Race is the Tripwire for the Progressive Movement: John Conyers and Impeachment
On July 23, Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern and I met with U.S. Rep. John Conyers about the issue of impeachment. We delivered a petition for impeachment with one million signatures. While we met, 400 activists waited in the halls outside of his office along with a hoard of media to find out what the outcome of the meeting would be. The meeting was a very significant moment for the progressive movement from a historical standpoint. The movement for impeachment and the immediate reactions to why John Conyers was publicly targeted on this issue reflect how race continues to be, as my dear friend Bill Fletcher says, the tripwire for the progressive movement.
Rep. Conyers is a great mentor to me and my respect for him is unquestionable. He has been fighting for peace and justice and civil rights for decades inside and outside of Congress. He is a man for the people and for America. So, it was a truly disappointing moment on Monday, when we realized - as mentor and mentee - that we do not agree on his role as the Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary committee to uphold our constitution by holding our President and Vice President accountable for their impeachable offensives.
After concluding our meeting I stepped into the hallway with Cindy Sheehan and Ray McGovern to inform the crowd that he refused to put impeachment back on the table. We then returned to his office and sat down, refusing to leave until Capitol Police arrested us.
Since Monday, our action has been criticized on two fronts. First, by the tedious “maintain the Democratic party line no matter what” folks who think that we should wait Bush out until November 2008 and get back at him by voting in a Democrat for President. Second, by folks who have interpreted our targeting of Rep. Conyers, a deeply respected African-American leader in Congress, as an attack that is fundamentally racist by the White leftists of the anti-war movement.
To uncritical supporters of the Democratic Party, I say this is not a time for partisan politics. To use the American people’s frustration with Bush as political leverage in the 2008 elections, and to ignore the constitutional responsibility the legislative branch has to hold the executive branch accountable through the impeachment process, flies in the face of our democracy. People are dying in Iraq because of Bush’s lies; people are being tortured in Guantanamo because of Bush’s disregard for the Constitution and international law; and the American people are loosing faith in our democracy. But, Congress doesn’t get that, and that is why their current approval rating is lower than Bush’s.
To my African-American counterparts who take issue with the White progressive anti-war movement, I understand your criticism of our recent action in Mr. Conyers office, but I do not agree. It was extremely difficult to challenge a man that means so much to African-Americans, but impeaching Bush is critical to the future of our country. We cannot let the precedent stand that Bush has established, which severely oversteps the bounds of executive power. We cannot send the message that such actions will not go unpunished, or at least unchecked.
Impeachment begins in the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, which Rep. John Conyers chairs. He is in the position to begin the impeachment process or keep it from happening, and no other human being is in that position. In addition, Rep. Conyers is the recognized authority on Capitol Hill both on impeachment and on the impeachable offenses of Vice President Cheney and President Bush. He and his staff literally wrote the book on them before the Democrats won the majority last November: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/constitutionincrisis.
Moreover, the action on Monday was not a first resort - it was a last resort. There is no other recourse against Bush for the American people after impeachment, and if Rep. Conyers does not put forth impeachment then we have no recourse and the Democrats will have failed us.
This moment is not about race, it is not about John Conyers, and it is much bigger than the divides within our movements. This moment is about our future as a country, because humanity is at stake. The Bush administration’ s hunger for war has caused so much instability in our world that we face a state of permanent wars.
The challenge we face as activists and leaders is how can we possibly bring an end to this madness when the Democrats in power are not with us? We need a broad-based movement that can hold our elected officials accountable and to create such a movement we need to address our internal divides. The reason many African-Americans have interpreted our action against Rep. Conyers as racial betrayal goes deep into the tradition of the progressive movement. How we can begin to address this is something I will discuss in an upcoming article.
In the meantime, for the sake of our country and our world, let us all work to impeach Bush and Cheney now.
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. is the President of the Hip Hop Caucus. The Hip Hop Caucus is a national, nonprofit, non-partisan organization meant to inspire and motivate those of us born after the ’60s civil rights movement.
One of the things I learned a decade ago as an anthropology student was the difference between sex & gender. Sex is biological/physical whereas gender is socially defined and offers many shades and permutations.
Let’s approach race that way.
There’s race and there’s what? Race and skin color are biological/physical. But there’s another kind of race, a social race. I’m not sure what to call it — perhaps it’s class after all?
Writing from ignorance on this issue as a white American, it seems to me that Rep. Conyers was approached because he is chair of the House judiciary committee. His leadership as an important civil rights leader and as a leading black figure are not at issue here. Is the peace movement supposed to treat Democratic leaders who show recalcitrance differently if they are African-American?
Yes, Yes. Great article. I had not even thought that some might see it as race. Wow. Anyway, we will keep the weekly protest vigils going over here in Hawaii. Only the constant reminders of people in the streets, writers on their blogs, stumpspeakers on their daises, etc., will keep this going. t is like the drip, drip, drip through the dam wall. We need to convince them one at a time if necessary. This is too big to roll over and quit (despite feeling that way several times myself).
“This moment is not about race, it is not about John Conyers, and it is much bigger than the divides within our movements. This moment is about our future as a country, because humanity is at stake. The Bush administration’ s hunger for war has caused so much instability in our world that we face a state of permanent wars.”
This is profoundly true. If the American Left cannot pull itself together on this one, you’re doomed.
I don’t think there is such a thing as a pro-peace, progressive, racist. Can anyone name a few?
This is the question: Can we, as individuals, in all our diversity… sex/gender, color, religion (or lack thereof), ethnicity, culture, political persuasion… with all the differences that divide us, can we work together for one goal? There is only one way to save our Constitution. There is only one way to save our democracy, with all its flaws. Conyers will hear us if we will stop fracturing our power with petty disagreements. We must put aside our differences and speak as one voice. PUT IMPEACHMENT BACK ON THE TABLE!
Excellent article. Good points. Well written.
One small note on parliamentary jargon, to take impeachment off the table means the motion will be considered and debated. Impeachment is not a negotiation, it is a motion that can be debated, voted on, or tabled.
Whay are the Deafeatocrats afraid of putting Bush and Cheney at a desk in Congress, and asking them some straight questions? (which is impeachment)
Are they afraid that they will be exposed as willing collaborators?
I wonder what Pelosi and Conyers will say when (or if) Bush attacks Iran - as he threatens to do? The vast majority of us think that will never happen because it is such an insane thing to do. But we don’t have sane people in the Whitehouse and we must guard against their insanity. Will Conyers and Pelosi say “I never thought he’d do such a terrible insane act”? Haven’t Dems already said that? Like: “when we gave Bush war powers, I never thought he’d act so irresponibly”. (Seems to me Hilary said something like that and other Dems have echoed her.) I wonder how we get Pelosi and Conyers to understand that the administration is not playing by the rules they are. Honesty, decency and a concern for something other than self is not part of the “game plan”. Pelosi and Conyers need to wake up and smell the shit.
“folks who think we should wait Bush out until November 2008 and get back at him by voting in a Democrat for President”
If we don’t get rid of Bush and Cheney we won’t have elections.
“Whay are the Deafeatocrats afraid of putting Bush and Cheney at a desk in Congress, and asking them some straight questions? (which is impeachment)
Are they afraid that they will be exposed as willing collaborators?”
A few days ago, a group of lawyers from western Massachusetts met with the local congressman, Democrat John Olver. Their request was that Olver take part in the urgent effort to impeach Bush and Cheney. Olver responded by saying that he had no intention of doing anything to support impeachment. He went further, offering the information that the United States would soon attack Iran, and that these hostilities would be followed by the imposition of a martial law regime here.
That is why.
It is true that “people are dying in Iraq because of Bush’s lies” and “people are being tortured at Guantanamo because of Bush’s disregard for the Constitution and international law…..”
Unfortunately, it is also true that in the fall of 2002 a majority of both houses of Congress approved the Use of Military Force resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq, and that in the fall of 2006 Congress similarly voted to grant immunity to those who had authorized or engaged in torture during the global war on terror (a provision of the Military Commissions Act).
First things first. Repeal the AUMF. Repeal the statutory immunity granted to everybody in the executive branch who has engaged in torture in the past or may in the future.
It is very hard to prosecute and convict somebody of a high crime or misdemeanor when the House that indicts and the Senate that tries the case still have statutes in place making it arguably completely legal to commit the very act in question. And don’t forget. The legal ruling on these “legal technicalities” will be made by Chief Justice Roberts.
By all means, proceed with impeachment proceedings against Bush, Cheney and Gonzales for the Downing Street lies, the torture regimen, and the warrantless domestic spying by NSA. But Congress should repeal these looming legal loopholes first, as a matter of both legal strategy and sound public policy.
Bill from Saginaw
Excellent points!
Our nation’s present situation has a central theme: life or death; liberty or servitude; justice or tyranny; openness or secrecy. . . In other words will our government survive the crisis created by this administration, or will America’s 200 year “experiment” fail because of human fecklessness?
Our COMMON DREAMS are at risk. Impeachment is our founders “emergency exit” out of this destruction. Representative Conyers, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is the man of the hour…[an hour which occurs only once to individuals and nations]. Mr. Conyers is the one person in this country, at this hour who is in the position to initiate the impeachment process, or . . . to prevent it from occurring. His personal and political challenge at present is to gather his courage and resolve and step forward. Otherwise he joins the ranks of those who failed. Gender and race are not applicable, courage and integrity are the operative words.
Paul Bramscher–
Of course it’s class…everything is about class. Remember, economics is the driving force of history.
This is not an issue about race. Bringing up skin color is another attempt by the far right, the moderate right, and the centrists to blur the issue and divide those of us who are trying to help everyone.
Strange how liberals are the only ones who ever try to HELP everybody in their respective nation, but are demonized worse than ANYBODY, especially by those they’re trying to help.
As someone who was there, the whole idea that race has anthing to do with the issue is bizarre! The very senior Conyers chairs the Judiciary Comittee.
But then I just realized, except for Rev Yearwood, and one of the other march leaders, there was not a single black person in our entire contingent - in a city that is 60% black.
This is an ongoing problem just about everywhere - and conservative blacks do attempt to capitalise on the the issue - turning class-conflict on it’s head, they attempt to convey the antiwar movement as only a bunch of effete rich whiteys, not hard working black folk.
Very annoying. Since it is obvious from the shows of sympathy we get at our demos that blacks are certainly anti-war!
We have no democracy. We have no liberty. We have no representation in government.
Tyranny rules America.
Corporate greed dominates us all.
http://www.sheehanforcongress.us — Let’s get it going folks!
I am a black man. Just wanted to put that out there.
I agree with Yearwood. This isn’t a race issue. It’s an America issue. And for the record, Conyers has been against so much of this administration’s evil from day one, that it’s pathetic. But he could never get any traction. And if there is a racial aspect to this problem, that’s where it is.
Throughout America’s history, black people have truly been the standard by which we should measure how we’re living up to our ideals. WE’RE the ones saying that you can’t say all men are created equal, but some men are 3/5 of a man. We’re the ones saying it’s hypocrisy for black soldiers to fight for freedom abroad, but come home to inequality. In virtually every way, if you want to see how America is living up to its promise, look at the state of black people. (Arguably, this can be said of the entire world. But I digress.)
The problem is, that most white people just don’t care — at least not until it affects them directly. Nobody cares about New Orleans now — not enough to march for it. Being detained by the government without cause, then beaten? Brothers have ALWAYS had to deal with that, long before the Patriot Act.
So Conyers has been yelling about this administration for YEARS, but America doesn’t listen when black people call for justice. So now, there’s a mainstream progressive movement behind impeachment, and we MIGHT get somewhere.
But the question black folks want answered is: When it comes time to march against predatory lending practices, will white folks come out? When it’s time to march for better schools in the inner city, will suburban while folks be there, even though they don’t live in the district? Will someone white PLEASE pressure our government to at least APOLOGIZE for slavery?
RE: LINK?
observer July 26th, 2007 3:49 pm
…or is this news purely anecdotal?
RE: IT’S NOT ABOUT RACISM; IT’S ABOUT RACIAL-ORGANIZATIONAL DIVIDES
We shall see how Rev. Yearwood follows up his mention of race as the progressive “tripwire” - but I suspect it is a question of mutual mistrust and ignorance following from a post-Civil Rights, post-1960s-activism failure to work together.
RE: REV. YEARWOOD’S HIP HOP CAUCUS
Scrolling and linking around Rev. Yearwood’s organization, there is much progressive political, and some references to impeachment - but, as far as I could discover, no reference to this impeachment rally or the arrests or this article.
Both poor blacks AND whites have long been oppressed by the same rich. Before slavery of blacks there was (and remains) indentured servitude for all. It used to be for a ride across the Atlantic. Now it’s just to put a roof over our heads.
Predatory lending has nailed EVERYONE. It caused people to borrow much more than they could afford, shot up property “values” (and therefore taxes & homeowners insurance for existing homeowners) artificially. It caused foolish people to borrow on non-existent equity, and it caused renters to take advantage of this opportunity and raise rent — everywhere — as well.
Too bad there isn’t such a thing as a people’s iminent domain. To return real estate back to communities, to take it away from the distant banks.
The Democrats don’t really want to end the war despite their veneer of opposition. If they desired to end the war, they would have halted its funding long ago. Likewise, if they really preferred to challenge the Bush falsehoods regarding Iran, they would do so. Instead the Democrats, including their top presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who voted in favor of holding Iran accountable for the killing of US soldiers, seem to want to handle Iran militarily.
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2226.shtml
If Conyers is the block to Impeachment of anyone then my last post is moot but I will repeat it just in case Conyers can change.
————–
“Some still think that if you Impeach Cheney first that will fix the problem of Cheney becoming prez if we impeach Bush first.
It is a bit more involved than that because just like Nixon and his VP a similar result would happen.
When Cheney either resigns or stays to be tried by the Senate, Bush will appoint a new VP as soon as Cheney is convicted and by the time this is done the new election will be coming up and if the elections happen the new VP will be a fresh Republican candidate.
They are partners in Crime, this “real power behind the throne” is wishing that once Cheney is gone, Bush will have no power and will be no threat to the world…..I don’t think that is reality.
Impeach them both as partners that way even if they play the musical chairs game of resignation, Bush will be under pressure to resign even before the House votes to make the Impeachment proceedings officially start so that he will have resigned in time like Nixon so that Bush will be able to get pardoned by what ever President is next.
The bottom line is if we Impeach them together and neither resigns in time before it gets out of the Committee, neither Bush or Cheney will be able to get a pardon from any future President because the Constitution makes it clear that there is the power of Pardon accept in cases of impeachment…If Dennis can explain why this is not better than having Bush appoint a new VP, I will give him more than 50 Bucks.”
——–
But without Conyers on board, it is just a dream I guess.
But if all of us Outsiders did one thing at the polls if there is another election we could begin to organize an alternative and that is not to be so fed up with all the big money politicians that we stay away or to vote for the many 3rd 4th and 5th party candidates who will be on the ballot but have no chance to win.
We can have a virtual “none of the above votes” by voting (Writing in our own names or any name that won’t be counted as a protest vote for president!)
You ask “How insane to write-in a name for president that won’t even be counted?”
That is the point because it will be counted as a massive under-vote for president.
It will unite those of us on the left and the Right of the Spectrum for the first time in History and will form the basis a new voice…a protest of “none of the above”.
If all us outsiders on the left and the right vote for the Greens or the Socialists or John Birchers or whatever small party, they will get counted but have no chance of winning so it will be a futile vote while a massive under-vote will be a sign that a Change can come.
Tired of the Big Money Game? Vote for yourself for President and see the change!
Love, Jim
Dear Rev. Yearwood,
Your frustration is apparent, and thank you for your time and courage and eloquence; but I have one question: If John Conyers wrote the book on impeachable offenses and now says we can’t do it, why is no one listening to him? Does his denial of your cause suddenly make him a sell-out in some strange way?
Dear L3ESmith,
You are absolutely right about this being an American problem, but then, we have so many, especially the ones you note. I would love to see all of us put our energy into making THOSE important changes, since despite our lip service to the contrary, racism is still an overriding issue in this country. Katrina was as loud a wake-up call as we are ever going to get on that issue. By the way, I am a middle-aged white woman, just for the record.
Let Bush crash and burn, and let Republicans run like hell away from the flaming wreckage. That would be a much preferable scenario to me, riding the destruction all the way to the ground, so the ignominious ending of the Neo-Con power grab becomes apparent for the world to see. So much preferable to listening to them whine and cry and point fingers and say the terrorists made them do it, which is exactly what would happen if an impeachment proceeding did occur–a media circus like no other, forcing, of course, all of the Republicans to support the President instead of jumping like rats off a sinking ship. Think about it!
Thanks for listening. www.changetheschools.com
And, sorry, but I just have to say this, so send hate mail if you must. Jim, I love you, but everyone here so intent on continual bashing of the “corporate candidates” and badmouthing Hillary and Barack, in particular, is just a step away from handing the 2008 election to the right. How would you like Bob Barker look-alike Milt Romney as Prez, or maybe Rudy Giuliani? The latter has positioned himself as a hero and a centrist, so that is a possible scenario, isn’t it?
Are we all so in love with our own points of view (okay, maybe we all are), that we can’t see what needs to happen for the good of the entire country? We need a MASSIVE vote for the Presidency, an overwhelming vote that brings leftists, progressives, centrists and everyone else TOGETHER for the first time in history, as a total repudiation of what the Neo-Cons have done to us over the past nearly eight years. If we deny this simple truth and simply use different words to kill every possible Demo candidate, we sound no different from the crazies on the right, which is exactly what my poli sci professor used to say, back in the day: The political spectrum is a circle, not a line, and at the bottom, the right and the left meet in overlapping ideologies.
Thanks for listening and thanks, Common Dreams, for providing this forum. www.changetheschools.com
I would say that most of the (white) people who demonstrated early, enthusiastic support for Obama’s candidacy are, in fact, racists. Certainly in a different way than we commonly think, but they’re racists because the idea of a black candidate is more important to them than the candidate himself. When Obama entered the race, it was not at all clear that he was even qualified for the job (and I still have to wonder), yet he attracted massive crowds of white ‘progressives’ to whom, I suspect, a black President is a sign of progress, regardless of that person’s policies or abilities.
The opposite of racism is not showing support for a candidate because he’s black; it’s giving no weight to a person’s race at all when judging his character or ability.
I am not black, but I AM Native American.
Getting rid of Bush and his pack of rabid dogs is not a racial issue for anyone.
Taking Conyers to task for refusing to follow through with what he promised to do–how is that about race?
Unless you take the position that EVERYTHING is about race–in which case I will be holding all of you accountable for the genocide against my people and to hell with Bush and Cheney.
L3ESmith, “But the question black folks want answered is: When it comes time to march against predatory lending practices, will white folks come out? When it’s time to march for better schools in the inner city, will suburban while folks be there, even though they don’t live in the district? Will someone white PLEASE pressure our government to at least APOLOGIZE for slavery?”
My name above is a link to my website. My e-mail address is there. If there is a demonstration for the above mentioned concerns in central Florida, e-mail me. I will e-mail my rep to support an apology today, but he is a Republican.
pkokinos: It would be a heck of a lot easier for everyone from the left of the right to the actual left to get behind a candidate and deliver the drubbing you envision if there were a viable Dem candidate who actually possessed progressive values and who had a big enough pair of cajones to be able to thwart swiftboat-style attacks.
And before all the Kucinich folks start piling on, note I did say “viable”. As much as I admire Dennis and agree with his politics, he’s about as politically viable as Tinky-Winky, for reasons that none of us are happy about but are real nevertheless.
As a Black man who has always revered Conyers, I too was distressed that he was not willing to put impeachment on the agenda and worried about the white progressive response to Conyers’ reluctance. Even though Black people have always been the most politically progressive group of Americans throughout this country’s history, we’ve had a tenuous love/hate relationship with the white left. I stood ready to defend Conyers if need be, but luckily I haven’t encountered anything to compel me into that position.
Conyers will come around. There is something holding him back and I think continued pressure will loosen him up enough to do the right thing. I know they are going after the firing of US prosecutors, but with enough bugging and nagging, they’ll see that there are much bigger fish to fry than Gonzales. The Bush regime has and still is engaging in blatantly criminal and treasonous activities, and they should imprisoned like the common thugs they are.
The corporate world has always used race as a divisive tactic to bust labor. You only need to go back to the Pullman strike of 1894 to see the blacks were used as scabs to help defeat Debs and the ARU. Fastforward to Woodrow Wilson and American Exceptionalism bringing Democracy to the world. Wilson was also racist. What does this have to do with impeachment? Without the support of Labor Conyers has no power, and, alas, Labor itself is conservative, and we really do not have a progressive movment without it.
NOT to use one’s power to halt the Bush Administration’s wars, torture and general lawlessness is to JOIN IN such activities as an active participant. To associate oneself WITH evil, to join together IN evil, for personal or political GAIN, makes only make one’s actions the more DESPICABLE.
RE: OH THOSE BAD PROGRESSIVES - IMAGINE THEIR EVEN THINKING OF NOT VOTING FOR CLINTON
pkokinos July 26th, 2007 5:51 pm
“everyone here so intent on continual bashing of the ‘corporate candidates’ and badmouthing Hillary and Barack, in particular, is just a step away from handing the 2008 election to the right.”
Ah yes, clearly it is the fault of the baaaad left, not the DLC-dominated Democrat Party that - failing to learn its lesson from 2000 and 2004 - has set up a Democratic playing field favoring the ‘known quantity’ - the most right wing Democrat (see Business Week editorial) of the pack, running a campaign based on picking up Republican swing votes and holding on to progressives w/no place else to go with threats.
Wowee, you sure know how to sell your candidate.
“Are we all so in love with our own points of view…that we can’t see what needs to happen for the good of the entire country? We need a MASSIVE vote for the Presidency, an overwhelming vote that brings leftists, progressives, centrists and everyone else TOGETHER…”
…for a piece of right wing Democratic scum who’s banking on scaring people who can’t be attracted.
Say - why not write a letter to every candidate except Kucinich and Gravel telling them to move left. Not really left, not anything remotely progressive - just to a traditional Democratic position, just so they represent the majority of the electorate that wants OUT of Iraq soon? So that - besides progressives voting 3rd party - droves of traditional Democrats who see little difference don’t just stay home?
What? Oh, I see, ‘fraid “they” won’t be “reasonable”? It’s up to “us”? Up yours, apologist. Reform your party, then come back.
L3ESmith,
I will certainly march for equal rights no matter what. I will push for not only an apology for slavery, but reparations. As the head of Anti-Racist Action in Charleston, SC, I will not rest until everybody is 100% equal. Discriminating on the basis of something as ridiculous as the color of a person’s skin still amazes me. Oh yeah, and I’m a poor 23-year-old white boy escaping a solidly conservative southern family who laughs at my views, if that matters at all.
Were there any trade union members, especially officers, in the contingent that faced off with Rep. Conyers? I am asking any of you who might have been there. This is the very first blog or chat I have signed up for because I am a bit doubtful that online chatting can change the political structure. But I am interested in further dialogue. Bill Witherup, Director of Gene Debs Labor Ensemble: www.debslaborensemble.org
Who cares? It’s too late. Send the whole human race back to the stoneage. Maybe they’ll make the right choices next time around.
relayer@q.com
Is there really such a thing as a White leftist/progressive anti-war movement? WTF? Reading this article almost made me laugh, if it was not for the grave circumstances surrounding it.
Let me get this straight. There are people, and I assume these people are mostly African Americans, who want to defend Conyers’ inexcusable cowardice in failing to initiate impeachment proceedings by blaming a non-existent leftist anti-war movement conspiracy. This is the kind of racist crap that not only provides fodder for the right wing psychos running the government and media, but makes White leftist progressives loathe the “race card”. Typological thinking, regardless of your skin color, does not work in the biological world. Types do not have objective reality; that is, they are not real. Variation is real. Read Ernst Mayr on population vs typological thinking. But I digress. Ergo, there is no such “thing” as a White leftist anti-war movement, etc.
It is pretty straightforward in my opinion. The percentage of Americans supporting impeachment of Bush and especially Cheney is relatively high and growing. The percentage of Americans who disapprove of BushCo’s handling of the Iraq Invasion is staggering. So, somebody like Conyer’s, who is Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary committee, should have the testicular fortitude, insight, and political clout to get the ball rolling. He should tell Pelosi’s camp, which is mostly White but not progressive nor leftist despite popular political mythology, to kiss his ass and be “a man for the people and for America” as Yearwood claims. Bada Bing!
Impeachment does not go nearly far enough as far as the Bush administration/family goes. They need to be tried for the criminal actions committed in fixing at least 2 presidential elections, the administration and the war generals/gutless ass-kissers need to charged with the war crimes of torture, invasion of an innocent country, and all the war crimes committed thereafter. The list of serious crimes this administration has committed is almost endless.
The republican lead congress needs to be held accountable for their criminally complicit actions. One can only hope that the Republican Party fades like its aptly named predecessor the Know-Nothing-Party.
But then again this is American we live in land of the corporations and home of the most corrupt leaders in the world….yea we’re number one.
You want to talk about racism? How about bombing Iraqis, threatening to bomb Iranians, luring African-Americans and Hispanics into the military to be used as cannon fodder? That’s racism! Get off the backs of progressives who are trying to set this system right! If you think the progressive movement is too white–then join it and change its color!
I think that it’s certain that John Conyers would like to impeach Bush and Cheney. His efforts have been hobbled by Nancy Pelosi and others in the Democratic Party Leadership.
This is the relationship of tactics to race: respect for the role that he has played in efforts for justice and equality for African Americans and for all Americans requires that the progressive movement frame the tidal wave of public pressure for impeachment not as an attack on John Conyers but as something that he can then take to put the pressure on Pelosi et al.
Reverend Yearwood is entirely right. He must be highly commended for expressing the matter so clearly, so succinctly, and so elegantly.
As I said yesterday in my posting in response to Ruth Conniff’s dreadful piece about impeachment (see Ruth Conniff,”The Impeachment Imbroglio: Sheehan, Conyers, Pelosi, and Feingold,” July 25, ‘07 at Common Dreams), the impeachment issue facing us has nothing to do with empirical minutiae, and, when it comes to the Constitutional structure of the nation, WITHOUT WHICH THE UNITED STATES WOULD PLAINLY CEASE TO BE THE UNITED STATES, race, gender, sexual orientation, and such attributes (whether these be cultural or physical) become dwarfed into irrelevant details. In fact, contentions about those attributes can only be adjudicated within and against the background of the Constitution and the laws that stem from it. This is to say that such contentions presuppose the Constitution in order to arise in the first place.
It is a matter of jus, of right, not of facts and factual considerations, save, of course, those facts and instances of behavior that prompt us to demand impeachment proceedings in the first place. All other (than the latter) empirical matters are merely obstacles erected by confused people or by those who seek to divide in order to get their way.
Without the framework of the Constitution, dear fellow Common Dreamers, United States citizens become ex-United States citizens. Although the people of what was once the United States would still be walking the territory that once was under the jurisdiction of the United States’ Constitution, they would no longer be citizens of the United States, for the United States would no longer exist.
Again, why is impeachment such a vital issue?
Because BushCo is gradually unbuilding the Constitution until such time as the Constitution is merely a piece of paper (i.e., a document that, along with the body of positive laws, no longer commands and regulates the behavior of those people who are citizens or legal residents of the United States, and of their government), which BushCo will then replace with the pure rule of force and compulsion.
Remember that Bush the Lesser publicly stated that the Constitution is merely a piece of paper, a greater avowal of his intentions and his contempt for the Constitution one could barely imagine.
It is that simple and that serious.
susanh,
You’ve got to be kidding me. I agree that Conyers has been a leader in the African-American cause and has overall done the right thing for the country (although he is a congressman in the 21st century so he’s got to have some dirt under those nails; let’s be honest, eh?), but that in no way excuses his unwillingness to put impeachment “back on the table.” Not to mention the hypocrisy he displayed in initiating the arrest of the pro-impeachment/anti-war activists for conducting a peaceful sit-in at his office.
Sorry lady, but the time for excuses and inaction have passed. Screw Conyers if he can’t muster the chutzpah for this kind of high-stakes gig. There is only one Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary committee and he is it. I don’t care if he is the reincarnation of Gandhi. He needs to lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way! Black, white, green, red…it doesn’t make any difference. IMPEACH NOW!
Don’t let yourselves be fooled again, this time from the so called “Democrats”.
It has nothing to do race, it has to do with failure of the “opposition party” to do its job, to hold this war criminal Bush accountable.
If not Bush/Cheney then whom? If not now then when?
Conyers and Pelosy: we the people say, impeach is and should always be on the table. The constitution says so.
IMPEACH BUSH/CHENY NOW.
Well said Rev. And nice points all. The Backbone Campaign (which I direct) gave Rep. Conyers a Backbone Award in appreciation for his leadership on Executive Accountability etc.. I felt (and continue to feel) extremely sad and disappointed to hear about the arrests and the unwillingness of Congressman Conyers to move forward with impeachment, and it honestly strikes me as almost unfathomable why this is the case. Perhaps there does loom a yet deeper crisis around a corner which he secretly feels impeachment would trigger and he is trying desperately to steer away from.
We are at a truly frightening crossroads. During this time solidarity, and faith in those who are also working tirelessly on everything from Katrina recovery to election integrity to challenging the American empire building project is essential. I believe that acknowleging an inheritance of racism with conscious efforts to navigate, collaborate and communicate through it, while weaving together a story of a world we are working together to build is our only hope.
Setting precedent that the crimes we have seen will not be tolerated is not negotiable.
Thank you Rev. for the couragous and soulful contribution you make to accountability and the weaving of that story every day.
Bill Moyer
Backbone Campaign
Very good blog and discussion. Many people would have you believe that the words “class war” are bad words, worthy of contempt. Similarly, those same people have been led to believe that the word communism (economic socialism) means the end of the world. Well let me tell you, if you don’t already know it, but unimpeded capitalism will be the downfall of this socila experiment. Corporations will take every advantage, use every tool (including buying of candidates and voters) by any means (especially the money hungry media moguls) to further their profits at the expense of the working class, a term that has changes meanings the last twenty years. Mr Moyer understands and the article by the Rev. perfectly frames the issues that the powers that be would like for us to confuse by using the hot button words such as progressive, socialist, communist, and anarchist tgo demonie those who are against the system and to paint themselves as patriots and those who don’t agree as something less than that. The word democrat meant something until around 1980, when the establishment began using words such as liberal to define the democrats and conservatives to define the republican party. Conservatives are supposed to represent the population that is against the constitution beling redefined and reinterpreted by modern judges. But what we have seen is the most massive and comprehensive reconstruction of our rights and a complete re-write of the constitution by an entity NOT even mentioned by the founding fathers; an group given more rights and LESS responsibilities in our social structure than any ever in the history of mankind.
Corporations now run our lives, and the rich are getting richher, much richer.
It is time to ignore the media’s unfettered support of the status quo and begin to think again. Please people lets start our own “velvet revolution” and reform our government.
We will have to face the fact that the current regime has put us into a dept we will unlikely be able to get out of without massive tax increases. Lets ensure that when the tax increases are brought up, that we makle sure we get universal healthcare, and governemnt controlled federal elections.
Give Kucinich’s platform a look, I think you will like what you see.
It never occurred to me that there was a racial aspect to this confrontation at Conyers’ office until spotting this article by Mr. Yearwood. After reading his comments, however, it appears the Reverend has done an important service illuminating the crisis and catalyzing several thoughtful reactions in the comments section.
Many thanks to Mr. Yearwood for taking part in the action and then responding so eloquently to racial concerns.
Conyers is someone I generally admire and I’m certainly disappointed that he’s refusing to help move impeachment forward.
After all, isn’t removing Cheney and Bush from power as soon as possible the single most important issue facing Americans of all colors and ethnicities? Aren’t these the same ghouls that left New Orleans—and huge numbers of poor blacks—to drown or flee for high ground like rats?
Aren’t these the two sociopaths still sending large numbers of poor and minority troops to their deaths in Iraq?
Aren’t these the overlords who have made sure that rich whites now have an even larger slice of the pie while pushing more poor and minorities off of health care, out of decent work, and deeper into despair and poverty?
Conyers has done a lot of solid work in the past but he should not be immune from pressure at such a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. Bush and Cheney seem hell-bent on dismantling what is left of the Bill of Rights and Constitutional Democracy, and replacing it with executive autocracy and a de facto police state.
They are also driving this country toward an even greater and more destructive war with Iran, and anyone who thinks they are incapable of launching such a conflagration has been in a deep snooze for the past seven years.
As Moonraven points out, getting rid of Bush/Cheney and their pack of “rabid dogs” should trump all other concerns right now.
And if we want to stop ethnic violence, let’s not forget that this war (as Fedupwithpolitics points out) has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and made millions of them into refugees. They’ve been tossed into a social Hell straight out of Hobbes: thanks to American greed, belligerence, and racism, Iraqis now face a future that is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
Should the architects of a slew of international war crimes be allowed to retain power?
If Bush and Cheney do remain in power then tens of thousands more of Iraqis will die in an insane war, and the fatalities from an unprovoked war on Iran are simply unimaginable.
When is he getting impeached?
Rev Yearwood rightly points out two things: One that we love John Conyers for his unparalleled work, and two that impeachment is larger than any of the players (even Bush and Cheney). It is about our Constitution and the rule of law.
Did I mention that Rev. Yearwood along with three other activists with him are all advisory board members of Progressive Democrats of America. Worth taking a look at: www.pdamerica.org
i think the timing of the contempt of congress citations reflects this dispute. contempt of congress could blossom into impeachment. i hate that conyers had the marchers arrested, but perhaps he will still bring up the impeachment bills in his committee.
over last weekend i met somebody who claimed al yearwood was as protective of john conyers as anybody ever was. that would account for the spurious claims of racism.
impeachment is mandatory to a return to the rule of law to the united states, much less an end to the war in iraq.
There are no seperate races among the species Homo Sapiens Sapiens. There are only superficially different ethnic groups. The only race of humans is the Human Race.
relayer@q.com
Great Article.
There is obviously a great deal of Americans who would love to see Bush and Co. disgraced and booted out of office. It would satisfy a well deserved feeling of vengence. It would add stability to our republic. It may even lead to positive changes in our laws keeping presidents accountable to the rule of law to a greater degree.
Flip side. That middle twenty percent that decides elections, decides that congress is engaging in petty partisan politics (as injust as that chanrge may be), and the White House goes to the Romney, Guilliotti, McCain gang. Then what happens is the radical left floods Commondreams.org with recriminations of the democrats for blowing the 08 race. Oh yeah, thats right, you don’t like the Dems. They aren’t radical enough for you. Lets create a new party that will suck just enough vote to put the righties back in office.
I’m disgusted that anybody would make the accusation that had Al Gore won in 2000, we would have gone to war in Iraq. Preposturous.
Conyers blew it and is continuing to blow it. This is a national crisis! Bush/Cheney have committed impeachable offenses.
Either than or Nixon and A. Johnson should have their presidential reputations restored.
For Conyers to just sit there while all these crimes have been/are being committed is to be complicit.
Conyers should not run for re election. Elect someone who will actually fulfill their oath of office in his place.
In my view Reverend yearwood is tarnished by his association with Conyers and can not possibly be in a position to see the motivations of his ‘mentor’ in an objective manner. In addition, being a ‘long time’ anything (Africa American/ Asian/ Southern) anything is nothing but a code word for a sell out who masqurades intentions to pacify those oppressed- and that does include White Americans as well.
On what observations and evidence does Rev Yearwood glibly trot out these specious interpretations of the ‘public’? If anything - I feel Cindy Sheehan is probably the most authentic person mentioned in the article (once).
It reads to me like an apologist piece for Conyer’s who should now get off the government gravytrain. A few focused elections - where sell outs who are disguised as advocates of the people should be voted OUT of office. I know I will do my best to convince my community, friends and any one I have influence over to stop Conyer’s from returning to his office.
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up our nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.” - Abraham Lincoln.
As I temper myself once again with Lincoln’s call to human dignity I also watch the beginning segments of FAHRENTHEIT 9/11 - segment 1: Was It All A Dream; segment 2: It Was All Too Real - and the Black Caucus of Congress one by one steps forward to contest the election of 2000 needing just one signature from a Senator - no Senators came forward.
Race is the Tripwire? Race is the 30 foot apartheid wall being built in Palestine and along the USA and Mexico border.
Divide and conquer continues to work so well. Like the fear mongering mantra of “al Qeada” racial fear is continually stirred up, but it is of course spiked with the all to real slavery and indentured servitude economics - still prevalent for 40 million Americans and a paycheck away for 100 million others.
My only current ploy is to use photos of Depleted Uranium infected babies and photos of dust storms to show that the genocide so gleefully carried out by some is in actuality the looming noose of suicide prophesied by Krushchev as he banged his shoe 50 or so years ago.
Maybe there is another ploy, perhaps some kind of racial reconciliation at the encampment in DC from September 22-29 (MECAWI.org).
The wounds are deep, but there is hope - after scrapping away the facade we are human after all, with the capacity for dignity.
I don’t understand why Congressman Conyers race is even a factor in this discussion. We are all Americans, and we are all extremely worried about President Bush’s blatant disregard for the rule of law and his failure to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, as he is sworn to do, as President of this country. Congressman Conyers needs our support, give the man a chance to spin his web around the White House and all of the criminals inside. l think Congressman Conyers knows what he is doing and is doing a great job. Patience, my friends, patience. You are attacking the wrong person. We should all be united in getting to the bottom of all the crimes the Bush administration has committed. Leave the strategy to the experts, I am sure Congressman Conyers knows how the game is played. Please don’t underestimate the man, you don’t know what his next move will be!
We all know the next move - let me put it to you this way - if I came into YOUR office - don’t YOU have the power to say to the police -not to arrest me. That’s a condemnation of the higest order - he did nothing - to prevent US citizens - concerned citizens - from being arrested in HIS office!!
As for African American leaders - what can I say - the ones with integrity get shot - and the ones allowed to live are the ones designated to explain why there is still no change - why there is contuing roll back of equal rights guarantees, why no one came Cynthia McKinney’s rescue on what was an OBVIOUS set up. But cheer up - because every single leader allowed to exist in congress for any period of time must pass the litmus test of betraying themselves and their people and values to join in.
This is becoming farcial. How stupid do they think we are - and more importantly -how stupid are we?!?!/
Constance - I love your intentions - unfortunately manipulators love it even more. Playing the game / Working with the system - ?!?!?
Don’t get me wrong I am not an anarchist - but at some point - we have to call the cesspool a cesspool and not a swimming pool.
Very good, very thoughtful, very nuanced article. The fact is that race does matter in this country. If you are a person of color you still get treated differently unless you are very rich. Unfortunately, politicians of every background often get sucked into compromises, even though they may do some good as well. There are very few people who don’t become hacks. Rep. Conyers apparently found it easier to be a progressive standout when the Dumbocrats hold on power was not so tenuous. I remember some years back when the first Mexican-American candidate for sheriff was running against an “anglo” candidate in our county. Lots of people urged us to vote for him, just because he was from the same background as us. A friend of mine had the best response: “A cop’s a cop.” The guy was elected and has served ever since. He is a right-wing fascist who harasses immigrants and stages warrentless sweeps through poor areas. My friend was right. A cop’s a cop, and a politician is a politician. Also, to the person who wrote that we should all unite around whoever the Dumbocratic candidate is in order to throw out the neo-cons once and for all–remember this, Bill Clinton had neo-cons in his administration, and so will Hillary, or whoever their candidate is.
Way to go Rev!!!
It is time to turn up the heat in the street!!! The Democrats for whatever reason have decided to wait until November 08 in hopes that the best of the GOP candidates will crash and burn in a Democratic landslide.
The problem is, we are in a Constitutional crisis! The executive branch, especially in the last 6 years, is out of control and out of balance with Congress. Impeachment is the only way to restore that balance. I don’t want even a Democrat as President to have access to the powers that George W. Bush has accumulated with his signing statements, the Patriot Act,the Homeland Security Act and numerous other recently passed laws.
These accumulated powers, coupled with a stacked right-winged deck in The Supreme Court and a corrupt Justice Department, spells disaster for any future ligitimate dissent in this once great Country of ours.
Congress seems immobilized to stop the power grab by the Bush Administration, and has failed to defund the continuous wars that are exhausting our military and economy and continues to kill and injure thousands of innocent civilians and military personnel.
I deeply respect Congressman Conyers, but this is his moment in history to step up and play out his role in bringing down the Regime that will be an end to us all if left unchecked.
I salute Rev.Yearwood, Cindy Sheehan, Ray Mcgovern, and the 400 or so other committed progressives who stood up in the Halls of Congress to demand that Impeachment, the Constitutionally mandated remedy for this crisis, be implemented immediately!
Rev. Yearwood is kind in not reporting the words of animus and rebuke credited to Rep. Conyers. The Democrats are confident that their majority would impeach Bush-Cheney et al. But they don’t think the Republicans in the Senate would vote to convict. There is a fear that the Democrats APPEAR weak and vindictive. Then again, should they manage to convict, it would be left to Nancy Pelosi to “clean house” of the Rovian-infected judiciary, confront a Cheney-designed state dept., and do battle with a D.O.D. which would find it hard to construct a new day in Iraq.
Froms Conyers’ very telling retort,”It will make me look bad!” to Cindy Sheehan, everything seems to be all about image. The Democratic Leadership does not want to “divide the country.”[from a recent response by Diane Feinstein to our request for impeachment]
The Dems have decided to ignore our cries for action, in favor of a sweeter victory in `08. They think we can over-power Rove-designed vote caging [a massive disenfranchisement of millions of people of color, especially in the military]; the Rove-controlled Diebold voting machines in states such as Ohio and Florida; and the army of Republican lawyers [including U.S. Attorneys] amassed to intimidate voters.
We will continue to demand what they’ve already decided not to give us. If it’s all about appearances, what will the Dems look like when the Republicans steal another election?
RE: UNIONS AND THE CONYERS IMPEACHMENT ACTION?
Bill Witherup July 26th, 2007 7:43 pm
“Were there any trade union members, especially officers, in the contingent that faced off with Rep. Conyers?”
Good question. No mention of any. And ‘impeachment union’ searches turn up nothing at all on labor oriented magazines In These Times and Labor Notes.
RE: ONLINE POLITICAL TALK ON A PROGRESSIVE WEBSITE vs ACTION TO CHANGE POLITICAL STRUCTURE - A VITAL QUESTION
Bill Witherup July 26th, 2007 7:43 pm
“I am a bit doubtful that online chatting can change the political structure. But I am interested in further dialogue. Bill Witherup, Director of Gene Debs Labor Ensemble: www.debslaborensemble.org.
Agreed. This is a question periodically raised by posters.
In theory, the commondreams website can function as a place to educate progressives, provide a feeling of solidarity, and help them formulate their ideas - and then act on them. Certainly there are many ‘activist’ websites and actions posted.
Whether most commondreams readers/posters follow through, and are as active in communities - where it is a question of organizing resistance among those who do not more or less agree with you from the start - is another question.
I certainly hope they do. I have raised this question. Ultimately, people must square their rallying cries and often sharp analyses with what they do in the world.
I do think that the question of specific, local activities in particular communities and organizations should be more central than it is.
btw - your link didn’t link.
To those who are confused by the intransigence of Pelosi, Conyers and others, I suggest we start to think about the time when J. Edgar Hoover held sway in Washington. Hoover didn’t worry about being fired because he had files on everyone. If Hoover, back then, was able to compile dossiers on prominent politicians sufficient to insure his tenure, imagine what the NSA might have acquired to fill the files on today’s members of Congress.
There may be great embarrassing moments in Conyer’s past, as in just about everybody elses, that he’d go far to avoid having exposed.
This could be way off the mark but what else could explain why these prominent Democrats behave so much like Republicans and why so many of them continue to avoid talking about the long history of U.S. imperialism; U.S. occupation of Iraq rather than the “war” crap, and much, much more.
THOMAS BOHLEN: right on!
GLAXIA: I have thought the same thing… what have “they” got on these people to shut them up so effectively?
Not too much is wrong with either Bush or Cheney. They are merely agents carrying out their duties, and so far their performance has been excellent.
In all fairness, put yourself in their shoes. If you were the president or the VP of a nation whose economy, especially as of recent, is mainly based on war, what would you do, other than changing your economic base? In one way or another the people in all the 50 states of these United States of Israel are carrying out defense (read war) related work. The fact that the regime has to lie to its subjects and trample on the Constitution is a necessary part of carrying out its mission. How else could the president start a war with Iraq if he didn’t lie? How else could Bush expand the war if the Congress didn’t authorize pre-emptive strikes?
I’m sorry to say this, but it’s true. You are a warmonger nation, and I can show you nearly 1000 military bases all over the globe to back up my claim. You live on the carcass of other human beings. You have to kill in order to eat and survive.
Calling me crazy or any other name won’t change the facts.
“Were there any trade union members, especially officers, in the contingent that faced off with Rep. Conyers?”
Bill,
I was there, but left (figuring we made our point) just before the arrests started. I am a member of the AFGE, and I’m sure ther were other union members there, but no, no one pushing impeachment as the offiial position of a union. I know of no unions that have taken an official position on impeachment.
Frankly, while the AFGE takes a good analysis on issues, most of the the mainstream unions seem worn-out and sold-out. For now, the bosses have won.
Salia,
Excellent point! In particular, every American that continues to purchase gasoline without exhausting all alternatives, (including moving or canging jobs) is particularly complicit in this oil-soaked violence.
Just imagine the stuff being pumped into all those car’s tanks is the blood of Iraqi children (it practically is) and you will have no trouble finding alternatives.
On September 12, 2001, when a group here at the Merton center decided to head downtown fot a vigil, thay all headed into cars, even though a bus goes right past the center to downtown (just 3 miles away) evey 12 minutes. My brother stepped out to the bus stop, the others asked “do you want a ride?” My bother replied “didn’t the events of yesterday mean anything to you???”
The One Party Cor-“Pirate” System is a Failure
It fails the American People and the World.
No matter what color they are.
It’s Wealthy Fascist War mongers ruining the World!
If I have to look at Michael Forbes ugly face one more time,
I’m going to Puke!
Endless Billionaires with nothing better to do,
Then try to steal a crust of bread out of a baby’s mouth.
The American experiment is a failure.
All we have left is Dogma.
When too few, control too much,
What else is possible?
Without constant vigilance and periodical updates any system would fail.
Flush the Viruses from the System.
Reboot!
I figure that the reason impeachment is off the table is because they are planning to file criminal charges against these idiots. I believe that these idiots should be put on trial at the Hague like the Serbian generals and other WAR CRIMINALS.
Accusing the group that descended on Conyers of racism is a cheap and weak-minded ploy. One wonders if the intention is to suggest that any non-black who is upset with a position or stance of a black politician is a racist?
This is the equivalent of any criticism of the Israeli government being immediately equated with Anti-Semitism. It’s a cheap and sad ploy advanced by cynics or dolts. Unfortunately, it works.
It occurs to me that this practice could feed on itself ad-nauseum. If Oprah had led the group Monday, it could have been a gender-based attack on Conyers. If Reverand Sharpton had led it, it still could have been an inter-denominational prejudice. On and on and on.
These cheap ploys will continue as long as the public is dumb enough to eat them.
Place: White House, the Oval Office
Time: November 2005
Occasion: Meeting of Congressional Republican leaders and President Bush regarding the renewal of the USA Patriot Act
Tell-tale exchange between Bush and one of the visitors:
“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”
“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”
Telling, isn’t it, that Honorable Bush thinks of the Constitution as damned by God, not blessed by God?
This should give us pause for reflection.
God Bless America.
RE: NOT GETTING IT…
mirf59 July 27th, 2007 10:57 am
“Accusing the group that descended on Conyers of racism is a cheap and weak-minded ploy….These cheap ploys will continue as long as the public is dumb enough to eat them.”
Or for as long as progressives fail to forge strong inter-racial alliances.
Don’t you GET that the charge is not a right wing ruse, but a problem between estranged progressive communities?
This is not about race but it is about race.
As a Viet Vet it was not the Charlie who was so much our enemy it was “THE MAN”; the one who sent us there.
You want equality by color, then it is blood-red upon a white, red, black, brown, or yellow man.
To those of us who seen the color upon our comrades we did not think of the skin we thought of the man the friend we had lost; and all we wanted was to get bck to the real world.
In the real world a mans skin even his religion or culture and poverty are used to divide peoples and allow certain practices against one group, sometimes no matter how horrific as in our torture of Arabs, by a process of selective dehumanization.
This may not be a popular belief today but the very ease at which our military killed Iraquis, in Gulf War I and 12 years of no fly bombing and straffing, up to todays invasion and occupation is without a doubt one of the largest cases of Genocide by dehumanization in recent history.
The US is a white run country and even Conyers is just a proverbial token black man in congress and so are all the members of the black caucus, as they are limited to fighting for Black Causes or Uncle Tom support of bills they do not agree with in order to have a say in DC at all.
If the Katrina victims had been predominately white middle class Americans would what is going on there be allowed?
Hundreds of thousands of poor black people deliberately uprooted and spread all over the country, paid a few doolars in a form of welfare, so that more affluent white people would have a vacation spot in their place.
Today it is the brown race the whites are helping by destroying and denying their humanity, and yes it is for predominatley white finacial means and has nothign to do with Freedom Democracy or defending this country.
Yes we have black men and women integrated into service, notice tho that those you see on the tube are predominately very young white men led by predomiately white officers, and these black men have dehumanized the brown skinned Iraquis as have their white counterparts.
Not too long ago in and still is in every major American city a white bias against black citizens unless that city is predomiantley black with seated eleced black managers.
Yet there is no bias against whites in the predominately black citys especially when it comes to police shooting down a citizen multiple times or abuse of civil liberites cases.
Persoanlitys is personalitys.
Todays hate against he browns and acted upon by Blacks whites and Latinos of brown skin can be taken back home and turned agaist those blacks and latinos by the same white old comrades in arms.
Most libeals are white, minoritys on the other hand are only fighitng to have same stature without skin color involved and are not liberals they are humanist; it isn’t liberal to want to be known for your worth as a human being by your actions and inner strengths as all people shold be.
Very few liberals have ever faced stuggles with grinding poverty, deliberate discrimination, or gone to war fought with men against a weak and mentally destroyed people such as were the Vietnamese, Iraquis or any of the myriad countrys we have slaughtered people in ,so know very little of how those who have realy do feel.
American military men like the ability to easily destroy the enemy, the more that get killed the better, and the true status of just how many Iraquis we killed in first invasion and the extent of the destruction we inflicted upon Iraquis will not be allowed to be shown as films etc are all secret today.
And that is what the Amerifan polulace wants to happen.
To those who say Conyers should save America not because of race and then in the same breath say he has been a strong advocate for blacks, an oxymoron statement, forget that he has had to fight to survive in a white dominated environment from his first day in office.
He is no different than his white counterparts he will survive.
The truth is the very same hatred engendered towards Iraquis or black, brown or yellows who stand in Americas way overseas can be just as badly discrimianted here when and if poverty or some National emergency laws are put in effect.
I point out the outright hatred beng spoken of towards the Latinos by a goodly portion of those in states who have never lost a job never paid a latios medical bill or in some cases spoken to a Latino.
I hear Americans saying today it is not race when they are afrid because our nation has always used race behind tis expansionist policys and now is crying for those races to protect what, a flag, an Suv, beign able to sit in a restaruant and eat beside a white man?
We in this contry have a lot to think about and while race is an issue survival is the greatest issue and for us to survie in freedom we had better be mending some racial fences and doing it dfamn quick .
Do it honestly, with conviction and do it as an equal or daqmn streight we are all going to hell in the same basket, ignorance.
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. you got it right - very somber words indeed, along with McGovern’s posting earlier. Don’t let the right split the left/progressives, resulting in an internal squabble. Divide and conquer (again). Maybe Rep. Conyers is apprehensive about being swift boated and smeared with some “misdeed” uncovered during the illegal wiretapping. Rep. John Conyers, don’t sweat it. Move forward with impeachment, you’ll get re-elected, a nice letter to editor and $20 from me, though I’m on the left coast. Bush/Cheney will get theirs and can join Scooter, Delay, Vitter, Bob Allen and others in the GOP hall of shame. Also, recall back in 2000/2001 when Black Congressional Caucus could not get one DEM senator to sign off on their motion regarding voting misdeeds and undercounts. Yeah it’s old news; “don’t want to rock the boat” let’s play along, DEM senator’s silence was compliance. And the reward? W gets appointed president by the Supreme Court - we know the results. It’s unfortunate, but it appears that African Americans must be subjected to a higher threshold for pain, suffering and sacrifice (along with Native Americans before them). So, now we want John to stand tall, while many of us remain silent after thousands were disenfranchised in 2000 and then five years later our citizens left to drown in the toxic after math of Katrina. So know John Conyers, “not ready to make nice” - impeach now. You’ve done great work, you can do even better. BTW, I was politially passive, but after Katrina I realized enough is enough, these mad men have no heart and soul, then I got on board and active with the peace/progessive movement and started calling out the GOP/right wing nuts on their destructive NEO-Conning/snake oil policies.
What the so-called ‘progressive’ movement needs to do is to focus on the issues we have in common. As long as people identify as ‘black’or ‘brown’ or ‘red’ or ‘green’ or ‘pink’ or ‘female’ or ‘male’ or ‘gay’ or ‘transgender’ or ‘lesbian’ or whatever, it is much the same as people identifying with a nation above our common humanity. Each subgroup becomes pre-occupied with their own agenda, which has some degree of legitimacy, but it also places each group in competition with all other groups. The result, confusion as to which way is forward, which plays right into the hands of the power structure. As long as people are fighting among themselves for a small piece of the pie, the plutocrats will manage to make off ninety percent of the pie. The power structure is, itself, the problem. If anything, the American Revolution was a revolution against the concentration of power into a few hands and placing that power into the hands of “We the People.”
As many of us can see that transfer of power didn’t go very far without the transfer of wealth as well. Land, at the time of the Revolution, was the principle form of wealth and in our history one goal of the progressive movement concentrated on distributing the land in a more equitable manner. That goal needs to be remembered. The Industrial Revolution changed a whole lot in the way people sustained their existence. One result was the concentration of wealth/power into fewer hands. We are now a feudal/industrial society instead of a landed feudalism. The form changes, the essence remains to same.
Back to my point, sub-group identities include reactionaries in their sub-groups. Again, what progressives, i.e., those who believe that power rightly rests in the people, all of the people, need to focus on the issues that affect all of life. If the war were to end tomorrow most of the peace movement would go back to their divisive politics and/or their futile apathy. I hope “Enough said.”
dbdibble@sbcglobal.net
Here is Part 2 of this article:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/03/2964/