Story Transcript
Kucinich’s Fight to Impeach Bush
By Ted Roach
REP. NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: The gentleman from Ohio.
TEXT ON SCREEN: On June 9, 2008, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced a controversial resolution on the House floor.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH): Madam Speaker, the form of the resolution is as follows—. The House is not in order.
PELOSI: Please proceed.
KUCINICH: Resolved that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate. Article 1, creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq. In his conduct while president of the United States, George W. Bush has, both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the vice president, illegally spent public dollars on a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false cause for war against Iraq.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Rep. Kucinich presented 35 Articles of Impeachment, which took him almost five hours to read.
KUCINICH: It follows that the presidential program of surveillance at issue here is a violation of separation of powers … administration of George W. Bush did for partisan reasons illegally … and subversive of constitutional government. To the prejudice of the cause of law and justice, President George W. Bush is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
BILL O’REILLY, HOST, “THE O’REILLY FACTOR”: Personal story segment tonight: a House vote to impeach President Bush was tabled this afternoon. They sent it to committee, which means the majority of congresspeople don’t want to deal with it. Joining us now from DC is the sponsor of the controversial legislation, Dennis Kucinich.
KUCINICH: Bill, by the way, it was referred to committee. It wasn’t tabled.
O’REILLY: Alright, but you know what that is. Come on. We all know that is, “Look, we don’t want to deal with this. Let’s throw it in there, and it’ll die.”
KUCINICH: Well, I made the motion for it to go to committee.
O’REILLY: Okay, but it’s not going anywhere, and people on my radio program are saying, “Why is a smart guy like Dennis Kucinich wasting everybody’s time, taxpayers’ money on this nonsense?” It’s not going to happen when we’ve got out-of-control gas prices, we’ve got Iran saber rattling like crazy. Let’s concentrate on the things that really matter. And I have no answer for that. Do you?
KUCINICH: Yes, I do. Over 150,000 of our young men and women who are in Iraq putting their lives on the line, and there’s been plenty of information brought forward, Bill, that would suggest that the cause of the war was based on misleading statements.
O’REILLY: Oh, I read McClellan’s book, and he didn’t have any hard facts in there. But look—.
KUCINICH: Did you read Rockefeller’s report?
O’REILLY: I did. I skimmed it. I didn’t read the whole thing. I don’t think any human being on earth has read the whole thing, including you.
TEXT ON SCREEN: The Rockefeller report, released June 5, 2008 from the Senate Intelligence Committee, supports many of Kucinich’s claims regarding pre-war intelligence.
KUCINICH: Can I quote from it?
O’REILLY: It doesn’t really matter. We’re winning the war in Iraq right now, and perhaps that’ll help the United States. But let’s get back to your—.
KUCINICH: Maybe it won’t. Maybe it won’t help us to stay in Iraq.
O’REILLY: Maybe it won’t, and maybe it will, because we’ve got Iran to deal with.
KUCINICH: What if we’re there on a lie? How would you feel about that?
Courtesy PBS
July 13, 2007
BILL MOYERS, PBS HOST: One of the fellows you’re about to meet wrote the first article of impeachment against President Clinton. Bruce Fein has been affiliated with conservative think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, and now writes a weekly column for The Washington Times and Politico.com.
BRUCE FEIN: I think Bush’s crimes are a little bit different. I think they’re a little bit more worrisome than Clinton’s. He’s claimed authority to say he can kidnap people, throw them into dungeons abroad, dump them out into Siberia, without any political or legal accountability. These are standards that are totally anathema to a democratic society devoted to the rule of law.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN COMMENTATOR: Congress continues to refuse to exercise its constitutional responsibility, which is oversight of the executive branch of our government. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi long ago said, “Impeachment is off the table.” This is a joke. We have a president who has abused the power of his office over and over and over again. It’s what got the Democrats elected to the majority in Congress in 2006. Now it’s election time again, and every member of the House is up for reelection in November. The Democrats no doubt are worried what it will look like to many voters if they spend their time on impeachment. To hell with what’s right or wrong—what will it look like?
TEXT ON SCREEN: Rep. Kucinich vowed to keep the resolution alive, by re-introducing it on the floor within 30 days.
PELOSI: For what purpose does the gentleman from Ohio rise?
TEXT ON SCREEN: Last Thursday, July 9, 2008, he kept this promise. The resolution was reduced, this time presented as one simple article.
KUCINICH: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Article 1: deceiving Congress with fabricated threats of Iraq WMDs to fraudulently obtain support for an authorization of the use of military force against Iraq. George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, deceived Congress with fabricated threats of Iraq weapons of mass destruction to fraudulently obtain support for an authorization of the use of force against Iraq and used that fraudulently obtained authorization to commit US troops to combat in Iraq. President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office. [applause]
TEXT ON SCREEN: Speaker Pelosi changed her rhetoric last week, suggesting that the House Judiciary Committee may hold hearings on the matter. The resolution must be scheduled for consideration within two legislative days.
PELOSI: The Chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the House, and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings or other audible conversation is in violation of the House rules.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Kucinich announced he would move to refer the resolution to the House Judiciary Committee by Tuesday, July 15, 2008 … to be continued this week …
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Please note that TRNN transcripts are typed from a recording of the program; The Real News Network cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.