Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment of Richard M. Nixon.

He’s worse than Nixon. Bush doesn’t try to tell us “I’m not a crook.” He just says, “I did it and I’ll do it again.” Then he thumbs his nose at us. I want to see the same words printed with his name instead of Nixon’s. I want him so impeached.

Last night my son was watching CNN and said, Hey mom, they just (finally) used the “I” word in referring to Bush.  I said, “Imbecile??” Of course he meant IMPEACHMENT.  I agree, it is time.  But can we include Cheney in it?  Cause I think we all know who is the power behind the Imbecile........oops, I mean president.

love it.  I was just grumbling recently that were he at any other job he’d have been fired years ago and Cheney along with him.

(PS, do you set the word images here?  Mine says “george” lol)

I remember that it took a long, long, lonnnng time for the public and politicos to get to the point where they could utter the word ‘Impeach’ during Watergate. But when the word suddenly started being discussed openly, it was a fairly short time before Nixon left office.

The wheels of justice and their slow grinding and all....

Right now it seems like a vertical climb to even get to articles of impeachment with this president. And the thought of the Senate trying and convicting seems remote at this stage. I’m not exactly holding my breath. But I surely wouldn’t mind being wrong about that.

Steph - it’s those elves in the workroom out back.... ;)

Just so you know that Bill Clinton did the exact same thing but took it a step further in the intrusion.

http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200512200946.asp

Well, actually no.

The Executive Order that Clinton signed said:

“Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) [50 U.S.C. 1822(a)] of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance] Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section.

There was nothing in Clinton’s executive order that permitted warrantless surveillance of United States citizens because the US code, referenced in bold (above) says: The physical search is solely directed at premises, information, material, or property used exclusively by, or under the open and exclusive control of, a foreign power or powers.

This line of reasoning intrigues me. If the president you hated the most in the world did it (which he didn’t), that would make it okay for the president you love most in the world to do it, too? I think I weeded that line of logic of out the lad by the time he was 8 years old....

Are you saying that the Constitution is an obsolete piece of paper?

(see Think Progress for more info.)

I’m saying that both Presidents were correct in their actions. They did exactly the same thing, actually, but Clinton took it to another level with physical searches as well

"The Department of Justice believes—and the case law supports—that the president has inherent authority to conduct warrantless physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes and that the president may, as he has done, delegate this authority to the attorney general," So said by Jamie Gorelick in 1994 Congressional testimony according to the following article - http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051222-122610-7772r.htm.

In Clinton’s case, he managed to nail Aldrich Ames. In Bush’s case, he’s managed to prevent further terrorist attacks on US soil. Both good, imho.

As to the difference between the types of warrantless searches, I happen to think that physical searches are more egregious than mere eavesdropping.

And the eavesdropping was only on those people within the US who were in contact with people outside the US. Most of those people weren’t even US citizens, and they don’t enjoy the same civil liberties as we citizens.

It is unconstitutional and illegal to perform warrantless surveillance on United States Citizens. Bush has every possible resource at his disposal to do wiretaps and the like as long as he and his administration submit the paperwork to get the warrants within 72 hours of beginning the surveillance. That he doesn’t do that suggests two things:

1. He and his administration are too damned lazy to be bothered to follow the law.

2. They are merely eavesdropping on United States citizens who they wouldn’t have a hope in hell of getting warrants on—so they don’t bother.

Quakers and Greenpeace and PETA and Gay and Lesbian groups and anti-war protestors are not terrorists or foreign nationals or al-quaeda. Just as Nixon, our dear leader seems to be over endowed with paranoia and everyone is a threat until proven otherwise. That is about as un-American as you can get.

The President doesn’t get to pick and choose which parts of the Constitution or United States law he agrees with or doesn’t agree with. He is obligated to uphold and obey the laws of the land and the entire Constitution whether he likes it or not.

He broke the law and trashed the Constitution. There are no excuses.

PS. Happy Wedding Wishes. How can you possibly be thinking about politics at a time like this? All my best to you and Beau. Hope your day turns out to be absolutely perfect.