Reply #28: Silence is complicity. Every so-called "leader" has a voice.

[pat_k]

When it comes to speaking out against intolerable conditions, "bitching," as you call it, is the ONLY moral option. To keep silent is to be complicit with the perpetrators of the conditions.

City councils and other elected bodies don't have the power to impeach either (with the exception of State legislatures, which do have the power to initiate the process), but they doing what conscience demands. They are passing resolutions. They are calling on the House to take the first step required to defend us against Bush and Cheney's war on the Constitution.

Well known authorities on the Constitution, Federal statute, and international law don't have the power to impeach, but they too are speaking out.

Ordinary citizens, who have delegated the power to impeach to the House, are making the case and demanding action.

Members of the Senate could put their words into action by introducting a "Sense of the Senate" resolution stating that the many accusations and cases for impeachment that have been presented to Congress by elected bodies, good government organizations, authorities, and countless ordinary citizens call for action from Members of the House -- either introduce articles of impeachment or publicly state the reasons that the charges are baseless. The resolution could simply point out that the black cloud of the public's accusations must be dealt with.

The Congressional oath is an individual oath. Their duty to act is an individual duty. It doesn't matter whether they would be standing alone or with a legion, if they keep silent they are complicit.

Such a resolution would in no way compromise the role of the Senate as trier of fact in an impeachment. Such a resolution is not a "pre-judgement" of any charges, it is simply a statement that the key accusations against Bush and Cheney that are well-known to a vast majority of Americans cannot be ignored.