Profile in Courage

Last week Congressman Dennis Kucinich stunned the Bush administration by his successful attempt to read articles of impeachment on the House floor against Vice President Cheney for the numerous crimes he has committed against our great nation.

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Even though Speaker Pelosi and Majority leader Hoyer put the brakes on Kucinich's act of courage -- they did not shield his message from the American people. Furthermore, Kucinich was successful in getting HR 333 sent to the Judiciary Committee. Now we will have to wait and see what happens there -- I guess.

I suspect that the Democratic leadership in Congress is scared of what the ramifications might be in the 2008 elections if they were to impeach Bush or Cheney. It's politics at its worst but I can understand it, as disturbing as that sounds.

I was never one who advocated for impeachment because I never believed that the Democrats would have the courage to hold Bush and Cheney accountable for their criminal actions.

However, what I can not understand is why impeachment was taken off the table by Speaker Pelosi. That sends a message directly to President Bush and Vice President Cheney to just run wild, continue your illegal war in Iraq, attack Iran, do your best to keep destroying our country, we won't stop you, we will just use it as political ammunition against your Republican allies running for election in 2008.

At the very least Democrats should make sure that Bush and Cheney know that they are on a very short leash and are being watched.

Without a serious threat of accountability Bush can just operate as if the Republican party controlled Congress because he knows the Democrats have already committed to giving him a free ride.

To be fair I have to give some credit to the Democrats controlling Congress. If the Republicans still held the majority President Bush would have already received every dollar for the war in Iraq in one shot with no strings attached, we would have probably attacked Iran by now, Alberto Gonzalez would still be the Attorney General, Karl Rove would still be in the White House, and Rummy would still be running the Pentagon.

So there has been substantial progress, but still not a whole lot of accountability.

Congressman Kucinich demonstrated last week that he is willing to fight fire with fire when it comes to dealing with Bush and Cheney like no other Democrat has done yet.

As an Iraq war veteran with 8 honorable years of military service I want to extend my deepest respect and gratitude to Congressman Kucinich for taking a real stand for what is right and for putting moral courage over politics.

When I served in the military I did not do so to be used by a President and Vice President who:

* Lied about WMDs to American people and the world community to invade Iraq
* Use fear mongering to scare the American people into supporting an illegal war
* Alter highly classified intelligence reports from the CIA to justify their false claims
* Condone the use of torture in secret prisons around the world
* Out undercover CIA operatives
* Are responsible for the deaths of 3,860 US troops because of their lies
* Are responsible for the countless and needless deaths of innocent Iraqi people
* Continue to lie about the current situation in Iraq - as if it is good
* Have broken our Army making our national security weaker
* Placed the financial burden of the war on future generations while giving more tax cuts to their rich friends who are so greedy and unwilling to give up that tax cut to help pay for a war they so ardently support
* Advocate for a total unshared sacrifice of the American people in this mess they inflicted upon us
* Would rather spend a trillion+ dollars on their delusions in Iraq while we have millions of Americans right here at home with no livelihood or health care.
* etc,etc,etc.

This is not the leadership I fought for as an American soldier. Bush and Cheney are a disgrace to all that is American. They have betrayed our troops, our people, and our country.They should be held accountable and Congressman Kucinich should forever hold his head up high for his efforts. He stood up for the wishes of the American people when other leaders of Congress lacked the courage to do so out of political fear.

I never thought I would ever see the day when a member of Congress would read articles of impeachment against Vice President Cheney. It actually inspired me to fight even harder for an end to the war in Iraq.

Thank you Congressman Kucinich and all of your cosponsors of H.R. 333 for standing strong for America and giving us some much needed hope. Actions speak louder than words and you have all led by example -- the best way to lead. I hope more members of Congress follow your leadership.

John Bruhns
Iraq Veteran

P.S. This is not an endorsement of Kucinich for president. This is simply me recognizing his courage to do what it right and my gratefulness for that. Also I have not left the Democratic Party. I am and have always been a Democrat. Right now I am just not satisfied with how Congress is operating. I have met Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid on many occasions. I know they want an end to the war in Iraq. But their past approach in dealing with President Bush has gotten us nowhere because of Bush's refusal to accept their authority as leaders in a co-equal branch of government. Our leaders must learn from those mistakes of the past. The time for reasoning and compromising with Bush regarding Iraq came, went, and is totally gone. It has been clearly demonstrated that Bush is too stubborn and petulant to recognize his complete failure as a President. It's now time for Congress to micromanage his agenda in Iraq and bring our troops home.

Comments

[amacd]

Cheney’s own logic FOR impeachment:

All right, let's be fair and apply Cheney's own logic to Kucinich's issue of whether Cheney should be impeached.

It is well known (in fact there is a book about it) that Cheney was the originator and promoter of the Bush doctrine by which the Iraq war was launched --- "The One Percent Doctrine".

According to Cheney's own logic, the 'one percent doctrine' states that because the outcome would be so terrible, that if there is only a 'one percent chance' that Iraq might plunge the world into nuclear war--- then preemptive action is required to prevent such a massive danger to the people of America.

OK, in the manner of the famous "Dirty Harry" movie line, "ask yourself, punk" is there a 'one percent chance' that Cheney might cause the launch of a nuclear war on Iran before Jan '09??

As Cheney himself might say (if he were honest), "Well, have you been counting, punk?" "I don't remember if I have fired 5 wars or six --- so do you want to try me?"

The bottom line is clearly that there is at least a 'one percent chance' that Cheney will cause Americans to be involved in a nuclear war before Jan '09 --- and thus by Cheney's own logic, ACTION to address that risk to the American people must be taken!!

[blankmw]

Thank you so much for your post. You succinctly and precisely listed the major failings of this administration, and criticized them from a wholly justifiable and legitimate standpoint -- that of a person with military experience. Now, if only the politicians would listen to you (and the rest of us)!

[Carlie]

Impeach Bush, and Cheney becomes pres...do we really want that?
Good to see a brave soldier on more than one front...thank you John Bruhns!!
P.S. Cindy Sheehan wants handwritten letters to deliver to Pelosi for Thanksgiving. Must mail by Friday,Nov.18th. Send to:
Cindy for Congress
RE: Impeach Dick Cheney
1260 Mission Blvd.
San Francisco,CA 94103

This is her campaign office-you're not supporting her bid for Congress (although it looks like she will win) She will deliver all letters to Pelosi; who said if she gets 10,000 letters she will put impeachment on the table. Tell her in the letter to support H.Res 333.
GO AMERICA!!

[cuthbertallgood]

Kucinich is the last Democrat standing.
Always honor courage as you see fit.

Dennis for President

[JustifiablyParanoid]

Kucinich...the only one that I would even consider, for one second, voting for....

And believe me, that, is saying something.

[lgillooly]

According to Limbaugh you are a Phony soldier and the sad reality is millions listen to him 24/7......sickening
Keep up the pressure and thank you for your service and courage to speak truth to power.

[Richardini]

This little guy may not be physically attractive but he has guts and his ideas are extremely cogent. I agree with him about the impeachment of Cheney. However, I believe that Bush should be the real target. They are both guilty of getting us into this awful mess.

[realitytrumpsbull]

I second that emotion, Kucinich stands as
a great example for the rest of Congress, as
well as for the country, principle vs. profits.
Go Dennis! End this greed-fest, and hold
the responsible parties accountable.


http://www.impeachbush.org