Democrats.com Launches Grassroots Campaign to Impeach Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet, and Ashcroft

In the wake of David Kay's testimony before Congress that Iraq did not have any weapons of mass destruction, Democrats.com has launched a grassroots campaign to impeach George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Ashcroft.

The campaign's Web site is ImpeachCentral.com. To organize grassroots support in each of the 435 Congressional districts in the nation, the campaign has launched a Meetup at ImpeachBush.Meetup.com, which already has over 3,500 participants.

According to Democrats.com co-founder Bob Fertik, "In 2003, George W. Bush sent American soldiers to fight and to die in Iraq because he insisted Iraq had sufficient quantities of WMD's to pose an immediate threat to the United States. Thanks to David Kay, we have now learned that Iraq 'all but abandoned' its WMD programs and destroyed its weapons stockpiles after the Gulf War in 1991.

"If Bush knew these weapons did not exist - and deliberately lied to the American people and the world - then he should take full responsibility and immediately resign. And he should be joined by every top official who participated in these lies, led by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, and George Tenet.

"Alternatively, if Bush really believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, then he should resign for failing to demand adequate proof from his top defense and intelligence officials. It is the ultimate responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief to distinguish reality from fantasy before he sends brave American soldiers to fight and die.

"If Bush and his top officials refuse to resign, then Congress must exercise its Constitutional responsibility to hold them accountable by impeaching them in the House of Representatives and convicting them in the Senate, thereby removing them from office.

"President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 for lying about an insignificant affair. Lying about war is infinitely worse than lying about sex, because no apology can bring back the lives of the 526 American soldiers who have died in Iraq so far. No apology can bring back the lives of the thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians who have died so far. And no apology can return to American taxpayers the $166 billion that has been spent so far in Iraq, with billions more to come.

"There is tremendous support for the impeachment of George Bush. Our Meetup campaign at ImpeachBush.Meetup.com, which was launched on January 19, already has over 3,500 participants. It now ranks as the 12th largest political Meetup, ahead of the BushIn2004 Meetup.

"Grassroots impeachment activists have already contacted numerous Members of Congress. In private, many Members agree that impeachment hearings should be held, to determine whether Bush deliberately lied, or failed to adequately examine the evidence before starting a war. Some believe sufficient grounds for impeachment already exist, both for the Iraq WMD lies and for the violation of civil liberties led by Attorney General John Ashcroft, including the secret detention of American citizens.

"In the coming days, we hope to persuade Members of Congress to speak publicly about the inadequacy of a secret and evasive 'self-investigation' by the Bush investigation, and the need for open impeachment hearings which hold top officials fully accountable. And we hope to build a groundswell of support for impeachment among ordinary Americans, among prominent Americans, and among powerful editorial voices as well."

Democrats.com is the largest online community of Democratic activists, with 250,000 subscribers to its e-mail newsletters. Democrats.com was founded in 2000 and has published a free daily news service ever since. Democrats.com co-founder Bob Fertik has been a grassroots organizer, political consultant, and writer for 30 years.