Help Lamar Smith Support Impeachment
Yesterday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced Articles of Impeachment against President Bush.
Lamar Smith, our representative, sits on the House Judiciary Committee. That's the committee that will decide whether to hold hearings.
Help Lamar understand that his constituents feel these Articles deserve a hearing. You can contact him here.
You've noticed how amazingly user friendly that jerks email system is?
You might find these statements by Smith during Clinton's impeachment useful. Also, I would skip the email and call or even better fax:
Phone 202-225-4236 . Fax: 202-225-8628
December 10, 1998, Hon. Lamar Smith:
We should not underestimate the gravity of the case against the president. When he put his hand on the Bible and recited his oath of office, he swore to faithfully uphold the laws of the United States - not some laws, all laws.
As to the uniqueness of the office the president holds, he is a person in a position of immense authority and influence. He influences the lives of millions of Americans. When he took the oath of office, he swore to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
When someone is elected president, they receive the greatest gift possible from the American people, their trust. To violate that trust is to raise questions about fitness for office.
My constituents often remind me that if anyone else in a position of authority - for example, a business executive, a military officer of a professional educator - had acted as the evidence indicates the president did, their career would be over. The rules under which President Nixon would have been tried for impeachment had he not resigned contain this statement: “The office of the president is such that it calls for a higher level of conduct than the average citizen in the United States.”
This will not be an easy task. In fact, it is a difficult ordeal for all Americans, but we will get through it. We are a great nation and a strong people. Our country will endure because our Constitution works and has worked for over 200 years.
As much as one might wish to avoid this process, we must resist the temptation to close our eyes and pass by. The president’s actions must be evaluated for one simple reason: the truth counts.
As the process goes forward, some good lessons can be reaffirmed. No one is above the law, actions have consequences, always tell the truth. We the people should insist on these high ideals. That the president has fallen short of the standard doesn’t mean we should lower it.
If we keep excusing away the president’s actions we as a nation will never climb upwards because there will be no firm rungs.
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Good luck!