U.S. Senators Check Schumer and Barak (-Star) Obama are putting the pressure on to halt the Lyin' and Cheatin' that has too often stained recent elections. Judging by the New York Times editorial they are on the right track.

One of the downfalls of the Republican RadicalRightWingnuts is their dismal moral record of resorting to lies, distortions and dirty tricks to steal elections that their candidates can't carry on merit (i.e., lack of) alone. A few jail sentences might do the trick to break the strangle-hold the radicals have over Republican Party institutions in Colorado and other states.

Criminal penalties for this conduct are the needed remedy. Financial disclosure alone relies too much on integrity and honorable behavior that is already compromised. When the RadicalRightWingnut big-spender decides to bankroll a dirty campaign mere disclosure of the size of the check has little meaning. The only concern of the politically corrupt financier is winning.

Sure, wider and more frequent contributor disclosure of 527 Committee contributions will identify those responsible. But, the only consequence is publicity and whining. The publicity is only helpful if the media accurately covers the revelation, and the whining further undermines the resolve and stature of the complainers.

It is difficult to convince the fickle electorate that you, or your candidates, deserve their vote when your dominant characteristic is complaining that Mr. Big is bankrolling an ad campaign that makes you look bad, and gives your Republican RadicalRightWingnut opponent an unfair advantage. It degrades the situation to the level of kids running to a parent to settle a fight.

There is no harm in the current Colorado bill seeking an improved 527 Committee reporting system. It could be vastly improved by adding criminal penalties for Lyin', Cheatin' and Stealin' elections.   Read More »

The verdict is in and it's screw indicted former Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall, universally recalled yesterday by his former colleagues in the state legislature and county government alike as a devious blowhard. Nobody claims surprise at seeing him at long last wearing, and Sen. Bob Hagedorn tells it, "county orange."

Cue the Rocky Mountain News:

The news that Paschall, a four- term representative who went on to become Jefferson County treasurer, has been charged with asking an aide for a kickback was the talk of the Senate on Tuesday.

Many lawmakers expressed sorrow for his family but not for the outspoken Arvada Republican, who often tangled with them when he served in the House.

Paschall had a reputation for being mean to Democrats, who were in the minority, a bully to fellow Republicans and someone who wasn't always on the up and up.

"I'm saddened by this event," remarked Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, although he was laughing as he said that.

You know, it is kind of sad. Especially for the Independence Institute.   Read More »

If you look at the teacher demographics of charter schools it is almost the exact opposite of public schools.  The majority of teachers in charter schools have had 5 years or less of teaching experience; whereas the majority of teachers in public schools have 5+ years of teaching experience.

Only a small percentage of teachers in charter schools have 10+ years of experience.  Do you think that teachers know something that the public doesn't?

It is my belief that charter schools only pay their teachers the amount they do because of public school competition.  If public schools were not there then the pay for charter school teachers would be abysmal.

Florida Charter School Teachers Choose a Union by James Parks, Jan 26, 2007 For the first time, charter school teachers in Florida have voted to join a union. Charter school teachers, guidance counselors and other professional staff in the southeast Florida city of Pembroke Pines on Jan. 24 chose the Broward Teachers Union (BTU) to make a better life for their families and to have a voice in educating their students. Calling the vote “an historic day for Florida and the union movement in our county, state and country,” BTU President Pat Santeramo said: From the very beginning, this campaign was driven by charter school teachers because they recognize the value of having union representation, a contract, job security and a voice in their schools.

Read the rest here.

The only response that will be allowed by the wingnuts like Tancredo and the Minutemen is an all out armed "Shoot to Kill" policy.

Nat'l Guard Criticized For Obeying Law

By TChris, Section Other Politics Posted on Sun Jan 28, 2007 at 06:18:26 PM EST Tags: (all tags)

"Advocates for tougher immigration enforcement" are complaining that four members of the Arizona National Guard didn't take aggressive action when they encountered six to eight armed men wearing bulletproof vests near an observation point. The soldiers contacted Border Patrol agents and pulled back, investigators concluded. The Border Patrol tracked the armed men back to the border but could not locate them. No shots were fired.

Read the rest here.

Larimer County's resident RadicalRightWingnutRepublican Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) stepped into the national spotlight Friday. Through coverage by the Associated Press, fringe-issue Lundberg can now claim the title of Colorado's first (only?) anti-military anti-veteran Republican.

By standing against HB-1050, Display of Flags, Rep. Lundberg perpetuates a ban on flying the POW/MIA Flag and continues the fear and confusion of the flawed current state statute. Lundberg appears in the AP story to imply that HB-1050 would allow any flag to be permanently displayed. This is false picture of the bill on three points: first - that only the US, Colorado and POW/MIA flags are allowed on the flag-poles of state facilities, second - that the educational needs basis of other displays are correctly returned to the discretion of local school boards, and third - that foreign flags are only displayed for "…special, occasional, ceremonial purposed…" according to Federal Law.

Perhaps this is just another of Lundberg's acts to oppose and criticize anything initiated by a Democrat. Reading the entire bill before speaking on the House Floor would be a good technique. Regardless, he's wrong and Colorado's veterans and members of the Armed Services deserve an apology.

HB-1050 is a necessary reform measure that removes awkward and harmful language in the current state law, restores appropriate honors and recognition to veterans and the armed services, and restores control of methods of instruction to local school boards. With those truths revealed, how can Representative Lundberg explain his opposition?

His Capitol telephone number is 303-866-2907, and his email is Kevin@KevinLundberg.com. Please join me in explaining to Representative Lundberg that he's out of line on this issue.

All expectations of quality drama and entertainment Tuesday night have now been squashed from all corners. With the world stage at his beck and call the current occupant of the White House (coWH) deserved the Vaudeville "hook."

The sooner we all recognize that the coWH is playing a shell-game using domestic issues to flim-flam the opposition from fully scrutinizing his tricks, the better. Sure, he's opened some new bags with enticing goodies, but it's still a sham.

In stereotypical neo-con fashion he has offered a token taste of attractive domestic initiatives: health care, alternative energy sources and average fuel mileage standards. Polite analysts have described them using the terms "modest" to "timid and irrelevant." Most, point out that innovative states are more likely to produce substantive progress in the next two-years. Colorado should strive to be one of them.

The cheap talk presented by the coWH defies the fact that he has almost whole-heartedly ignored the truly bi-partisan findings and recommended actions of the Baker-Hamilton Commission. This is an indicator that the coWH will conduct business for the next 724-days expecting the same behavior from the Congress, the Courts and the American people as he received the previous six-years.

21,500 soldiers and marines are enroute to Iraq. There's not much that anyone can do to halt the "decider" in this tragic maneuver. That leaves the moral and ethical imperative to stand publicly and on the record against this folly.

The coWH will use his executive powers to ram more young Americans into the heart of the Iraqi Insurgency, and break the budgets of all other areas of the Federal government to see this through. Every budget line that the Congress has not already "fenced" for a more narrow purpose of funds will be logically, or subversively, used to support the "surge."

The nation is on the verge of the coWH proving that he is indeed suffocating under the weight of a ruined presidency. The danger is high and the Democratic leaders in the Congress and the States must stay true to their agenda and the increasing necessity to protect America.

Protest Fox News Channel on Sunday at 3 p.m. (in time for the evening news cycle).

Protest ABC, Channel 7 on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.


There is another controversy brewing about the airing of excised portions of the patently false docudrama "Path to 9/11" by Sean Hannity on Fox News' "Hannity's America" to be broadcast on Sunday night.

Hollywood reporter article here.

The political bias by the writer/director of "Path to 9/11" Cyrus Nowrasteh is clear in the scene with Sandy Berger hanging up on CIA Director Tenent who is asking permission to assassinate Osama. Both Sandy Berger and the 9/11 Commission have stated that the scene is false.

The footage obtained by Fox News was at a public forum with Cyrus Nowrasteh speaking a World Affairs Council chapter meeting in California.

It is interesting to note that the footage to be aired does not have the explicit permission from ABC.

Read the rest here.

ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson loved the "Path to 9/11":

He also denies that it was irresponsibly fictionalized or at all driven by any campaign to distort the facts.

"Everything in that movie is backed up tenfold," he insists. "We think it was a really important thing to air. And you know, it's unfortunate that, for other agendas, people tried to squash it." When it was pointed out that ABC tried to backpedal with its last-minute alterations on 'Path to 9/11,' McPherson shot back, "We didn't backpedal. We aired the movie. We didn't change anything for those guys. We aired it as planned on the dates that were planned."

Read the rest here.

(h/t to AmericaBlog.com article here.)

Will Colorado be the second Western State to vote for impeachment?

Can we make it happen?

Read what Democracy for New Mexico has on it's website here.

More info on what is happening in New Mexico and impeachment:

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch

by poputonian

On the same day Bush (Conquistador-US) addressed the nation, the good citizens of New Mexico quietly went about more important business. David Swanson at afterdowningstreet.org reports:

Over 100 citizens showed up for the introduction, and there were over two hours of citizen speeches at the announcement event. Reporters from every New Mexico newspaper and the Associated Press were there, as well as ABC and NBC cameras. What they saw was a bottom-up movement for impeachment, exactly what inpeachment is supposed to be.

Like a snowball rolling.

Read the rest here(scroll down).

H/T to Hullabaloo blog.

War crimes in Iraq? 1st Armored Cav vet, Darrell Anderson speaks out:

"At one point, he said, the ROE (Rules of Engagement) changed and he was told if you were fired upon in a public place to just kill everyone there. "You lose a friend," he said,"you become more willing to shoot through the civilians to get to the killers. But the citizens on the left and right now want to join with the killers. The occupation just escalates the violence."

He testified about how he was with 6 artillery men who came under attack and unloaded automatic grenade launchers into downtown Jaffa. 60-80 rounds later, they'd driven off/killed the half dozen or so attackers armed with AK47's. The next day it was reported that 100 Iraqi's were dead...

Anderson testified that it is a soldiers obligation to refuse an illegal order. He also noted that if you refuse orders during combat they have the right to kill you on the spot.

He said that when he got back home he noticed that people don't understand what it's like in Iraq. He had kids tell him they'd voted Republican so he could get more money. "Society is retarded." Anderson lamented."

Read the rest here.

Now tell me why we should let King Bush and Queen Cheney stay in power for one second longer?

As many people may not know:

Mr. Bush’s overall approval rating has fallen to just 28 percent, a new low, while more than twice as many (64 percent) disapprove of the way he's handling his job.

Read the rest here.

Jan. 22, 2007 — - President Bush faces the nation this week more unpopular than any president on the eve of a State of the Union address since Richard Nixon in 1974.

Read the rest here.

(h/t to Dailykos.com here.

Isn't it about time for our elected politicians at the federal and state level start to listen to the voice of American people?

Americans do not want King Bush and Queen Cheney to kill more Americans in their Dungeons and Dragons fantasy wars. Their neo-con delusions are the stuff from which impeachment trials are made from.

It is time to tell Senators and Congresspeople that all of the videos of Abu Ghraib should be shown.

It is time to tell the American people that in the name of our nation King Bush and Queen Cheney are kidnapping, torturing, raping and murdering people: This is the the bottom line in their "The Punisher" way of so-called thinking which is as anti-American, against the principals of the Constitution and Bill of Rights of any administration in this nation's history.

The true horrific nature of systemic torture (including rape) of Bush's world girding archepelago of secret, black interrogation/detention sites has yet to be told.

We are a nation that has descended to being immoral, degraded, and against all that human beings should stand for.

To those who say "But they only have a couple of years left and it won't do any good" I say it will do this nation's soul called the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declartion of Independence all the good in the world for impeachment, incarceration, and banishment from this nation- first jail time and being stripped of their citizenship and banished from this country.

Go here to join our common cause.

Peter Blake provides an update, and insights, on Article XXIX of the Colorado Constitution (Amendment 41 if you haven't caught up) in his column of today's Rocky Denver Mountain Post News. In the manner of a true professional journalist he is to the point, but concise and perhaps too polite.

The most critical point, however, arrives after only about 80 words "Let the courts try to tackle him later." In summary, the draft bill language by the great interpreter of the intent of 4.5 Million Colorado voters, Mark Grueskin, is waiting for reported sponsor Representative Rosemary Marshall (D-Denver) to decide "...the right thing to do."

Wisely, Ms. Marshall must not relish the legacy of a passed bill that is either vetoed (not likley) by the new governor, or declared unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court. Perhaps in another dimension of reality those who started this fiasco had her sense and legislative competence. Then their alternative universe Colorado would not be embarking on a fool's journey.

Save kind words for Ms. Marshall, for she carry's a heavy burden. The detailed debate that eithics in government deserves is starting with the horses already out of the gate. As the Grueskin bill advances it must overcome the hurdles of the already established Consitutional Article XXIX. Despite Mr. Grueskin's enlightened understanding of the "voter's intent," his bill must comply with Article XXIX.   Read More »

So much for the D in "Stab in the Back" Lieberman.

He won't investigate the impeachable actions by Bush that destroyed New Orleans and those actions in the aftermath that continue the tragedy for thousands of Americans.

Now he will enable Bush to kill even more of our men and women in King Bush's nightmare- Iraq.

Lieberman is a prime example of what people find abhorent in a politician.

Lieberman Says He Will Filibuster With Republicans
by BarbinMD
Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 07:49:23 PM PST

Once again the "independent Democrat" from Connecticut is burnishing his Republican credentials, this time by announcing that he will join in a filibuster against the Senate resolution opposing the escalation of troops in Iraq.

MS. BLOCK: Can you imagine a scenario where you would join in with a Republican filibuster to stop the resolution, if it comes to that?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: I can because I think that it – this is this important.

Calling the resolution, "phony," Lieberman says:

I say to those who are opposed to what the president is now suggesting that they have a responsibility to do one thing: one is to come up with a better plan if they don’t like this one...

Read the rest here.

Look up into the clear blue sky tonight and thank your lucky stars this cud-chewing draft-dodging hypocritical bumpty-bump McCarthy with a tan is not your governor. String up those antiwar traitors, y'all. Oh my God.

(Rosen Show transcript courtesy Colorado Media Matters)

CALLER: Hi there, Bob. Sorry to have you back in Colorado again. I liked you in Washington.

BEAUPREZ: Well, you know, it's not -- it is not all bad, [Caller]. If you've got to be somewhere, I'll take Colorado almost any day. And as much fun as it is to serve in the United States Congress, being in Washington is not necessarily fun every single day. What's on your mind, [Caller]?

CALLER: Well, I'll tell you, several things. I'm a little bit older than you are. And I remember World War II. People who wanted to cut and run back then were called traitors. That is, just -- cut, you know? That's the only way you can put it.

BEAUPREZ: What's that word mean, [Caller]?

CALLER: It means that they ought to be shot some place. You know, be put up in front of the firing squad.

BEAUPREZ: That's good old --

CALLER: They do not --

BEAUPREZ: That's good old Western justice.

CALLER: You betcha.

BEAUPREZ: Well, we --

CALLER: Maybe we should get the rope out again. But, you know, they, they -- I remember when December 7th happened everybody rallied behind it, just like the few days after September 11th. Oh, what a horrible thing to happen. But back then, they wrote songs. We did it before, we can do it again. Let's get rid of the guys who did this horrible thing to us. And though we had a lot of setbacks in the beginning, we rallied behind it. We rallied behind the troops; we did what was necessary. Everybody got behind them. And the ones who didn't -- they were, shall we say, were well remembered years and years and years later.

BEAUPREZ: You bet.

I seriously don't even think Tom Tancredo ever agreed with anything so bug-eyed insane in public. Jesus, think about how close we came to electing this guy.

Oh, wait a minute.

What is your Senator(s) & Congressional Rep's position on the John McCain doctrine of escalation in Iraq?

Go to Think Progress and see the results!

If you don't like their position then call your elected officials today!

Remember it is time for the state legislatures to get involved too!

January 27th is the nationwide protest against Bush's madness.

(h/t to MyDD.com for this link to Think Progess)

I caught this off slashdot.org about Senate Bill 1. This is the only mention of it that I have seen about lobbying and registering as lobbyists by political bloggers that have a readership of more than 500 people.

" "Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the
Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to
500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report
quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220
would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive
intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history,
critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself.
"The bill would require reporting of 'paid efforts to stimulate
grassroots lobbying,' but defines 'paid' merely as communications to 500 or
more members of the public, with no other qualifiers."

However, there is this further in the article:

"That amendment was introduced by Senator David Vitter (R-LA). Senator
Vitter, however, is now a co-sponsor of Amendment 20 by Senator Robert
Bennett (R-UT) to remove Section 220 from the bill. Unless Amendment 20
succeeds, the Senate will have criminalized the exercise of First Amendment
rights. We'd be living under totalitarianism, not democracy."

Republican Keystone Kops in action.

Read the rest here.

What is Bush and his administration up to?

Josh Marshall writes about a wave of federal prosecutors being fired:

Conveniently, they're being replaced without senate approval under a provision of the Patriot Act.

Read the rest here.

(h/t to TPMmuckraker.com)

White House Pushes Out Another Prosecutor
By Justin Rood - January 15, 2007, 12:14 PM

Strange days? Less than a week after news broke that the Bush administration has forced the resignation of San Diego U.S. attorney Carole Lam, we learn that it has done the same to Daniel Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada.

According to today's Las Vegas Review-Journal, no one seems to know why he's been asked to leave before his term expires in 2008. As in Lam's ouster, there appear to be no charges of wrongdoing against Bogden.

Read the rest here.

I'll keep an eye on this.

He finds it amusing that we pushed for Allard to honor his terms limits pledge.

ProgressNowAction, which proclaims itself "Colorado's largest progressive organization," must be ecstatic today given Allard's announcement that he won't seek re-election. This is a group, after all, that launched an online petition last year calling on Allard "to keep his pledge not to run for a third term," such was its concern that he might indeed do the opposite.

Not that ProgressNowAction cares a speck about whether the senator preserves his integrity. As a knee-jerk leftist outfit, it would be delighted if Allard spent the next two years breaking every single pledge he'd ever made regarding taxes, for example, or national security. No, presumably ProgressNowAction thinks Allard's retirement beefs up the chances for a Democrat to triumph in 2008.

Now, far be it for me to minimize the powers of incumbency. For that matter, Allard has made a career confounding critics and political opponents who underestimated his popular appeal. But if any sitting senator would have been vulnerable to the challenge of a serious, seasoned opponent such as Rep. Mark Udall, surely it might be Allard - whose image does not exactly tower over the Colorado landscape even after a decade in the Senate.

"Be careful what you wish for" is an old refrain that progressives might ponder now that Allard has indeed bowed out.

Note to Vince: read this morning's news.

Sen. Allard Says He Will Retire in 2008
Washington Post
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) will not seek a third term in the Senate, a decision that creates a ripe pickup opportunity for Democrats in the 2008 election. Allard has served in the Senate since 1996. He said at a news conference yesterday in Denver that his pledge to serve just two terms was the overriding factor in his decision. "In an age when promises are cast away as quickly as yesterday's newspaper, I believe a promise made should be a promise kept," he said. Allard is the first senator to announce he will not seek reelection next year, when Republicans must defend 21 seats and Democrats only 12.
RELATED: Campaign vow Colorado's Wayne Allard made in 1996 hurts GOP hopes for a majority
Los Angeles Times
RELATED: Task Gets Taller for G.O.P.
New York Times

And thanks for playing.

What is the next step for those who do not believe that our political leaders will do the right thing?

Maybe it is time to tell our religious leaders that it is time for them to "step up" to the pulpit and lead and encourage their "flocks" to say "no more war".

Or.

Perhaps it is time for concerted, nationwide CD actions to actively block any and all movements of military supplies, troops, etc., and to have civil disobedience actions at all recruiting stations, political offices, and corporate sponsors (like Halliburton, Blackhawk, et.al.; supine broadcasters like ABC, et.al.).

Because this has happened to one man, his son, and King Bush's insane view of the world:

(h/t to the NEWSBlog.com)

What can I do?

Howard Alexander

Add worried dad to grim Iraq toll

After watching President Bush address the nation on Wednesday night, Howard Alexander went to bed repeating a question.

"What can I do?" Alexander kept asking.

His was the question of an anguished 53-year-old Brooklyn father whose son was being held nearly a year beyond his enlistment as he serves a second tour in Iraq.

"What can I do? ..."

That tour was itself being extended because the replacement unit had not had adequate stateside time since its own last combat hitch. Bush had now announced he was deploying more troops of an overextended Army.

"What can I do? ..."

He had already written countless letters and made endless calls to politicians and military officials in an effort to get his son home.

"What can I do? ..."

No answer came. Alexander suffered seemingly minor physical distress during the night, but told his wife he was all right and he rolled over. He never woke again.

The autopsy found no evidence of heart trouble or an aneurysm. The best medical guess was his death resulted from a seizure disorder he had periodically experienced.

Such seizures can be triggered and intensified by the biochemical changes that accompany stress. Nobody is saying Bush gave Alexander the condition. The possibility remains that a presidential address preceded by months of high anxiety translated into a blast of seizure-inducing norepinephrine, corticosteroids and other chemicals.

You cannot help but wonder if perhaps this was the first death by speech.

"It wasn't Bush," his sister Diane Mooney charitably allows. "But he didn't help."

Alexander's mother voices the stronger view that what ultimately killed her only son was the stress of having his boy serve two tours in Iraq, topped by watching the commander in chief announce he was dispatching more troops.

"I believe that caused his death," 82-year-old Mary Alexander said Friday night. "I believe in my heart and soul that's what put Howard where he is today. He couldn't take it."

posted by Steve @ 2:40:00 AM
8 Comments 2:40:00 AM

If King Bush wants to pick a fight with the Constitution of the United States and Congress and the Courts then we are more then ready to send him to jail along with Queen Cheney.

"I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward," Bush told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview to air Sunday night.

What do you think?

Impeachment?

Congress votes to remove funding for Bush's warmongering?

Bush goes "forward" to kill more Americans for his insane world view of American domination because he is the fist of God.

He is the cancer on America.

Ask DeGette and Salazar what do they think? We will force DeGette and Salazar to act because it is the lives of Americans that King Bush wants use for his illicit purposes.

Read the rest here.

I've been a part of the movement to remove Bush and Cheney from their positions of power since 2000 (e.g., impeachbush.org., democrats.com, impeachforpeace.org, etc...).

This particular way to force the hand of the House of Representatives into impeachment hearings is very innovative and historical.

I submit that this method should be implemented to force the hands of our Colorado state legislature and governor (or the governor could be left out of this process- see below):

New Mexico Legislature to get impeachment bill
by Kagro X
Fri Jan 12, 2007 at 12:49:00 PM PST

(read the article with links working here)

Many of you may remember the discussions we had last year about the concept of the "state-based" impeachment procedure, based on the notes in Jefferson's Manual, which indicate that impeachment proceedings may be initiated by the transmission of charges from a state legislature.

If not, a brief recap may be in order.

The transmission of charges from a state legislature must still be memorialized on the floor of the House by a Member. But if, acting on the instructions of his or her home state legislature, a Member of the House does in fact raise a direct proposition to impeach, the matter is highly privileged, "and at once supersedes business otherwise in order." It would, under the rules, be entitled to one hour of debate, after which it would be subject to a motion to table, or send to committee for further investigation (or, alternatively, death). But if the charges are carried to the floor by a Member of the House, impeachment is the order of the day. Or at least the hour.

Last year's discussion of the procedure led to the adoption of local resolutions in dozens of locations across the country, and ultimately the introduction of bills in the legislatures of four states: Illinois, California, Vermontand Minnesota (where it was introduced by then state-Rep., now Congressman, Keith Ellison).

For consideration of the political implications of bringing such a resolution to the floor, I refer you to the above-linked diary on the subject. At the moment, the focus needs to be on this:

State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino (D-Albuquerque), along with cosponsor John Grubesic (D-Santa Fe) will be introducing such an impeachment resolution when the 2007 session of the New Mexico Legislature convenes next week.

Democrats control both houses of the legislature: 24-18 in the Senate; 41-28 in the House. The signature of the Governor of New Mexico, Democrat Bill Richardson, is not required. Richardson is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008.

The resolution text follows:
::

A JOINT RESOLUTION

PETITIONING CONGRESS TO COMMENCE THE INVESTIGATION OF AND IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND VICE PRESIDENT RICHARD B. CHENEY.

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired with others to defraud the United States of America by intentionally misleading congress and the public regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush has admitted to ordering the national security agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the foreign intelligence surveillance court of review, duly constituted by congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Chapter 113C, the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Geneva Conventions, which under Article VI of the United States constitution are part of the "supreme Law of the Land"; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney acted to strip American citizens of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention without access to legal counsel, without charge and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the president of a United States citizen as an "enemy combatant", all in subversion of
law; and

WHEREAS, in all of this, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as president and vice president, subverting constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of New Mexico and of the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, petitions from the country at large may be presented by the speaker of the United States house of representatives, according to Clause 3 of House Rule XII; and

WHEREAS, Section 603 of Thomas Jefferson's Manual on Parliamentary Practice and of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives states that impeachment may be set in motion by charges transmitted from the legislature of a state;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to cause to be instituted in the congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from their offices; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the secretary of state be instructed to certify and transmit to the speaker of the United States house of representatives and the clerk of the United States house of representatives, under the great seal of the state of New Mexico, a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the legislature of the state of New Mexico. The copies shall be marked with the word "Petition" at the top of the document and contain the original authorizing signature of the
secretary of state.

Tags: New Mexico, Gerald Ortiz y Pino, John Grubesic, impeachment, George W. Bush (all tags)