by Kerry Thomas
July 8, 2007
Looks like our local liberal loonies, along with the rest of
the national talking heads, are chanting more mind numbed slogans again, calling
for payback, in the form of impeachment of President George W. Bush and
Vice-President Richard Cheney. This
week, their irrational shrieks appear to be centered on Iraq.
It’s time for these liberal loonies to take another
refresher in Constitutional powers.
The very first power granted to the President by the
Constitution is that of commander-in-chief.
Article
II, Section 2 states “The President
shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of
the militia of the several states….”
Article
I, Section 8 grants Congress the power to declare war. Once that is done, it is the President’s
duty as commander-in-chief to wage that war.
On October 10, 2002 the U.S. House of Representatives passed
H.J. Res. 114 by
a vote of 296-133. It
passed in the Senate by a vote
of 77-23. This resolution authorized
the President to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determined
to be necessary and appropriate in order to (1) defend the national security of
the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security
Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
As
part of this Joint Resolution, Congress further declared in Section 3(c)(1) “Consistent
with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that
this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within
the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.”
It has been
the policy of the United States (with the exception of Vietnam) to end a war
when it has been won. The Constitution makes no provisions for the end of
a war, except to declare that “no appropriation of
money to that use (to raise and support armies) shall be for a longer term than
two years.” So Congress could
have voted to cut off the money as early as the 2005 fiscal year, which began
October 1, 2004. Congress can vote to
end funding for the armed forces, but that is as far as their Constitutional
powers go.
If the
Democrat Congress wants to end the war on terrorism, all it has to do is vote
to end the funding for the war.
Remember how well that worked in Vietnam?
Article
II, Section 4 of the Constitution
provides that “The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction
of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Article
III, Section 3 of the Constitution specifically defines Treason. “Treason against the United States shall
consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies,
giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court.”
If
anyone has evidence that the President or the Vice-President has committed treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, it is their duty to bring forth
such evidence. That was properly done
with the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, as he was found guilty of
committing the crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Absent
such evidence, the calls for the impeachment of President Bush and
Vice-President Cheney are nothing more than hollow attempts at liberal political
payback.