St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay has joined with Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) in filing articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

On April 17, Kucinich wrote a letter to his Democratic colleagues espressing his intention to fill the legislation. “Dear Colleague,” wrote the Presidential candidate, “This week I intend to introduce Articles of Impeachment with respect to the conduct of Vice President Cheney. Please have your staff contact my office . . . if you would like to receive a confidential copy of the document prior to its introduction in the House.”

Since then, only Clay and Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have added their names to House Resolution 333, which states:

“Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction…”

“The Vice President subverted the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than 3300 United States service members; the loss of 650,000 Iraqi citizens since the United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the invasion of Iraq.

“In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.”

Click here to read the full text of the resolution.

Opponents of the America’s war in Iraq staged a demonstration downtown yesterday to mark the 4th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of the Middle Eastern nation.

Hundreds of faux headstones stood in the park area at the corner of Market and Chestnut to symbolize the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Americans killed and wounded since the beginning of the conflict.

One blog commenter said that following the end of their own demonstration, several students who had been in City Hall walked over to join the anti-war rally.

Congressman Lacy Clay has issued the following statement in response the report released yesterday by the Iraq Study Group:

“The report issued by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group vindicates what I have been saying for more than three years…we are not winning, the policy is not working, and we need to change direction without delay.

I am hopeful that the President will fully embrace the findings of the commission. We are ready to work with him to find a way to end this tragic war and to once again unify our nation in order to go forward with the unfinished work of the American people.

Ten more brave Americans were killed today in Iraq. We owe it to them, and to the other 23,000 Americans who have been killed or wounded, to forge a bipartisan solution that honors their sacrifice and brings them home as soon as possible.”

BREAKING NEWS

CNN is reporting that President Bush will announce today that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down.

UPDATE: U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the resignation of Rumsfeld:

“Last night, the American people sent an overwhelming message to Washington that it’s time to change our failed course in Iraq, and today’s resignation of Donald Rumsfeld is a belated step in the right direction,” said Obama.

“But to truly end the ideological mismanagement of this war, we must replace not just a person, but a strategy, and that will take the work of both Democrats and Republicans finding common ground and common solutions in the weeks to come.”

Because of Iraq we are less secure, says General and former Presidential candidate Wesley Clark in a new commercial by VoteVets.org, the same group behind earlier ads attacking Republican Senators Jim Talent, George Allen in Virginia, Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, and Conrad Burns in Montana.

The first 20 people to email us at editor@pubdef.net will get a pass for two to a special screening of the film “Catch a Fire” Wednesday at the Esquire.

Director Phillip Noyce (”Patriot Games”, “Clear and Present Danger”, “The Quiet American”) has made a powerful and moving film that uses the inspirational story of resistance in 1980s’ South Africa to make the point that is so relevent in today’s America: One man’s terrorist is often another man’s freedom fighter. And sometimes tactics used to fight terrorism actually creates more “terrorists”.

The film features Oscar-worthy performances by Tim Robbins (”Mystic River”) and Derek Luke (”Antwone Fisher”). Here are two PSAs featuring the actors talking about some of the issues in the movie.

www.amnestyinternational.org

The debate before yesterday’s debate centered around a television ad that was being run by U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill’s campaign and featuring a young veteran telling how difficult it was for him to receive medical care after he returned home from Iraq.

The “Josh” ad, as it has become known, featured Kansas City native Josh Lansdale, a former medic that was wounded while serving in Iraq. The ad was pulled from the air after Landale’s story could not be verified by a Kansas City television station.

“This isn’t about the veteran, it’s about the credibility of Claire McCaskill’s television ads,” said Jim Talent’s Senior Advisor Lloyd Smith. “McCaskill can not prove the ad is true. McCaskill can settle this right now by providing the media with the veteran’s appointment schedule as verified by the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Kansas City.”

“I think it’s a really sad moment,” McCaskill said on the matter last night. “Sen. Talent has sent men and women to die for us over there. And they’ve been injured. They don’t mind going to fight for us, but I don’t think they expected to be attacked when they get home.”

Senator Jim Talent told moderator Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” this morning that he would have voted for to go to war in Iraq even if he knew there were no weapons of mass destruction.

MR. RUSSERT: Knowing what you know today, knowing what you know today, that Saddam did not have the weapons of destruction that our intelligence agencies thought he had, if you knew that today, would you still vote for the war?

SEN. TALENT: Well, yeah, I mean, I think…

MR. RUSSERT: You still would?

SEN. TALENT: …it was the—I think it was the only possible strategic choice. Look, Saddam had been an organic threat in the region for a long time. He represented a threat to us. That threat is now gone. Tim, look at what’s not happening.

MR. RUSSERT: But Senator, isn’t it an important question: if, if, if the CIA said to you, “Saddam does not have weapons of biological, chemical, or a nuclear program,” you would still vote for the war?

SEN. TALENT: Well, he wanted them. He was trying to get rid of economic sanctions. He would’ve had $70-a-barrel oil. He’d have been competing with—I mean, if action had not been taken to remove Saddam, the same people who are being critical of what’s going on in Iraq now would be screaming that we’d left him in power. We’d have another Iran there. That threat’s been removed.

Click here for the full transcript.