An Open Letter to My Senator

Dear Senator:



Thank you very much for your thoughtful e-mail regarding impeachment. With your kind understanding, I'd like to make a couple of points. First, I believe my e-mail to you regarded the impeaching of Richard Cheney only.



As a history buff and an American patriot, I have had the opportunity to study the history of impeachment and even the mechanism of impeachment. I understand both the purpose of impeachment and its limitations. Regarding the impeachment of Vice-President Richard Cheney, I wish to make a few brief points.



As I am sure you are aware, impeachment starts in the House of Representatives. As the resolution to impeach Richard Cheney has already been filed and now has eight co-sponsors, including the Honorable Lacy Clay of my own city, the matter has real weight and must be handled appropriately, respectfully. The Internet "blogosphere" of which I am proud to be a part grows daily stronger, challenging a little more all the time the stranglehold on information wielded by the corporate media. Thus, we are not at the end of the story quite yet. Up until this time, the brazen contempt for the Constitution, the lying to Congress and the American people, have left those same people with no other avenue of accountability save impeachment.



As I was between jobs at the time, I had the chance to study the selection of George W. Bush as President. Let us remember that he did not win the popular vote and would not be in the White House today save the decision of a polarized Supreme Court on December 12 of that year. (This has been documented in several books, including The Betrayal of America by Vincent Bugliosi, the famous prosecutor in the Manson case. I highly recommend this book, in particular.) Polls have shown that some 19% of the American people do not believe G. W. Bush is the legitimate President. Likewise, the "election" of 2004 has been studied by several university statisticians who have concluded it to be virtually impossible, statistically, for the exit polls and the announced results to have been so divergent. (I will find the names of these individuals if you so desire. Also you may wish to consult the work of David Cobb and Harvey Wasserman, of Ohio, among others.)



I share your concern about the matter of impeachment taking up a great deal of energy. But let us remember that the vote in favor of impeachment by the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, obviating a long, drawn-out impeachment proceeding. In any event, and to reiterate, there is currently little recourse of accountability save impeachment.



It will be up to the House, as an independent body of the Congress, to dispose of the impeachment resolution, which, by the way, was filed only after the out-cry of a large number of Americans directly to Rep. Dennis Kucinich who heard from all quarters of the country. Should impeachment come to the Senate, I have full confidence in your ability to weigh the evidence presented and come to the correct conclusion. Until such time, if any, perhaps the prudent course for all of us will be to let the will of the people be heard in the halls of the House of Representatives (for polls show considerable and perhaps majority support for the impeachment of Richard Cheney).



I will definitely take your views into account as I continue my work to have the House impeach Richard Cheney.



Thank you again for your e-mail. And thank you very much for your service in the United States Senate!



Sincerely,



(Signed)



author, Is There a Case for Impeaching Ronald Reagan?, unpublished, 1985. Circulated in offices of the House of Representatives in that year.