Op-Ed piece to submit to papers etc.

Following is the text of 2 documents. You can copy and paste these to format to fit on 2 pages each.

TIME TO IMPEACH!

Here in the Garden State, things don’t look very rosy these days. Though our state is blessed with an affluence way above the national average, there are really disturbing trends that indicate we’re moving in the wrong direction. From Bergen New Jersey's The Record, 31 August 2006: "According to the latest census figures
- New Jersey ranks first in median household income at $61,700;
- NJ income was down by 2.8% last year;
- The NJ poverty rate is up by almost 1%, from 7.8 to 8.7% since 2000;
- The number of New Jerseyans without health care continues to climb, from 14.6 to 15.2%." It’s not a stretch to say these numbers are a direct result of Bush policies.

As of August 15, 2006, according to Survey USA, a private company which monitors public opinion for 50 television news organizations, President Bush is disapproved more than approved in 46 states. Only Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Oklahoma approve the president more than disapprove. In Rhode Island, 76% disapprove of Bush with only 22% supporting him. In New Jersey today 65% disapprove of Bush and 33% like what the president's doing. If you're fed up with what Bush is doing, you're in the majority by a landslide.

We're very proud of our American heritage, and we wonder what future generations will think if we continue doing nothing when we actually know the truth, that the President and his Vice President knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, and that the White House consciously and deliberately lied in order to put our country to war against Iraq. That violates our Constitution, an impeachable offense.

The United States of America is now plagued with perpetual fear, perpetual war, continual mission creep and increasing cost with no retribution in sight. We were told that Iraq, presently sitting on top of two trillion gallons of unrefined crude, would be able to pay its own reconstruction. Three years ago, the Bush administration had that specific proposal before it and failed to pursue it because it was a Democratic idea. This Administration has never vetoed a spending bill and we are over eight trillion dollars in debt. Mismanagement is understatement; we're really facing 5 years of corruption, incompetence, lies and warmongering.

Remember the Downing Street Memo? The memo of a meeting of the British Prime Minister and his ministers documents that the Bush team “fixed” the intelligence on Iraq so it would support the president's mania for war. It’s another violation, another impeachable offense. But the memo was swept under the table. The normal responses by this White House are change the theme and fire anybody who disagrees with its official version. Enough is enough. There are 1000 days left. Honesty, integrity and trust are really crucial now.

The Bush administration has demonstrated a consistent contempt for all Americans. They cut taxes on the richest of us and turned their backs on the people they ordered to battle. They sent our service people to battle without adequate body armor even though it could easily acquire the best body armor. They put our service people on the road to death in Iraq in humvees with no armor. And they issue orders that no pictures can be taken of flag-draped coffins of our troops being shipped into Dover Air Force Base.

They authorized torture in Abu Ghraib and in Guantanamo prisons in violations of the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg Convention, and the United Nations charter, to all of which our country is a signatory and constitutes the supreme law of our United States.

They initiated programs of wholesale spying on Americans without justification, let alone warrants. It’s another violation, another impeachable offense. We are citizens who have come sadly to the conclusion that the present leadership of the United States has betrayed its people, and the Bush administration must be held to account and investigated for criminal actions and treason against the United States.

The great Thomas Jefferson had the vision to anticipate a time when a Congress is become so corrupt, or bribed, or decadent, that it is no longer responsible to the needs of the people they are elected to serve. In Jefferson’s Manual of Parliamentary Practices, which is part of the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, he created a mechanism by which a state legislature can transmit a resolution to impeach directly to the House of Representatives in Washington, and effectively force the U.S. House to address the question of whether to impeach a civil officer of the United States, a judge, or a president.

There's now overwhelming evidence George Bush and Richard Cheney subverted the Constitution and engaged in conspiracy to impose fraud and deceit on the United States. We believe our country is in a state of serious crisis. We don't believe the situation is hopeless. We know our people in New Jersey are can-do people, and it's not too late to save our country. As citizens of our troubled, great, beloved country, we have an obligation to fix it. We can do this in New Jersey. The bottom line for us all is the fact that success is not guaranteed does not relieve our state of its obligation to do all it possibly can to defend the United States Constitution according to the oath of its officers. We believe our legislators can meet this obligation and offer a real profile in courage. The politicians can not meet this obligation by themselves. It requires a large and vocal support from us. It requires citizenship and devotion to democracy.

If you’re fed up, it’s time now to stand up for a democracy in danger, and it’s time to act to save our country.

Accordingly, people in New Jersey are joined in a campaign to pass in the fall session of our state legislature, A Resolution to Impeach the President and the Vice President. We are one group among several in our state that are dedicated to removing the Bush administration from power. Our group’s membership is only 68 people, but our members are from all over, from Warwick to Paterson to Princeton, from Teaneck to Clinton, and as word spreads of our efforts, and as the situation in West Asia and here at home gets worse, more and more people will join this effort. We hope concerned patriots will contact us to work to restore democracy and reclaim our country.

We hope people will contact us at impeachthem@gmail.com Our web site is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/impeachbushnj The text of our resolution is taken from a draft by the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York and another by http://afterdowningstreet.org and http://impeachbush.tv and modified to meet the requirements of our legislature.

Please NOTE about September 15th or so, we open our new domain
http://ImpeachThem.com
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

North Jersey Impeach Group
117 Chestnut Drive
Wayne • NJ 07470•5639
impeachthem@gmail.com
groups.yahoo.com/group/impeachbushnj

Resolution to Impeach
President George W. Bush and
Vice President Richard B. Cheney

WHEREAS, George W. Bush subverted the Constitution, its guarantee of a republican form of government, and the constitutional separation of powers by undermining the rightful authority of Congress to declare war, oversee foreign affairs, and make appropriations. He did so by justifying the war with false and misleading statements and deceived the people of the United States as well as Congress. He denied the electorate the right to make an informed choice and thereby undermined democracy; and

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, abused his power by failing to take care that the laws were faithfully executed by directing or authorizing the National Security Agency and various other agencies within the intelligence community to conduct electronic surveillance outside of the statutes Congress prescribed as the exclusive means for such surveillance, and to use such information for purposes unknown but unrelated to any lawful function of his office; he also concealed the existence of this unlawful program of electronic surveillance from Congress, the press and the public; 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, abused his power by violating the constitutional and international rights of citizens and non-citizens by arbitrarily detaining them indefinitely inside and outside of the United States, without due process, without charges and with limited – if any – access to council or courts. He failed to faithfully execute the laws of the United States by allowing his administration to condone torture, failing to investigate and prosecute high-level officials responsible for torture, and officially refusing to accept the binding nature of a statutory ban on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the "Federal Torture Act" Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Convention, which under Article VI of the 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 U.S. citizen as an "enemy combatant," all in subversion of law; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush, in his conduct of the Office of the President of the United States, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, arrogated excessive power to the executive branch in violation of basic constitutional principles of the separation of powers; and

WHEREAS, In all of this George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of New Jersey and of the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, Petitions from the country at large may be presented by the Speaker of the House according to Clause 3 of House Rule XII; and

WHEREAS, Jefferson's Manual section LIII, 603, states that impeachment may be set in motion by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State;

Be it resolved 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;

Be it resolved further, by the Legislature of the State of New Jersey, That our Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress be, and they are hereby, directed to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of the George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from such office;

Be it resolved further, That the Clerk of State of the State of New Jersey be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to each Senator and Representative in the Congress of the United States, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, under the great seal of the State of New Jersey, a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the legislature of the State of New Jersey. The copies shall be marked with the word "Petition" at the top of the document and contain the original authorizing signature of the President of the Senate and Speaker of the Assembly of New Jersey.

HUTCH. 973.694.5035
North Jersey IMPEACH Group