Impeachment

Vice President Cheney knowingly and willfully lied and deceived the American public and Congress. Several times, he asserted 1) that Iraq was connected to and aided the terrorists of 9/11, 2) that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of, as well as sought materials for, weapons of mass destruction, and 3) that the threat of a terrorist attack with the use of such weapons was imminent. The intelligence regarding 1) was most definitely fabricated; the intelligence community had no legitimate evidence of any kind. It was quickly discovered after the ill-conceived invasion that Hussein did not, in fact, have stockpiles of WMDs, nor did he seriously seek materials in Niger, which means 2) was a deliberate lie. Of course, lacking WMDs, the claim of 3) is ridiculously false; Iraq was underfunded and ill-equipped to develop, construct, and deploy weapons of mass destruction.

Unfortunately for the American and Iraqi peoples, these outright lies led to both parties suffering needlessly. Every day in Iraq, violence disrupts any attempt to rebuild the country. Every day in Iraq, American soldiers - our sons and daughters - are put in harm's way, returning home sick, injured, or in a coffin - if at all. Every day in Iraq, tax dollars get washed down the drain of no-bid contracts, massive corruption and an almost complete lack of oversight. Every day in America, families wait anxiously to hear from loved ones fighting in a false and ill-defined war. Every day in America, more and more citizens become disenchanted and disenfranchised, pushed to the sidelines, seemingly powerless to set things right. Every day in America, the man most responsible for this mess is allowed to continue making decisions that literally affect millions of people.

Rather than roll over and let him get away with it, Congressional Representative Dennis Kucinich gathered the will of the American people and introduced a resolution to begin impeachment proceedings against VP Cheney. This is by no means an act unsupported by popular opinion; 54% of those surveyed favored the start of impeachment, and Cheney's approval rating has been dismally low for several months. The simple reason is Americans do not like being lied to.

No other presidential nominee has paid as much attention to the cry for justice as has Kucinich. No other has appealed to the system of checks and balances, so vital for a functioning democracy, to undo the damage done by this administration. He has taken the direct concern of real, every day Americans and translated it into action. He wants, as do many of us, Vice President Cheney to be held accountable for his lies and misdeeds. (This article only discusses but one facet of Cheney's scheming.)

If no other candidate on the ballot supports the desires of millions of understandably angry Americans, if no other candidate respects this republic enough to preserve it, if no other candidate has taken the initiative to right horrible wrongs, why should we even consider having any one of them as president?

In 2008, Americans deserve a candidate that listens to us, supports us, and responds to us. We the people demand a candidate worthy of our vote. That candidate, based on his bold stance against the deception and manipulations of this administration, is Representative Dennis Kucinich.