Conyers Considers Cheney Impeachment Hearings
On
Thursday, Chairman John Conyers' House Judiciary Committee held a
hearing at which Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that he
would not
investigate torture or warrantless spying, he would not
enforce contempt citations, and he would treat Justice Department
opinions as providing immunity
for crimes.
None of this was new, but perhaps it touched something in Conyers that had not been touched before. Following the hearing, he and two staffers met for over an hour with two members of Code Pink and discussed activism and impeachment, including Congressman Robert Wexler's proposal to begin impeachment hearings on Cheney.
Conyers expressed his concerns about what might happen following an impeachment, the danger of installing a Bush replacement or losing an election. But he said he's listening to several advocates for impeachment, including Liz Holtzman and David Swanson of Democrats.com. He hinted he could be swayed by a convincing argument, leaning out of his chair for dramatic effect.
So let's help Chairman John Conyers decide! We
know Conyers agrees with all of us on the legal
grounds for impeachment because he
made this case himself in his 2006 book, "The Constitution
in Crisis." Where Conyers needs persuasion is on the
politics
of impeachment, so we have addressed his concerns
here:
http://www.democrats.com/conyers-start-impeachment-hearings
We'd like you to email Conyers (and other Judiciary Committee Democrats) with the link above, but please don't stop there.
1. Call his office at 202-225-5126 and say you would like him to begin Cheney impeachment hearings immediately. Tell him the hearings must be on impeachment because that's the only way to force the White House to comply with Congressional subpoenas. The phone in his office was reportedly ringing once every second, 60 times per minute, all day long on Monday. Let's ring it faster on Tuesday.
2. Print our
petition
http://www.democrats.com/node/15663/print
and
fax it to Conyers at 202-225-0072 with your name and address at
the end.
3. Urge your Representative and Senators to sign
onto Congressman Robert Wexler's letter to Conyers (which he plans
to deliver on Friday)
here:
http://democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/125
We know we're asking a lot, but we're not alone - our friends from Code Pink are fasting for impeachment and meeting with Conyers on Tuesday to discuss opening Cheney impeachment hearings.
Want
to do more? Start planning now to visit your congress member's
office when they're back in their district between February 16th
and 24th. Find ideas here:
http://impeachcheney.org
Join (or create) your Congressional District
Impeachment Committee:
http://democrats.com/cdic-find
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International Days of Action Against Iraq Oil Law on February 22-23
Why did Bush and Cheney concoct WMD lies to scare Congress into authorizing an invasion of Iraq? After five years, it's clear the only reason was to steal Iraq's oil.
US Labor Against the War, United for Peace and Justice, Oil Change International, and UK's Hands Off Iraqi Oil, are working to expose the concerted efforts by the Bush-Cheney administration and the major international oil companies to force passage of an oil law in the Iraqi Parliament. This oil law would strip the Iraqi people of their constitutional right to control their biggest natural resource: oil.
Details on Facebook (login
required):
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=16210280243
You can host a local action at your ExxonMobil, Shell, or BP station, or participate in a march in Washington, DC this Friday. If you need help and resources to host a local event email info@priceofoil.org
For more information about the Iraqi oil law visit http://priceofoil.org and http://www.USLaborAgainstWar.org
______________
Start
Planning for March 2008
March 19 is the 5th Anniversary of Bush's invasion
of Iraq. Start planning your local and national actions to demand
peace and impeachment in March 2008 here:
http://resistinmarch.org
Forward this message to everyone you know!