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• Thursday, December 4, 2008 01:47 PM

  @teresa

  "Well I have more than one good reason that Bush should be impeached. But lets deal with a violation of the constitution as a high crime and misdemeanor, he allowed torture to take place. In fact he insisted that is should. That is reason number 1."

  If you're talking about waterboarding, that was used on just three terrorists and the results probably saved thousands of lives. It is debatable whether or not waterboarding actually is torute (I do not believe it is). It is also a fact that the policy of extraordinary rendition began in 1995 under Clinton. Michael Scheuer, the CIA agent who implemented the policy, says that he believes torture took place under Clinton.

  http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2005/10/two_experts_on_1.html

  Daniel A. Benjamin, who worked in the Clinton administration, acknowledged that torture may have taken place during the Clinton years.

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/19/AR2007101900835_pf.html

  "Reason number 2, he okayed spying on Americans! Another violation of law, high crime."

  If you're referring to warrantless wiretaps, that was actually done on terrorist suspects calling into this country. As has been noted, you cannot connect the dots unless you are allowed to collect the dots. I would argue that it was much worse for Clinton to conduct warrantless searches of public housing.

  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/dec/22/20051222-122610-7772r/

  "3. Went to war based on lies, high crime or misdemeanor? both."

  Clinton also said Iraq had WMD and launched a preemptive attack on a Iraq based on that claim.

  "4. He outed a CIA officer. That is a high crime."

  First, Valerie Plame was not a covert agent. She drove to and from work at Langley every day for several years. A covert agent would not do that. Second, it was Joseph Wilson who actually outed Plame so-called front company, and that was years before the invasion of Iraq. According to records at www.opensecrets.org, Joe Wilson contributed $2,000 to Al Gore’s presidential campaign on March 26, 1999. At that time, the contribution limit was $1,000, so the Gore campaign returned $1,000 to Wilson on April 22, 1999. On the same day, Valerie Wilson is listed as contributing $1,000 to Gore’s campaign. Under “occupation,” Wilson listed “Brewster-Jennings & Assoc.” BTW, Joseph Wilson also said Saddam had WMD. His wife worked in the area of WMD proliferation, so perhaps he formed his opinion after talking to her. If Plame was one of those at the CIA who got things so wrong about Saddam's WMD, shouldn't we be happy that she was "outed"?

  http://www.politicsoftruth.com/editorials/saddam.html

  http://www.politicsoftruth.com/editorials/big_cat.html

  "I came up with four reasons just off the top of my head. If a President can be impeached for lying about a blow job, not a high crime, but a misdemeanor crime, then a President can be impeached for actually violating the constitution."

  Actually, Clinton committed perjury and obstruction of justice in a sexual harassment lawsuit. The "blow job" was not the reason he was impeached.

  It would seem you have a very weak case for impeaching Bush. However, if Democrats think they have a good case, they might consider retroactively impeaching Clinton, who did all of this before Bush did, first. That way they would demonstrate that they are not impeaching Bush for partisan reasons.

  —Groenhagen Read Groenhagen's other letters
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