame. Disclosing a CIA agent's identity -- or directing others to do so -- is a crime of treason against our nation; Vice President Cheney must be impeached and removed from office immediately.

In addition to this crime, Mr. Cheney:


 * Repeatedly lied to the nation about the potential threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, provoking the invasion and occupation of that country, with catastrophic results for our nation;
 * Continues to lie and distort intelligence regarding links between Iraq and al Qaeda; when such links simply did not exist before our invasion; and
 * Continues to threaten aggression against Iran, in violation of the United Nations charter and in a manner that destabilizes the region and harms our national security.

All of these actions certainly meet the constitutional threat of high crimes and misdemeanors. So I ask that you join your colleagues in co-sponsoring H. Res. 333, Articles of Impeachment Against Dick Cheney. I look forward to your response to my letter on this most serious of topics.