So I went to the National Constitution Center on Saturday the 11th for the impeachment panel I mentioned earlier. It was about what I expected: some for, some against and some good arguments for which I very much liked.
I got there a little late and sat down in the auditorium behind BooMan, Sally and Susie. There were about 75 other people in the second floor auditorium for the two part panel. First up were various people from various organizations/movements from around the way. First up to speak was Cindy Sheehan, I missed her speak. I’m both glad and sad I missed her. I’m glad because I truly can’t stand the sound of her voice. I’m sorry. But that grating voice. Eeeeeek. I love her call to action to pieces, but I’d rather see her at the head of a march/protest or read her thoughts than hear her speak.
I got there as former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman and author of The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens was speaking. She was on the House panel which voted to impeach Nixon back in the day. She said back then, it was a bipartisan movement and it ended up bringing the nation together, not split it apart. She noted how the investigation started in the Senate and that Republican Senator Howard Baker (TN) was the one who asked “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” – the question which brought Nixon down. She stressed how we don’t need an investigation started in the House by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI-14); anyone can start an investigation leading to impeachment.
David Swanson of After Downing Street mentioned a petition drive for impeachment and a Human Rights and Impeachment Day for December 10.
Founder of Progressive Democrats of America Tim Carpenter took the podium. He mentioned that two of the three PDA supported candidates took their House seats: John Hall (NY-19) and Jerry McNerney (CA-11). He said that while Speaker of the House Pelosi (heh!) has taken impeachment off of the table, it is up to us to keep up the heat on the street. Let impeachment percolate up from the grassroots so that those in Congress must listen once it reaches their deaf ears. He called on us to contact our Congresswo/men and ask them to pursue impeachment and that they have a page with local PDA Congressional liaisons to help out.
Jodi Evans, co-founder of Code Pink Women for Peace. She wore her pink slip she was arrested in while protesting during RNC 2004 in NYC. Her group has been responsible for some pretty major actions in the past few years. They’re a pretty visible bunch always decked out in pink.
And then it was on to the bloggers! Here are Susie, Sally and Marty on the right side of the panel seated next to a gigantic Condi head.
And here are Rob Kall of Op Ed News and Susie. Rob said that he didn’t think impeachment would ever happen, but that we must push for it in order to force Bush and the rest of them out of office in shame like Nixon. He also called for President Pelosi.
At left is Dave Lindroff of This Can’t Be Happening – Lady and I saw him speak in August at Robin’s Books. His logic hit home the most for me. He basically said that we should impeach the President on principle. Even if it’s a month before the 2008 elections. Or one day before the 2008 elections. To show the rest of the world that America does not endorse what Bush and his administration have done in the past 6 years. To show the world and all future American presidents that future presidents will be held accountable for their actions and egregious offenses disregarding the Constitution. He said he came to blogging as a way to get his articles published when event the most left/progressive publications wouldn’t. And with today’s technology, he can see his popularity rise in real time. When a few of his articles make it onto the bigger sites, he can check his Amazon.com ranking rise and fall. He said that his ranking has been high recently after the election as he had a few election-related articles being passed around quite a bit lately.
Next to Dave is Chris Rabb of Afro-Netzien. He said that he was brought up in a household where he was told that life was unfair and it prepared him well for the rest of his life and that he can accept the OJs of the world who get off free as a result of being wealthy. He asked if impeachment was a means or an end. Ponder that.
And at right is Liza Sabater of Culture Kitchen. She is a self professed semantics gorilla/guerrilla, big on the tech side of things. She said that there is a war going on online, a war on and about information and that is Google. She noted that 90% of her hits come straight from Google. She said that Google was the internet via the trust people give the search engine. Blogs, for one reason or another, have risen in ranking by Google to become a source in searches often times showing up well before mainstream media does and in that way reaches the eyes and minds of people searching for information on current events. She pointed to when Memory Hole published the photos of the American soldiers in caskets when there was a complete top-down media blackout. They got the images out there.
It was a good event and I’m glad I went and I’m glad there was a good crowd there as well.
After the panel, I walked down to take a look around the Arlington North event. I walked down and at the north end of the park, I walked by a family, tourists I presume. A little girl, about 8 or so I guesstimate, asked her dad after seeing the crowd and all the tombstones, “Are they praying for them?” The father turns to the girl and says, “No, they’re protesters.” I wanted to grab the girl by the hand and tell her her dad was full of shit. But I kept walking.
I ran into Mr. Paul Lang and we talked for about an hour. It was great to catch up with him after the madness of the campaign. 3.5%. Good god. That’s all he lost by. With no help from the higher ups in the Democratic establishment statewide. Fuckers. They need more Paul Langs who are ready, willing and able to put their lives on hold for public service. But they turned their backs on him and patted the back of his Republican opponent because they had deals worth millions to uphold. It was great to see Paul and catch up. I hope he’s sleeping 12 hours a day for a couple weeks, he’s earned it.
I just saw Richard Dreyfuss on Bill Maher and he was quite impressive. He has been at Oxford University studying how to teach civics. They really taught him how to talk, now they need to teach him how to shut up, LOL!! My only complaint is that it became less of a panel and more of a forum for his very intelligent point of view, which I really appreciated.
One thing Dreyfuss mentioned was impeachment, and I totally agree with what he said about it. He said if we don’t speak up against the abuses to our system of government and our Constitution by this administration we are basically endorsing it. We are endorsing torture and we are endorsing a war based on lies and we are endorsing the dismantling of our civil rights. He said the issue is not whether impeachment would get Bush out of office, the issue is standing up for our system of government and the balance of powers, and if we don’t do it, our “republican democracy” might not last much longer. It might just be one tiny spark in a long history of tyranny and oppression.
With all due respect, I don’t think Nancy Pelosi or anyone else has any right to take impeachment off the table. It simply isn’t up to her, she was sent there to represent us, not to make decisions about what is on or off the table. She has to ask her constituency, what do we want? Is impeachment off the table for the citizens of California who elected her to office?
There is no question, absolutely no question, that this administration must be censured. If it isn’t, we will go down in history as complicit in all of the crimes it has committed. All of them.
What’s worse, as Dreyfuss pointed out, democracy as we know it might not last another generation.
What’s worse, as Dreyfuss pointed out, democracy as we know it might not last another generation.
There seem to be or must be systemic structural problems with US democracy that threaten it at the same time as when parliamentary democracies seem to be flourishing. Now I know constitutional change through amendments is difficult and the process is suppose to be difficult, but after the Bush fascist attack on Democracy aided by a controlled and inept media, it may come down to changing the constitution soon to save Democracy here.
Now I guess changing to a parliamentary democracy with shared power proportioned among many political parties could be one change, but what other constitutional amendments might be good to suggest to save American democracy more in a fashion similar to what we are used to. For example, would term limits on all offices help democracy??
Would new rules and standards of media responsibilities and ownership help, and if so what would those rule look like?
IMHO the biggest threat to a democratic system of government is a media monopoly, which is something else that Dreyfuss talked about. As long as media ownership is consolidated in the hands of a few, our country can easily become a propaganda state, which IMHO it is already.
Interesting point about parliamentary democracies being more resilient. I don’t know much about economics, but it is clear as a bell that capitalism is an undemocratic economic system. Most of the parliamentary democracies seem to include some degree of socialism in their approach.
Through propaganda and the destruction of our education system, the majority of Americans just don’t know how to think. The powers that be in America have done a good job of villainizing socialism by equating with the totalitarian state that existed in the USSR, and as long as those powers control the media, it’s going to be an uphill battle even to get people to ask the right questions.
The majority of Americans have become their own worst enemy.
Hi Mythmother, just a note to tell you I concur with everything you say above. I would give Mr. Dreyfus an “A” in teaching civics but an “F” in shutting up. I would have liked to hear more from Dana Priest, as I was rather disappointed in what little she did say, in the short time she did get to speak
I also believe Dreyfus is correct on the responsibility of all to keep this democracy alive & well, whether by censure or impeachment which applies in this case, & that our failure now could be the end of it.
It should be Pelosi`s statement that “everything is on the table” mirroring the president`s statement about “nook u ler” options with Iran. It is not up to her to decide for the people, but the opposite.
What difference does it make what her voice sounds like to you Albert? It would’ve been nice of you to relay some of what she said instead of your personal distaste for the quality of her voice. She is the voice for millions of us. She was the first voice for millions of us. But more importantly, she was the only voice for her son, Casey, who undoubtedly loved the sound of his Mother’s voice. I’m sorry, but this is the same kind of shallow bullshit that disregards people like Kucinich because he looks like a gremlin, or Al Sharpton because hes loud, or Dean because he’s passionate and demonstrative.
I’d like to know who’s idiotic idea it was to put those big paper mache heads up there.
The Chain Gang is advertised on AfterDowningStreet.com. I clicked there to go to the originators at
http://backbonecampaign.org/chaingang.cfm
They mention that Democrats.com was among the initial supporters. Cindy Sheehan has also provided support.
As far as resisting an irritating voice, I share that sensitivity with Albert. A Chicago radio station that I listen to will occasionally schedule hosts with speech qualities that cause me to shut off the radio.
I stated that I didn’t hear what Cindy spoke about since I arrived a little late. I would’ve gladly recounted what she had to say, but I didn’t hear it.
I’m a supporter of hers. So, to restate part of the 1st graph:
oh yeah, and i should add that i’d much rather hear cindy speak than a recording of my own voice. good grief i hate the sound of my voice.
I’d be more interested in what you had to say than how you sounded Albert. I don’t mean to be an asshole about it. It just struck me the wrong way. I met her in that ditch she occupied and when I handed her the flowers I was passing along to her from a little old lady from Dallas who was’nt able to stand the heat out there, the thing I noticed were her eyes and the thank you I read in them, not her voice. I’ve said enough.
Thank God MJ Fox didn`t have to speak. That might have set albert over the edge.
Thanks for all these photos. I agree with you about Dave Lindorff. His book talk at Robin’s Books was on C-Span and I saw it there. Also, Elizabeth Holtzman has been on to discuss her book, and give more of the history of the Nixon impeachment.
Albert, thanks for sharing this.
I do agree with Super that the comment about Cindy’s voice was unnecessary, but I appreciate the rest.
Before I even started reading, I looked at the photo of Cindy and thought “So this is what a hero looks like.” Not as described in novels or comics, certainly not as portrayed in movies. When the movie of Cindy Sheehan is made, who will be cast? Angelina Jolie? Renee Zellwieger? Katherine Zeta Jones? Some other hottie with a strong, yet sexy voice?
It is a great reminder that heroes often are ordinary people on the outside, but possessed by a courage and passion and integrity that far surpasses their outward appearance.
Cindy would tell you to keep on reading. This is how it is going to happen now, we all know it. From the people up. I’m more invigorated than frightened now. I was frightened when the Senate, Congress, White House were locked up and nobody but Keith Olberman could pull their heads out of their asses. I have a wild bird feeder outside my window that has been full all summer and nobody visited. It is finally needed today as it is cold here and the birds need some extra calories. My grandparents survived the depression and were children of FDR, my parents were children of the 60’s, the wheel has turned again and I don’t know what they will call us one day.
Thanks for telling us about this, Albert. I heard Elizabeth Holtzman on the radio this week talking about Watergate, and your report here put that into a different context.
I hope Lang will run again in the future. He has excellent prospects as a politician, I think, given his ability and the results he got with very little assistance from the powerbrokers. So many lose the first time they run for office, so I hope he will not be too discouraged by this.