The following is the complete text of California Congressional Candidate Byron De Lear's United States Green Party State of Union rebuttal on January 31, 2006.
"Iraq and Impeachment"
Hi. I'm Byron De Lear.
It's now clear to millions of Americans that President Bush betrayed our trust when he launched the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
But he didn't do this alone.
Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress voted for what has resulted in the worst foreign policy conducted by our country in decades.
The reasons given by the Bush Administration in the drum up for war, the American people now know to be fraudulent.
Some political accountability is needed.
You've just heard the State of the Union in which many social programs were talked about, and the Democrat's response forwarded an equal number of programs -- and yet both Democrats and Republicans have failed to address in any substantive way the fact that the Iraqi War is bankrupting our nation.
Let's consider what this ongoing occupation is costing the American people.
With half a billion dollars spent every day in Iraq, one days worth put into the research of renewable energy would dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
With one week's worth, we could guarantee Social Security for our children's children.
A year's worth, would give every American Universal Health Care -- why hasn't this war been stopped?
Because Democrats failed to do their duty when the frauds and deceptions of this war were brought out into the open.
Governor Timothy Kaine of Virginia, whom Democrats chose to deliver their rebuttal, has declared himself squarely behind this war alongside Senators Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Joe Biden.
And yet the majority of Americans want us out.
The Green Party has opposed this war from the very beginning, and calls for an immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq.
What does "mission accomplished" mean?
Now President Bush says the National Security Agency has the right to wiretap American citizens without obtaining a warrant - in direct violation of the US Constitution.
Core American principles of checks and balances established to prevent the tyranny of one branch of Government acting unchecked and in secret have been illegally abandoned.
The White House tried to block investigations into 9-11, Vice President Cheney withheld evidence when he met secretly with energy corporations, the torture scandals of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and secret detention facilities, and the Bush Administration received a warning two days before Hurricane Katrina hit that the levees in New Orleans would not hold against the
floodwaters.
The list goes on and on.
Real patriotism means standing up for the best interests of the American people.
We in the United States Green Party invite like-minded Americans to join us and to stand up for democracy and uphold the rule of law.
Five years of deception.
Five years of illegal actions.
The future of our republic is at stake.
There are mechanisms to deal with high crimes by politicians.
It's time to begin the impeachment proceedings of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
President Bush believes he is above the law. No elected official is above the law.
This is America.
For more information about the Green Party, the call for impeachment, and opposition to the Iraqi war, please visit gp.org.
Thank you.
* Byron De Lear's rebuttal can be downloaded at
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http://gp.org/video/2006stateofunion/>
* A video tape of the rebuttal can be mailed to reporters on request
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http://www.gp.org/forms/media/2006_sou_form.shtml>
www.DeLearforCongress.org
