We have before us in the White House a thief who steals the country's good name and reputation for his private interest and personal use; a liar who seeks to instill in the American people a state of fear; a televangelist who engages the United States in a never-ending crusade against all the world's evil, a wastrel who squanders a vast sum of the nation's wealth on what turns out to be a recruiting drive certain to multiply the host of our enemies. In a word, a criminal—known to be armed and shown to be dangerous. "

And in The Nation, Elizabeth Holzman, who served four terms in the US House of Representatives, writes, "Like many others, I have been deeply troubled by Bush's breathtaking scorn for our international treaty obligations under the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions. I have also been disturbed by the torture scandals and the violations of US criminal laws at the highest levels of our government ....

As a matter of constitutional law, these and other misdeeds constitute grounds for the impeachment of President Bush. A President, any President, who maintains that he is above the law--and repeatedly violates the law--thereby commits high crimes and misdemeanors, the constitutional standard for impeachment and removal from office."

And one of my favorite best-selling authors, the genial and brilliant Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion, wrote in Salon last week, "According to the leaders of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, our country is practically as vulnerable today as it was on 9/10. Our seaports are wide open, our airspace is not secure except for the nation's capital, and little has been done about securing the nuclear bomb materials lying around in the world. They give the administration D's and F's in most categories of defending against terrorist attack.

Our adventure in Iraq, at a cost of trillions, has brought that country to the verge of civil war while earning us more enemies than ever before. And tax money earmarked for security is being dumped into pork barrel projects anywhere somebody wants their own SWAT team. Detonation of a nuclear bomb within our borders -- pick any big city -- is a real possibility, as much so now as five years ago.....

The U.S. Constitution provides a simple ultimate way to hold him to account for war crimes and the failure to attend to the country's defense. Impeach him and let the Senate hear the evidence.
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Cities from California and Vermont have passed legislation urging impeachment hearings for Bush and usually Cheney, and liberal-leaning groups from Minnesota, North Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, California, Oregon, Nevada and beyond have called for impeachment proceedings.

Impeachment momentum has been building since June 2005 when Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and 12 other members of Congress hand-delivered to the White House a petition signed by 560,000 Americans demanding that President Bush address smoking-gun (via the Downing Street Memos) evidence that the Bush Administration lied to Congress and the American people in order to start the Iraq War.

As far back as November 2005, a Zogby poll showed that 51% of Americans favored impeachment for President Bush if he "did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq."

In December 2005, Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), a pastor and 40-year civil rights leader, became the first member of Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against President Bush "if he broke the law in authorizing spying on Americans."

And also in late 2005, liberal activist Bob Fertik founded ImpeachPac to "support Democratic candidates for Congress who support the immediate and simultaneous impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for their Iraq War lies." The PAC has already attracted tens of thousands in online contributions and serves as the informal "go to" website for impeachment news and info.

Many believe, however, that Bush impeachment garnered great momentum on January 16, 2006, when Al Gore delivered his brilliant Martin Luther King, Jr, Day speech, in which he firmly proclaimed, "...the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently. A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government. "

In late January 2006, Insight magazine, owned by the Bush-friendly conservative-insider newspaper The Washington Times, reported that "The Bush administration is bracing for impeachment hearings in Congress."

In late February 2006, CBS News reported that "President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high. Americans are also overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush-backed deal giving a Dubai-owned company operational control over six major U.S. ports. Seven in 10 Americans, including 58 percent of Republicans, say they're opposed to the agreement. "

And on March 7, 2006, Matthew Rothschild, editor of the respected The Progressive, eloquently wrote, "At the Constitutional Convention, the drafters had originally restricted impeachment to 'treason' and 'bribery.'....After some wrangling over wording, the founders agreed to James Madison’s phrase 'high crimes and misdemeanors.'

And that is exactly what George W. Bush has been committing: He’s been subverting our Constitution, and he has repeatedly violated his oath of office to 'faithfully execute' his duties and to 'preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.'

He has done so in four key areas: in the Iraq War, in detentions here at home and abroad, in the torture scandal, and in the NSA warrantless spying program."
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Now, in mid-March of 2006, the Impeach Bush & Cheney movement grows louder and stronger each week.

Chances are slim that in this Republican-dominated 109th Congress, impeachment hearings will commence. But given current overwhelming public opinion against all major Bush administration initiatives, the November 2006 Congressional elections could significantly change the balance of partisan power in Washington DC.

And if the balance of power changes, then Congressional impeachment hearings woud be a major possibility.
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Related Article
-- Downing Street Memos- What Are They? What Do They Mean?
-- Landmark Speech by Al Gore on US Constitutional Crisis Created by President Bush