NV: State Democrats call for Bush impeachment (Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., says just for SHOW )

The Las Vegas Sun ^ | April 19, 2004 at 11:07:27 PDT | Kirsten Searer

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Today: April 19, 2004 at 11:07:27 PDT

State Democrats call for Bush impeachment

By Kirsten Searer
<searer@lasvegassun.com>
LAS VEGAS SUN

Fed-up Democrats passed a party platform over the weekend calling for the impeachment of President Bush, saying he lied to justify the war in Iraq.

Some party leaders were lukewarm to the idea, with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., saying the platform plank was "just for show."

"I support impeachment of the president, but I support it on Nov. 2," he said, preferring to send Bush packing by an election defeat instead of by impeachment, as touted in the platform plank sponsored by state Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas.

Party platforms don't always draw attention, but some said the impeachment plank could alienate moderate voters and further polarize what is shaping up to be a contentious election in this swing state.

Chris Carr, executive director of the state Republican party, said the motion will "ignite our base."

"It's just out of step with mainstream Nevada," said Carr, who is planning the Republican state convention in Reno in two weeks.

Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said the platform could dissuade undecided voters, and that it is another example of how the two parties are polarizing.

"It's over the top," Herzik said. "And this is the problem. Both sides are over the top on their attacks on the other side. They are preaching to their most loyal voters."

Coffin introduced the plank and passed out a three-page letter saying he thinks only Congress can properly investigate Bush's path to war in Iraq.

"I have agonized over my personal belief that a President should be supported in his endeavors in international affairs, but I am convinced that President Bush breached his constitutional duty to Congress and the American people when he launched our adventure in Iraq," Coffin wrote in the letter.

This year's state convention drew an estimated 920 people -- more than three times the number who attended the last convention in 2002.

Participants were united in "Bush bashing," but the sheer number of people attending sometimes made proceedings disorganized and contentious.

After bickering over delegate selection on Saturday, a smaller crowd arrived Sunday morning to debate the platform.

They spent hours on the first few pages of the 38-page platform, mostly debating a pro-choice plank and parliamentary procedure.

When they ran out of time, they passed the rest of the platform without debate -- even the line that called for Bush's impeachment.

Some delegates were furious that they weren't given the party platform in advance, saying they hadn't had a chance to read it before they had to vote.

"I feel outraged," Fallon resident Michelle Ippolito told convention leaders. "I think every one of you should be replaced."

The war in Iraq was one of the most talked-about topics on the main floor, but members of the committee that hammered out the platform for two days said the idea of impeaching Bush was not controversial when it was proposed.

"It carries a message that I thought was important to say," said committee member Peggy Maze Johnson.

Another committee member, John Cahill, said that some people actually cheered when they first talked about the idea.

Yet Cahill and others worried that people would think Democrats were trying to get back at Republicans for impeaching President Clinton.

"We should not be a party that wants to take vengeance and impeach Bush just to get even," said John Ponticello, president of the Paradise Democratic Club.

Democratic Party spokesman Jon Summers said the motion to impeach Bush isn't "extremist."

"The platform plank regarding the impeachment says what everyone is saying right now -- that this country was misled into the war in Iraq," he said.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a respected civil rights activist, invigorated the crowd Saturday with a speech on bonding together to fight for their rights.

At one point, he bellowed in his Southern drawl: "This war was unnecessary! We didn't have to have this war! It was unnecessary!"

Democrats said this weekend they realize they need to keep up their energy to win Nevada for John Kerry in November.

"This man is an absolute disaster," said 71-year-old Lucien Benjamin, who retired to Las Vegas after a career with the Federal Aviation Administration. "He ranks about as low as you can get."

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said the strong showing at the state convention proves that Democrats are keeping up the momentum they created when they showed up en masse throughout the state for the Feb. 14 presidential caucus.

"My worst fear was that after the caucus meetings, things would kind of fall flat," he said.

A steady lineup of the state party's notables rallied the crowd on Saturday, and TV and movie star Martin Sheen made a brief appearance Saturday evening to present an award to Reid.

Reid called the White House a "palace of privilege" and rattled off a list of complaints about Bush, from the rising deficit, which he said will hinder future generations, to the Medicare bill, which he said won't help seniors pay for their prescription bills.

"Harry Truman had a sign that said, 'The Buck Stops Here,' " Reid said. "President Bush has a sign that says, 'Hey, don't blame me.' "

---

Related stories:

• Democrats' Platform 19 Apr. 10:55:10
  

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Looks like the Democrat Party Goebbels-Marx Agitation Wing has geared up! It's going to be a long 197 days!

[Mo1]

Reid called the White House a "palace of privilege" and rattled off a list of complaints about Bush,

A palace of priviledge??

Is Reid comparing President Bush to Saddam???

[Lijahsbubbe]

It's times like these that I wish I had zot power.

[datura]

These POS pseudocommunists should be glad that we aren't like them, and the President and his staff aren't like X42's band of merry criminals. They don't seem to notice that under this administration we haven't had a constant barrage of events like Waco, Ruby Ridge, Vince Foster, Sec Brown, Elian, and countless organized hits by the DEA/DOJ/IRS on those who disagree with the administration.

But given the chance, I'd love to see the entire left put into a nice "camp" somewhere in Alaska until the WOT is over. (Since it will take many years - but it would take far fewer with them safely locked away where they can't assist our enemy.)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Very Right,....I like that tag line!

[lilylangtree]

Diversionary tactics. Clintoon bombed an average of 7 countries in 8 years of office and he wasn't impeached for lying. Clintoon got on natl tv and said "I didn't have sex with that woman." Then later he was nailed on his lying. He should have been tarred and feathered and run out of DC for his notorious and unstatesmanlike behavior. Demoncrats have nothing on the Pres. and it's killing them. So demoncRATS are going to try anything for a diversion.

[KQQL]

@

[BillyBoy]

>> Fed-up Democrats passed a party platform over the weekend calling for the impeachment of President Bush, saying he lied to justify the war in Iraq. Democratic Party spokesman Jon Summers said the motion to impeach Bush isn't "extremist." "The platform plank regarding the impeachment says what everyone is saying right now -- that this country was misled into the war in Iraq," he said. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a respected civil rights activist, invigorated the crowd Saturday with a speech on bonding together to fight for their rights. At one point, he bellowed in his Southern drawl: "This war was unnecessary! We didn't have to have this war! It was unnecessary!" <<

Ah, obviously these fair-minded Democrats MUST have supported impeaching Clinton in '98, after he "lied" about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, not to mention the whole aspirin factory incident in Sudan, and the "mass graves" he used to justify the non-UN approved war in Kosovo.

Funny, though I don't remember the Nevada delegation voting to impeach Clinton. And why the hell is a GEORGIA Democrat lobbying for platforms at a Nevada state convention?

Keep up the good work, NV Dems, even the Vegas area is starting to get respectable GOP numbers now.

[ladyinred]

Is Reid comparing President Bush to Saddam???

No, to the Clinton's.

[KQQL]

"Harry Truman had a sign that said, 'The Buck Stops Here,' " Reid said. "President Bush has a sign that says, 'Hey, don't blame me.' "

---

I can't belief GOP is going to let Reid free ride to senate again.

CHICKEN republicans wouldn't challenge reid

[datura]

Thanks!

[fire_eye]

We really should encourage the Demonrats to scream for Bush's impeachment. Apparently they're delusional enough that they don't realize what idiots they make of themselves with the public at large, blithering like that when we've been attacked and are at war.

Maybe some of us should get on their websites and try to gin up some support for it...

[CyberAnt]

Well .. if the President "lied to justify the war", then everybody in the dem party lied too. Maybe we need to drag out those lists of what the dems were saying about WMD and hit all the media again .. obviously they're too stupid to remember it.

[Peach]

Those rat bastar*s.

This must make the jihadists so gleeful. That America 2.5 years out from 9/11 can't take body bags.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

In the early '60's during the days of the "former" Soviet Union, Russian Premier Nikita Kruschev pounded his shoe on the podium of the United Nations and shouted to the West, "We will bury you!"

Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto

They need planks because they dont have the gonads to look you in the eye while twisting the blade of tyrrany.

[prion]

Democrats said this weekend they realize they need to keep up their energy to win Nevada for John Kerry in November.

"This man is an absolute disaster," said 71-year-old Lucien Benjamin, who retired to Las Vegas after a career with the Federal Aviation Administration. "He ranks about as low as you can get."

Wait, is he talking about Kerry here?!

[Dog]

Harry Reid made a huge mistake here.......this baby is going to tar him.

[EQAndyBuzz]

This is the problem as stated by the great Vladimir Lenin. I am paraphrasing here.

"If you lie enough, eventually people believe it to be true."

The Communists did this for 60 years. The RATS, since Clinton, are now taking up this very effective strategy. With a press that supports the lies and Communist agitators that enforce the lies, it will be tough for the people to discern lies from truth. This is what the RATS are hoping for.

What the administration should be doing is keeping Bush on National TV doing press conferences with only conservative supporting journalists asking questions. Do this in Prime-Time for the nation to see. This forces the media to take a stand by saying that only conservative journalists are asking questions. This exposes the media for being leftist.

The second thing I would recommend the administration do is to start going after RAT senators running for reelection as well as having the "funding for your state" talk with RINOS. Force the DNC to allocate resources to this race. If Kerry wins but the Conservatives get 60 seats in the Senate and hold the house, Kerry is toast. If Bush wins and gets 60 seats, the world is changed.

The third thing I would recommend is that any American that was active in the oil for food scandal gets outed. Doesn't matter who it is. By outting Americans, the media is forced to report it, which would open up the UN, France, Russia and Germany to allegations. This then ties in with their reluctance to send troops to Iraq.

Finally, I would begin to look into the ways in which violence, sex and adult content is removed from network TV. That is why there is cable. I would also push for the childproofing of TV stations. I would recommend that network and cable news channels flash "COMMENTARY" when they are not reporting only the facts. This way people can decide for themselves what is news and what is political fluff.

A congressman whould float the "Fairness in Media Reporting and Child Protection Act" bill and have the President mention to the networks that this will be his second priority after the WOT. Force the networks to reevaluate thier programming. Being a lame duck President this would be a good hobby.

Lastly, I would look into alternative print avenues other than what is out there today. Imagine a Conservative USA Todaylike newspaper. There are enough journalists with a shred of integrity that are willing to present the facts of a story only. Editorials and commentary will be written by Conservative journalists. Again, force the media to either change or be overrun.

Thee who controls the flow of information controls society. We can change this. But we need a gameplan.

Anyone willing to discuss this?

[SendShaqtoIraq]

I'd like to see a million body bags. As long as they're all filled with democrats.