The Constitution in Crisis: The High Crimes of the Bush Administration and A Blueprint for Impeachment, Rep. John Conyers, Jr. and Staff, Skyhorse Publishing, NY, 2007.
A Review:
This book was published two years ago, but it is a powerful and fascinating work that should be a permanent part of every library and every school library. Not only does it present, step by step, the evolution of the lawlessness of the Bush Administration, but it also follows the struggle of patriotic Congress men and women trying to reign in the Administration. Their struggle was against almost hopeless odds. They could not get committee hearings because all the committees were in the hands of Republican Party loyalists, that is, persons whose only perceived obligations were those to their own Party. They could not get investigations of clear violations of law because the Justice Department was in the hands of the similarly irresponsible Alberto Gonzalez. They could not get a Resolution of Inquiry passed in Congress because it could never get to the floor for a vote. Letters to the President, Pentagon, or other administration officers sometimes from fifty or more Congress people received no replies. And the Fourth Estate was no more mindful of its own responsibilities, responsibilities inseparable from the right to a free press.
The report is divided into two parts. The first is on violations of the statutes on committing fraud against the United States, making false statements to Congress, the War Powers Act, misuse of government funds, improper detention, torture, and inhumane treatment, the Anti-torture statute, the War Crimes Act, and many others. Texts of these laws are provided in an appendix. Part II deals with violations of statutes regarding surveillance and civil liberties. The whole is supported by 1401 footnotes to sources. The book is available new from alibris.com for $2.95.
In her introduction to the report, Elizabeth Holzman -- who served on the Judiciary Committee when Hearings were held on Nixon’s impeachment -- comments that "This is the third time in the last sixty years that presidents [Johnson, Nixon, and Bush] have, through lies and deception, embroiled this nation in wars or substantial military action, each of which was disastrous in its own way...This pattern of impunity for presidents must stop. Impeaching President Bush for lying to get us into a war will not only protect us from him, but also send an unmistakeable message to future presidents, never again." Of course it is too late for impeachment, but it is not too late for indictment.
- Editor