Now that Dick Cheney has been hamstrung in his fairly overt plans to attack Iran, the risks of a Gulf of Tonkin type false flag operation must have increased significantly. I’m sure Cheney is spitting bricks today.

In a blog entry in September, Council of Foreign Relations member, and erstwhile US Senator, Gary Hart wrote some “Unsolicited Advice to the Government of Iran,” saying, “Presuming that you are not actually ignorant enough to desire war with the United States, you might be well advised to read the history of the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor in 1898 and the history of the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964.

“Having done so, you will surely recognize that Americans are reluctant to go to war unless attacked. Until Pearl Harbor, we were even reluctant to get involved in World War II. For historians of American wars the question is whether we provoke provocations.”

And there lies the danger. 3 US carrier groups are currently stationed within anti-ship missile range of the Iranian coast. A single incident, appearing to have come from Iran, would be enough to scupper the good intentions of the US intelligence community, who, no doubt, are still smarting from the Senate Report of Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq.

As Gary Hart pointed out, the Gulf of Tonkin episode is only one example that demonstrates past US willingness to dupe its own people into an action they otherwise would not support.

Yesterday, as promised, Dennis Kucinich introduced a privileged resolution to the floor of the House of Representatives to impeach Dick Cheney. Kucinich has explained that he decided to bring the resolution now because the danger that Cheney would lie to justify a preemptive war against Iran is high. He read the full text of the resolution on the House floor. The resolution is similar to HR333, which he introduced in April, but has languished in the Judiciary Committee ever since. HR333 has 22 cosponsors now, the latest being Democratic Representative Danny Davis.

The resolution introduced yesterday indicts Cheney for having lied that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and that the Iraq government had worked closely with al-Qaeda. The resolution also accuses Cheney of violating the US Constitution by threatening to use force against Iran, when Iran poses no threat to the US.

Although Nancy Pelosi was not visibly present on the floor of the House during the entire procedure, once the resolution was introduced, House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md) made a motion at her behest to table, i.e., kill the resolution. Echoing Pelosi, who has repeatedly said that impeachment is “off the table” Hoyer told Fox News: “Impeachment is not on our agenda, We have some major priorities. We need to focus on those.”

Initially it looked as if the motion to table would easily succeed. At one point in the voting it had 290 votes. However, a decision was made by the Republican leadership to instruct party members to change their votes and vote against tabling the measure. The final vote was 251 against tabling to 162 in favor of tabling. 165 Republicans voted against tabling, as did 86 Democrats, with at least 17 Democrats also changing their votes at the very end to also vote against tabling the motion in clear defiance of Pelosi.

With this vote, the impeachment of Dick Cheney is clearly no longer “off the table” as Nancy Pelosi has insisted. Her protection of Cheney’s war policy has been thoroughly unmasked.

Next, Hoyer moved to refer the resolution to the Judiciary Committee. The procedural vote as to whether to vote on the motion to refer to committee succeeded by a margin of 218 to 194, with the Republicans once again voting against Hoyer in order to force a quick one-hour debate on the house floor.

The actual motion to refer to committee won by the same margin 218 to 194.

Dick Cheney was in Dallas, Texas, yesterday morning, delivering a speech to the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. During the discussion afterwards, Dick demonstrated his sound understanding of international politics during the following exchange:

MODERATOR: “Our attention is focused on Iraq, Iran and the wider Middle East. However, much of the world is watching closely Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. How concerned are you about his influence?”

CHENEY: “We have — I’m trying to think how to state this diplomatically.

(LAUGHTER)

Diplomacy is hard sometimes.

(LAUGHTER)

We have refrained from making public pronouncements about Mr. Chavez — I think, for good and legitimate reasons. He’s a — obviously, an individual with his own agenda. And he spends a great deal of his time worrying about us and criticizing the United States.

My own personal view is that he does not represent the future of Latin America. And the people of Peru, I think, deserve better in their leadership. But that’s obviously a matter they’ve got to resolve for themselves.”

Thinking is hard sometimes, isn’t it Dick?

Dennis Kucinich, Demotratic Congressman for Ohio, announced yesterday that he will be offering a privileged resolution in the House of Representatives next week, probably on the 6th of November. The resolution will bring articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney, contrary to the wishes of Kucinich’s boss in the House, Nancy Pelosi.

Kucinich said in his press release, “The momentum is building for impeachment. Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President’s abuse of power. Despite this groundswell of opposition to the unconstitutinal conduct of office, Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting the power of the Executive Branch is supreme. The Congress must hold the Vice President accountable. The American people need to let Members of Congress known how they feel about this. The Vice President continues to use his office to advocate for a continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran. If the Vice President is successful, his actions will ensure decades of disastrous consequences.”

The press release reports that the privileged resolution has priority status for consideration on the House floor. Once introduced, the resolution has to be brought to the floor within two legislative days, although the House could act on it immediately. Kucinich is expected to bring it to the House floor on Tuesday, 6th November.

H. Res. 333, Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President, sponsored by Kucinich, has 21 cosponsors.

Vice President Dick Cheney was caught on tape and caught off guard during a meeting with President Bush today.

A news crew was taping a cabinet meeting at the White House as the president was giving a briefing on the California wildfires, when they caught Cheney as he appeared to be nodding off.

“Wake me up when they’ve blamed it on Iran,” he said.