“John Conyers is not waffling about impeachment. He is being arm-twisted. He needs to hear from the public“.
Those were the words of an Aide at my U.S. Representative’ s office.
I wanted to weigh that talking point in. Because the truth is, the more signatures a congressman can wave in front of his face, the more calls he gets, the more public input to strengthen his position with Congress, the better the chances of winning an argument on the Congressional floor.
Last but not least, sometimes politicians need to be encouraged. Sometimes they fight against great odds, and other times they are up against matters behind the scenes which we know nothing about, etc. We don’t know what the pressures are on politicians behind the scenes, so it may be best not to judge.
The more public input, the better. This will offer our politicians encouragement and backbone they need to do whatever it is that needs to be done, especially if they are under adversarial pressure.
Rep. Robert Wexler said in his Florida Progressive Radio speech on Thursday, December 20th that first of all, it is not impeachment per se that he is advocating: Instead, it’s about impeachment hearings. There’s a big difference. Also, he said that as long as the process was done in a professional and fair spirit, the country would not be as divided as it was when Clinton was impeached.
Another important talking point is that Kucinich has pointed out on his campaign trail that due process of law for American citizens is at stake under this current Administration. To uphold, protect and defend the Constitution is a core issue and time is of the essence. One look at the ACLU's website statistics will provide mountains of evidence to support that statement.
The impeachment movement is gathering steam, and rapidly too.
http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/
A November 13 impeachment poll done by the American Research Group interviewed a cross-sector of Democratic, Republican and Independent constituents. Of these, more than 70% agreed that Bush and Cheney had committed high crimes or abused their power, 43% favored impeachment of Cheney even this late into the game, and 34% favored impeaching Bush. Those figures come before impeachment hearings have even begun: As hearings commence, it is extremely likely and even almost a certainty that those figures would climb. The figures would also be bound to climb if the public understands correctly what the term “high crimes” means: Far from being some sort of violent felony, “high crimes” refers to crimes against the Constitution and Congress. (Petit crimes refers to crimes against the people). With that understanding in mind, the numbers of people chiming in their “yes” to impeachment would probably be even greater.
The fact that Wexler got 120,000 signatures in a 5-day period favoring impeachment hearings for Cheney, without so much as one mainstream newspaper publicizing the cause, speaks miles about the public sentiment and how much this movement is gaining steam.
We should be encouraged, not discouraged!
Let’s add to the movement and let a wave gather to become a tidal wave!
Please write to John Conyers, Nancy Pelosi and your own U.S. Representative telling them we favor impeachment. When enough people weigh in, they can’t use the lame old argument that the country will be divided by impeachment, because the numbers of calls and letters will prove otherwise.
Please also remind them that:
A) It is not about partisan politics, but about upholding the Constitution itself. This is a very serious matter.
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