Subject: Begin Change NOW With Cheney Impeachment Hearings, “It’s Still The Judiciary Committee Stupid!”, Plus Pelsoi, Hoyer and Conyers…Time To Pull Out All The Stops… Inundate The Entire House With The Message : NO IMPEACHMENT; NO RE-ELECTION!
“It’s The Judiciary Committee Stupid!” Campaign Lead Link
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/12/impeach-bush-and-cheney-calling-all.html
Reach The Press/Media
http://capwiz.com/aauw/dbq/media
The Wexler Letter Link
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/24608
And Don’t Forget Jim And The Yellow Rose Of Texas Bus For Peace
http://www.marchinmyname.org/?p=342#comments
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-dewalt/impeachment-marcher-reach_b_81490.html
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, On Foot
CBS News - New York,NY,USA
Nancy Pelosi announced that impeachment was "off the table." And so Nirenberg, an Air Force veteran who built a career as a social studies teacher, ...
BEGIN CHANGE NOW WITH CHENEY IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS
The Pelosi Page
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/12/impeach-bush-cheneythe-pelosi-page.html
An Open Letter To Nancy Pelosi
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-letter-to-speaker-pelosi.html
The Steny Hoyer Page
An Open Letter To Steny Hoyer
The John Conyers Page
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/12/impeach-bush-cheneythe-john-conyers.html
An Open Letter To John Conyers
http://courtofimpeachmentandwarcrimes.blogspot.com/2007/11/open-letter-to-john-conyers.html
http://www.democrats.com/send/send/15133
By an overwhelming 79%-12% margin, Americans want to change the disastrous direction George Bush and Dick Cheney have taken us. But there's no need to wait until January 2009 - we can begin change now with impeachment.
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) is organizing his colleagues to ask House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to begin Cheney impeachment hearings, and he needs our help.
We're asking other Judiciary Committee Members to co-sign Wexler's letter to Conyers, and we're asking the rest of Congress to send their own letters to Conyers. Please email your Congress member here:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/125
Please call your Congress member through the Capitol Hill Switchboard (202) 224-3121, toll-free at 1-800-828-0498, or directly (http://www.democrats.com/congress). Tell your Congress member to urge Chairman Conyers to begin impeachment hearings for Dick Cheney. Then tell your friends and call and email the media.
TELL THE CANDIDATES: CHANGE BEGINS NOW
Congressman Dennis Kucinich says he will introduce articles of impeachment against President Bush for deceiving the American nation.
The Democrat said Wednesday that he would introduce the articles on January 28, the day US President George W. Bush is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union speech.
"We already know the State of the Union," Kucinich said. "It's a lie!"
If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he wouldn't be sniping over the Voting Rights Act of 1964 or Iraq War speeches in 2002.
He'd be leading the largest protests our nation has ever seen to end to the occupation of Iraq, restore the Constitution, massively shift funds from the military to humanity, and impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney for their war crimes and lies.
If the Democratic candidates for President want to compete on who is a better agent of change, it's time for them - all of them - to stop talking and start acting. Email Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, and Barack Obama to
1. Oppose any more Iraq War funds
2. Support Sen. Chris Dodd's filibuster of telco immunity for warrantless wiretapping
3. Support Rep. Robert Wexler's call for Cheney impeachment hearings
4. Support Rep. John Conyers' single-payer non-profit health care plan
http://www.democrats.com/change-now-petition
Massachusetts Bush Impeachment Booster, Bob Feuer, Set to ...
Bush impeachment booster set to challenge local congressman By Evan Lehmann | LowellSun.com. A Stockbridge lawyer informally announced his candidacy yesterday to unseat US Rep. John Olver, as a deadline, imposed to spur the congressman ...
Massachusetts Bush Impeachment Booster, Bob Feuer, Set to Challenge Local Congressman
Submitted by Chip on Sun, 2008-01-27 06:28. Activism | Congress | Impeachment Bush impeachment booster set to challenge local congressman
By Evan Lehmann | LowellSun.com
A Stockbridge lawyer informally announced his candidacy yesterday to unseat U.S. Rep. John Olver, as a deadline, imposed to spur the congressman to support impeachment, approached passing.
Robert "Bob" Feuer, chairman of his town's Democratic Committee, described the absence of a full-fledged effort to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney as "pretty depressing."
"I'm giving Congressman Olver until 5 o'clock tonight (Friday) to say, 'I stand by the will of my constituents,'" Feuer said, adding that he plans to announce his candidacy Monday. "I can't see any retraction from that."
Olver, an Amherst Democrat who represents Townsend and Pepperell, is vigorously critical of the Bush administration, but indicated this week that his opposition to impeachment is growing.
"It gets stronger and stronger and stronger the longer we go," Olver said outside the House floor.
He said he was aware of Feuer's deadline, but declined to comment on it.
Feuer is an impeachment activist who's addressed crowds, with other speakers, at several rallies in southern New England. He's critical of Olver on global warming and budget issues. But a passionate desire to impeach the president is driving him to oppose Olver, who was first elected in 1991 and has enjoyed large victory margins in most of his elections since then.
Feuer remembers being "ecstatic" when the House of Representatives sent an impeachment bill introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, to the Judiciary Committee in November.
"I thought here's the historic commencement of impeachment proceedings," he said. "I thought, we're there now, we've made it.
This is the official first step."
The vote, however, effectively killed the measure by mooring impeachment indefinitely in the backwater of committee business.
"And here we are on the 25th of January and it's still sitting in a pile on the floor," Feuer said. "The will of the people has again just not prevailed."
Olver says impeachment can't be achieved because of Republican opposition. Impeachment could also delay passage of domestic legislation, ending the Iraq war and imperil Democratic presidential aspirations, he said.
Feuer says Congress is shrinking from its requirement to protect the Constitution, given the administration's controversial actions related to invading Iraq, domestic surveillance and interrogation of detainees.
Feuer plans to look for volunteers to build a campaign organization. He needs 2,000 certified signatures by May 6 to appear on the primary ballot.
http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier
March 13-16, 2008 http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is revealing the reality of the
U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. In what will be history's
largest gathering of U.S. veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan,
as well as Iraqi and Afghan survivors, eyewitnesses will share their
experiences in a public investigation called Winter Soldier: Iraq and
Afghanistan.
How you can help Winter Soldier - Please read the attached file and
Lily's note below.
The D.C. Metro area is being called on to provide tax deductible
donations, housing and help with the logistics. Main organizer is Lily
Pazil pazil@riseup.net, Tel: 301－785-7134, Contact her and
vfpdc@vfpdc.org for how you can help.
Attached is the revised list of logistics roles to be filled. Soon
Lily will schedule everything out so people can sign up for exact
shifts, but for now i'd like to just compile volunteers who can play
these roles at some point during the weekend.
Please fwd to your networks! We need ALOT more volunteers! **Also
Note: I was hoping Childcare would be bottom lined by the DC child
care collective, but they can only help somewhat, so we need
more people for this fun role! And a child care bottom liner!! Thanks, -Lily
SCHEDULE
National Labor College
10000 New Hampshire Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20903
THURSDAY March 13
5 PM: Dinner
6 PM: Welcoming brief for IVAW and testifiers
7 PM: Panel 1, "The History of GI Resistance"
FRIDAY March 14
8-9 AM: Breakfast
10 AM - 11 AM: Testimony
11 AM - 1 PM: Panel 2,"Political, Legal, and Economic Context for the
Wars"
1-2 PM: Lunch
2-3 PM: Panel 3, "Corporate Pillaging and Military Contractors"
3-6 PM: Testimony
6-7 PM: Dinner
7-8 PM: Panel 4, "Impacts on Human Health and the Environment"
8:30 PM: Daily debriefing
9:30PM: Entertainment
SATURDAY March 15
8-9 AM: Breakfast
10 AM - 11 AM: Panel 5, "Military Discrimination and Sexual Assault"
11 AM - 1 PM: Testimony
1-2 PM: Lunch
2-3 PM: Panel 6, "Dehumanization"
3-6 PM: Testimony
6-7 PM: Dinner
7-8 PM: Panel 7, "Cost of the War at Home"
8:30 PM: Daily debriefing
9:30PM: Entertainment
SUNDAY March 16
8-9 AM: Breakfast
10 AM - 1 PM: Testimony
1-2 PM: Lunch
2 PM: Panel 8, "The Future of GI Resistance"
3 PM: Wrap-up, debriefing, closing event
Tony Teolis
Veterans For Peace
Delwin Anderson Memorial Chapter
www.vfpdc.org
vfpdc@vfpdc.org
home (evenings/weekends): 703-352-1603
cell: 703-402-1763
Tony Teolis
Veterans For Peace
Delwin Anderson Memorial Chapter
www.vfpdc.org
vfpdc@vfpdc.org
home (evenings/weekends): 703-352-1603
cell: 703-402-1763
START PLANNING FOR MARCH 2008
Start planning your local and national actions to demand peace and impeachment in March 2008 here:
FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
US Antiwar Movement Falters: An Insider’s View
By Staff
The broad-based London call paralleled and reinforced another call by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan and other forces in the United States for mass antiwar demonstrations in March 2008. Unfortunately, despite these important initiatives ...
Kucinich Exit An Effect Of Biased Process
UConn Daily Campus (subscription) - Storrs,CT,USA
Last week, NBC News sent out a debate dis-invitation to former Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich, a move later upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court. ...
The Debates: Are the Networks Playing Fair?
University Times - ME,USA
It was with dismay that I watched NBC first invite Dennis Kucinich to last night's Democratic debate in Las Vegas, then uninvite him. .
How can we stop the media from marginalizing good candidates?
By Jody Paulson
Right now I'm volunteering for Cindy Sheehan's congressional campaign against Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Despite Cindy's name recognition and a growing divide between Pelosi and her constituents, the press is doing everything it can to ...
Stockholm Syndrome Sufferers Reid and Pelosi Screw America!
http://www.democrats.com/spy-on-them
Wherein Nancy Pelosi invokes The Books of Bokonon, 1:1
"All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies."
Wouldn’t It Be Nice If All Candidates Sounded Like This?
Impeachment Statement by Presidential Candidate Senator Mike Gravel
I want to very clearly and emphatically affirm the imperative of Impeachment as the Presidential Campaign begins to move into high gear and as the media is busy anointing the “front runners.”
Impeachment Statement by Presidential Candidate Senator Mike Gravel
January 25th, 2008 by Senator Mike Gravel
While I’ve been outspoken in favor of the Impeachment of Vice President Cheney and President Bush since last July, today I’m announcing my very strong and unqualified support for Impeachment.
I want to very clearly and emphatically affirm the imperative of Impeachment as the Presidential Campaign begins to move into high gear and as the media is busy anointing the “front runners.”
As a Candidate for President, and most importantly as an American, I firmly believe that our most important and highest priority, both as individual American citizens and as a whole Nation, is to protect, defend, and nourish the foundation of American Democracy: the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Every other issue is of secondary importance.
I’ve chosen to run for President to effect what I consider to be much needed change. When people go to Internet websites that match them with the candidates that best reflect their own concerns and priorities, a very large number of voters find that I am the candidate best advocating the issues they most care about.
However, today I want to unequivocally state: without Impeachment first, what I or any other worthy Presidential candidate wants to accomplish is very unlikely to happen. Our words will in fact become another empty campaign promise and another sad political fantasy.
Why am I making such a statement?
Let’s review a few supremely important and disturbing facts:
Without Impeachment before we choose the next Administration, we as a Nation will be setting a legal precedent. We will be saying yes to the systematic destruction of the Constitution and Bill of Rights engineered by Vice President Cheney and President Bush, and will be formally agreeing to the end of American Democracy. We, as Americans, will be giving our approval and consent to the idea that the Vice President and President are indeed above the law, that they are in fact a law unto themselves.
Cheney and Bush have openly boasted about their supposed right to break the law. This administration has claimed that it has the right to spy on Americans without a warrant. This administration has decided that it has no obligation to respond to any lawful subpoenas from Congress, and that it may invoke Presidential signing statements to declare its right to ignore any Federal Law. This administration thinks it has the authority to arbitrarily strip any American of his or her citizenship.
This administration has illegally declared that it has supreme overriding authority. The Vice President and the President have accumulated and consolidated unprecedented power that has replaced the co-equal system of checks and balances mandated by the Constitution with a new Imperial Presidency. This imperialism has given the President far-reaching powers that our founding fathers would quickly recognize as tyranny.
The illegitimate authority of this newly constructed imperial Presidency – this Supreme Commander-in-Chief created by Cheney and Bush – has replaced the Rule-of-Law based on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Our system of co-equal branches of government, the unique and revolutionary principle of American Democracy, the great leap of faith that people could actually govern themselves, has been subverted. It is now almost dead.
America, the world’s oldest Democracy, is an astonishingly brilliant system of government based on carefully crafted and refined checks and balances between co-equal branches of government. The civil liberties given birth by this revolutionary form of government over 200 years ago are rapidly ending.
Our political elite, those we have entrusted to be the people’s representatives, have failed. Their oath of office, to protect and defend the Constitution, has been disregarded in the light of political power.
When we have a Vice President and President who openly declare they are above the law of the land, above the Constitution, how can we as Americans pretend that we live in a Democracy?
If We The People do not take action to demand accountability in the form of Impeachment, we become passive accomplices to the silent overthrow of American Democracy.
It is now time for the People to become leaders. We must teach our elected representatives to act in accordance with their oath of office and effect immediate impeachment of those who have committed these crimes against the Constitution.
If we do not act now we are all personally endorsing, sanctioning, and indeed celebrating, the end of the Bill of Rights, Habeas Corpus and all other fundamental civil liberties and democratic values. Such values have been the foundation of American Democracy for over 200 years.
The media-anointed “front-running” Presidential Candidates simply do not have the courage to tell the American public the truth.
If we elect any candidate from any party without first impeaching this outlaw Administration, we endorse and elect a new Imperial President of the United States. This cements into place a failed Democracy whose citizens have passively chosen to relinquish the cherished freedoms millions have fought and died to protect.
Do we really believe that we can trust the next President to give back the dramatically expanded power of the Unitary Executive? Once absolute power has been granted, it is never relinquished voluntarily.
We need to stop kidding ourselves. Let us summon 1% of the courage that those who landed on the beaches of Normandy had and recognize what is painfully obvious to the rest of the World: we are rapidly losing every fundamental freedom we thought we were fighting the “terrorists” to protect.
In six short years, the Vice President and the President have actively conspired to commit the most grievous crimes against our Constitution and the personal freedoms it guarantees. America has gone from being perhaps the most admired and respected nation on the planet to becoming the ultimate rogue state. The world’s only remaining superpower is now feared as the greatest threat to world peace.
The Constitutional system of checks and balances that are the foundation of our civil liberties have been gutted. America has become the only “civilized” state to declare its right to arbitrarily imprison, torture, and spy on anyone it chooses to, including its own citizens. We are also the only state to officially declare a right to wage lethal preemptive war on any nation that dares to threaten its exclusive superpower status.
Every democratic nation has the government that is created by active participation of its citizens. Impeachment is the only option for us, as Americans, to effectively wake ourselves up from this collective nightmare. It is the only way for us to demonstrate to ourselves and the rest of the world that we are the Americans we like to believe we are. We need to demonstrate that we actually can summon the courage to live up to our self-proclaimed ideals.
Enough is enough. This is NOT allowed.
There is a lot of very good news that makes me tremendously hopeful that we as a nation are starting to wake up and insist our Congressional representatives act to make Impeachment happen now.
Our corporate controlled media works very hard to portray impeachment as a fringe issue not worthy of serious consideration, even though polls show the negative approval ratings of this administration have surpassed all historic records. Reputable national polling shows that 54% want the Vice President impeached and 45% of voters favor Impeachment for the President.
We The People are indeed waking up – we have learned not to rely on the old top-down corporate media dinosaurs to tell us what they have decided is “the news.” Fortunately, We The People have an amazing network of online alternative information sources. These rapidly evolving reality-based, user-driven, independent media sites have made us our own news editors.
We The People are now realizing that we must act now to take the initiative to demand that our elected representatives in Congress initiate immediate Impeachment hearings. From the bottom-up, we have begun the process to restore the Rule-of-Law in America.
Here’s what we can all do now to take effective action:
Join your fellow Americans and Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), a member of the House Judiciary committee, by signing his petition that asks all other members of the Judiciary Committee to join his call for immediate hearings on the Impeachment of the Vice President.
Support and donate to these Impeachment Groups:
Support and donate to the other Presidential candidates who are also publicly and courageously calling for Impeachment.
Let the other Presidential Candidates know why you are not willing to support or contribute to their campaign: that you refuse to support anyone who isn’t willing to tell the truth to the American people about what has happened to their Democracy.
Join together to organize and petition your Congressperson to be true to their oath office: to uphold their most fundamental and sacred duty to protect and defend the Constitution by Impeaching the Vice President and President. Together we will restore the Rule-of-Law in America.
Senator Mike Gravel
Candidate for President
Why The Democrats Will Not Impeach
Except for Representative Dennis Kucinich and Representative Cynthia McKinney, there are no other "voices in the night" speaking out about the lies and deceptions of the Bush administration and the 9/11 Commission regarding what ...
Calls for Bush and Cheney Impeachment Mount with Evidence
In his Post article, McGovern argued, "The case for impeaching Bush and Cheney is far stronger than was the case against Nixon." McGovern joins former counsel to President Nixon, John Dean, who said in 2004 that he believed that the ...
No More Investigations Please
By davidswanson
Bush's and Cheney's crimes stand open on the table before us. Their lies about Iraqi ties to al Qaeda are on videotape and in writing, and they continue to make them to this day. Their claims about Iraqi weapons have been shown in every ...
Judiciary Committee should move to impeach Bush and Cheney
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA,USA
Many polls show a majority of Americans support impeaching Cheney (a Nov. 13 American Research Group poll says 70 percent of Americans believe he abused his ...
Judiciary Committee should move to impeach Bush and Cheney
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - 5 hours ago
Since mid-December, members of the House Judiciary Committee Robert Wexler (D., Fla.), Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.) and Tammy Baldwin (D., Wis. ...
Calls for Bush and Cheney impeachment mount with evidence
Drexel University The Triangle Online, PA - Jan 25, 2008
As we enter the last year of George Bush's presidency, there have been an increasing number of calls for his, as well as Vice President Cheney's, ...
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=40473§ionid=3510203
Gravel: Bush impeachment vital
Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:40:05
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel claims to fully support the impeachment of Vice President Cheney and President Bush.
"There is a lot of very good news that makes me tremendously hopeful that we as a nation are starting to wake up and insist our congressional representatives act to make impeachment happen now," Gravel wrote on his presidential website Friday.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=40170§ionid=3510203
Washington to wage e-war on terror?
Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:03:02
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the US must fight global terrorism by waging 'information warfare' through the internet.
Addressing an information warfare conference, Rumsfeld said the United States is losing in its battle against terrorism because it is 'sitting on the sidelines' and 'barely competing'.
He claimed that Washington needs a 21st century agency of global communications which uses modern methods to spread the United States' message on the importance of democracy and freedom.
"The US military can't fight the war on terrorism alone. It needs help from a host of other US government agencies, including a new one that should be created to use the Internet to wage an information offensive against Muslim extremists," the former Defense Secretary stated.
He urged the government to help regain 'a valued tool to help tell the story of a nation (US) that was carved from the wilderness and conceived in freedom'.
Reasons Not To Impeach Bush
by Eric From Manassas
Fri Jan 25, 2008 at 09:34:08 PM PST
Recently around here, I’ve seen a disturbing number of diaries promoting the idea that we should impeach our esteemed President and leader, George W. Bush. I feel this is a terribly misguided idea and I hope with this diary to convince you why we should not pursue this path. Following, I will give several carefully reasoned arguments to dissuade those seeking impeachment from their path.
George Bush Has Protected Us From Our Freedoms
Like most of you in the days following September 11th I was terrified. I was confused and disoriented. Who had attacked us? Why? The Bush administration quickly investigated and discovered the answers to those questions. We had been attacked by Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Despite their decades of conflict and hatred of each other, they united to attack us on that fateful day.
They were jealous of and hated us for our freedoms. How could we defeat an enemy that hated the very core of what it means to be an American? The Bush Administration soon had an answer. From Wiretapping to Habeas Corpus to the right to be charged with a crime the Bush Administration struck forcefully and decisively, removing our freedoms in the name of security. As noted traitor and terrorist sympathizer Ben Franklin said "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety". Why would terrorists attack us if we had no freedoms left for them to envy and hate? We have not yet been attacked again since that day that Rudy Guiliani saved us all, clearly the Bush administrations strategy has worked.
Richard Cheney Would Become President
If George W. Bush is impeached his Vice President, Richard "Dick" Cheney would become the President. We would then see him on TV considerably more than we do now. I greatly respect Mr. Cheney, but he has no business being anywhere near a television. He is not suitable programming fit for children. Please, think of the children.
George Bush Has Saved The Most Needy: Corporations
George Bush has fought relentlessly and tirelessly for those Americans who have suffered the most. They had suffered the indignities of huge profits even while the middle class goes hungry, the pain of de-regulation, and the terrors inflicted by massive outsourcing to third world countries where the minimum wage is still not being killed. Indeed, Corporations were on the down and out before George Bush had taken office. But now, he has launched one of the most vigorous and ambitious campaigns ever to save them. This President has launched a War On Not Nearly Massive Enough Corporate Profits. He has given them millions in federal dollars to bail them out even when they didn't need it and has greatly deregulated all industry to aid them further. Truly, there is no lengths to which this president won't go to help those most vulnerable and needy of our citizenry.
He's Building Harding's Legacy
Warren G. Harding, one of the most misunderstood and most maligned presidents of all time has greatly benefited from President Bush's largess. Harding, who's administration was wracked by numerous scandals such as the Teapot Dome Scandal and who admitted that he "wasn't fit for the job" has seen a great reversal in opinion. In fact, most Americans today when confronted with a poll asking them who they would support were the election held tomorrow between Bush and Harding chose Katherine Harris by overwhelming margins(odd, but who am I to question the veracity of a Diebold electoral counting machine?). As a descendant of Mr. Harding I can extend my grateful thanks to Bush for making my ancestor look considerably more competent.
I hope you consider these reasons carefully and without bias and see that to impeach George Bush, would be to impeach us all.
Thank You
BILL OF RIGHTS DEFENSE COMMITTEE http://www.bordc.org
Are you concerned that the government's warrantless surveillance, detainee policies, and other post-9/11 laws and policies undermine our basic civil rights and liberties and make our country less safe? Join the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's national network of people who are taking meaningful action to restore protections guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.
Subscribe to receive BORDC Action Alerts and e-newsletter. Find past issues here.
SENATE TAKES UP WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING
The U.S. Senate defeated an attempt Thursday to pass a Judiciary Committee bill that would have allowed lawsuits against telecommunications companies that cooperated with President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. The vote was 60-36. Currently, senators are working on amendments to the Intelligence Committee bill addressing changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. A cloture vote is scheduled for Monday.
The Bush Administration continues to push for telecom immunity and authority to conduct unchecked surveillance of electronic communications. Contact your senators to push back to protect our Fourth Amendment protections!
Kennedy Introduces State Secrets Legislation
On January 22, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation (S 2533) placing limits on the government's use of the state secrets privilege, which has halted many lawsuits seeking redress for government wrongdoing over the past several years. The House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold hearings on reform of the state secrets privilege January 29 at 9:30. The hearings can be watched live: http://judiciary.house.gov/schedule.aspx. For more information on Kennedy's bill, see
SoCal ACLU Passed Bush-Cheney Impeachment Resolution
ACLU/SC Board Endorses Impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for High Crimes. LOS ANGELES – The board of directors of the ACLU of Southern California has passed a resolution calling for the impeachment of President ...
Reference Previous Post Re: Debate:
A Trial Would Fail, And Split The U.S. When Unity Behind Progressive Ideas Is Needed
Michael Tomasky is American editor of the Guardian newspaper of London.
He is American.
High crimes and misdemeanors? Sure. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are constitutional rogues of the highest order. Strictly on the merits, impeachment proceedings should begin posthaste.
But there are compelling reasons people - especially liberals who are most inclined to want to see Bush and Cheney in the dock - should step back and consider the larger ramifications of such a move.
Most people think of impeachment as a purely legal action. But it is also - indeed, I'd argue that it is even chiefly - a political action. And political actions produce reactions that we may not be crazy about.
My argument starts here: Barring any new and shocking information, impeachment will fail. Let me repeat: It. Will. Fail.
The rules say 67 votes are needed in the Senate to convict, which would mean every Democrat and 16 Republicans - an utter impossibility. Do you know how many votes there would be today? Probably fewer than 10. Fewer than five. In fact, I can think of only one, and he's a maybe: Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
Could the process of hearings and revelations change that? Yes; it could raise the number of "no" votes as high as 30, 35. That would still be a massive failure.
In addition, there's just no time for it now. We're picking Bush's successor this year. The clock is blissfully running out on him. If House leaders announced tomorrow that they wanted to impeach - which they won't, but if they did - it probably would be April before they staffed a committee and an investigative team, and June before they started hearings.
Then comes congressional recess. Then come the conventions. Then comes the general election campaign (and more congressional recess!). And I haven't even mentioned the Bush administration's inevitable stonewalling, refusal to answer subpoenas, etc. In real life, proceedings would barely get off the ground before the next president's moving van showed up.
I understand rank-and-file Democrats' impatience with their party's leaders in Congress. Demand that they de-fund the war if you wish, press them to end immunity for the telecoms on the surveillance question. But if you're asking the Democrats to impeach, you're asking them to undertake an effort that's bound to fail and for which there's no time anyway.
But there is an even bigger reason to oppose impeachment. Consider the historical moment. Just two years ago, Karl Rove was bragging about the coming conservative majority that would dominate America for years.
Today, not only is that prospect dead and gone, but the opposite seems plausible: Democrats have the best chance they've had in 30 or 40 years to elect a president and something close to working majorities in both houses of Congress.
That means they have a chance to get the country, or enough of the country, united around an agenda that includes changing the course of foreign policy and doing something about health care, climate change, the right to unionize, and a host of other domestic needs.
The operative word in the above paragraph is united. Because Democrats have an activist agenda, they need to build coalitions in support of their proposals. And because liberals constitute only about 20 percent of the country's voting adults, those coalitions will have to include moderates, independents and some Republicans.
Impeachment would make building those coalitions extremely difficult. It would divide the country. It would alienate many moderates and infuriate many Republicans. It would be seen by many nonpartisan people as revenge for what the Republicans did to Bill Clinton. This may be unjust, but it is so.
And so, finally, we get to the rub, or what I think are the concerns that have to be balanced here.
On the one hand, there is the urge to take a principled stand in defense of the Constitution. At stake is not only the fate of Bush and Cheney, but also the possibility that future administrations will feel emboldened to behave cavalierly toward our laws.
On the other hand, there is consideration of the risks involved in the face of the virtual certainties that this effort (a) will fail, and (b) will prove deeply divisive at precisely the moment Democrats have a chance to unite a majority behind progressive ideas for the first time in a generation or more.
I respect people who take the former position. I understand that my position may have all the appeal of a New York Giants billboard on Broad Street, but I take the latter view, and I take it emphatically.
And I don't accept that my argument is one of expediency over principle. Universal health care and a sane foreign policy are principles, too. I'm on their side.
Contact Michael Tomasky at mtomasky@gmail.com.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/grassroots-push-for-impeachment-continues/
No More Investigations Please
OpEdNews, PA - 23 hours ago
by David Swanson Page 1 of 2 page(s) In a December 31, 2007, editorial, the New York Times faulted the current president and vice president of the United ...
No More Investigations Please
By David Swanson
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/24608
In a December 31, 2007, editorial, the New York Times faulted the current president and vice president of the United States for kidnapping innocent people, denying justice to prisoners, torturing, murdering, circumventing U.S. and international law, spying in violation of the Fourth Amendment, and basing their actions on "imperial fantasies."
Bush's and Cheney's crimes stand open on the table before us. Their lies about Iraqi ties to al Qaeda are on videotape and in writing, and they continue to make them to this day. Their claims about Iraqi weapons have been shown in every detail to have been, not mistakes, but lies. Their threats to and lies about Iran are on videotape. Bush being warned about Katrina and claiming he was not are on videotape. Bush lying about illegal spying and later confessing to it are on videotape. A federal court has ruled that spying to be a felony.
The Supreme Court has ruled Bush and Cheney's system of detentions unconstitutional. Torture, openly advocated for by Bush and Cheney and their staffs, is documented by victims, witnesses, and public photographs. Torture was always illegal and has been repeatedly recriminalized under Bush and Cheney. Bush has reversed laws with signing statements. Those statements are posted on the White House website, and a GAO report found that with 30 percent of Bush's signing statements in which he announces his right to break laws, he has in fact proceeded to break those laws. For these and many other offenses, no investigation is needed because no better evidence is even conceivable. And rather than taking three months, the impeachment of Cheney or Bush could be completed in a day.
But the investigations that Congress has pursued at its glacial pace over the past 12 months, while thousands upon thousands died, have produced another impeachable offense, the refusal to comply with subpoenas. That is what President Richard Nixon did; and his refusal to comply with subpoenas constituted the offense cited in one of the three Articles of Impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee on July 27, 1974 as warranting "impeachment and trial, and removal from office."
Bush and Cheney are claiming executive privilege. Nixon also tried that one. It didn't work then; and it won't work now. Condoleezza Rice is claiming, with more frankness, that she's just not inclined to comply. Even Nancy Pelosi ought to understand by now that the removal of the threat of impeachment is what empowers the White House to ignore subpoenas, and that the threat of impeaching the White House for its stonewalling would break down the wall even before we reached impeachment.
And Bush and Cheney have gone further by announcing on July 19, 2007, that the Justice Department will not enforce any contempt of Congress proceedings. So, that alternative to impeachment would be out even if Pelosi were willing to allow a vote on it.
There are well-intentioned impeachment advocates who want to hold yet more hearings without the I word, with the idea that then the public will demand impeachment (as if the public hasn't already demanded impeachment).
These people are largely oblivious to the fact that the Congress has held dozens of hearings on impeachable offenses over the past 12 months. Holding more will do nothing but eat up the clock. Most of the ones they've already done didn't even make it onto C-Span. Most invited witnesses refused to show. Most subpoenaed witnesses refused to show. Most of the significant witnesses who have shown up have either refused to answer questions or have arrogantly asserted unconstitutional power knowing Congress would not do anything about it.
There is zero chance of new information making impeachment happen. That claim has been made over and over again as we've learned of war lies, spying, detentions, torture, murder, gang rape, political firings, signing statements, refusals to comply with subpoenas, destruction of tapes, commuting of sentences, etc.
The only thing likely to put hearings on TV or to compel witnesses to appear is to make the hearings impeachment hearings. I wish this were not the case, but it is. Congressman Jerrold Nadler held hearings on "The Constitution in Crisis" last summer. Did you know that?
My brothers and sisters, you can't crawl out from under a rock at this late date, go to one meeting, hear about good intentions to find a compromise and have confidence you're not being played. At least I wouldn't if I were you.
What will help make contempt or moderately interesting hearings happen will be unrelenting public pressure for impeachment.
Yes, we need good cops as well as bad cops in this effort. We have to talk with the committee members. But we don't have to believe every word they say or fail to do minimal research.
Contempt votes don't happen without Pelosi, and the Justice Department has already said it will not enforce anyway.
What can happen is impeachment, but the enemy is the clock. We don't have time to waste on the same things we've wasted the past few years on. I'm honestly sorry about that. It's not my fault.
If you want impeachment, insist on impeachment, and do it now.
Robert Wexler is pushing forward within the Judiciary Committee. Ask your representative to sign his letter to Conyers.
Dennis Kucinich will introduce Bush Articles of Impeachment on Monday. Ask your representative to co-sponsor, and ask the media to wake up!
KUCINICH TO INTRODUCE IMPEACHMENT OF BUSH BEFORE STATE OF THE UNION JANUARY 28
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19148.htm
Worth A Look!
http://yborcitystogie.blogspot.com/2008/01/thats-how-lincoln-won-presidency.html
Why not switch to a progressive phone company that doesn't spy on you?
Did you know AT&T and Verizon are capturing their customers' phone conversations, and giving them to George Bush's NSA?
It would be nice if Harry Reid's "Democratic" Senate stopped them when they vote on the Orwellian-named "Protect America Act" on Monday, but I'm not holding my breath and neither should you.
Dear Activist,
Are you a customer of AT&T or Verizon?
Turns out AT&T and Verizon have been assisting the Bush administration’s illegal wiretapping program for quite some time. AT&T is alleged to run every byte of its internet traffic through a listening room where only NSA-approved personnel can go. And to make matters worse, the Bush administration has just about convinced Congress to grant the telecom companies retroactive immunity from suits from their angry customers.
What can you do? If you have a cellphone from Verizon or AT&T, you can keep on sending them your money and supporting them.
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