The Bush administration is writing a new Constitution & Bill of Rights for our nation. All of the old rules about search & seizure, due-process and the rule of law have been tossed out, for our own safety, ostensibly.
Why bother having checks & balances or a court apparatus for its enforcement, the Bush administration can simply claim national security and avoid review?
Congress has refused to police even the most blatant illegal and unconstitutional actions of the Bush administration.
After the Supreme Court ruling in 2004 that said prisoners held at Guantanamo could challenge their status in court, the Defense Department (DoD) stopped the flow of men into the facility and started diverting them to a more secretive prison in Afghanistan.
If Bush and Cheney are not held accountable, this administration will hand off to its successors powers greater than any executive has ever held -- more authority, concentrated in fewer hands, than the Founders would have allowed.
Tens of millions of Americans- 54%, are worried about the fate of the republic. It's time to open impeachment hearings on Bush and Cheney's misdeeds.
The Founders intended impeachment less as a punishment for officeholders than as a protection against the dangerous expansion of executive authority. If abuse of the system of checks and balances, lies about war, approval of illegal spying and torture, signing statements that improperly arrogate legislative powers to the executive branch, schemes to punish political foes and refusals to cooperate with congressional inquiries are not judged as high crimes, the next president, no matter from which party, will assume the authority to exercise some or all of these illegitimate powers.
We are experiencing a constitutional crisis and impeachment proceedings are the proper remedy. Unfortunately, key Democrats have financially profited from war & are blocking Impeachment hearings from taking place.
More than a quarter of senators and congressmen have invested at least $196 million of their own money in companies doing business with the Department of Defense (DoD) that profit from the death and destruction in Iraq.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi keeps impeachment "off the table"; she will not allow Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to open impeachment hearings. Having authorized everything that Bush & Co. have asked for, the Democrats are equally as guilty.
At this late stage, it will be impossible to turn the need for accountability into action on Capitol Hill. But a national General Strike will lay down a historical marker; it tells Bush and Cheney and all those who succeed them that an executive branch that imagines itself superior to Congress and the rule of law will arouse popular fury.
The Impeachment Movement has two options at this point: 1. Remain irrelevant & continue to be ignored; or 2. Realize that the sheeple are not everyone else, in fact, "The sheeple is us." We know now that Congress won't do its job. It's our job now. Elected or not, Obama will not save the day. Our dollars and votes will not save the day. MoveOn.org will not save the day.
We must wake up to this simple fact, and make history. Save democracy & restore the American dream. If we fail, we can look forward to war with Iran, $8 a gallon for gas, a second great depression & a new president/monarchy with unchecked & unlimited powers who controls secret prisons.
Speaking of Congress and democracy, did you know that in the year 1900, 75% of Congressional daily business was in service of "private petitions", brought to Congress by The American People. Today, that figure stands at 3%, meaning that 97% of all Congressional business originates from either the Representatives themselves, Corporate America, or professional lobbyists.
Now that was democracy. Sitting around waiting for someone else to do it for you is not democracy. Lobbyists writing our legislation, and think tanks deciding national and foreign policy is not democracy. We must restore democracy. To restore something you must lead by example. The founding fathers knew this, Gandhi spoke of it, the Solidarity movement in Poland is yet another example. Did they rely on the MSM (main stream media) to save the day? Of course not. They could not rely on the media or on Congress, or even get a celebrity endorsement. And yet each of these movements succeeded, but how? Believe it or not, the founding fathers also forsaw a time when corporations would conspire with both parties and strip away the very freedoms they fought so hard for. And so, they left us a blueprint on how to restore democracy.
Step one: You need an unpopular, oppressive government. (Congresses approval rating is around 10%, the president's around 20%). Step two: You need a populace that wants change. (80% of Americans are angry at the direction this country is headed).
Step three: You need a journal. Where do you suppose those slogans that we learned in civics class, like, "Give me freedom or give me death!" came from? This step can not be ignored. This step changes everything. Because if you and I go up against Congress now, if we tried to force impeachment, we'd simply get the run around, as so many people are now learning as they call their Congresspersons to demand impeachment.
This step changes that. Instead of having to deal with just you and me, Congress, the msm and groups like MoveOn.org will have to deal with millions of us. So how does this step work? It is simple. The founding fathers had no text messages, no faxes, no copiers, and no journal like Opednews or Newsvine where you can publish almost instantly. We have many advantages that they didn't. We need to make use of them.
Some of the easiest ways to mass distribute info is through Digg or Reddit. You join these groups just like Facebook or MySpace and vote every impeachment article up to their front pages. This will not be enough, though. You can also copy this article and paste it into every blog out there, but according to the blueprint, it still will not be enough.
Waking up enough sheeple will require many of us to become full-time activists. What does that mean? It means doing the same things we've been doing to help get these crooks elected. Bumper stickers, yard signs, mass mailings, ads, phone calls. Local calls are free, and politicians call on us all the time.
We can just as easily pick up the phonebook and start dialing numbers of our neighbors. Ask simple questions like, "Have you heard about the articles of impeachment?" If they have, we need to explain how nothing is going to become of them unless we get involved and start exercising our democracy. And if they haven't heard of impeachment, we can bring them up to date, because Kucinich has made this part real simple. All of the boring homework and documentation is already done. So to anyone who says that there are no real charges...tell them there are now.
In order to get involved, here are the five best steps to take now:
1. Go to: www.judiciary.house.gov—Contact information for all the members of the House Judiciary Committee from their own official webpage. Call or write and let them know that you want Bush impeached. Support Dennis Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment.
2. There will be ZERO mainstream media discussion of this. ZERO. So, we must BE OUR OWN MEDIA and promote it. Link to this site- www.Opednews.com from sites and blogs. Mention it with links in your comments on blogs. PROMOTE IT.
3. Join the Consumer Fast already underway. Click here: Shut'EmDown
CONSUMER FAST until Impeachment. Tell your reps in Congress you will not spend one more dime on non-essentials- Cut gas and energy consumption, buy local, reduce your FEDERAL INCOME TAXES via 40lk's and Roths...DIVEST out of stocks!! When Bush says shop, we have to stop !!
4. Sign up with your email address HERE in order to get updates,
5. July 3rd & 4th no school, no work, no shopping. SHUT 'EM DOWN! “Hit the Streets.” But why spend our time protesting in DC to be ignored? Unless we get in the streets outside our rep.s personal residences- who is going to care?
We need to mobilize locally- & demand national action. Few of us could go to Washington, DC- but many of us- can go to our city halls or state legislatures- or local Congressional offices.
Tell your rep.s that unless they impeach we will shut the country down in a General Strike to begin on 9/11/08
www.votestrike.com
Whether you call it the world financial structure, the U.S. culture of waste, or the ability of the common man to make a decent living, the system is broken. It's time for the common man to go on strike. Join or support the March on Washingon (more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
One thing that may be holding people back from getting on the "impeachment train" is that they remember, with shame and an oh so yucky feeling, the impeachment gang that went after Pres. Clinton and seem to think that they themselves will be seen in much the same light as that rabid vapid ridiculous bunch.
This just isn't so - and investigations into the Bush regime's criminal behavior will prove impeachment to be absolutely justified. In fact many people will wonder why it took so long - that is if impeachment happens.
by
Cheryl Abraham (13 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 207 comments) on Friday, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:45:09 PM
1. Thanx everyone for your support, time & hard work.
The first step has been a tremendous success. All across the internet you've been able to keep impeachment the number one issue. In blogs, forums, articles, etc. We can take a moment to pat ourselves on the back & then we must redouble our efforts. So far, our targets have been soft targets, meaning people who have already heard of impeachment- Opednews.com, Digg.com, Newsvine.com, Anti-war.com, Buzzflash, etc. But with an MSM (main stream media) black-out that won't be enough.
2. I have also been told 'off the record' that editors are pressuring writers not to cover the impeachment issue. They also suggested that we use the July 4th protest to target the media. Wether it is local tv, radio or newspapers we all have them in our own towns & it'll force media coverage of the protest which will force coverage of impeachment. One of the best suggestions has been to protest outside of media offices on July 4th with signs that read 'Impeach or we Strike' & hand out a double sided flyer to passerby's. One side with the articles of impeachment (you can find here http://votestrike.com/action_alert_july_3rd__4th/admin/) & one of the Opednews articles on the back to explain why nothing is being done & how to get involved. I had viewed the July 4th protest as just another means to promote the Sept. strike but I could be wrong. As members from other groups begin to sign on & spread the word this could take off even by July.
3. One of the easiest ways to reach like minded individuals locally is meetup.com. If you want to protest on July 4th but not all by yourself- since we are all spread out- simply type in meetup.com in any search engine, go to the site, type in impeachment, anti-war, peace, etc. & your location & you will instantly be connected with 100s & 1,000s of local people who all want to protest. We are currently working on a system where you will be able to go to votestrike.com type in your area & find protest sites where others will also be protesting. We are still working out the bugs & security & can't say exactly when this will be available. The other option would be the impeachment forum at: http://votestrike.realfreeforum.com We did have some bugs on the forum but they have been removed & it should be working. Anyone wanting to strategize with other members should post on this forum.
4. There are two events coming up. If you can attend either or both of these please let us know. If you need gas cards or flyers I will mail them to you. But someone PLEASE attend these events & pass out flyers for the July & Sept. protest:
Noted Author Chris Hedges lectures in SD 06/25/2008 Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author, will give a free lecture and sign his new book at the First Church of the Brethern on Wed., June 25 at 7:00 pm.
Giant LA Social Forum invites all activists 06/27/2008 The Los Angeles Social Forum (LASF) will take place June 27-29 at the University of Southern California campus. So far, 48 organizations have already agreed to co-sponsor the LA Social Forum and we hope that you will help us to get even more groups and people involved as well. Over 30 groups have prepared workshop proposals.
by
chris rice (111 articles, 144 quicklinks, 35 diaries, 233 comments) on Friday, Jun 20, 2008 at 3:51:29 PM
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