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Impeachment

Peruvian Congress Rejects Impeachment Of President Castillo

Peru’s Congress rejected the initiation of impeachment proceedings against President Pedro Castillo with 76 votes against, 46 in favor and four abstentions. The vacancy motion was proposed by the right-wing caucus, composed of the parties Avanza País, Popular Renewal, and Popular Force of former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori. In order to be admitted, the proposal had to obtain 40% support in the legislature, equivalent to 52 votes. This was the Peruvian president’s third clash with Parliament in only five months in office. The voting process was accompanied by demonstrations of support for the government in front of Congress. “On behalf of my government I am thankful that the vote of Congress prioritized Peru over all interests. Brothers and sisters, let us put an end to the political crises and work together to achieve a Peru that is just and based in solidarity.

Brazilians Protest Against Bolsonaro’s COVID-19 Mismanagement

On Saturday, Brazil's leftist political parties and social organizations called on Brazilians to protest against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for his mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brazil Popular and Fearless People Fronts, the Workers' Party (PT), trade unions and student organizations are supporting the demonstrations in over 450 cities. Protesters called on the conservative Lower House's chairman Arthur Lira to respect the popular will and accept the impeachment requests against Bolsonaro. They demand also an immediate response to stop the wave of deaths and the economic crisis provoked by the pandemic, which has plunged 59 percent of the Brazilian population into food insecurity.

Impeachment Theater

The impeachment circus has mercifully come to an end. The public have endured rank hypocrisy and a cynical show meant to give both parties cover for their wrong doing. The Republicans defended Donald Trump on the charge of inciting an insurrection because that’s what their people want them to do. Their rank-and-file members are Trump defenders, and senators took a risk if they voted to convict the man who garnered more than 74 million votes in his losing effort. As usual the Democrats want to look like an opposition party without really opposing anything. They made media stars of their impeachment managers, who talked a lot about the need to punish Trump for the January 6 Capitol riot and the threat to democracy if that didn’t happen.

What Ever Happened To Class Struggle?

As the fight amongst the oligarchs heats up over Trump's 2nd impeachment, one must wonder what ever happened to the days when the poor and the working class were clear-eyed enough to see their real struggle was against the rich?  Wall Street banksters, the weapons warlords, Hollywood moguls, oil barons, real estate developers and the like.   Instead we see the Lumpenproletariat on their knees scratching and clawing each other - defending one side of the elite mobsters who are armed against the other in Washington's usual sideshow that distracts the nation from the ever present reality of capital accumulation. 

On Contact: Death Of The US Constitution

On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to constitutional scholar Bruce Fein about the death of our US Constitution. Ralph Nader, with constitutional scholars Louis Fisher and Bruce Fein, wrote to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, on November 22 urging her to focus on 12 Articles of Impeachment President Donald Trump had allegedly violated during his administration. Among them: flouting the emoluments clause, expanding presidential wars, and spending billions of dollars on projects not appropriated by the US Congress.

Why Republicans And Democrats Want Russia To Be The Enemy Of Choice

One of the more interesting aspects of the nauseating impeachment trial in the Senate was the repeated vilification of Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. To hate Russia has become dogma on both sides of the political aisle, in part because no politician has really wanted to confront the lesson of the 2016 election, which was that most Americans think that the federal government is basically incompetent and staffed by career politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell who should return back home and get real jobs. Worse still, it is useless, and much like the one-trick pony the only thing it can do is steal money from the taxpayers and waste it on various types of self-gratification that only politicians can appreciate.

Trump’s Illegal, Impeachable Act Of War

Violence begets violence; revenge engenders cycles of vengeance. This is exactly why war, or acts of war, must not be taken lightly. It also explains why America’s recent adventurism in the Middle East has only increased Islamic terrorism, killed hundreds of thousands worldwide, and ultimately left the U.S. no better off than when it began its crusade after the 9/11 attacks. Instead, this cycle of violence and revenge has produced nothing but “blowback” in the form of global anti-Americanism.

The Impeachment Crisis And US War Plans Against Russia

With each passing day of the impeachment crisis, the distance between the official reasons for the conflict in Washington and the real reasons grows wider. It has become increasingly clear that the central issue is not Trump’s attempt to “solicit interference from a foreign country” by “pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the president’s main domestic political rivals,” as alleged in the whistleblower complaint that triggered the impeachment inquiry.

Chris Hedges: Rebellion Is The Only Way To Stop The Ruling Elites

Clearing the FOG cohosts, Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, interviewed journalist and author Chris Hedges about the significant events of 2019 and what activists must prepare for in 2020 and beyond. Hedges covered uprisings and wars in the Middle East, Balkans, and Central America for twenty years as a foreign correspondent. He has studied and written books about sacrifice zones, the failures of the liberal class and the rise of the right in the United States. He shares the wisdom he has gained from his experiences watching governments fall to inform us about what to expect and how to build power. You can listen to the full interview plus current news and analysis on Clearing the FOG.

Impeachment Theater While The Planet Burns

With the gravitas of a wardrobe malfunction at a Super Bowl halftime show, Donald Trump was impeached. This, by the same Democratic Party functionaries who went on to pass his $734 billion military budget and his reworked not-NAFTA trade agreement. To the perpetual ‘if,’ if Mr. Trump isn’t to be trusted with the affairs of state, the alleged reason he was impeached, why enhance his power over the affairs of state through increasing the military budget? The same is true with re-upping the Patriot Act. And backing his coup in Bolivia. And his attempted coup in Venezuela. Clearer evidence of the political theater character of impeachment would be hard to find. Left apparently unconsidered in the halls of power is how socially divisive this theater is becoming.

The Impeachment’s Moral Hypocrisy

The impeachment process was a nauseating display of moral hypocrisy. The sound bites by Republicans and Democrats swiftly became predictable. The Democrats, despite applauding the announcement of the voting results before being quickly silenced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sought to cloak themselves in gravitas and solemnity. Pelosi’s calculated decision to open the impeachment proceedings with the 1954 “under God” version of the Pledge of Allegiance was an appropriate signal given the party’s New McCarthyism.

A Hawkish Impeachment

Despite fond youthful memories of Bill Clinton/Kenneth Starr/Monica Lewinsky jokes on late-night television, my interest in the current impeachment saga can pretty much be summed up as follows: “Get back to me when they launch an impeachment inquiry over Yemen.” Watching the House vote along party lines to impeach President Donald Trump while barely stifling a yawn over the Afghanistan Papers does little to alter my skepticism about this constitutional crisis built for cable news.

Impeachment Indicts Both Parties And Clarifies Our Tasks In 2020

The Democratic Party's electoral strategy of impeaching Donald Trump is backfiring. Before impeachment, Trump was losing to each of the leading Democrats, but the latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll finds for the first time Trump defeating all of the leading Democratic candidates. Gallup reports that Trump's approval has risen by six points since the launch of the impeachment inquiry. A CNN poll found that support for impeachment fell by five percent over the past month. Rather than focus on issues that impact people's lives -- like racism and bigotry, the unfair economy that results in low wages, growing inequality, major corporations and the wealthy not paying taxes, as well as expensive and inadequate healthcare coverage -- Democrats are focusing on the issue of withholding military aid to Ukraine for a proxy war against Russia when voters are tired of never-ending wars.

Nader: Trump Should Be Impeached For His Climate Policies

It is time to take Donald Trump’s disregard for climate crisis seriously. As Commander in Chief, Trump is abdicating his duties to protect his people, instead actively aiding and abetting the corporate polluters who are causing the climate chaos. Trump is wasting irreplaceable time that we need to prevent a worsening climate crisis. Trump’s actions, expanding the fossil fuel industry’s emissions, make the perils even worse. This is another reason for impeachment—climate crisis jeopardizes the American people in major ways.

Why Was An Action Making A Connection Between Militarism And Climate Chaos Subverted?

I support the impeachment of Donald Trump for myriad reasons. And I dream that the Senate will convict this criminal. However, even with Trump gone, climate chaos will continue to plague the planet. The only hope for Mother Earth is for the environmental movement to recognize that unless we end militarism and imperialism, the world can’t survive as we now know it.  So any chance I get, I will say that the Pentagon is committing ecocide. And it is obvious that Jane Fonda realizes the precariousness of the moment and that we only have about a decade to save Mother Earth. She has temporarily moved to Washington, D.C., motivated by Greta Thunberg, to organize Fire Drill Fridays, which started on October 11 with Fonda and others risking arrest on the U.S. Capitol steps.
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