Brad Newsham's report on local meeting w Barbara Lee re impeachment

[EFerrari]

(Sent Monday, 8/6, Brad was the organizer of Impeach on the Beach)

This afternoon I was one of eight East Bay impeachment activists who had a
meeting with our Representative, Barbara Lee, around a conference table in her
office on the 10th floor of the Federal Building in downtown Oakland... I did
not have high hopes for the meeting... I was afraid it might be a formality, a
way for Rep Lee to try to "do her duty" as our representative and simply show us
the courtesy of meeting with some of us who have for months, even years now,
been assailing her office over the issue of impeachment...

Five hours later, I'm not sure just what I feel from the meeting... many
different things... not elation, certainly... I think my initial suspicion was
somewhat correct, somewhat incorrect... But I feel like I represented you in the
meeting, or tried to, and I think you'll probably appreciate hearing my take on
this...

A couple of things Ms. Lee said, from my notes:

"I believe this administration has committed high crimes and misdemeanors..."
and this "warrants at least a Cheney resolution on impeachment..."

"I've been through McCarthy and COINTELPRO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO) and I think we're
back there again..."

She said many, many things that made it clear she has no use for the Bush
administration, thinks the administration is bad, dangerous, out-of-control, not
trustable, liars -- is in fact everything that WE fear it to be... I didn't
write everything down word for word, but it was quite clear that she has no soft
spot for Bush or Cheney or their entire administration... they deserve to be
impeached.

THEN WHY ISN'T SHE, WHY AREN'T THE DEMOCRATS, MORE VOCAL? This question was put
to her in half a dozen different ways, forcefully.

In the end, her basic answer, half a dozen times was, "I'm doing everything I
can." She wanted us to see her as being on "our" side when it comes to
impeachment... she seemed to think it should be clear that she was on our side
here, and she seemed surprised that at least several of us in the room were
uncertain about that.

We told her in very clear words that we consider impeachment of absolute,
over-arching importance, crucial to every other issue -- the war, the
environment, everything. Yes, Ms. Lee has certainly been vocal in opposing the
war, but her endorsement of impeachment has been a soft and quiet endorsement. I
told her I'd scoured her website for a mention of impeachment, and while I'd
found lots of words about lots of other topics I could not find a single mention
of impeachment... I told her that if she thinks the people of her district think
she is strongly in favor of impeachment, I think she's got a dis-connect. I
think the people of her district see her as a strong voice against the war, yes,
but very quiet actually on impeachment. And many of us don't get it... don't get
how someone who is so strongly against this disastrous war that was a con job
from the start... we don't get how that person can be cautious on the topic of
impeachment...

Every activist in the room thought that taking impeachment "off the table" is a
horrendous, ridiculous strategy for anything -- impeachment is OURS, mentioned
six times in the Constitution -- it's not Nancy Pelosi's or the Democratic
leadership's little toy, it's OURS -- and not only do we resent having our
Constitution shredded by BUSH, we resent the Democrats for doing the same
thing... Impeachment off the table... Hah!

And those of us who have voted Democratic for years are afraid that this timid
ridiculous strategy is going to blow the next election for us... We'd like to
see some FIGHT! That's why we worked so hard to elect a Democratic Congress...
And we're NOT HAPPY with the way that Congress is behaving... But don't take our
word for it -- look at the polls! Congress ranks lower than Bush! Seventy-six
percent of Democrats nationwide want Cheney impeached NOW -- sixty-nine percent
of Democrats nationwide want Bush impeached NOW... But just a handful of the
Democrats in Congress (19 now) have signed onto Kucinich's impeachment bill!
THERE'S A DISCONNECT SOMEWHERE... The Democrats are blowing it...

Ms. Lee said she was on our side, and she was "doing everything I can."

We went round and round like this for 45 minutes... We covered a LOT of ground,
pursued many different angles...

Someone asked, "When you talk in private with other representatives, what's your
sense of how many would vote for impeachment?"

"Fifty," was Ms. Lee's answer. "About fifty."

I asked, "Yes, but what if Pelosi said impeachment was 'on the table'?"

And now Ms. Lee said something that just flabbergasted me. "If she said
impeachment was now 'on the table' I don't think the House membership would go
for it."

I asked her if I'd heard correctly, and she assured me I had.

But we had already spent a lot of time talking about how Ms. Pelosi -- in
conjunction with Senator Reid -- sets the agenda in Congress... and they'd
been focusing on other things so far, and they've been successful in steering people
away from impeachment... So why should we think the House wouldn't follow Pelosi
if she had an impeachment change of heart? If she worked FOR impeachment instead
of against it, wouldn't THAT make all the difference in the world? I don't get
it... I don't think it's explainable... It's all pretty damned maddening... I've
become an impeachment fundamentalist, and I just don't see why the whole world
doesn't see things the way I do... but you know, MOST of the world AGREES that
we need to be rid of these guys NOW! (Read the POLLS!) It's the friggin'
Congress that's the problem...

Anyway, I felt sadness at the end of the meeting. Ms. Lee seems like a very nice
person, doing all she thinks she can do... I certainly don't think I could do a
better job... But it's really too bad, I think, that we've unleashed our army
and spent a huge chunk of our treasury, have turned Baghdad into hell (the
mainstream media has shied away from reporting that Baghdad, a city of 6
million, has been more or less without electricity and water for several days,
with temperatures of 117 degrees, sewage backing up, and people being blown to
bits -- 100 people here, 100 people -- so frequently that we've become
absolutely numb to it all...) And we've got a Congress that's afraid to do what
we elected them to do... Stand up and FIGHT! Not vote billions more war dollars
every couple of weeks or so...!

One of the activists in the room was a college professor -- she said her
students don't know what to think, don't even know whether to care or not, when
they see that the people who have sparked all this, with lies, are allowed to
continue on with their lives, absolutely unaccountable...What are the kids
supposed to think?

Well, there you have it... I thought you'd appreciate the report, even if it's
not particularly heartening... I, personally, took some solace out of the fact
that this sort of conversation was taking place at ALL!

To be continued,

brad

[EFerrari]

1. kick

[bleever]

2. Thank you for this account.

K&R.

[EFerrari]

3. It was interesting to get a glimpse of what is going on in the House.

And, Brad is doing another big action here on Sept 15, fyi. :hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Very interesting

Thanks so much for sharing. This sheds a little light on some questions I had.

[EFerrari]

6. Yep. I've never seen a breakdown

of the political bent of House Democrats (i.e., left, center, right). It would interesting to see what Nancy is dealing with, exactly, on this and other issues.

[Buck Rabbit]

11. Not a complete breakdown but a key one.

Approximately 72 House Democrats are members of either the Blue Dog Caucus or The New Democrats. About 20 of those are members of both.

This is within 1 or 2 the number in the Progressive Caucus.

Nancy Pelosi would probably be one of those 50 who would vote for impeachment were she not the Speaker Of The House, whose traditional duties are to speak for the will of the majority of the whole caucus. For Nancy Pelosi to push for Impeachment against the will of the party would severly endanger having a Progressive as speaker. Her intraparty rival Hoyer has New Democrat roots.

As distraught as the "impeachment now" crowd is now about impeachment not being actively pursued, how would they feel if Pelosi pursued it and it failed something like 335 to 100 in a floor vote. (That is giving Pelosi the ability to bring in twice as many votes as Lee things there are.)

I personally, feel Bush deserves to be impeached, I don't see it happening without the surfacing of a smoking gun issue that the populace as a whole can grasp. A blow job, a burglary, cash in the freezer; something that can infuriate the public and be summarized in under 10 words.

[EFerrari]

12. Thank you! And, I'm not distraught. I'm working.

:)

[Buck Rabbit]

15. I know you are not distraught, pardon my broad brush.

You know the politics of impeachment can be so complicated.

Interestingly, the closest impeachment has ever come to working in the history of the country was in the case of Andrew Johnson for disregarding a law he felt was unconstitutional and it was later ruled by the Supreme Court that he was indeed right. The proceedings against Johnson were purely political, yet it was a few crossovers from the party going after him that saved him in the Senate. His High Crime and Misdemeanor was firing a member of his Cabinet that he had inherited and appointing one of his own choosing.

My point is that impeachment has only happened twice, never resulting in a conviction. Both times impeachment was purely political, not a defense of constitutional principles. As a political process it is all about the votes. In the House, proceeding on impeachment knowing that conviction in the senate is a zillion to 1 shot, they have to decide whether pursuing impeachment as a political statement will result in the desired political effect. The reason so many in the House are against impeachment is that the GOP is already down and on the ropes. The practical outcome of an impeachment proceeding is at best lowering the GOP approval rating a couple of points. At worse there is a possibility that you could end up shooting yourself in the foot and throwing them a rallying issue for regaining control in 2008. As gamblers and oddmakers as all accomplished politicians are, to pursue a course with minimal potential gain but with the possibility of a disastrous downside is a bet you don't make.

[EFerrari]

17. Agreed. And missing in that political calculus is

representation -- that ephemeral goal these people were elected to achieve. :)

[Neecy]

5. I really like Barbara Lee

I appreciate what this group is trying to do - now maybe their time would be better spent meeting with Representatives who *wouldn't* be a safe vote for impeachment if it ever happens. Barbara would vote for it, no question - but the political will isn't there, not yet.

[EFerrari]

7. Their time was well spent insofar as they gave Barbara

feedback on her public image and also, got some insight from her about what the state of the House is on this issue. Barbara Lee is very well liked in her district. :hi:

[Neecy]

8. oh, for sure

But given that she indicated the total lack of support in the House, I think it gives us a helpful strategy to target those legislators who are anti-impeachment for similar meetings...such as, oh, Pelosi. Not that she'd meet with them.

I used to live in Barbara's district (and Nancy's as well) and I love her. She's an absolute treasure.

[EFerrari]

9. I'm looking around right now to see who has a meeting with

Nancy's staff. Code Pink does at times. The group in the OP have been denied meetings because they are across the bay and not in the District. I am in the district and am a willing beard. :)

I honestly don't know what Nancy thinks. It may be that she took the House's pulse and decided it wasn't a battle she could win. I have no way of knowing. If I'm reading Barbara right, Nancy doesn't have the support she needs. And that is alarming on several levels.

[EFerrari]

10. kick

[Kurovski]

13. "I'm doing everything I can."

What does that entail? I assume speaking with other members about it, but what else is "everything"?

Thanks for going to this meeting. K&R.

[EFerrari]

14. What does it entail? That is the question.

If Barbara is, even unconsciously, laying low on this topic, that's not good news because she's one of the bravest people in the House AND her district is FIRMLY behind her.

That she dedicated 5 hours to this meeting is a measure of her commitment.

Iirc, the last time she had a townhall, it was aired on CSPAN. And she hosted activists callling for impeachment. Imho, she IS doing everything she can do.

What I'm reading here (right or wrong) is that Nancy doesn't have the unity or support she needs to LEAD.

And, I don't know what to do with that, if that is right.

[Kurovski]

16. A groundswell from constituents?

A barrage of calls and actual letters on a daily basis perhaps? I sometimes wonder how much that would matter.

[EFerrari]

18. If we swell any more around here, we'll burst.

I don't know how many DUers know this, but if I want to got to Nancy's office, for example, I have to got through three lines of Homeland Security cars, trucks and guys, just to get in.

It's so creepy. I used to work in our Federal Bldg, translating nearly every day. It was just a government building. Nowadays, there is a big HLS presence that most likely deters all but the most reckless of citizens. I kid you not. Next time I go to a protest there, I'll take pictures -- unless my camera is confiscated.

(Btw, can we start a DU Bail forum?)

[KAT119]

19. Fascinating! Thanks so much for your work on protecting our Constitution

and relaying your face to face meeting w/ Rep. Barbara Lee, whom I also like...but these congresscritters aretrying to hang on to their jobs, even tho * will dissolve congress/their jobs if they do NOT impeach, try, imprison him/Cheney and the other key power/greed crazed neo-nazi-cons....

[EFerrari]

20. Imho, our progressive Democrats need all the support we can

muster AND all the feed back we need to relay to them.

We don't back off.

[EFerrari]

21. one more

[babylonsister]

22. Thanks for the report; disheartening indeed. Did anyone ask her

what was up with the FISA vote? Sounds like she stonewalled a bit herself. I imagine you gave her something to think about. I like her, too, and am sorry impeachment doesn't even seem to be an issue.

[EFerrari]

23. I think it's more of a "reality check" -- maybe not what we want to hear

but an honest report, regardless. The meeting didn't go into the FISA vote. But imho, we can deduce from here how much support Nancy and the progressives have in the House right now. :shrug:

[Kurovski]

24. Kick. (nt)

[Senator]

25. K&R