Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich Talks About Impeaching Cheney in New Hampshire

Democratic candidate for president Congressman Dennis Kucinich addressed a group of about 60 voters today at a town hall style meeting held at the University of New Hampshire. Kucinich used the event to frame his efforts to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney as part of a wider effort to preserve democracy in America. He made frequent references to the founding principles found in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, telling those gathered that it was time for the country to shift from de-democratization to re-democratization.

Earlier this month Kucinich grabbed the nation's attention by bringing the issue of impeachment up before the House of Representatives. At the time the proposal was tabled due to opposition from the Democratic leadership in Congress. Kucinich told the crowd that impeachment is a part of our democratic system of checks and balances.

The Congressman said he takes the process of impeachment seriously and was prepared to present a vast body of evidence to prove his point. "Vice president Dick Cheney violated his oath of office by claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction," he said. He went on to say that Cheney had also lied to America by alleging that Iraq played a role in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Kucinich said that he believes that putting Cheney on the stand under oath would allow the nation to ask the vice president important questions about the build up to the war in Iraq. He also said that he thinks that it would be particularly interesting to ask Cheney about the role that oil industry leaders played in the decision making process that led to the war in Iraq.

Kucinich told the crowd that the threat of a new war against Iran was a key factor in his decision to attempt to push the impeachment of Cheney forwards. He said that $10 million was being spent to retrofit American bombers so that they could carry bombs capable of penetrating deeply buried bunkers. Kucinich presumed that this program had been created to pave the way for the bombing of alleged nuclear sites in Iran.