Nov. 30, 2007
BIDEN MAKES IMPEACHMENT A CAMPAIGN THEME...MANCHESTER, NH -- Joe Biden is getting comfortable with the "I" word.
And the crowds in New Hampshire and Iowa are cheering on the Delaware senator's new bluntness.
Picking up a theme that has been championed by another contender for the Democratic presidential nod, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is now talking about impeachment on a regular basis as he campaigns in the first-caucus and first-primary states.
Biden's mincing no words as he explains the position he initially took during the Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. Speaking in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, this week, Biden declared, "The President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran and if he does, as foreign relations committee chairman, I will move to impeach." Biden can't actually move to impeach.
The House impeaches president and vice presidents, while the Senate is charged by the Constitution to judge whether the impeached officials should be removed from their positions. Kucinich has proposed the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and has raised the prospect of moving to impeach Bush if Iran is attacked.
But Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he is doing his part. The Delaware senator is telling crowds that he is in the process of meeting with experts on constitutional law experts to prepare a legal memorandum that will explain to the president that he has no authority to attack Iran and that, if an attack is launched, impeachment will be the necessary congressional response.
Biden still shies away from joining Kucinich in calling for impeachment now, in response to already established high crimes and misdemeanors. But the senator has recognized the logic of the Ohio congressman's focus on the vice president. "If you're going to impeach George Bush, you better impeach Cheney first," he said, to loud applause from the audience in Portsmouth.
Posted by John Nichols at 11/30/2007 @ 7:36pm
________________________________________
Biden: Impeachment if Bush bombs Iran
PORTSMOUTH — Presidential hopeful Delaware Sen. Joe Biden stated unequivocally that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without Congressional approval.
Biden spoke in front of a crowd of approximately 100 at a Seacoast Media Group forum Thursday, which focused on the Iraq War and foreign policy. When an audience member expressed fear of another war with Iran, he said he does not typically engage in threats, but had no qualms about issuing a direct warning to the oval office. “The President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran and if he does, as foreign relations committee chairman, I will move to impeach,” said Biden, which was followed by a raucous applause.
Biden said he is in the process of meeting with constitutional law experts to prepare a legal memorandum saying as much, and intends to send it to the President. When resident Joel Carp asked Biden why not impeach now given what has already been done, Biden said it was a valid point but might not be constitutionally valid and potentially counterproductive. A case for impeachment must have clear evidence, he said, and blame should be directed at the right parties.
“If you’re going to impeach George Bush, you better impeach Cheney first,” said Biden, which also received applause. Biden said the best deterrent to prevent preemptive military action in Iran is to make it clear, even if it is at the end of his final term, action will be taken against Bush to ensure “his legacy will be marred for all time.”
Biden took shots at the Bush administration’s idea to centralize government in Baghdad and called his decentralized plan the only way to political settlement. The recent decline in violence in Iraq, which some Republicans have credited to the surge, is the result of the military doing its job. President Bush, he said, has not done his job in using the relative peace to find a political compromise as he promised. “There’s no evidence it has happened and no evidence it will happen,” he said.
Throughout the forum, Biden stressed the need to improve foreign relations throughout the world and pointed to his 29-year resume as proof that he can make that happen. Biden joked about his low poll numbers, how the national media does not cover him and the lack of funding compared to the coffers of fellow hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. “This is why I’m in New Hampshire and Iowa,” he said. “It’s the last level playing field.” Biden went to his next appearance knowing he had at least one more vote. As the forum was coming to an end, Byrl Short stood up and announced his support. “I came here an undecided voter,” he said. “And you are the man.”
_______________________________________________________
Biden: Bush should be impeached if he moves on Iran
_______________________________________________________
why should impeachment of President Bush be off the table?
"It shouldn’t be. But impeachment like everything else is a matter of priorities and responsibility. In order to move on impeachment now, we would be put in a position at a very, very delicate time in our nation’s history, of having necessarily to take our eye off the ball on a host of other things that will have longer-lasting impact on the security of this country. As a practical matter, it sucks all the oxygen out of the air. We would effectively be paralyzed for the next six months or longer. … The alternative, and it’s taken me time to think through, I think we should be acquiring and accumulating all the data that is appropriate for possibly bringing criminal charges against members of this administration at a later date." Source
Phone: 202-224-5042 . Fax: 202-224-0139