“Rep. Dennis Kucinich [2] has led the fight for impeachment [3] since April 2007, when he defied Speaker Pelosi and courageously introduced 3 Articles of Impeachment [4] (H.Res. 333/799 [5]) against Vice President Cheney. On June 10, Kucinich defied Speaker Pelosi again and introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment [6] (H.Res. 1258 [7]) against President Bush.
When Pelosi refused to allow hearings on any of the 38 Articles of Impeachment, Kucinich returned to the floor of Congress to introduce one more Article of Impeachment against President Bush (H.Res. 1345 [8]).
Thanks to massive pressure from Democrats.com and our pro-impeachment allies, Speaker Pelosi finally allowed Chairman Conyers to hold a hearing this Friday. Kucinich will finally get a few minutes to argue for impeachment, along with Rep. Robert Wexler, former Rep. Liz Holtzman, and former Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson. Kucinich made a video to thank us for our efforts [9].
H.Res. 1345 [8] focuses on Bush's ultimate crime - invading Iraq on the basis of lies. The evidence is overwhelming [10] that George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, Karl Rove, Andy Card, and other top officials deliberately manufactured those lies to "sell" an invasion whose real purpose was to gain control of Iraq's oil and establish military bases in the heart of the Middle East.
This was the agenda of the Project for a New American Century [11] that Bush adopted after stealing the 2000 election. And it's the reason Bush and John McCain are determined to stay in Iraq forever, even though Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki [12] supports Barack Obama's plan to remove all our troops by 2010.
When Kucinich testifies on Friday, he will naturally face hostile questions from rightwing Republicans who impeached President Clinton. But Kucinich will also face hostile questions from key Democrats who oppose impeachment…”
Some of these Democrats supported the invasion of Iraq [13]: Howard Berman (CA28), Rick Boucher (VA09), Adam Schiff (CA29), Brad Sherman (CA27), and Anthony Weiner (NY09).
But most of these Democrats oppose impeachment because they are cowering in fear of a counterattack from the White House and FOX News: John Conyers (MI14), Artur Davis (AL07), Bill Delahunt (MA10), Zoe Lofgren (CA16), Jerry Nadler (NY08), Linda Sanchez (CA39), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL20), Bobby Scott (VA03), Betty Sutton (OH13), and Mel Watt (NC12).
Only a few Judiciary Democrats understand that the Founding Fathers gave Congress the power of impeachment as the only way to stop a President from defying the Constitution and becoming a dictator, as Bush has done: Robert Wexler (FL19), Tammy Baldwin (WI02), Steve Cohen (TN09), Keith Ellison (MN05), Luis Gutierrez (IL04), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX18), Hank Johnson (GA04), and Maxine Waters (CA35).
If anti-impeachment Democrats get their way, Friday's 2-hour hearing will be the only "impeachment" hearing for this entire Congress - and then Bush will try to pardon [14] himself and everyone else before leaving office next January, just as his father pardoned six Iran-contra criminals [15].
So it is crucial for all of us - now over 500,000! - to tell our Representatives today to support impeachment by cosponsoring Kucinich's H. Res. 1345:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/142 [1]
And if you can do more, please make free calls to every Judiciary Democrat who opposes impeachment through CauseCaller:
http://www.causecaller.com/causes.php?c=House_Judiciary_Democrats_Impeachment [16]
Simply enter your phone number and click the "Start Calling" button. (Click "Call me back if I accidentally hang up" in case you hang up by mistake.) In a few seconds, your phone will "magically" ring and CauseCaller will say the name of the first Representative on the list. Listen carefully for the name of each Member so you can repeat the name to the receptionist - or just say "The Representative." Don't hang up between calls - let the receptionists hang up and CauseCaller will dial the next Representative.
Note: If CauseCaller isn't working, you can call/fax this list manually:
last
first
statedist
phone-dc
fax-dc
Berman
Howard
CA28
202-225-4695
202-225-3196
Boucher
Rick
VA09
202-225-3861
202-225-0442
Conyers
John
MI14
202-225-5126
202-225-0072
Davis
Artur
AL07
202-225-2665
202-226-9567
Delahunt
William
MA10
202-225-3111
202-225-5658
Lofgren
Zoe
CA16
202-225-3072
202-225-3336
Nadler
Jerrold
NY08
202-225-5635
202-225-6923
Sanchez
Linda
CA39
202-225-6676
202-226-1012
Schiff
Adam
CA29
202-225-4176
202-225-5828
Scott
Bobby
VA03
202-225-8351
202-225-8354
Sherman
Brad
CA27
202-225-5911
202-225-5879
Sutton
Betty
OH13
202-225-3401
202-225-2266
Wasserman Schultz
Debbie
FL20
202-225-7931
202-226-2052
Watt
Melvin
NC12
202-225-1510
202-225-1512
Weiner
Anthony
NY09
202-225-6616
202-226-7253
If you want to do even more, call your favorite radio or TV talk shows and tell them how important Friday's hearings will be, and how strongly you support impeachment for whichever reasons are most important to you. Prepare your thoughts in advance so you sound informed and determined.
And if you're near Washington DC, join Veterans for Peace to lobby Congress on Thursday and hold a pro-impeachment rally on Friday:
http://www.democrats.com/node/17211 [17]
Lots more details and actions here:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34943 [18]
Thanks for all you do!
Update 1: The evidence of Bush's war crimes and other impeachable offenses grows daily. Investigative reporter Jane Mayer's new book The Dark Side provides more evidence that Bush authorized torture. The British Parliament [19] accused Bush of torture.
Yet Attorney General Mukasey told Congress he won't prosecute anyone who followed Bush's illegal torture orders. Even worse, Bush's rightwing supporters have begun a propaganda campaign for blanket pardons of everyone in the Bush administration [14]!”
The above from Democrats.com
