Republicans Discuss Impeachment

Washington is abuzz with reports Republicans have met behind closed doors this past Friday to discuss the impeachment of the President.  Details are sketchy but it seems clear that especially the tea-flavored Republicans want to impeach Pres. Obama.

I agree with the Democratic Party that these efforts should be taken seriously and opposed.  At the same time, I urge a broader and deeper discussion about the fairness or lack thereof inherent in our current economic system, a system creaking under the weight of its own injustice and hubris.  

From 2013: Why Democrats Would Recapture House in 2014

In America today, anything written last year is deemed to be old news, without validity.  And yet, in this case, something tells me there is value in the article from U.S. News & World Report linked to below. The main fact is that although Pres. Obama's poll numbers are not high, Congressional approval ratings are even lower.

See what you think:

From 2013: Why Democrats Would Recapture the House in 2014

White House Source: Republicans Planning for Impeachment

Dan Pfeiffer of the White House staff was quoted in news reports today as saying the White House is taking seriously the possibility of Republican impeachment attempts against President Obama.

The last Democratic President was impeached.  Is every Democratic President now to be impeached by Republicans if they can make it happen?

This impeachment represents sheer ill will for the American people on the part of the big-money Republican funders.

I will be watching this issue closely.

Hunger in America -- 2014

A national monthly has reported that one in six Americans has run out of food some time during the last year.  This compares with one in twenty in most of Europe.  That this could exist in the United States, the wealthiest nation in the world, is a national scandal and should be reported as such.

This is an intolerable situation.  It should be seen as coming from the profit system and the greed which caused it in the first place and makes it run.

When the school cafeteria with its no-cost and low-cost meals becomes the feeding station of necessity  for millions of American children, the country's economy has gone haywire, its politicians numb, and its people ignorant -- willful or otherwise.  This is completely unnecessary and should end now!   

Boehner Lawsuit Falling Flat

The Boehner lawsuit against President Obama is falling flat.  The reason has everything to do with politics. A lawsuit conceived on a partisan political basis is coming out looking like exactly that -- partisan, and mean. It is  no wonder that Democrats have raised millions of dollars after the Boehner lawsuit was announced.

As I have said here before, sadly, there has indeed been an abuse of Presidential power -- think drones, and the targeted killing of an American.  As bad as all this is, it doesn't compare to the G. W. Bush Iraq War fiasco, and other such heinous abuses of Presidential power.

But these are not Boehner's interest.  He wants to defeat a Democratic President, and thus appease his party's far-right base.  Pathetic.  

Vice-President Biden Speaks on the Importance of Greece

From the web site of the Greek Orthodox Church in America comes the following article on Vice-President Biden's speech to the assembled throng.  The Vice-President spoke well of the relationship of the U.S. to Greece going at least as far back as the Founding Fathers who drew inspiration from the democratic forms of ancient Greece.  The Vice-President also spoke of current issues of concern to both countries.

A nice reminder of the relationship between the two countries.

Vice-President Biden on Greece and the Greek Orthodox Church

The Crisis of Capitalism

Quickly --  


This morning I am reading the article linked to below.  It contains the essence of what I and others having been saying for quite some time now:  the capitalist system is broken beyond repair.  The usefulness of this article is, first of all, in its history.  It will be up to us to determine its future.

I'll have more later.


Capitalism's Crisis

Boehner's Boner Goes Live

We've had Seward's Folly, and many more follies since, and now we have Boehner's Boner, probably the biggest mistake of his life.  Donations to Democrats are pouring in and the country is collectively shaking its head, wondering why Washington gets wackier every month.

It is not part of my plan to "cover" the lawsuit hearings in Washington.  When the time is right I will comment on them.  But to give them any serious credence would not be worth my time.

What I can say, and this will not be welcome news to everyone, is that Presidential power can certainly be questioned.  In fact, we should question the use of Presidential power, particularly when innocent people get killed, as has happened with drone missiles.

But to wantonly try to destroy a Presidential administration comes with a certain price tag.  The highest price being paid now is a continued decrease in the confidence of the people in what used to be called the greatest democracy on earth.  Oppose unwarranted Presidential power?  Sure.  But make sure you are tending to the unemployed, the hungry, the powerless first.  This latter is not being done by today's House leadership.  

Welcoming the World

It is a big world, as the cliche goes. And, it's a small world, as they also say.  That makes it a seemingly confusing world, I say.

However, I am pleased and grateful for the many people coming to this blog from countries all over the northern hemisphere.  As of yet, there aren't so many from the southern hemisphere, but I trust that will change.

For those who are coming, I am grateful for your interest in both the United States and the world.  Life in the U.S. remains good for many, yet quite challenging for a large number of people as well.  To say the recession has ended or is ending is questionable at best.

Soon, I will have a post on the state of the world-wide web.  But for today I mention briefly a criticism George F. Will recently made on C-Span.  He said that the coming of the Internet has created  a situation in which people go from a standing start to full-blown anger in nothing flat (that is, very quickly).  He stated that many groups feel they can only get attention if they are at full decibel all the time, and that many such groups are probably right to feel that way.

Without parsing Mr. Will's comments too heavily, I have decided that if there is any truth to his criticism I do not want to be guilty.  So instead of being steadily loud I hope to be steadily passionate -- about justice, about goodwill, about truth.  Perhaps Mr. Will and others would like to see themselves the same way.  I hope so.  

Boehner's Folly

Word has come today that J. Boehner, he of Speakership fame, plans a show trial of Barack Obama beginning as early as next week.  These plans are wrong-headed on two counts.  First, the complaints against Mr. Obama are not well-based.  If Mr. Obama is to be paraded before a banana republic committee for these alleged misdeeds in office, other Presidents, especially the Bushes, must be charged as well (think Contra scandal, and yellow cake).  It is also a vast distraction, as it says nothing about Mr. Obama's war-like acts in Libya and with attack missiles, to mention only two issues.

Further, Boehner's boner highlights the reasons for dismissing ever so many Republicans from office.  This panoply of plutocratic plenitude should be sent back to the board rooms* and the lodge halls* of the American boondocks.


* Apologies. No insult intended to rooms, halls, or rural America!   

Saturday Poetry

America

 

by

Walt Whitman

 

 

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,                            

All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old.   

Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,                   

Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,

A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,                         

Chair'd in the adamant of Time.                                      

 

 

 

 

[1888]

 

 

 



Lawsuit Against Obama Will Have Fall-out

Looking down the road, it is possible to see some of the likely fall-out from the Boehner lawsuit scheme.

Surely this is not good for America.


Daily Kos on Boehner Lawsuit



Happy Independence Day to one and all

The Republican Effort to Usurp the Power of the Presidency

In case anyone needs a refresher, this is not the way our system of government is supposed to work. Congress passes the laws, and the president implements them. Congress does not have the ability to pass and implement their own laws. For decades, the courts have agreed that presidents have the power to implement the law. The only requirement is that they must implement the law within a reasonable period of time.*

Republicans in Congress now have a new proposal they call the ENFORCE Act.  This act would allow Congress to decide just how the laws are to be executed, a clear violation of the Separation of Powers principle of the Constitution.

Ironically, there may actually be grounds for Impeachment, if it comes to that.  For instance, does the President have the power to send attack drones into countries we are not at war with?  Does the President have the right to order the killing of an American anywhere in the world?  Has the President reined in agencies which have spied on the American people through what is called mega-data?

But these are not the issues the Republicans are interested in.  They want to stop programs and efforts which will help the American people but "burden" their rich friends.  Certainly there are Republicans who sincerely believe they are doing the right thing.  Unfortunately, those currently providing the bulk of the funding for the Republican Party care only for protecting their own wealth.  This is what is driving this new Republican fiasco machine in the House of Representatives.  


*   Republicans Try to Usurp Power of the President 

Boehner Lawsuit Apparently First Step in Plan to Impeach President

Quick Post --

Below, read more about the evidence Boehner's lawsuit stunt is really a plan to impeach the President!


Boehner Plan to Prepare for Impeachment?

How Bad Things Are

As a sign of how bad things have gotten, Democracy Now recently reported on a treaty involving fifty countries which would sharply limit new regulations on financial institutions.  Read more at the web page below.


A treaty only oligarchs could love