::::::::

For secuurity reasons, the names of the participants are not given. We were gratified to be joined by some members of the Lake Merritt Neighbors for Peace (lmnop) group.

We met at the Temescal Cafe, and voiced our general frustration with the entrenched power of the Bush administration, despite all the scandals and mismanagement. It was noted that over 60% of people in a recent poll feel that Bush should be impeached if he lied us into Iraq, and 2/3 of the country believe he did so. In other words, a majority of the people want Bush impeached. Since impeachment is a political tool, not a tool of justice as it should be, the people's will is being ignored. How do we reclaim power for the people?

We focused again on our Representative, Barbara Lee, who surely knows that the great majority of constituents in our very progressive district want impeachment. She is cautious and plays the Washington game, but is working to prepare for impeachment by demanding documentation of plans leading up to the Iraq invasion. One of our members has a contact in her office- Miguel- who helped set up the After Downing Street anniversary event at the Grand Lake theater. The owner of the theater would probably let us hold a big event there, when we are ready.

Meanwhile, we will approach Miguel to set up a meeting with Barbara Lee with a few of us from the East Bay impeachment meetup, to explore her views on impeachment, and see how we can best work with her. This will be during the holiday recess; we'll aim for the first week in January. Anyone interested in meeting with her should contact me at cwolman@mcn.org.

We will also prepare a petition asking her to explore the possibility of impeachment, and start collecting signatures in her district.

The next action will be to approach the Oakland City Council- perhaps Berkeley as well- and ask them to pass a resolution on impeaching the president and vice-president. Although this has no force, it would get impeachment into the news, and might serve as a model for other local governments, just as resolutions against the Patriot Act across the country have had some effect.

We would appreciate hearing from other local groups that are working on impeachment, share their ideas and join forces.

Our next meeting is Monday, January 9th, 7pm, at the home of Steve and Norma- 1545 Jackson Street #402, Oakland- near Lake Merritt. Please RSVP at the website- http://impeachbush.meetup.com/127/ or call them at 510-893-0452.

You might also want to join a new online group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/activistsforimpeachment/ This group will not accept general messages about the news, commentary, etc., but will focus on strategy, tactics and implementation, with the idea of electing a pro-impeachment Congress in 2006. To join, activistsforimpeachment-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Peace, Carol Wolman

Authors Website: http://www.paracove.com

Authors Bio:

Carol S. Wolman, MD is a psychiatrist in Northern California. A lifelong peace activist, she is helping to distribute a Peace Plan for the Holy Land- email her for a copy. She also a film producer with Paradise Cove Productions, currently producing HOTEL REFINEMENT- a feature film noir with a subtheme about torture, Guantanamo, and killing Arabs.