California Conservative

The San Francisco board of Supervisors recently passed a resolution to Impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over the NSA surveillance program, as well as Iraq and the response to Katrina.

“Bush has destroyed civil liberties in his wiretapping program, and failed miserably in his response to Hurricane Katrina.”

The resolution did not call for the impeachment of either Ray Nagin or Kathleen Blanco, the dynamic duo who could have and should have prevented any need for federal help. The resolution was sponsored by Supervisor Chris Daly, and was passed with a 7-3 vote. In response to the passage of the resolution, Mayor Gavin Newsom sarcastically said, “It’s probably going to shatter the status quo in this country when it passes. I imagine, immediately, Congress will probably convene into session and begin impeachment proceedings,” recognizing the insignifigance of the Board of Supervisors’ actions.

In related events, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) has been calling for the censure of President Bush, also claiming on the claims that President Bush broke the law with his NSA wiretapping program. Feingold has said:

It’s a big step, but what the president did by consciously and intentionally violating the Constitution and laws of this country with this illegal wiretapping has to be answered.

There can be debate about whether the law should be changed. There can be debate about how best to fight terrorism. We all believe that there should be wiretapping in appropriate cases — but the idea that the president can just make up a law, in violation of his oath of office, has to be answered.

Feingold says that the President knowingly ignored the law, and for that he should be punished. The legality of the issue is still being debated, but the necessity of the actions is unquestionable (outside of the board of supervisors, who believe there should be no military)

Now, amidst a firestorm of debate about how (and if) to punish illegal immigrants for their crime, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, as well as Mayor Gavin Newsom say that they will not recognize a federal law that criminalizes illegal aliens.

Newsom and other city leaders also expressed their opposition to House of Representatives bill 4437, which passed in the U.S. House in December. That bill mandates that illegal immigrants be deported, and makes it a crime to assist these immigrants.

If HR 4437 becomes law, San Francisco’s law enforcement agencies will not seek to enforce the new criminal classifications related to immigration status, according to a resolution passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The good people at Marooned in Marin recognize the idiocy, saying “If there’s a state or federal law they don’t like, to Hell with it, they’re not going to obey it.” It’s happened before, in 2004 when the Mayor decided to allow same sex marriages.

Yet, this style of selectively choosing which laws to obey and which to ignore is the very basis for which they are calling for impeachment, and the same reason given by Sen. Feingold in his attempts to bring about censure. Feingold claims that President Bush intentionally disregarded the law while he was protecting our country. The Board of Supervisors claims the same as a reason for impeachment. However, hile both are allowed their opinions, which I personally do not agree with, I question whether they will have the same disdain for the actions of the elected leaders of San Francisco. While the legality of the NSA surveillance program is under debate, with a strong argument presented by supporters of the program as to its legality, the actions and statements by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Mayor Newsom clearly demonstrate their desire to ignore laws they deem unfit.

So, to Senator Feingold and Supervisor Chris Daly, I ask: When does the call to impeach or censure San Francisco come?

Cross-posted at The Gentle Cricket

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 8th, 2006 at 11:26 am and is filed under California, Homeland Security, Immigration, Law, Liberals, San Francisco. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.