Cindy Sheehan has returned to the fight for our freedom. There are so many people who stand up for our rights, our freedom here by standing up to the people who took over our government. The other side of the divide is afraid what will happen if there are more Cindy Sheehans - thats why they dog her so much. To try and make others who want to do what she is doing to shut up and go home. I am thankful for the people who are able to give of themselves to us here at home. We all have a role to play. Some have bigger parts than others. Cindy is playing a very big role. The Arredondo's give of themselves as much as Cindy but don't get the attention. They want to dog Cindy :)
We have laws. Most of us live by the laws set up for us to survive in society. When laws are broken society will run a muck. No one is above the law. We are at a tipping point. If we don't hold this White House accountable for their actions there really isn't any hope for my children's future. We must stand up and fight for what we have.
IMPEACH
You do good - you get good. You do bad - you get bad. In one way or another these people who have do so much wrong to other people will be getting their bad.....in one way or another.
May peace be inside all of us,
Cindy
Sheehan's anti-war crusade picks the wrong target
By DeWayne Wickham
As bad ideas go, this one is a real loser.
Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war mom of an American soldier who was killed in Iraq, is threatening to challenge the re-election of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sheehan says she'll mount a third party campaign to unseat the California Democrat if Pelosi doesn't move quickly to impeach President Bush.
(Photo -- Sheehan: Has set July 23 as deadline for Pelosi. / AP)
"I really am challenging Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party to be different," Sheehan said last week during a call-in to the MSNBC show Morning Joe, which is hosted by former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough. "If she hasn't put impeachment on the table by July 23, then I will run against her."
Like Pelosi — and just about every other Democrat in the House of Representatives — Sheehan wants Bush to withdraw American forces from the sectarian quagmire that rages in Iraq. But unlike Pelosi, Sheehan doesn't seem to understand the politics of impeachment.
While Democrats have the simple majority that is needed to adopt articles of impeachment against Bush, assuming the vast majority of House Democrats would support such a move, the 49 Senate Democrats and the two independents who are aligned with them fall far short of the 67 votes needed in that body to convict Bush of an impeachable offense. In fact, not a single Republican senator has shown any willingness to support a move to impeach Bush, the GOP's titular head.
If Pelosi did push the House to impeach the president, Congress would plunge into an even deeper partisan divide and there would be little hope of a significant withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq before the president's fate is decided.
Remember Clinton mess?
The Republican effort to impeach President Clinton dragged on for four months from October 1998 to February 1999 — a time during which much of Congress' other business virtually came to a halt.
So why should Pelosi lead House Democrats into that political bog?
If Sheehan's goal is to end the war, and not just drag Bush into an impeachment process that he would likely win, she should set her sights on the House and Senate Republicans who are thwarting the efforts of Democrats to enact legislation that would force the president to accept a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq.
If it's an election fight she wants, Sheehan and her supporters should take on those Republicans. But, instead, Sheehan threatens to rain friendly fire down upon Pelosi, a leader of the anti-war forces on Capitol Hill.
That doesn't make sense.
Long shot candidate
Of course, Sheehan doesn't have a chance of unseating Pelosi. Two years ago, the San Francisco Democrat scored a landslide victory for an 11th term in Congress. She got 80% of the vote in that contest, which pitted her against a Republican and two third-party challengers.
But while Sheehan has no chance of beating the House speaker, she might be able to inflict some serious damage on the Democratic Party. As the leading voice of a nationwide anti-war movement, Sheehan has become a darling of more than a few left-wing liberals — a core voting bloc for Democrats. If she takes on Pelosi, Sheehan could cause a splintering among party liberals that might spread across the nation.
Impeachment should be treated as a serious matter — and not a means of settling political scores. It shouldn't be used to resolve a policy dispute. As misguided as I think the president was in ordering an invasion of Iraq — and as wrong as I think he is to keep U.S. troops immersed in Iraq's civil war — I don't think his bad acts rise to the level of an impeachable offense.
The war in Iraq has caused this nation enough needless suffering. Trying to impeach Bush, with what we currently know about his actions, would be an unnecessary act of national self-flagellation.
If she wants to be a serious actor in the effort to end the Iraq war, Cindy Sheehan has to do a better job of picking her targets — and focusing her rage.
DeWayne Wickham writes on Tuesdays for USA TODAY.
GH
By remaining silent, Pelosi and others accept the unitary executive theory, the right for the president to determine what is torture and when it can be used (read the recent interview with Gen. Taguba please Mr. Wickham), the right of the president to abduct and hold people in secret prisons with no accountability, the right of the president's counsel to refuse a congressional subpeona (Nixon wouldn't even do this--remember John Dean--you might have to google that episode Mr. Wickham) etc. etc. According to the constitution NO PRESIDENT has those rights. As someone who served in the military took and administered an oath to the constitution many times and someone who typically votes GOP more than any other party, I applaud Cindy Sheehan and hope others like her come forward and challenge the mindless political/media cabal that is destroying our country and repeating the fall of Rome.
Cindy Sheehan's March from Texas to Arrive in D.C. on July 23
Cindy Sheehan is leading a march/drive from Crawford, Texas, to New York City. Participants in this Journey for Humanity share the goals of ending the occupation of Iraq, impeaching Cheney and Bush, restoring New Orleans, and funding human needs at home and in Iraq and Afghanistan. The march has already made big news in several states. Watch this video of a heated discussion between Cindy and an Alabama chickenhawk.
The march will include stops at the district offices of House Judiciary Committee Members Mel Watt, Howard Coble, and Bobby Scott along the way, before arriving in Washington, D.C., on July 23rd. Below is the route and a link for more information and to get involved.
July 17 Charlotte NC noon rally at Rep. Watt's office, 5 p.m. at Bryant Park
July 18 Greensboro NC 2:30 p.m. at Rep. Watt's office, 3:30 p.m. at Rep. Coble's office, 6 p.m. at Bennett College
July 19 Lynchburg VA 6 p.m. meet downtown at base of Monument Terrace, march to Riverfront Park
July 20 Charlottesville VA rally at 6 p.m. at Downtown Mall
July 21 Richmond VA
July 22 Arlington VA
July 23 Washington D.C. 10 a.m. at Arlington Cemetery, march to U.S. Capitol
July 24 Philadelphia PA
July 25 Allentown PA
July 26 New York NY
July 27 United Nations Action
July 29 Gathering of Hearts Fest, location to be announced
http://www.thecampcaseypeaceinstitute.org
The Orange Revolution Begins July 23
On July 23, 2002, the head of British intelligence reported that Bush and Cheney were intent on invading Iraq and planned to "fix the intelligence and facts around the policy". Five years later a million people have died in Iraq as a direct result of these lies with no end in sight. Torture has been institutionalized, habeas corpus eviscerated, and illegal spying made routine. New Orleans lies devastated along with the Constitution and the rule of law. And Bush and Cheney are making a mockery of the Democrats' feeble gestures towards accountability.
Enough is enough, and this July 23rd we will launch a new phase in the movement for peace and justice. We call it the Orange Revolution because starting that day wearing orange will signify that you want Congress to START IMPEACHMENT and STOP THE WAR. The majority of Americans, who want to see Bush and Cheney impeached and want an immediate end to this war, are made effectively invisible by a complicit media. Wearing orange will be our signal to each other, and to the world, about where we stand. Anything orange will do: a t-shirt, a wristband, your shoelaces. Get creative and send us your ideas. Here are a couple of great items you can wear designed specifically for the Orange Revolution:
Orange "Drive out the Bush Regime" bandanas.
Orange "Impeach Bush and Cheney" t-shirts:
http://www.beachblogger.net/barbara
The Orange Revolution will be launched with acts of civil disobedience in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere to show Congress that we are serious.
In Washington, D.C. on July 23, Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Ann Wright, Debra Sweet, Dave Lindorff, David Swanson, Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin, Kevin Zeese, Tina Richards, and others will march from Arlington National Cemetery to the office of Congressman John Conyers. They will sit in Conyers' office reciting the U.S. Constitution until they are either arrested or he agrees to start impeachment. You can also come and choose not to risk arrest. Meet at 10 a.m. outside the Arlington National Cemetery Metro stop: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/sit
Similiar actions will take place the same day in the offices of Rep. Howard Berman in California and Rep. Pete Visclosky in Indiana, and at Rep. Conyers' district offices in Detroit. If you are willing to go to jail for justice, you are encouraged to come to Washington to participate in the civil disobedience, or to stage a sit-in at your congress member's district office, either on the 23rd or another day. Using our new tool, you can pledge to take part only if 20 others do the same: http://www.democrats.com/sit
If you cannot join in on the 23rd, please wear orange in solidarity, and please phone Congressman Conyers' office that day asking him to please move forward on impeachment: (202) 225-5126.
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Get Presidential
Also on July 23rd, the Democratic presidential candidates will take part in an evening debate run by CNN, Google, and Youtube. People are submitting their own questions through Youtube, and currently the fourth most popular topic is impeachment. You can submit questions and vote on them here:
http://www.communitycounts.us/cgi/demdebateVIEW.cgi
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Cheney Is Pushing Bush to Attack Iran
The latest disturbing news on the Vice President's push for another aggressive war is here:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/taxonomy/term/51
The third article of impeachment against Cheney contained in H. Res. 333 charges him with threatening an aggressive war on Iran. Impeachment can prevent Cheney from acting on his threat. Watch Robert Greenwald's video and sign the petition:
http://www.impeachcheney.org
Learn more about this bill and what you can do to impeach Dick Cheney:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/cheney
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Join People of Iraq in Opposing Theft of Oil
Today, July 16, Iraqis took to the streets of Basra, Iraq, in opposition to the Oil Law that the US government is pressuring the Iraqi Parliament to pass. See video. Led by the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), this demonstration charged that the proposed Oil Law surrenders Iraq’s economic sovereignty to multinational oil companies and demanded that the Iraqi Parliament reject it.
The people of Iraq are united in opposition to the Oil Law, but the Iraqi Parliament continues to face intense pressure from the Bush Administration. The law would open two thirds of Iraq’s oil to foreign control through contracts that could last as long as 30 years. Originally written with the assistance of US officials and contractors, the law is also one the benchmarks imposed by the US that the Iraqis must meet in order to receive continued reconstruction aid.
Drop the Benchmark! Take action in solidarity with the people of Iraq!
If you live in the United States, please call or write to your elected officials today and tell them to drop the oil law benchmark and cease all U.S. pressure on the Iraqis to pass the Oil Law. Tell them it is unacceptable that the US has any role in determining the future of Iraq’s oil industry, especially when it is being written to primarily benefit US companies. Use this link to email your members of Congress, or reach your members by calling the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking for your member’s office.
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Bill Moyers Airs One-Hour Impeachment Special on PBS
On Friday, PBS aired a one-hour special on impeachment featuring Bruce Fein, Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and well-known Republican, and John Nichols, author of "The Genius of Impeachment" and well-known Democrat, both arguing for impeachment. Watch it here.
Use this and other videos to organize events in your town or your house:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/eventresources
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Cities for Peace Day and Concert for Impeachment
July 31, 2007, is Cities for Peace Day in Washington DC! Come, March, Hold Your City's Sign! Cities for Peace is a campaign that has helped people all over the country persuade 255 city and state governments to pass resolutions calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq.
AfterDowningStreet.org and Democrats.com ask you to help us speed up the end of the Iraq occupation by participating on July 31 in DC. Please come and hold Cities for Peace signs for your community or your neighbors' community! We will march to the White House and deliver resolutions, petitions, and referenda. And we will accompany locally-elected officials to Capitol Hill where they will give testimony on the Local Costs of the Iraq War.
We are endorsing, promoting and participating in this exciting event and we need your participation as well: http://www.citiesforpeace.org
The day's events will be followed by a concert for impeachment at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.
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