Bums Out! (Not Term Limits!)

by Mary W Maxwell, PhD, LLB, currently in the race for US Senate in Alabama

According to the US Constitution, Amendment 22, a prez is allowed only two elected terms. The need for that amendment arose in 1944 when it looked like FDR was unbeatable; he had won four terms. This sort of “limitation” in the Constitution is more or less in keeping with the way the Framers handled the issue of power in 1787 – they tried to think who would be likely to accrue too much power, and build in some blockage.

Nowadays there is talk of term limits for Congress. I do not agree! No senator or representative has the power that a president has to control the public, such as by giving them gifts.  (FDR gave them various New Deal work schemes and Social Security payments, during the Great Depression). If voters are not satisfied with a representative or senator, why not just throw the bums out?

I’ll name some names of bums I would like to see thrown out.

Bums Out over Building 7

Let’s start with Senator Tammy Baldwin D-WI, and these six members of the House of Representatives: John K Delaney D-MD; Henry Cuellar D-TX; Scott Perry R-PA; Bob Goodlatte R-VA; James Himes D-CT; and Karen Bass D-CA. They’ve got to go.

What is their sin? Their sin is that they were guests on C-Span, to answer questions from callers. Some members of the public were apparently organized to call in and pose a question about the third building (“Building 7) at the World Trade Center that fell down on September 11, 2001.

While it is widely believed that the twin towers came down as a result of fire (although that is probably not correct) there is no evidence whatsoever that fire is the cause of the falling of Building 7. It is seen on video as looking exactly like a controlled demolition. It came down in 6 seconds straight into its own footprint. Wow.

An association of architects and engineers has published its disagreement with the 9-11 Commission’s report. That Report did not even mention that a third building – mind you, a 47-story skyscraper – fell down on 9-11.  Such an omission is, in my opinion, treason, but I’m not here to talk about that.

I’m talking about throwing bums out. Each of the seven persons I listed refused to answer the C-Span callers. It is really shocking to watch.  These callers are not saying “Please tell me about paranormal activity.” They are not asking for anything more that consideration of the issue of Building 7’s collapse.

As you will see, the C-Span hosts sometimes cut off the call without giving the Congressperson the floor, but mostly they ask if the one of 6 reps, or Senator Tammy Baldwin, wants to say something. They all said no. NONE WANT TO TALK TO THE CITIZEN CALLER, or even comment on the collapse of Building 7

(Don’t know why Michael Chertoff is shown on cover of this video. It is not about him. — MM)

Actually, 535 Bums

In February 2014, Bill Windsor gathered some citizens to Washington DC and asked all 435 reps and all 100 senators to meet with them, as they had amazing, terrible things to tell about the failure of Rule of Law in our courts today. Not one politician showed up or even replied to the invitation. Indeed, Bill Windsor had said “or please send a member of your staff” but none of those showed up either.

This is a dreadful situation. Please see Bill’s excellent series on Youtube called “Lawless America.” He has worked so hard for us all and for his trouble he has been jailed 3 times. No, not because he protested violently – he did no such thing. The charges against him were bogus – a clear case of persecution. In America!!!!

By the way, if you try to bring a matter of general interest to a set of Congresspersons, you will receive a letter referring you back to the member for your district. I saw this happen when the late Boyd E Graves tried to tell Congress something important about the disease known as AIDS. He then published a whole book of the bed-bug type replies he received.

(Note: it’s conceivable that Graves was a plant and that his book is meant to dissuade anyone from trying to break down the formidable walls of Capitol Hill. But I have been in touch with Bill Windsor and am 100% sure that he is not anything other than the real deal.)

Half-Century Stayer-Onners

As I said, there is no need for a constitutional amendment to put term limits on our federal politicians as the people can do it. They can do it every even-numbered year for House of Reps and on a six-year rotation for their two state senators.

The fact that people do not shift dead wood out may be a sign of “name recognition” at the polls. It is likely that if a voter walks into the polling booth and sees the name he has seen for years, next to the name of a candidate he has never heard of, he will “Vote familiarity.”

The following men stayed in office in Washington, DC, for more than 50 years:

Carl Vinson, James Whitten, Carl Hayden, John Dingell, and Robert Byrd. Another nine stayed over 45 years, including Ted Kennedy, Sam Rayburn, and Strom Thurmond who left by way of his death in 2003, at age 100.

One more half-century man, John Conyers, will be dealt with below in my “please target” category.

Legal Ways for Removing Bad Politicians

Everyone knows that the proper method for removing a president is by impeachment.   Such a move, impeachment, requires a simple majority of the House of Representatives.  If they decide to impeach (to date they have only voted that way for removal of Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998), the matter then goes to the Senate for conviction, which would require a two-thirds vote. Neither Johnson nor Clinton was convicted.

Most citizens don’t know that federal judges can also be impeached, and 8 have been impeached. I strongly, oh so strongly, recommend the impeachment of  “Justice” George A O’Toole of Boston, in regard to the show trial he ran in 2015. Please see my book Marathon Bombing. (Note: today is Jahar Tsarnaev’s 24^th birthday.)

Article I, Section 5

It is possible for members of Congress to get kicked out by person other than their constituents, namely, by their colleagues.  Article I, section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution reads:

“Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.”

Two men got kicked out in living memory. In 2002, James Trafficant of Ohio, got expelled from the House after he was convicted in court of various crimes (personally I think it was a set-up), and Michael Myers who was caught in the sting known as Abscam in which several Congressmen were video’d accepting bribes.

Four Congressmen were expelled in 1861 for siding with the Confederacy.

Another man, Adam Clayton Powell, won a court case against his attempted ouster. His fellows had tried to prevent his return to Congress after the election; this was found to not qualify as expulsion. (You would think lawmakers could read the Constitution and know that preventing a rep from taking his seat is not the same as expelling him!)

Censure and Reprimand

The Constitution does not mention censure or reprimand, but tradition and Congressional rules have allowed the legislative body to render a punishment less than expulsion, known as censure. The offending member must stand there and have the censure against him read out.

In living memory, two congressmen in 1983 were censured for sexual misconduct with a “page.” A lesser punishment is reprimand, done without ceremony. In living memory, Newt Gingrich and Barney Frank received reprimands for financial matters.

In 1987, Austin Murphy was reprimanded for letting another person cast his vote.  I’ll bet Congress wouldn’t dare reprimand for that today as it would open quite a can of worms about the way all the votes are now done electronically. Plenty of room for chicanery!

One other case deserves mention. In 2009, Republican Rep Joe Wilson of South Carolina called out “You lie!” to President Obama, concerning health care for illegal immigrants.. Other Republicans made a silent gesture to make the same point – they held up copies of the proposed legislation, “Obamacare”. Wilson was reprimanded

(I hear you ask, what about free speech?  The two houses of Congress can make rules for themselves that are not laws, and are not subject to judicial review.)

Party Predictability of Punishment

The aforementioned reprimand of Joe Wilson was along party lines, as was also Senate vote on conviction of the impeached President Clinton. There were 45 Guilty votes on the matter of Clinton’s perjury, mainly from Republicans, and 55 Not Guilty votes, mainly from Democrats.

I am suggesting that the internal means of getting rid of elected leaders (censure or impeachment) is usually “political.” The party with most members will predictably not act against their party colleague.

It is also true, I suppose, that many accusations simply don’t come up as it would be politically risky to put them on the table. Perhaps there are so many guilty legislators that it is an unwritten rule not to air the most common sins.

The MK-Ultra victim Cathy O’Brien must have been disappointed when Senator Robert Byrd died without ever having been impeached for the astonishing crimes of which she accused him. In her 1995 book, The Trance-Formation of America, she says Byrd more or less owned her and performed torture and macabre rituals on her.

He was still senator after thousands of people had read her book. The non-action of Congress on this would have the effect of making other legislators think it is low-risk to be a rapist, a murderer, or whatnot, as there is obviously a plan in place to protect certain miscreants. Note: Senator Byrd did not sue Cathy O’Brien.

Who Are My Bums-Out Targets Today?

Above, I named seven persons who should be voted out next year (2018).  If they refuse to answer a caller’s question on C-Span about the fall of Building 7, they must know that 9-11 is an inside job. After all, if it were Muslims who placed the explosives in that building for a controlled demolition, the Congresspersons would surely all be champing at the bit to discuss it, right?

I assume they “fear the consequences” if they speak out. They perhaps fear Larry Silverstein who, as seen by millions on a Youtube video, said in 2001 “We pulled it” — meaning “I ordered the demolition of Building 7.”

I find the entire US government reprehensible, to an extreme degree, for not making the 9-11 controversy a subject of open discussion. During my current candidacy for US Senate, the media can get away with “ridiculing” me for saying “9-11 is an inside job.”

But I, in turn, ridicule them. Is there not a single journalist in the lot who can talk to me seriously about this matter (or the many other “sensitive’ matters that I love to air?) Please see my book “Truth in Journalism,” co-authored by Dee McLachlan.

Now to the rest of my list. If you want to know why these are listed, gimme a call.

In the House: John Conyers D-MI and Maxine Waters D-CA. They are dumpable through the ballot box next year, of course, just as they have been dumpable in every even-numbered year – Michigan has had 25 chances to get rid of Conyers.

In the Senate, two of my dumpees happen to be up for re-election in 2018: Tammy Baldwin D-WI (mentioned re the C-span Building 7 thing) and Diane Feinstein D-CA.

The following four senators have more time left in their current term so would have to be removed by persuasion, or by indictment: Richard Blumenthal D-VA; Patrick Leahy D-VT; and Lamar Alexander R-TN.

When on the hustings this week I spoke to many young people, telling them to hurry up and reach age 25 so they can put fresh blood in the House.

I sometimes do, and sometimes do not, mention that the base pay for Congresspersons is $174, 000. per annum.