But let's be clear about something. John Conyers is walking a line between voters' demands for impeachment now and the demands of his party's spineless so-called leadership to let the war criminals off the hook. He's doing a good job of walking that line. It sometimes makes sense for Congress Members and their staffs to walk such lines. But it never makes sense for citizens to do so.
If we citizens back off from demanding impeachment, if we pretend not to know that the evidence is overwhelming, if we turn ourselves into amateur political advisors and advocate self-censorship until after the elections, then candidates and Congress Members will take two steps back from that position. The role of the citizen is to openly speak the truth. We know the President and Vice President should be behind bars, that with them in office the war cannot be ended, and that H Res 635 is a step in that direction, a very reasonable and moderate step for Congress Members whose paymasters oppose interference with the war machine.
Anyone who believes that H Res 635 is a Trojan Horse being used to sneak impeachment and other such radical notions through the gates of power is someone who believes that an investigation of the President and Vice President would lead to indictable evidence of bribery, treason, high crimes, or misdemeanors. Such a person, of either party, has sworn an oath of office that obliges them to put a check on such abuses.
When you lobby on Monday, whether and in what way you push for cosponsorship of H Res 635 should depend on what Congress Member you're dealing with and what else you're asking of them. But you should never hesitate to politely inform your elected representative that you want them to support a bill. If you think they are more likely to support some lesser bill on your list of asks, then letting them know what you really want turns that other bill into a compromise. Your concern is not to avoid offending your representative, but to encourage them to stop offending you.
Toward that end we have various carrots and sticks at our disposal. We have the threat of defeat in a general election, something future Congressman Tony Trupiano can tell you about in the panel following this session. We have the threat of defeat in a primary, something PDA-member and future Congresswoman Marcy Winograd is teaching Los Angeles about right now. And for every member of Congress, even one you might decide to hold your nose and vote for as a lesser evil, we have the carrots of praise, popularity, media attention, and blogosphere attention, and the sticks of condemnation, embarrassment, and civil disobedience.
Over 1,200 impeachment activists have joined PDA's Impeachment Working Group, which is working together with a team that After Downing Street, ImpeachPAC, ImpeachBush TV, and other groups have assembled, a team of researchers, web managers, PR practitioners, and mentors for local activists working to pass city and state resolutions for impeachment, resolutions that can motivate Congress Members, such as Bernie Sanders, to sign onto Conyers' bill. Go to www.afterdowningstreet.org/resolutions for an activist kit.
We have also assembled a list of speakers who can take part in public forums on impeachment, and you should get in touch with me if you want help with such an event. Go to www.afterdowningstreet.org/speakers for the list.
We also regularly post on After Downing Street planned public appearances of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice. These war criminals should not be allowed to come to your part of the country without major disruptions and nonviolent opposition.
We'll talk more tomorrow about how to lobby for H Res 635. For now, let's have questions and discussion.
If we citizens back off from demanding impeachment, if we pretend not to know that the evidence is overwhelming, if we turn ourselves into amateur political advisors and advocate self-censorship until after the elections, then candidates and Congress Members will take two steps back from that position. The role of the citizen is to openly speak the truth. We know the President and Vice President should be behind bars, that with them in office the war cannot be ended, and that H Res 635 is a step in that direction, a very reasonable and moderate step for Congress Members whose paymasters oppose interference with the war machine.
Anyone who believes that H Res 635 is a Trojan Horse being used to sneak impeachment and other such radical notions through the gates of power is someone who believes that an investigation of the President and Vice President would lead to indictable evidence of bribery, treason, high crimes, or misdemeanors. Such a person, of either party, has sworn an oath of office that obliges them to put a check on such abuses.
When you lobby on Monday, whether and in what way you push for cosponsorship of H Res 635 should depend on what Congress Member you're dealing with and what else you're asking of them. But you should never hesitate to politely inform your elected representative that you want them to support a bill. If you think they are more likely to support some lesser bill on your list of asks, then letting them know what you really want turns that other bill into a compromise. Your concern is not to avoid offending your representative, but to encourage them to stop offending you.
Over 1,200 impeachment activists have joined PDA's Impeachment Working Group, which is working together with a team that After Downing Street, ImpeachPAC, ImpeachBush TV, and other groups have assembled, a team of researchers, web managers, PR practitioners, and mentors for local activists working to pass city and state resolutions for impeachment, resolutions that can motivate Congress Members, such as Bernie Sanders, to sign onto Conyers' bill. Go to www.afterdowningstreet.org/resolutions for an activist kit.
We have also assembled a list of speakers who can take part in public forums on impeachment, and you should get in touch with me if you want help with such an event. Go to www.afterdowningstreet.org/speakers for the list.
We also regularly post on After Downing Street planned public appearances of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice. These war criminals should not be allowed to come to your part of the country without major disruptions and nonviolent opposition.
We'll talk more tomorrow about how to lobby for H Res 635. For now, let's have questions and discussion.
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