The Ohio
congressman and long-shot presidential contender may not be following
the rules of engagement as dictated by major media and his party
leaders. But when Kucinich raises the issue of impeachment, he will be
speaking for a great mass of Americans who agree with his argument
that, 'Congress must hold the Vice President accountable.'
How great?
A fresh poll conducted for Vermont's WCAX
television station finds that citizens of that state enthusiastically
believe that Congress beginning impeachment proceedings against
President Bush.
Sixty-one percent of the Vermonters
surveyed favor taking steps to impeach the president, while just 33%
oppose doing so.
The numbers are even higher for
impeaching Cheney. Sixty-four percent of Vermonters favor beginning
the process of holding the vice president to account, where only 31
percent are opposed.
The greater level of support for
impeaching Cheney parallels the few nationwide figures that have been
ascertained. When the American Research Group conducted a national
survey in early July of this year, it found that 54 percent of
American adults wanted the House to begin impeachment proceedings
against Cheney -- with 76 percent of Democrats, 51 percent of
independents and a striking 17 percent of Republicans favoring the
step.
Forty-six percent of Americans surveyed
backed impeachment proceedings against Bush -- with support for
impeachment at 69 percent among Democrats, 50 percent among
independents and 13 percent among Republicans.
What is notable is that, when Time
magazine surveyed Americans in the late spring of 1974, after the
Watergate scandal had evolved into a full-scale crisis of confidence
in Nixon's presidency, only 43 percent favored impeachment.
A media that actually had a sense of
history, not to mention reality, would focus on the fact that
Americans are more supportive of a congressional intervention to
thwart Bush and Cheney's wrongdoing than they were of moves to hold
Nixon to account just months before the former president resigned in
disgrace.
Now, it falls to Kucinich to speak the
reality that, 'The momentum is building for impeachment. Millions of
citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice
President's abuse of power.'
Says the congressman, 'Despite this
groundswell of opposition to the unconstitutional conduct of office,
Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by
insisting the power of the executive branch is supreme... The Vice
President continues to use his office to advocate for a continued
occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance
against Iran. If the Vice President is successful, his actions will
ensure decades of disastrous consequences.'
Kucinich introduced articles of
impeachment against Cheney several months ago, and his H. Res. 333 has
attracted almost two dozen co-sponsors. All Democrats, they are Tammy
Baldwin (D-WI), Robert Brady (D-PA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep.
William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Keith Ellison
(D-MN), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Sheila
Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick
(D-MI), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. James
Moran (D-VA), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL),
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Diane
Watson (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Rep. Albert Wynn
(D-MD).
Frustrated by the refusal of Democratic
leaders to set up a process for holding hearings on his proposal,
Kucinich will use an arcane House rule allowing for the prodding of
the process with privileged resolutions to try and force
consideration. Once introduced, a privileged resolution must be
addressed within two legislative days."
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