George Mason (1725-1792), the father of the Bill of Rights (1791-2002), argued at the Constitutional Convention in favor of providing the House of Representatives the power of impeachment by pointing out that the President might use his pardoning power to "pardon crimes which were advised by himself" or, before indictment or conviction, "to stop inquiry and prevent detection."

James Madison (1751-1836), the father of the U.S. Constitution (1788-2007), added that "if the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds to believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty."

Of course, Bush has long been connected in a suspicious manner to Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, and others. Madison would probably have called for Bush's impeachment when Bush first refused to investigate or hold anyone accountable for leaking Valerie Plame's identity, or rather when Bush lied us into the war in the first place, or when he confessed to illegal spying, or when he detained people without charge and tortured them, or when

The official list of cosponsors of H Res 333 to impeach Dick Cheney cannot be updated until July 10 when Congress gets back to Washington.  But Congress Members can contact Dennis Kucinich's office in the meantime and sign on.  And citizens can encourage them to do so.  In fact, this is the week in which you should visit your Congress Member's district office and demand that he or she sign onto Kucinich's articles of impeachment or introduce their own.  And they should not just sign on, but make a public statement in support.  Here's everything you need to know: http://impeachcheney.org

The official count of cosponsors, including Kucinich, is at 10.  But Rep. Jim McDermott spoke on the floor of the House last week and committed to signing on.  That makes 11.  Congressmen Bob Filner and Jim Moran now also say that they are signing on.  That's 13.  And Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has spoken out in support of impeachment.  He is clearly either signing on or introducing his own articles of impeachment or both.  That makes probably 14. 

Another Fourth on the North Fork.  Time to pick the new Strawberry Queen, shine the fire trucks, put out the collection jar for the un-insured and beat up the bald guy from out of town.

I think it's only game to allow my critics their say on my home page.

This editorial is re-printed in my local penny-saver...

[Regarding] gonzo "journalist" - and I use that term lightly - Greg Palast.

Mr. Palast, as you may recall, is the former summer resident who reached The New York Times' non-fiction best-seller list with not one but two books, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" and "Armed Madhouse," which was published earlier this year.

And I quote (from "Armed Madhouse"):

- '[The North Fork], if you look at a map, is situated at the ass end of nowhere.  We are known hereabouts for our Strawberry Festival and fire truck parade.  According to the census, this tiny place is made up almost entirely of inbred farmers, real estate speculators and volunteer firemen.'

CHICAGO - The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., founder and President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, issued the following statement on President Bush's action to commute the sentence of Lewis Libby:

While no surprise, President Bush’s move to commute the 2 ½ year prison sentence of White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby is an affront to justice and fairness.

Libby, chief aide to Vice President Cheney, was convicted on felony charges of perjury and obstruction of justice – caught concealing and lying about the actions of the White House regarding the “outing” of CIA operative Valerie Plame, and its manipulation of “evidence” to justify invading Iraq.