More Inadequate Excuses from Kucinich on Impeachment

nadia's picture
Exerpts from A Kucinich interview with Buzzflash

So here I am thinking Kucinich is working hard to get support in the House of Representatives for Impeachment with an interest in succeeding when I read this...
"And millions of Americans are challenging the conduct of this administration. It's appropriate that there be an effort in the House that's doing the same thing. So there will be a record established, and there will be a historical record. And people will be able to go back and say: well, at least some people understood what was going on and were willing to call it the way it was."
I want the investigation to lead to Impeachment and removal from office.  With any amount of investigation, the information that will come out should lead to an immediate impeachment, especially as our 'Representatives' are waking up to the fact that we are going to work to throw them out of office.  I thought Kucinich was a man of hope and action, now that statement just sounds defeatest or like he's throwing us a bone.  Then this just sounds contradictory and self serving...

"I stand on the side of the Constitution. I took an oath to defend the Constitution. And that oath really goes to the heart of what we're after. We're not after aggrandizement. We're not there for personal honor. We're there to represent the Constitution of the United States, the people of this country, and to protect the Constitution. That's the oath. We're not protecting the Constitution when we let this administration wage war without being able to stand on the side of truth. Because they're not standing on truth -- they're standing on lies. So I'm not going to let this go. Most voters understand that with an election in a couple of weeks, I've got some things I better take care of....

And I stand for the Constitution. I stand for a deeper sense of democracy. And I'm not going to set that aside just for a temporary idol of holding office."

Does this make sense?   He just said he had other things to do besides upholding his Constitutional oath, and he is putting off Impeachment for the "temporary idol of holding office".  And WHAT does this mean?
Maybe it's late but I don't get it...

"The election is just a little more than two weeks away, on March the 4th. But again, I'm confident that we can win if the public rises to the occasion of supporting us. In any event, I'm not going to change who I am because someone dangles a prize in front of me which really doesn't belong to them to dangle."
(2 votes)

41 Comments

I'm not going to change who

ben
ben's picture

I'm not going to change who I am because someone dangles a prize in front of me

Is he saying he was bribed but he turned it down?

We're running out of time

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

We're running out of time here but he since he doesn't think this legislation will get anywhere I guess he sees no need to rush. Just try not to notice that Bush stills plans to attack Iran.

As I understand it, he's

sayuncle
sayuncle's picture

As I understand it, he's saying if there is evidence in the public record of somebody questioning the administration it will be a permanent record and future generations won't think we all were a bunch of morons; weather the current house gets the job done or not. Researchers will be able to tell the truth in comparison to the rosier picture history paints; Nixon being on example.

I believe the things he's got to attend to is running a campaign for the election. The dangling prize could be a bribe or he may be referring to the other candidates who are bought and paid for with corporate money (ok that could be a bribe also)

It was disappointing to me he failed to become president or even to make a good show of it except he did make clear some obvious points which the average citizen should be able to pick up on.

1) Campaign Finance through corporations decides policy and needs to be changed.

2) Media monopolies decide candidate exposure which decides who is elected, also needs changes.

3) Constitution is in danger. Be aware.

4) Criminals are the current administration and own most of the government and we will have justice only after they are all gone.

5) Party system is a farce, need to abolish parties, candidates run on their own merit.

6) Uniform election processes and better scheduling.

This is just a quick list, feel free to add to or expand on them.

Brian
Activist training camp!!
http://www.wellstone.org/
Pass it on. Please.

I believe it was Kucinich

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

I believe it was Kucinich that pushed the issue of universal health care, but now Obama and Hillary will use it for mandated health insurance.

Yes he helped expose what a

nadia
nadia's picture

Yes he helped expose what a farce the Democratic party and our Democracy is, but I already knew that. He was supposed to lead the charge for the aware and intelligent citizens to finally reclaim our country, and instead of helping it has made us look like we have no support. The majority of Americans want Dennis' platform, but his run makes it seem like we are just 'left loonies'.

Kucinich has stayed in the

Where's my Democracy?
Where's my Democracy?'s picture

Kucinich has stayed in the Democratic Party and bowed to their pressure. He is not a good example of principle and integrity.

"But that's not what the game is about. It is apparently about Americans trying to act civil with their partners in crime amid the wreckage they have made of the world, basking in the smooth leather-and-dark-wood motif among the venerable symbols of Democracy in Action. That's probably why, when upstart Congressman Dennis Kucinich vowed to introduce over 50 articles of impeachment against the president today, of all days, senior members of his own party took him aside and explained that this just isn't how things are done. It is a ludicrous spectacle, this desperate reach for decorum once we have drenched the world in napalm, white phosphorous, agent orange and depleted uranium. It makes putting lipstick on a pig seem an exercise in refinement."

I am interested in why he

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

I am interested in why he stopped this before the state of the union. From his congressional site "After making a statement on the floor of the House of Representatives last week indicating my intent to introduce articles of impeachment against George W. Bush, I met with members of the Judiciary Committee. After that brief meeting, I am hopeful there will be an inquiry by the Judiciary Committee. I will give them the opportunity to proceed before introducing articles of impeachment."

Is this a game to them? Last

sickofcongress
sickofcongress's picture

Is this a game to them?
Last week Conyers Says He's on Edge of Starting Impeachment. I think he is more content to let people starve for Democracy.
Leslie Angeline Meets With John Conyers on Impeachment, Continues Fast
http://peacecandidates.com/discuss/462/leslie_angeline_meets...

following your link, I found

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

following your link, I found that many people are angry at Kucinich

He will probably do it

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

He will probably do it eventually but it will be too late. This should have happened as soon as the Democrats took control in 2006. As I recall even Kucinich was making excuses not to at the time. This is all part of the Congressional dog and pony show, the pretense of checks and balances.

Kucinich has seen from the

Stop Bush
Stop Bush's picture

Kucinich has seen from the results of the primaries that, even though pretty much all informed people would prefer him over the "mainstream" candidates, he doesn't stand a chance -- because sadly, 98% of the people out there aren't informed and prefer getting into the Establishment Candidate #1 vs. Establishment Candidate #2 talk of the day over looking at the actual issues (Ask some random people on the street, and they'll tell you Hitlery Clinton was always against the Iraq war).

I think Kucinich thinks that he can do more good by becoming the lesser evil ("I'll have to back down on impeaching, but it'll allow me to keep my seat and fight for some lesser issues; if I don't do it, they'll oust me and my replacement won't do any good even there. And if I file impeachment articles, the media will just ignore it anyway and the people won't even know they're impeachable, or that someone tried.").

Even though I don't agree (sometimes it IS better to make a point than to fight for other smaller issues), he does have a point there, if that's what he's thinking.

How does backing down help

just wondering
just wondering's picture

How does backing down help him keep his seat?
He will keep his seat because AIPAC is helping him?
AIPAC did threaten him so he dropped Impeachment?

I think it was part of a

Stop Bush
Stop Bush's picture

I think it was part of a deal, yes.

AIPAC is a likely suspect of this blackmailing, but there are also other suspects, such as the RNC (for obvious reasons) or the DNC (Can't lose votes for Clinton/Obama because they'd have to explain why they don't support Kucinich's impeachment plans).

It might also have been a simple strategic decision - Kucinich wants Obama to win (lesser evil -- can't say I disagree with him there, I don't like Obama but among those who stand any chance, he's the one I hate least), so he doesn't want to embarrass Obama by forcing him to show his true face by voting no on impeachment.

I still think Kucinich is good, he's just too much into playing the political game.

Isn't it time to accept the

Burr1800
Burr1800's picture

Isn't it time to accept the political reality? What more can the man do? No politician of nat'l repute spoke out as frequently as Mr. Kucinich in calling the invasion what it was, a war of aggression and an int'l crime. No one was more vehement in saying it amounted to an impeachable offense. At some point you have to accept that he is a politician who has to tend to his constituency. Would you rather he not be there in D.C. at all? That there won't be an impeachment is our country's fault, not his. Anyway, it's hardly unexpected that it didn't get anywhere, is it not? My conventional wisdom has always been there will never be an impeachment on a foreign policy action (i.e. war), because it would mean that as a matter of record the whole country was admitting we were wrong. And good luck with that.

There needs to be a vote on

sickofcongress
sickofcongress's picture

There needs to be a vote on Impeachment so at least so we know who to vote out.
What more can the man do?
He can do what he said. Right now it looks like he is allowing them to threaten him. Why not tell his supporters what really happened.
Conyers has no opposition, so after all the bullshit, he will go on leading the judiciary committee.
Lets Throw Conyers Out of Office
http://peacecandidates.com/blog/ben/02/10/boot_conyers

he has a pretty wife though

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

he has a pretty wife though

we know

Karl Rove
Karl Rove's picture

we know

Could it be that he was sent

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Could it be that he was sent a message? Remember how his brother died mysteriously? I may be suspicious but I think all this wiretapping and a compliant congress is due to them being blackmailed and threatened. I hope I am wrong but something is not right here. One day Kucinich is for impeachment and then he's not. Something behind the scenes happened and he is protecting his family. Remember this bush/cheney cabal is a crime family.

I suspect that someone

Element 5
Element 5's picture

I suspect that someone walked up to him and told him to drop his pursuit of impeachment. He probably asked why and got a one word answer....."Wellstone".

There's a reason why the Dems have been acting the way they have, in spite of all of their political advantages, and it started with the "Democrats only" anthrax attacks, followed soon by the murders of Patsy Mink and Paul Wellstone. Mink was the most liberal member of the House and Wellstone the most liberal Senator and you think it's just coincidence that they died within 3 weeks of one another?

I had never heard of Patsy

lara
lara's picture

I had never heard of Patsy Mink before so I googled her. Interesting.

What gets me is that he

ben
ben's picture

What gets me is that he launched 'integrity now' right after pulling the impeachment resolution.

It's like he caved to AIPAC, so then sent Karl Rove over to help him out. Karl's advice was, "Just pull 'the big lie'. It worked great for Hitler and now it's working for GW... just say one thing, then do the exact opposite. Those stupid peasants will never put it together."

i think that the fix is

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

i think that the fix is already in for this election cycle and has been for a long while,
i think dennis and maybe even ron paul have always been straw men as was ross perot installed,or perhaps allowed only as a distraction from vote fraud and outrighr corruption and theft
unfortunately you can see exactly how the fix will be , just watch fox spews
they already have hillarious beaten by killer mccain by 7 points,with hillarious ahead of obomination by the same amout in Texas

People like Kucinich cause

ironcutter
ironcutter's picture

People like Kucinich cause more harm than good. He's there to give the impression that his platforms actually exist within the democratic party.

From what I can tell, what I

desertique
desertique's picture

From what I can tell, what I have read, both Obama and Hillary have stole some of the Kucinich platform. Like the Works green administration. And didn't Obama start running on the "Change" motto after Iowa when Dennis gave away his votes because Obama represented change just like he did?
It seems to me Kucinich always had the right platform:
Out of Iraq
No war with Iran
Green economy
Cancel NAFTA
But he did not have the political machinery behind him. Just us.
Its hard to interpret what he means with what he says now. My guess is he will have a lot more to say after the primary.
Go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you will see further.

I think this website has a

ty
ty's picture

I think this website has a lot of visitors from cointelpro who want us to stop supporting Dennis Kucinich. Stop blaming Dennis Kucinich for everything and blame the American people for not doing anything to change things. I see no organized mass resistance in America.

The people have been

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

The people have been organizing demanding Impeachment. Kucinich has been painting himself the goto Congressman. I am not an agent but I do like to ask questions as do many whatreallyhappened readers.

I only see 229,572

ty
ty's picture

I only see 229,572 signatures for impeachment hearings at wexlerwantshearings.com. We need millions of people to sign the petition to make a big impact.

I have read many reports of

nadia
nadia's picture

I have read many reports of those numbers mysteriously going backwards but I don't think you can count this petition as representative of the majority of support for Impeachment. Many more than that have just lost faith in petitions actually getting us anywhere. Conyers himself has surely had more phone calls than that. He and Nancy both have admitted to being pressured heavily by their constituents as well as people all over the country. There are 90 cities that have passed Impeachment resolutions including Detriot whom Conyers is supposed to represent.

Since there are no

sayuncle
sayuncle's picture

Since there are no candidates we really want as prez running right now, what if we wrote in:
[X] IMPEACH NOW

sounds good Actually if a

nadia
nadia's picture

sounds goodrolling on the floor laughing
Actually if a Democrat wins, the House will probably start immediate impeachment hearings on them.

Make yourself a problem,

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Make yourself a problem, then let yourself be bribed to become the "solution."

Kucinich should change his name to Kook Cynic.

This is the reason Bush

Bush Blows
Bush Blows's picture

This is the reason Bush needs to be Impeached yesterday!
Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does-and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/07/6918/

Infragard = the new

ben
ben's picture

Infragard = the new Brownshirts ? Private security guards authorized to kill, seems pretty damn unconstitutional to me. Yet another reason for impeachment.

I wonder if Kucinich would ever send out useful info like this to his supporters, rather than donate spam or embarrassing valentines photos.

Okay, infragard is scary.

Burr1800
Burr1800's picture

Okay, infragard is scary. But c'mon, aren't you just a little jealous of Dennis there?

One possible reason for the

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

One possible reason for the Democrats being so docile and rolling over so lamely for the Bush Administration at every juncture is that they are being blackmailed. This is why Bush couldn't get warrants or let the courts or anyone else know who he was tapping. He was tapping Congress and then blackmailing them with whatever he found. We already know the Congress was attacked with anthrax as they were given the PATRIOT ACT to vote on without even being able to read it first. That Anthrax was traced to the US Army, not Al Qaeda. Given that, it's easy to imagine them also tapping every communication of Congress, the courts, the media, their political enemies, and any other threats and using whatever dirt they find as blackmail.

ok, so go all anti-Dennis

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

ok, so go all anti-Dennis now. who is out there that you are going to support? whatever Kucinich did, he felt he had some reason. You think the right wing ever turns against Rush Limbaugh? No. He can pop a million pills and the Dittoheads still support him.

This is nuts -- Dennis Kucinich now isn't left wing enough.

You want us to be like ditto

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

You want us to be like ditto heads? "whatever he did,he felt he had some reason" Okay sure, that's good enough for me.
No one was saying he isn't left wing enough, just discussing the Impeachment situation.

I don't see anything

ty
ty's picture

I don't see anything embarassing about the valentine's photo. They're a cute couple. The cointelpro people on this website want us to waste time discussing conspiracy theories so we don't accomplish anything.

??????????

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

??????????

http://www.impeachthem.com/fi

Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

http://www.impeachthem.com/files/kucinich_controversy13feb08...

Six people were spoken to in person. They didn't wanted their names revealed. Is six enough witnesses? Six people heard of the incident through "a person who worked at a high level on the Kucinich campaign staff". So the 6 witnesses heard the incident from the top campaign staff worker. The 6 souces are credible and so is top campaign staff worker that they are quoting. More in depth research reveals that the date that the staff worker made the quote was Jan.8th, during a meal, after cleaning up the Manchester office after the NH primaries. One person did not hear the statement about throwing Pelosi out of the office. So maybe she was thrown out and maybe she wasn't. Dennis may have said it didn't happen because it didn't occur in Nevada, and maybe he didn't actually get rude enough to "throw them out of the office". But the fact that he was approached with a campaign "endorsement (or bribe in layman terms) is true, if 6 witnesses of a statement by a top campaign staff member is good enough for you.

"My sources were at the Manchester Kucinich campaign headquarters, working for Dennis in his race in the New Hampshire primary on January 8th. While the group of people were cleaning up, and later, when they broke for a bite to eat at Gillian's restaurant, they were told by a person who worked at a high level on the Kucinich campaign staff, that he knew information concerning the fact that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee - AIPAC, the National Rifle Association - NRA/the gun lobby, and other big corporate interests, were prepared to spend two to two and a half-million dollars to defeat Dennis in order to remove him from congress. They were told that the message to Dennis was definite: If you drop impeachment, your re-election will be easier. If you don't, someone will defeat you."

Another similar incident took place the day of the State of the Union Address.

"When he announced from the floor of the House his intent to introduce his bill to impeach Bush on the day Bush delivered his State of the Union address, he was called to Speaker Pelosi's office and told to temper his comments, and further threatened with the loss of his chairmanship of the 110th Congress Oversight Committee Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, whose jurisdiction includes matters relating to energy, labor, education, criminal justice (excepting justice matters pertaining to Homeland Security), the economy, as well as the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "

Why Kucinich and Paul , and

A citizen
A citizen's picture

Why Kucinich and Paul , and the rest of the liars in the house of reprehensiables will not do the job they are their for. thirty-thousand.org

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