Like House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the ACLU and other influential groups like MoveOn.org despite their meek and faint whisperings, have thus far helped to keep impeachment "off the table." The Dems claim impeachment will "take all the oxygen out of the room," that there is "not enough time," and they fret about the 2008 elections. MoveOn.org declared months ago that if subpoenas weren't responded to they would call for impeachment. Not another word on impeachment from MoveOn, yet the subpoenas go unanswered. Idle threats.
MoveOn routinely polls its members, sometimes specific to impeachment, yet fails to disclose the results of those polls. One might conclude they fear backlash as the genesis of the organization was insisting that the nation "move on" from the impeachment circus that enveloped the Clinton presidency.
ACLU President, Nadine Strossen suggests that because the Democrats are complicit that the President and Vice President can be let off the hook . And, make no mistake about it that is exactly what is happening. There can be no accountability short of impeachment with a President that has already demonstrated time and time again that he is above the law.
It should be noted that the ACLU of 1973 was equally critical of the Democrats and the House of Representatives as a whole. In his open letter to his fellow citizens, Morgan, writes, "He [Nixon] degrades our institutions by his appointments and causes essentially decent men and women to rationalize and engage in personal cover-ups. In this manner, he seeks to corrupt an entire people whom he invites to participate, with our House of Representatives, in a politicians cover-up."
Morgan does honor those who have "defended our freedoms with a fervor and impartiality rarely found in the membership of our House of Representatives: Men like Senator Robert Byrd, who asked the questions which brought the facts of the Watergate Affair to your attention. Sam J. Ervin, a 76-year-old Senator who sought facts for the people while others covered up. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Washington Post reporters who led the established media which had been bludgeoned into bland fairness by Mr. Nixon's government, and a 61-year-old law professor, steeped in conservatism. Archibald Cox, the Special Prosecutor who seeks evidence from Mr. Nixon and is ordered to cover-up, says no and is dismissed by Mr. Nixon."
Mr. Morgan continues, "In contrast, the members of the House of Representatives procrastinate and rationalize. They refuse to act, agreeing only to inquire into the existence of facts publicly known and obvious to almost all Americans. Once again they lack the courage and the sense of personal responsibility which citizens have a right to expect from their leaders. The people have that courage and they search for leaders." Sound familiar?
The ACLU of 2007, need not overstep it's bounds. They do not need to, nor should they, demand a conviction. What they should demand, though, is the truth and the full truth will only be discovered within the impeachment process. The ACLU of 1973, understood that as well, "Neither I nor the American Civil Liberties Union ask for Mr. Nixon's conviction. We merely ask that he be impeached and brought to trial before the Senate, so that the nature of his offenses, if any, and his innocence or his guilt may be determined. We seek his trial so that another American President will not be able to say 'They all do it,' for with no trial we can predict a later President will do it and the next time there may be no watchman in the night to provide us another chance. We must thrust upon the members of the House of Representatives - our employees - the depth of our feeling and the rightness of our position. The public evidence is so clear that the least educated of their constituents know it, yet our Representatives dawdle in inquiry."
Mr. Morgan concludes his letter with this: "Only you can answer our Declaration which cries out to free men everywhere: In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People. It is testing time in America and it is your very soul which is on trial."
ACLU, take heed. Fellow citizens, contact your local ACLU affiliate and ask to meet with them to discuss your concerns. Contact the leaders of the ACLU . Visit AfterDowningStreet.org and help maintain the pressure.
As the 1973 ACLU stated, "Only you can make your Representative understand the importance of the issue and the extent to which he or she will be held responsible for the 1974 elections for his or her actions. It cannot be stressed strongly enough or often enough that Representatives who do not move to impeach, and who thereby fail to bring President Nixon to trial, are accomplices in a cover-up. They are either in favor of bringing 100% of the truth to the People or they are helping to cover it up." The same goes, I say, for the ACLU of today.
For the complete text of the ACLU pamphlet detailed above, visit Strike08.com . Many thanks to Mr. Morgan and the ACLU of 1973 for having the foresight and generosity to declare within their material the statement that, "None of the material herein is copyrighted. It is for the free use of a free people. Mr. Morgan's letter herein expresses his personal views. That letter and all other documents herein may be extracted from, reprinted or otherwise freely used and plagiarized. The interest of the authors and the American Civil Liberties Union in this cause is neither parochial nor organizational. Decent people, whatever their beliefs, are equally concerned with the safety of their country. We join them in their struggle."
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