Bush Impeachment: bowing to political pressure, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, the House voting 238-180 to send one of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment -- this one charging Bush with lying to the American public about the causes for the war in Iraq -- to the House Judiciary committee. Speaker Pelosi's position on impeachment--essentially that there won't be one--is utterly baffling. While it's possible there's some political upside to this, allowing flagrant constitutional violations to go unchallenged--I can't begin to imagine what it is. By impeding a full-throttle criminal investigation of the White House, it may be Pelosi, not Bush, who goes down in history as the most nefarious, politically self-serving leader in U.S. history. Congress impeached former President Bill Clinton in 1999 for obstruction of justice charges over what is undeniably a private family matter. Senator Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush, alleging dozens of flagrant violations of the Constitution and US. law. Thus far, Speaker Pelosi has not allowed Congress to act upon them. Under her new ruling, allowing the single article's introduction, the committee can talk about anything deemed to be abuse of power by the president or the White House but not vote to impeach him, the first step toward removing him from office. Committee chairman John Conyers of Michigan put it this way. "Over the last seven plus years, there have been numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the Bush administration. At the same time, the administration has adopted what many would describe as a radical view of its own powers and authorities. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I believe it is imperative that we pursue a comprehensive review commensurate to this constitutionally dangerous combination of circumstances. Next Friday's hearings will be an important part of that ongoing effort."
President Bush invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration's leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003. .Plame's outing has been viewed as political revenge by the Bush administration for critical statements made by Plame's husband. Vice president Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Lewis, was convicted on perjury charges related to the case, and suspicions linger that Plame's exposure--which may have endangered her life and the lives of other CIA operatives--was ordered by the Vice President. Invoking executive privilege effectively impedes reasonable inquiry into the matter, and fuels suspicions that the investigation would lead ultimately to the Vice President himself.
Senator John McCain, addressed the 2008 national convention of the NAACP Wednesday. As the Chicago Tribune's Washington Bureau reports: McCain surely will get points from some black people for appearing before the convention and engaging participants afterwards by answering a few questions. President Bush stiffed the NAACP for much of his presidency, so McCain succeeded to a large extent by merely showing up. It wasn't the first time he's appeared before a mostly black audience not predisposed to him. For instance, earlier this year McCain visited the Lorraine Motel Civil Rights Museum in Memphis to mark the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
Senator Barack Obama began a tour of combat zones and foreign capitals, visiting with U.S. forces in Kuwait and then Afghanistan — the scene of a war he says deserves more attention and more troops. Republican presidential rival John McCain has criticized Obama for his lack of time in the region. Obama is also expected to stop later in Iraq. (AP)
Gospel Artist Timothy Wright had a successful surgery and is responding well to treatment and therapies, a release by his son, David Wright, says on the gospel singer's MySpace page. Wright sustained numerous injuries in a July 4 weekend crash in which his wife Betty Wright and grandson D.J. Wright died. In lieu of floral tributes, the family is asking for financial tributes, which can be sent to Rev. Timothy Wright, 15 Meyer St., Roose-
velt, N.Y., 11575. To see the MySpace page, click here. (Baltimore Sun)
The Weak U.S. Dollar: The dollar is the most important international reserve currency, followed by the euro. Investors and governments around the world invest in US dollar based on their historical strength and stability. when the US economy weakens, the value of the dollar falls and these investors lose money. They then turn their attention to other investments, such as the euro, and, lately, oil. Because the dollar is weak, many investors and speculators have bought up billions of barrels oil. These folks are not in the oil business and don't plan to be in the oil business, they just want to sit on these barrels of oil and watch the prices increase. The mis-handling of the US, economy is therefore directly connected to skyrocketing oil prices. Last week some of the world’s largest Sovereign Wealth Funds are seeking to scale back their exposure to the US dollar in a sign of global concern about the currency. Sovereign Wealth Funds are state-owned investment funds composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, property, precious metals or other financial instruments. Sovereign wealth funds have played a leading role in helping to recapitalize faltering US banks, but have lost money so far on such investments. Continuing market turbulence has further shaken their faith in US policy and policymakers.
