Write Conyers and ask him to join Wexler. He is the decider here.

Letter sent to DCCC in response to Contribution Plea:

I am 72 years old, a USMC Korean Vet, politically, a very active citizen, a Poll Worker for many years, my wife for even more, both life-long registered Democrats and both VERY ACTIVE in local and State campaigns. With that noted, I feel I have every right to speak frankly to anyone who represents me at any level in the Democratic Party; YOU GUYS ARE NOT LIVING UP TO YOUR OBLIGATION to me and others who love this Country and believe in the Rule Of Law and this opinion is widely held. The Constitution sets very clear guidelines for IMPEACHMENT of elected officials. When you can explain to me WHY IMPEACHMENT is not being pursued against the current Vice President and President, THEN you will have earned the right to ask for and reasonably expect to receive my financial support.

I am eagerly awaiting your response, and I have already heard the lame ones re. more important needs being addressed first; there is no greater issue than the preservation of our constitutional government, and that, Madam Speaker, is at risk.

Respectfully,

Sherry C. Hartsell

-----Original Message-----
From: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCCC [mailto:dccc@dccc.org]
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 8:05 AM
To: Sherry Hartsell
Subject: Happy New Year

Dear Sherry,

I am writing to wish you Happy New Year and to personally thank you for your support this year. Our accomplishments would not have been possible without the support of Democrats like you. As we celebrate the holidays with our family and friends, let us reflect on why it is critical that we work so hard to take America in a New Direction.

In 2008, we will have almost 75 Republican seats in play, and 30 vulnerable Democrats to protect. House Republicans have already transferred more than $3 million from their Members' campaign accounts into the NRCC this month. On top of that, they have Republican outside groups ready to spend hundreds of millions of dollars against us next year.

Midnight tonight may mark the New Year, but it also marks a critical year-end FEC deadline for all Democrats. If you haven't already done so, please go to www.dccc.org/midnight and give. We are just $33,512 away from our goal and your urgent donation will be matched by House Democrats. The resources we bring in today will show our strength before the end of the year, and carry us into 2008, where we will expand our Democratic majority and overcome Roadblock Republicans who are blocking the change the American people so desperately want.

To give now, please contribute at www.dccc.org/midnight.

Thank you again for your support and Happy New Year!

Nancy Pelosi

Speaker of the House

Sent Wirelessly Via Blackberry

There must be solid evidence against Cheney for them to go after him. I think the top leader of the war criminals should be given priority toward impeachment, cheney's boss.

Don't let the investigation be compromised. Don't let the evidence be hidden. Don't let justice be obstructed.

In a democracy, politicians and corporations exist for the benefit of and at the pleasure of the people. When they no longer serve to benefit the people, it is the right and responsibility of the people to change or eliminate them. When they collaborate to thwart the will of the people, at whose pleasure they serve, they expect to be called to account. Americans can insist that an accounting take place and based on that accounting determine the best way forward for their democracy or they can forgo their right and abdicate their responsibility. In a democracy, the people are responsible for maintaining an environment in which politicians and corporations can act in their own interest and in the interest of the democracy. An environment that encourages and rewards beneficial activities while discouraging and punishing harmful activities strengthens and enhances the democracy.

The FISA bill, passed the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, without a provision for telecom immunity; the FISA bill, would have passed the Senate, under the leadership of Harry Reid, with a provision for telecom immunity had it not been for Christopher Dodd and a handful of other Senators.

When the telecoms accused of illegal wiretapping have explained to the Congress and the American people what they did when and why, including any illegal activities, immunity may be worth considering; until that time it isn't; until that time immunity threatens our democracy. Every person involved, every Senator and every corporation involved, knows that failing to testify to the Congress, and as appropriate, before the American people, threatens our democracy.

Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio refused to give President Bush access to our communications; he is facing eight years in prison.

AT&T agreed to give President Bush full access to all of our communications seven months prior to 9/11; soon after they were permitted to acquire Cingular.

Listen to Senator Barbara Boxer speaking on the Senate floor about the FISA bill.
http://boxer.senate.gov/flvplayer/12172007.html

Qwest stood up for our democracy; some Senators* stood up for our democracy; now we need to stand up for our democracy and for them. We need to encourage and reward those who have acted in our interest and in the interest of our democracy; we need to discourage and punish those who haven't.

* You can see how your Senators voted. Only the 10 Democrats who voted Nay opposed telecom immunity. If you click on your Senators' names it will take you to summary information; you'll see a link to the Senator's Official Website; their websites include their contact information.
S. 2248: FISA Amendments Act of 2007 (Vote on Cloture to Motion to Proceed)
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2007-435

If the truth is allowed to come out, regardless of who is elected later, our democracy will be protected; if the truth is hidden behind immunity and state secrets, regardless of who is elected later, our democracy will be destroyed.

We need to act now.

Shortly the Senate will again consider the FISA bill. Before they do that they need to know how we feel. We can let them know with a phone call or message, an email, a letter, or a visit. Senator Chris Dodd said that our communications to the Senate, including the Senate leadership, helped his effort to stop approval of the FISA bill containing the immunity provision.

We need to communicate again, now. We need to communicate loudly and clearly. We need to communicate that we will reward those Senators who hear us and protect our democracy and punish those who don't.

NSA cancelled contracts ("company earnings ") when he didn't cooperate.

One day, support for impeachment "gains", the other days it LOSES when nobody's looking. Now let's get real. 80% of the Congress is on Cheney's side, both parties included, so the chances of impeaching him are slim to none. I'll Spiro Agnew were wishing he were vice-president today when presidential accountability is somehow a no-no rather than in the 1970s when presidential accountability was still the norm.

In a world where the media wasn't corporate controlled and the Congress wasn't half-owned by these same corporations Messers Bush and Cheney would already be in jail. It's a nice window dressing on history- that a few real Americans in Congress stood up against the Republican Fascists and corporate tools- which clearly includes many a Democrat- but, really, chances for impeachment in any real and meaningful sense is just a pipedream. And it's a damn shame.....

I still argue that we are beyond impeachment, and ought to put Cheney et al on trial for war crimes and consequent imprisonment. But as Doug Lago points out, reality is far different.

--"The White House, in a statement, said Democrats were shirking responsibilities on issues such as childrens' [sic] health insurance "and yet they find time to waste an afternoon on an impeachment vote against the vice president. … This is why Americans shake their head in wonder about the priorities of this Congress."--

No, actually your remarks make us shake our heads in disbelief, that you think that stonewalling will help you and the rest of you treasonous lot when it did not help Nixon!
Regardless of what the "Whitehouse" puts out in the media, the move for impeachment is gathering momentum, as it well should, and the Demos who are crying out against it, will come around, as they learn about the cold hard anger that Americans are feeling about Bush and all his minions.

Good riddance … pestilent scum…

This should been have started long ago. The need to impeach Cheney is part of a big picture that stretches far into the future. And it is the Republican filibusters and other such political actions that have stonewalled the priorities of this congress. Such small minds running the government, it boggles one's own mind. I support impeachment for both Cheney and Bush, which would then lend to war crimes charges. I wonder why the wheel turns so slow these days.

Good riddance to this pox upon the world.

Blah, blah, blah....NOTHING WILL BE DONE ABOUT IT....

Constantly email or write your Senators' and/or Representatives' telling them to join the fight. It works!

tja 1952

I agree. On top of it I came to realize that those 'stories' here are all warmed up left overs from long time ago. To even get excited about it is a waste of energy. Let me finish with Einstein, who said that 'Stupidity Of Human Mankind and the Universe are both infinite. But I am not sure about the latter one.'

Oh, I forgot. I can't recall for when the impeachment will take place. 2012?

To the people who plan to vote for Edwards/Obama/Hillary...Do you think they will hold Bush accountable? Do you think they will even sign onto the ICC much less send Bush and Cheney where they belong? Of course not, that's why they are the top tier.

I urge everyone to FIGHT for Kucinich at their caucus/primary. We cannot let the Corporate Media win. They lied about Iraq, they lied about Iran, and they are lying about the polls. They are controlling our elections and we are letting them. Time to fight back!!

And no matter who is president, WE NEED A NEW CONGRESS!!
www.peacecandidates.com

"I still argue that we are beyond impeachment..."

In order to bring him up for charges, impeachment hearings have to be pursued first. In other words he has to be "impeached" first, then they can charge him for crimes.

And I also have to wonder about other posters here who continually whine "nothing will become of it, blah blah blab..."
Last I checked this was a Progressives community. Some may need to look up that definition.

Meanwhile the numbers have been adding up for Robert Wexlers push for Cheney impeachment hearings.

wexlerwantshearings.com/

And away we go! This is the most encouraging news we have had since Rep. Nancy Pelosi wanted to table Impeachment. If Rep. Pelosi stands in the way this time let her go down with the rest of the Republican gangsters. Our Nation of Laws should not be ignored! Nobody, nobody is above the law.

I'm not pissed off so much for what they've done to Iraq, but for what they've done to America. Hang them!

Wow- talk about 5, 6, 7yrs too late.

outing valerie plame was essentially an act of treason, and should be treated as such.

there is no business before the house more important to the well-being of this nation than at least attempting to restore credibility to government. it's a tragedy that the house speaker and many more of our "representatives" are complicit in the bush administration's crimes.

q: who polices the police?
a: no one.

Hanging's too good for them.

so .. SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT .. if that's what it takes.

It's a TOTALLY CORRUPT GOVERNMENT.

SHUT IT DOWN AND IMPEACH THEM BOTH.

If indeed America is a country "of laws and not of men" then the actions of cheney and the rest of the bush crime family should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If congress chooses to ignore the blatant crimes committed by cheney et al.,then open up all of the prisons in America and release all of the prisoners because the rule of law is nothing but a farce and a sham used to punish the powerless and let the powerful off of the hook!!!

SALIA -- Consider that perhaps you should be equally pissed off, as the alternative is being superduper kaliuper pissed off, and no longer having any rights to express yourself.

I submit, that both of the issues are equally culpable and damning, with either they've committed treason against America, and vast evil upon our world.

Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed »

If nothing else, slugging Cheney is a good idea, ~not just because it so desperately needs doing, but also for the consciousness-raising effect it will likely have on Joe & Jolene Public, who still can't *quite* get their heads around the **fact** that their government is a mess of devil-worshipping wingnuts.

Once J. & J. Public see the likes of Cheney-BushCo in court / handcuffs, maybe then the penny will drop, and (little) lights may begin to glow, -signifying some cerebral activity, -where once there was only mass-media-induced ossification!

Dear Mr Kucinich: ... Bring it on! :)

Where is Monica when we need her?

I think it will be best if V-P Cheny were not impeached. I will be very sad if he is impeached because the 3rd world and especially among us in the Chinese diaspora are gloating over the continous need for the USA to spin and lie to cover up the war crimes of your President & Vice President. The USA owes the 3rd world a debt to continue to allow us to laugh at your double standard and double talk; if you go on and show that we still respect your own laws & your constitution then how will we continue to find our come uppence ? Where will we be able to find our ray of happiness to see the USA crawl and for all the 3rd world to find common cause to spit at the USA as another corrupt & dysfunctional banana Republic ?

Right now we see the USA as comparable to Malaysia where the government is consistently corrupt and where the institutions of the JUDICIARY, of Parliament and the Attorney General's Department and the police are all similarly corrupt and law enforcement is nothing but a joke. Malaysia is like the USA, but if you go on and impeach VP Cheny & Bush then you will take away that one spark for gloating that at least makes us say, what the hell the USA too is like Malaysia; a nation that is lawless. IF ANY OF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS TO LIVE IN A NATION THAT IS LAWLESS then go to my blog at http://yapchongyee.blogspot.com where I cited my own experience in an example of a living & breathing JUDGE of the Federal Court of Malaysia by the name of Judge Zainon binti Mohd. Ali awarded two INTERLOCUTORY ORDERS (1)ORDER FOR SECURITY FOR COSTS (2)THEN WHEN MONEY $60,000 IS PAID PURSUANT TO THE ORDER FOR SECURITY FOR COSTS GOES ON TO AWARD TO APPLICANTS AN ORDER TO STRIKE OUT SAID PETITION. Her action to award two conflicting orders to the same applicants has no precedence in all the world of Anglo-American jurisprodence. This Judge did this legal nonsense because Malaysia is lawless and the judges do what they please and no one cares enough to pro-actively question her for what is truth the commission of several criminal offences like (a) the pervasion of the cause of justice, she also AIDED & ABETTERED PERJURY & FORGERY. Ireported her to the Chief Justice of Malaysia, the Attorney of Malaysia, the Malaysian Bar Council,sent out hundreds of Email to Malaysian legal practioners and written to many blogg. but nobody cares enought to prosecute her. Please go to my blog at http://yapchongyee.blogspot.com; I assure you will enjoy my frustration.

It will be so unfair if the USA goes to show us that the law in the USA is enforced rigorously, that way you take away our cause to ridicule the USA as a lawless nation just like us in the third world.

PLEASE DO NOT IMPEACH V-P CHENY. PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE.

The Democrats' insistence that they have more important things to attend to than impeachment is an obvious ruse, for it is clear to them as it is clear to us that none of the programs which they claim to be working for, none of them can be realized unless they get rid of the current executive.

If you live anywhere near route 1 between Philadelphia and Washington, go meet John Nirenberg walking 500 miles for impeachment. He'll march in your name.

See where he leaves from at marchinmyname.org, add 3 miles down route 1 per hour after the start, look for a yellow impeachment sign without a handle on it that he carries.

John can use a hot beverage!

Impeach.

It is not going to happen. Any resolution will be voted down by every Republican, and invertebrate Democrats will follow suit. Republican presidential nominees will then use this failed effort to highlight the inadequacies of the Democrats (which are all true).

This is a distraction. As noted above, it is several years too late and in the final 11 months of a lame duck presidency, irrelevant.

But FWIW, I have signed on to Robert Wexler's petition:

http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com

Impeach the Bums, get them out of office, then try them for war crimes.

After they are found guilty, which everyone knows that they are, jettison them to Gitmo and give them a taste their own medicine: Water Boarding! (It'd be cool if it were televised).

This is really a pretty weak article. I'd like to hear something specific that has happened, rather than just --

"The national impeachment continues to grow and generate increasing interest since being referred to the House Judiciary Committee last month, a Kucinich spokesperson said."

If and that's a big if….
Impeachment is just a foot in the door, leading to…
Criminal charges…

Then (Ideally) the establishment of a retro-active judiciary committee, that goes over all historical crimes and makes rulings as to the legality of the U.S.'s actions. Even symbolic convictions of crimes against humanity is some where to start from.

Putting our criminal history in a context of current events would help erode the illusion of grandeur that mystifies the public in regards to the presidents.

And once the façade is cracked…..

It doens't matter if the impeachment of Cheney doesn't succeed for a lack of votes. What matters is that responsible people in Congress, at least a handful, are TRYING to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States. No business is more important!

So let those who don't do their most fundamental duty take the consequences at the polls!
They shouldn't be allowed their shallow "victory" without even fighting for it!

The Repugnats only worry about sexual matters, so until Cheney has an illicit affair of some kind none of them will think he is anything but a great VP. Don`t hold your breath for action on this deal.

YAP. CHONGYEE: Thank you for your post. It's always interesting to hear the TRUTH of how our nation is elsewhere perceived. By the way I had the opportunity to spend a week in Malaysia in 2004, and was hosted by wonderful people in Kuala Lumpar, quite a cool city. I was very pleased to visit the large Buddhist monastery there, and meet its highest monk. The hospitality of Malay people was amazing; I feel I made lifelong friends there, and hope to visit again. News is that our wonderful "security state" has to OK our travel plans. So much for individual rights!

Impeach Bush and Cheney and then proceed with the International Criminal Court against the two of them and others in the administration for having committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of genocide. This is the only course, if the American people want to prevent irreparable damage to our Constitution and restore international respect to our country. Things have gone too far and too deep towards the abyss and it is the time of "we the people" to act.

Cheney won't go down simply because he could drag half of 'K Street' down with him. Kucinich represents a minority of Congressmen; those who are not corporate sychophants. The rest of Congress has to worry about their corporate sponsorship to remain in office.

Impeachment momentum will build quickly in the new year. The American people realize now that the future is grim without a change of direction, and the only way to change direction is a visible breakup of the established order through impeachment of the criminals. The president will follow the vice-president down off the pedestal and then the Congress will be purged. The Demoks know they have to carry out the impeachment or they will lose the White House in the election.

Doug Lago lamented "In a world where the media wasn't corporate controlled and the Congress wasn't half-owned by these same corporations Messers Bush and Cheney would already be in jail... but, really, chances for impeachment in any real and meaningful sense is just a pipedream.

Agreed. Somehow, this country thinks that it can escape the same fate as the Roman Empire without effort or personal sacrifice. It won't, and we will fall for the same reason that Rome fell -- entrenched privilege that is too self-centered and uncaring to temper its own interests for the common good, an a populace either too impotent, too indloent, or too complicit to force the needed changes.

hamiltonjimt railed "...And I also have to wonder about other posters here who continually whine "nothing will become of it, blah blah blab…" Last I checked this was a Progressives community. Some may need to look up that definition."

Actually, it's a reflection of our experience after the '06 election, where we threw the bums out of office, only to learn that the people we voted in were bums as well. Some of us have concluded that there's really nowhere elest to turn to -- that the Dems we elected are really on the same team -- the money team -- as the Reps they replaced, only they think it's politically expedient to hide that little fact.

With no real alternatives within the government sphere, we've concluded that government is simply not the answer. It is and will continue to be run by monied interests for their own ends. In the old days, any serious challenge to their rule was meth with a barrage of slime, if that proved ineffective, in a tragic plane crash. Nowadays, of course, with the elections under corporate control, there is little need to resort to such primitive measures.

vangelaras stated "Impeach Bush and Cheney and then proceed with the International Criminal Court against the two of them and others in the administration for having committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of genocide... Things have gone too far and too deep towards the abyss and it is the time of "we the people" to act."

I agree about, but what, exactly, do you propose that we do?

Should have happened years ago - both Cheney & Bush!

IN2000 A.D.i thought there should have been not just a recount,but a re-election.IN 2001,i thought we should have gone after the real enemy and finished the work in afganistan and set up a model democracy,there.DURING SHOCK AND AWE/i couldnt believe what i was seeing and that they weren't protecting civilians,they were dropping bombs on them..i thought it couln't get any worse than ABU GARIB,but it did ! i never thought that GEORGE BUSH,would be re-elected,but he was.in 2006,i thought nancy pelosi,would rake them over the coals,she took impeachment off the table.IN 2008,we failed to make our voices heard,our leaders ignored our wishes.the poor are being persecuted,the leaders tell blatant lies.IN 2008,we the people are gonna be the 'deciders' and elect a president,if they let us.

I used to have mixed feelings about impeaching both Bush and Cheney, not because I didn't think they deserved it (they do), but because I had serious doubts that it could be done and also because I thought that it was too late and might slow down the process of getting out of Iraq, but now I think they should both be impeached, even it it's late in the game and MIGHT slow down the whole getting-out-of-Iraq process.

Impeachment should proceed, whether or not it's late in the game and whether or not it's going to be difficult, because we definitely need to set a precedent for future Presidents. We need impeachment in order to save our Constitution. It's that simple.

And there's no real reason why our elected officials can't do more than one thing at a time.

Good for Kucinich, Wexler, Gutierrez and Baldwin for doing what they can to put impeachment on the table!

Do not losse your heads with lust for vengeance. These men who have betrayed the country (bu$h cheney rice rumsfeld gonzales wolfie, perle, libby, et al and all their cheerleaders in the media... the whole pathetic cast of clowns) should be prosecuted in a world court under the Nuremberg standards. Media figures who colluded with the government to commit war crimes should be prosecuted side by side. Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Savage, etc. All of them in the dock with bu$h and cheney and their minions.

One important thing should be different, however. Let us abolish the death penalty and let us reform our prisons so they are no longer dehumanizing places. Some people (such as bu$h and cheney and rumsfeld and many of their co-conspirators) must be isolated from society, warehoused, because of their sociopathic tendencies. The solution, my friends, is to incarcerate them in benign conditions for the remainder of their lives. Let them watch television in their cells.

To understand the 2006 election and its aftermath, you have to understand that Reid and Pelosi firmly stated months before the 2006 election that the Democrats would not impeach Bush\Cheney.

What's truly bizarre is that apparently many people who wanted desperately to see this impeachment occur then turned around and voted Democrat anyways. Since then, they've called it a betrayal of the political process in that the people they voted into office have done exactly what they said they were going to do.

So now, we are supposed to give up on 'the government sphere' because people voted for Democrats with some serious delusions about what they Dems would do when elected? Even when the Dems were telling everyone plainly what they would do, or in this case what they would not do?

The government is the way the people come together to act. If you give up on that, what else do you suggest? The only alternatives I see would be passive acceptance that nothing can change or violent revolution. And anyone wanting the latter should really go study past revolutions, the chaos they unleash, the hell they create for people ... to the point where often the people later put a right-wing reactionary into power to end the hell and the chaos. (see Napoleon and the French Revolution as one example).

The point is, it won't be easy to act 'in the government sphere'. You certainly can't just sit back and watch TV and expect the Dems to offer you a magic pill to change the world. Its going to take real work getting out and building and organizing. Its going to take creating a political movement not build around money. And the only real alternative is people-power. And people-power means getting out and working to make change. But that change can occur.

Besides, if you want to do it another way, then you still need to get out and do the same building and organizing. Somehow, some place, you have to build a mass movement for change.

Start by going out and talking to your neighbors. Or go to the local coffee shop and start talking. It ain't hard to get started.

yap:

You already got your comeuppance. Bush/Cheney gave you our country.

"They consider the time frame and expense of impeachment..."

Do they? Know what I'd like them to consider? Justice, honor, duty, and the law. I look for that in lawmakers. Go figure.

The only concern I have about impeachment is if it fails. Bush might think God had saved him for one last mission....

Life imprisonment without parole would be the right sentence for that crowd, but Tony Blair deserves to go there too.

The impeachment process, when initiated by the House and tried by the Senate, will bring out the facts in a cohesive fashion that the MSM cannot ignore or spin about. Will it be enough to succeed in a Senate that is so heavily influenced by corporate masters? Hard to say. But it is essential that it be done. My bet is that Cheney would resign rather than face a Senate trial. What about Bush? Harder to tell. I like to think that the domino effect might result. As to the terrible crimes that Bush, Cheney and others have committed against humanity, we can only hope for justice. Right now, impeachment is the only way to begin the tremendously convoluted path to justice.

WHERE IS THAT SO CALLED HUMAN? WHAT IS HE UP TO? ANYBODY KNOW?