[Peace-discussion] Please join me at the July 4th inauguration of the Los Angeles Impeachment Center
Byron De Lear
byron@globalpeacesolution.org
Mon, 2 Jul 2007 14:46:36 -0700
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Dear Friends,
I will be speaking alongside Congresswoman Maxine Waters at the inauguration
of the Los Angeles Impeachment Center this July 4th, 2007.
Peter Thottam, Paul Koretz, Jackie Goldberg and others are also slated to
speak on behalf of our local and national effort.
Progressives from our Southern California Green Parties and California
Democrats have joined forces in this patriotic effort, to instigate
impeachment proceedings against President George Bush and Vice-President
Dick Cheney. The very foundation of what makes our nation great, our
Constitutional rights, has been under a concerted deconstructionist assault
by the Bush administration since 9/11 -- it's time to put a stop to these
insidious erosions of our basic civil liberties.
~Our nation should not torture,
~Our nation should not spy on US citizens without a court order,
~Our nation should be insulated against a President's over zealous appetite
for a foreign invasion and occupation,
~Our nation should abide by the centuries old legal mandate of Habeas Corpus
-- we can't "disappear" people without due process.
George Bush lied point blank to the American people about many of the above
-- this is cause for impeachment.
The first step in restoring all TEN of our sacrosanct Bill of Rights, is to
legally define, point by point, paraded in front of the world to see, that
most all of George Bush's reactions post 9/11 have been overreaching abuses
of power that are simply opposite to our core American principles.
This is why we must impeach -- to restore the balance of power in Washington
DC.
Looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday!
In your service,
Byron De Lear
Byron@DeLearforCongress.org
www.DeLearforCongress.org
Congressional Campaign in California's 28th District
...
Los Angeles Impeachment Center
July 4th - La Cienega Park Picnic
located at the intersection of
La Cienega Blvd. and Olympic Blvd.
in
Beverly Hills
...
CONGRESSWOMAN MAXINE WATERS TO SPEAK!
Wednesday, July 4th @ 11 am at Impeachment Center (see below) ;
Main Event is the follow-on Picnic
with speakers/entertainment at nearby La Cienega Park 12-3 pm
*Contact: Peter Thottam ( <mailto:thottam@bcimpeach.com>
thottam@bcimpeach.com ; T: (310) 497-7255).
*What and Whom:
11 am Ceremonial Inauguration (Maxine Waters to speak) ; Main Picnic from
12pm - 3pm at La Cienega Park (Olympic & La Cienega). Confirmed speakers who
will attend and speak at Impeachment Center July 4th Picnic include: Maxine
Waters, Paul Koretz, Byron De Lear, Anthony St. Martin, Larry Everest,
Shakeel Syed (Executive Director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern
California), and Dennis Loo (tentative).
*Why:
To Urge Los Angeles City Council , Santa Monica City Council and CA State
Congressional and Assembly Representatives to Pass a Resolution Calling for
the Impeachment of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney
*When:
Wednesday, July 4th, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
*Where:
8124 W. Third Street (at the "Peace Center" located by Crescent Heights &
3rd Street) ; 11 am inauguration will be immediately followed by picnic at
nearby La Cienega Park (Olympic & La Cienega) from 12-3 pm.
Leaders of the Westside Greens, the Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles,
the Los Angeles Greens, and the Santa Monica Democratic Club will officially
inaugurate an impeachment center to be followed by speakers who will address
strategies and ideas relating to the impeachment of George W. Bush and
Richard B. Cheney. The Impeachment Center will have phonebanking,
letterwriting and other Impeachment related resources available for
distribution. Lawn signs, bumper stickers and other literature will be made
available to all who attend. Volunteers will discuss tactics relating to
both Impeachment and furthering the growing nationwide and worldwide peace
movement.
Impeachment: Remedy for Royalism
A Forward Thinking Stratagem for National Renewal by Byron De Lear
Well it's going to take guts.
It's going to take political guts for the Democrats to step up to the plate.
Guts to restore Habeas Corpus, guts to say torture's 'off the table' and
guts to say that da Prez ain't King.
It's going to take guts to impeach, but that's exactly what must be done
because torture shouldn't be on the table, we shouldn't be in Iraq and all
TEN of our sacrosanct Bill of Rights should still be the Supreme Law of the
land, don't you think?
These backdoor schemes watering down our freedoms and blowing out any sense
of real accountability (read: Presidential signing statements) must be
halted, blunted, blocked and staved off to save those few basic defining
characteristics that can still potentially keep our nascent Republic from
speedily following in the footsteps of the Empires of the past - rising and
falling in totalitarian rivers of blood and violent swaths of destruction.
Impeachment stops this madness, and legally defines the Imperial reactions
conducted since 9/11 as simply being un-American.
IMPEACHMENT SURVIVES OUR REPUBLIC
"The Genius of Impeachment" is a book by John Nichols, Washington
Correspondent for The Nation, from whom the other night I enjoyed witnessing
a lively discussion with the inimitable Gore Vidal.
In surprise attendance was anti-war Goldstar mother Cindy Sheehan who
addressed the gathering sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the
Progressive Democrats of America.
In his presentation, Nichols revealed the history of impeachment detailing
the many different incidents of when this tyranny-busting mechanism has been
utilized and the reasons for its existence.
>From Nichols' "The Genius of Impeachment",
"(James) Madison, in the letter that accompanied the draft of the
Constitution he dispatched to Jefferson on October 24, 1787, reflected on
the necessity of the document's mechanism for "an easy & effectual removal
by impeachment" of presidents who abused the powers accorded them by the
convention."
Constitutional father James Madison also cautions against potential abuses
of power coming down from a President too eager to make war in his "Letters
of Helvidius":
".the power to declare war, including the power of judging of the causes of
war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature; that the executive
has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or not
cause for declaring war.", and as Nichols reports, "Because, "the executive
is the department of power most distinguished by its propensity to war,"
Madison explained it was essential that the Constitution make available
tools "to disarm this propensity."
Our beloved President Abraham Lincoln, while a Congressman from Illinois was
opposed to President Polk's war with Mexico in 1848, and introduced his
"spot resolutions" eventually teaming up with former President John Quincy
Adams attempting to formally sanction and censure Polk for misleading the
nation into war.
Abraham Lincoln's perspective on the Mexican-American war, how that war was
sold, and the powers of a "war President" are particularly instructive
today.
In a letter to his business partner Lincoln wrote the following,
"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem
it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he
may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose - and you allow him
to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power
in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, today,
he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent
the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, "I
see no probability of the British invading us" but he will say to you "be
silent; I see it, if you don't." The provision of the Constitution giving
the war-making power to Congress, was dictated as I understand it, by the
following reasons: Kings had always been involving their people in wars,
pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the
object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all
Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no
one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us."
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
OFF THE TABLE
My familiarity with the 'I' word began with my calling for George Bush and
Dick Cheney's impeachment in the 2006 United States Green Party State of the
Union rebuttal as part of my run for the US House of Representatives.
Like many Americans, after Democrats had won a decisive victory in November
2006, I was shocked to hear new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi concede to
Bush et al that impeachment was "off the table".
Off the table -- as if Watergate and Monica Lewinsky were worse abuses of
power than what the Bush Administration has foisted upon the American people
for the last six years.
Everybody has their laundry list of impeachable offences, but for me the
last straw to break my reticence to impeach were the President's
justifications given for torture as a legitimate reaction to the terror
attacks of 9/11.
Starts to make you feel like America is not America anymore.
Sanctioning the use of torture whether through legal remixes of vaunted
Geneva Conventions, whisking kidnapees off to secret foreign-based chambers
of horror or the freak show macabre of Abu Graib and GITMO are grotesquely
anti-democratic, inhumane and directly antithetical to core American
principles.
Assuredly, an abuse of power by the President putting our troops and
citizens in greater risk of having more and more torture and inhumane
treatment turned on them.
Coming up with legal arguments to shut down Geneva Conventions, diminish
civil liberties and do away with Habeas Corpus ring out across the land as a
call to action that if we fail to answer, will report and sound as a
mourning death knell for our Republic.
President Bush took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, but
instead he sent in a cabal of legal wizards casting spells comprised of
legalese summoning illusions to obfuscate their dangerous deconstructionist
and outright violations of our sacred Constitution.
This is why we must impeach - to shirk the duty of protecting and defending
the Constitution against insidious attempts to nullify the most binding and
basic rights that we as Americans enjoy, is to be unfaithful to what we hold
dear: that America is not supposed to torture, not supposed to spy
unwarrantedly and not supposed to be a Colonial power nor Empire.
Our Government has been recklessly pursuing these kinds of policies for
quite some time now - probably most specifically in a legally sanctioned
manner since the National Security Act of 1947 creating a myriad of
intelligence agencies and the current Department of Defense. With CIA covert
operations, removed from any thorough scrutiny by our representatives in
Congress, we started down a very unconstitutional path.
[Continued: TO read more: http://greencommons.org/node/563 ]
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<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><EM><STRONG><FONT color=3D#0000ff>Dear =
Friends,=20
</FONT></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><FONT color=3D#0000ff></FONT></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><FONT color=3D#0000ff>I will be speaking alongside =
Congresswoman=20
Maxine Waters at the inauguration of the Los Angeles Impeachment =
Center<SPAN=20
class=3D268073115-02072007> this July 4th, =
2007.</SPAN></FONT></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><FONT color=3D#0000ff><SPAN =
class=3D268073115-02072007>Peter=20
Thottam, Paul Koretz, Jackie Goldberg and others are also slated to =
speak on=20
behalf of our local and national =
effort.</SPAN></FONT></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007></SPAN><SPAN=20
class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>Progressives=20
from our Southern California Green Parties and California Democrats have =
joined=20
forces in this patriotic effort, to instigate impeachment proceedings =
against=20
President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. The very =
foundation of=20
what makes our nation great, our Constitutional rights, has been under a =
concerted deconstructionist assault by the Bush administration since =
9/11 --=20
it's time to put a stop to these insidious erosions of our basic civil=20
liberties. </FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>~Our nation=20
should not torture,</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN=20
class=3D268073115-02072007></SPAN></STRONG></EM><EM><STRONG><SPAN=20
class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT color=3D#0000ff>~Our nation should not =
spy on US=20
citizens without a court order, </FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>~Our nation=20
should be insulated against a President's over zealous appetite for a =
foreign=20
invasion and occupation,</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>~Our nation=20
should abide by the centuries old legal mandate of Habeas Corpus -- we =
can't=20
"disappear" people without due =
process.</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>George Bush=20
lied point blank to the American people about many of the above -- this =
is cause=20
for impeachment.</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>The first=20
step in restoring all TEN of our sacrosanct Bill of Rights, is to =
legally=20
define, point by point, paraded in front of the world to see, that most =
all of=20
George Bush's reactions post 9/11 have been overreaching abuses of =
power=20
that are simply opposite to our core American=20
principles.</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>This is why=20
we must impeach -- to restore the balance of power in Washington=20
DC.</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT =
color=3D#0000ff>Looking=20
forward to seeing you all this =
Wednesday!</FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007><FONT=20
color=3D#0000ff></FONT></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN=20
class=3D268073115-02072007></SPAN></STRONG></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><STRONG><SPAN class=3D268073115-02072007>
<DIV class=3DSection1>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: navy"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">In your =
service,=20
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Byron De =
Lear=20
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: =
normal">Byron@DeLearforCongress.org<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: teal">www.</SPAN></B><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: navy">DeLear</SPAN></B><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: teal">for</SPAN></B><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: navy">Congress.</SPAN></B><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: teal">org </SPAN></B><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: blue"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoAutoSig><B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy">Congressional Campaign in =
California's 28th=20
District<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P =
class=3DMsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV></SPAN></STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>...</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>Los Angeles Impeachment=20
Center</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG> July 4th - La Cienega Park=20
Picnic</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>located at the intersection=20
of</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>La Cienega Blvd. and Olympic Blvd.=20
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>in </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>Beverly Hills</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG>...</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<DIV><BR><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>CONGRESSWOMAN MAXINE WATERS TO SPEAK!=20
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>Wednesday, July 4th @ 11 am at Impeachment =
Center (see=20
below) ; </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>Main Event is the follow-on=20
Picnic</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG> with speakers/entertainment at nearby =
La Cienega=20
Park 12-3 pm </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>*Contact: Peter Thottam ( </STRONG></FONT><A =
href=3D"mailto:thottam@bcimpeach.com"><FONT=20
size=3D3><STRONG>thottam@bcimpeach.com</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT =
size=3D3><STRONG> ;=20
T: (310) 497-7255).</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>*What and Whom: </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>11 am Ceremonial Inauguration (Maxine Waters =
to speak)=20
; Main Picnic from 12pm - 3pm at La Cienega Park (Olympic & La =
Cienega).=20
Confirmed speakers who will attend and speak at Impeachment Center July =
4th=20
Picnic include: Maxine Waters, Paul Koretz, Byron De Lear, Anthony St. =
Martin,=20
Larry Everest, Shakeel Syed (Executive Director of the Islamic Shura =
Council of=20
Southern California), and Dennis Loo (tentative). </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>*Why: </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>To Urge Los Angeles City Council , Santa =
Monica City=20
Council and CA State Congressional and Assembly Representatives to Pass =
a=20
Resolution Calling for the Impeachment of President Bush and =
Vice-President=20
Cheney </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>*When: </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>Wednesday, July 4th, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.=20
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>*Where: </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>8124 W. Third Street (at the "Peace Center" =
located by=20
Crescent Heights & 3rd Street) ; 11 am inauguration will be =
immediately=20
followed by picnic at nearby La Cienega Park (Olympic & La Cienega) =
from=20
12-3 pm. </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><STRONG>Leaders of the Westside Greens, the =
Progressive=20
Democrats of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Greens, and the Santa Monica=20
Democratic Club will officially inaugurate an impeachment center to be =
followed=20
by speakers who will address strategies and ideas relating to the =
impeachment of=20
George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney. The Impeachment Center will have=20
phonebanking, letterwriting and other Impeachment related resources =
available=20
for distribution. Lawn signs, bumper stickers and other literature will =
be made=20
available to all who attend. Volunteers will discuss tactics relating to =
both=20
Impeachment and furthering the growing nationwide and worldwide peace=20
movement. </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3D3></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3D3></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: =
16pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN></B> </P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: =
16pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">Impeachment: Remedy for Royalism=20
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3D3><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman">A=20
Forward Thinking Stratagem for National Renewal by Byron De=20
Lear<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times New =
Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Well it’s going to take =
guts.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>It’s going to take political =
guts for the=20
Democrats to step up to the plate.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Guts to restore Habeas Corpus, guts to =
say=20
torture’s ‘off the table’ and guts to say that da Prez =
ain’t King.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>It’s going to take guts to =
impeach, but that’s=20
exactly what must be done because torture shouldn’t be on the =
table, we=20
shouldn’t be in <st1:place w:st=3D"on"><st1:country-region=20
w:st=3D"on">Iraq</st1:country-region></st1:place> and all TEN of our =
sacrosanct=20
Bill of Rights should still be the Supreme Law of the land, don’t =
you=20
think?</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>These backdoor schemes watering down =
our freedoms=20
and blowing out any sense of real accountability (read: Presidential =
signing=20
statements) must be halted, blunted, blocked and staved off to save =
those few=20
basic defining characteristics that can still potentially keep our =
nascent=20
Republic from speedily following in the footsteps of the Empires of the =
past –=20
rising and falling in totalitarian rivers of blood and violent swaths of =
destruction.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Impeachment stops this madness, and =
legally=20
defines the Imperial reactions conducted since 9/11 as simply being=20
un-American.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><U><FONT size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">IMPEACHMENT SURVIVES OUR REPUBLIC=20
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></U></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: =
51.75pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>“The Genius of Impeachment” is a book by John =
<st1:place=20
w:st=3D"on"><st1:City w:st=3D"on">Nichols</st1:City>, <st1:State=20
w:st=3D"on">Washington</st1:State></st1:place> Correspondent for The =
Nation, from=20
whom the other night I enjoyed witnessing a lively discussion with the=20
inimitable Gore Vidal.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>In surprise attendance was anti-war Goldstar mother Cindy =
Sheehan who=20
addressed the gathering sponsored by the <st1:place =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:City=20
w:st=3D"on">Los Angeles</st1:City></st1:place> chapter of the =
Progressive=20
Democrats of America.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>In his presentation, Nichols revealed the history of =
impeachment=20
detailing the many different incidents of when this tyranny-busting =
mechanism=20
has been utilized and the reasons for its existence.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>From Nichols’ “The Genius of Impeachment”, =
</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><FONT =
size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">“(James) Madison, in the letter that =
accompanied the=20
draft of the Constitution he dispatched to Jefferson on October 24, =
1787,=20
reflected on the necessity of the document’s mechanism for <B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">“an easy & effectual =
removal by=20
impeachment” of presidents who abused the powers accorded them by =
the=20
convention.”</B></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Constitutional father James Madison also cautions against =
potential=20
abuses of power coming down from a President too eager to make war in =
his=20
“Letters of Helvidius”:</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><FONT =
size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">“…the power to declare war, =
including the power of=20
judging of the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the=20
legislature; that the executive has no right, in any case, to decide the =
question, whether there is or not cause for declaring war…”, =
and as Nichols=20
reports, “Because, <B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: =
normal">“the executive is the=20
department of power most distinguished by its propensity to war,” =
Madison=20
explained it was essential that the Constitution make available tools =
“to disarm=20
this propensity.”</B></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Our beloved President Abraham Lincoln, while a Congressman from =
<st1:State w:st=3D"on">Illinois</st1:State> was opposed to President =
Polk’s war=20
with <st1:place w:st=3D"on"><st1:country-region=20
w:st=3D"on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place> in 1848, and =
introduced his=20
“spot resolutions” eventually teaming up with former =
President John Quincy Adams=20
attempting to formally sanction and censure Polk for misleading the =
nation into=20
war.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Abraham Lincoln’s perspective on the Mexican-American =
war, how that war=20
was sold, and the powers of a “war President” are =
particularly instructive=20
today.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>In a letter to his business partner <st1:place =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:City=20
w:st=3D"on">Lincoln</st1:City></st1:place> wrote the =
following,</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><FONT =
size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">“Allow the President to invade a =
neighboring nation,=20
whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow =
him to=20
do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such =
purpose –=20
and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix =
any limit=20
to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you =
propose.=20
If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade =
<st1:place=20
w:st=3D"on"><st1:country-region =
w:st=3D"on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>,=20
to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may =
say to=20
him, “I see no probability of the British invading us” but =
he will say to you=20
“be silent; I see it, if you don’t.” The provision of =
the Constitution giving=20
the war-making power to Congress, was dictated as I understand it, by =
the=20
following reasons: <B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Kings had =
always been=20
involving their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, =
that the=20
good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be =
the=20
most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame =
the=20
Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this =
oppression=20
upon us.”<o:p></o:p></B></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times New =
Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><U><FONT size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">OFF THE =
TABLE<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></U></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>My familiarity with the ‘I’ word began with my =
calling for George Bush=20
and Dick Cheney’s impeachment in the 2006 United States Green =
Party State of the=20
Union rebuttal as part of my run for the US House of =
Representatives.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Like many Americans, after Democrats had won a decisive victory =
in=20
November 2006, I was shocked to hear new Speaker of the House Nancy =
Pelosi=20
concede to Bush et al that impeachment was “off the table”. =
</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Off the table -- as if Watergate and Monica Lewinsky were worse =
abuses of=20
power than what the Bush Administration has foisted upon the American =
people for=20
the last six years.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Everybody has their laundry list of impeachable offences, but =
for me the=20
last straw to break my reticence to impeach were the President’s =
justifications=20
given for torture as a legitimate reaction to the terror attacks of=20
9/11.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">Starts to make you feel like =
<st1:country-region=20
w:st=3D"on">America</st1:country-region> is not <st1:place=20
w:st=3D"on"><st1:country-region =
w:st=3D"on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place>=20
anymore.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Sanctioning the use of torture whether through legal remixes of =
vaunted=20
Geneva Conventions, whisking kidnapees off to secret foreign-based =
chambers of=20
horror or the freak show macabre of Abu Graib and GITMO are grotesquely=20
anti-democratic, inhumane and directly antithetical to core American=20
principles.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Assuredly, an abuse of power by the President putting our =
troops and=20
citizens in greater risk of having more and more torture and inhumane =
treatment=20
turned on them.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Coming up with legal arguments to shut down Geneva Conventions, =
diminish=20
civil liberties and do away with Habeas Corpus ring out across the land =
as a=20
call to action that if we fail to answer, will report and sound as a =
mourning=20
death knell for our Republic.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3D3><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman">President Bush took an oath to protect and =
defend the=20
Constitution, but instead he sent in a <SPAN class=3Dnormal>cabal of =
legal wizards=20
casting spells comprised of legalese summoning illusions to obfuscate =
their=20
dangerous deconstructionist and outright violations of our sacred=20
Constitution.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>This is why we <I style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style: =
normal"><U>must</U></I>=20
impeach – to shirk the duty of protecting and defending the =
Constitution against=20
insidious attempts to nullify the most binding and basic rights that we =
as=20
Americans enjoy, is to be unfaithful to what we hold dear: that America =
is not=20
supposed to torture, not supposed to spy unwarrantedly and not supposed =
to be a=20
Colonial power nor Empire. </FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3>Our Government has been recklessly pursuing these kinds of =
policies for=20
quite some time now – probably most specifically in a legally =
sanctioned manner=20
since the National Security Act of 1947 creating a myriad of =
intelligence=20
agencies and the current Department of Defense. With CIA covert =
operations,=20
removed from any thorough scrutiny by our representatives in Congress, =
we=20
started down a very unconstitutional path.<SPAN =
class=3D004344421-02072007><FONT=20
face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3><SPAN class=3D004344421-02072007></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times =
New Roman"=20
size=3D3><SPAN class=3D004344421-02072007><FONT face=3DArial =
color=3D#0000ff=20
size=3D2>[Continued: </FONT></SPAN></FONT><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman"><SPAN=20
class=3D004344421-02072007><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff>TO read =
more: <A=20
href=3D"http://greencommons.org/node/563">http://greencommons.org/node/56=
3</A> =20
]</FONT></SPAN></FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman"><SPAN=20
class=3D004344421-02072007></SPAN></FONT></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman"><SPAN=20
class=3D004344421-02072007> </SPAN> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN=20
style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times New =
Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></B></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT =
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P></DIV>
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