Impeach Cheney: Action #4

[H2O Man]

"We will cooperate with the Committee under the rules I have laid down in my statement on executive privilege …. We said we will furnish information, but we are not going to be called to testify …. My feeling is that I better hit it now rather than just let it build up where we are afraid of these questions and everybody, etc. ….When will the Ervin thing be hitting the fan? Most any day? ….. Well, it must be a big show. Public hearings I wouldn’t think, though. I know from experience, my guess is that I think they could get through in about three weeks of those, and then I think it would begin to peter out somewhat ….Our members of the committee should at least say, ‘Let’s get it over with, and go through five-day sessions, etc’."
--President Richard Nixon; Oval Office meeting with John Dean; March 13, 1973; The Presidential Transcripts; Dell; pages 64-90.

This week, we have witnessed a change in the dynamics of the Impeach VP Cheney movement. The catalyst was Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s demand that the House of Representatives deal with H.R. 333. The democrats attempted to table the resolution, and the republicans sought to force a one-hour debate and immediate vote. The democrats then had the resolution referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

For many of us, it was a reminder of days past, when Richard Nixon – faced with the fact that he could not stop an investigation – plotted to neutralize it: "Our members of the committee should at least say, ‘Let’s get it over with …’."

Just as in the Watergate era, there are politicians from both parties who would prefer to ignore VP Cheney’s crimes and abuses of power, and avoid any serious consideration of impeachment. There are also elected officials who take their oath of office seriously, and who are either in favor of impeaching Cheney, or at least having the House give the issue serious consideration.

One of the most important factors in the organic process of impeachment is having citizens contact their elected officials, and expressing their opinion on the topic. VP Cheney engaged in purposefully misleading the congress and the public on the "threat" that Iraq posed to the United States, in order to promote the neoconservative agenda in the Middle East. Cheney abused the power of his office when he directed the operation against critic Joseph Wilson.

Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega says that ordinary people become extraordinary citizens when they exercise the muscles of democracy that are defined by Amendment #1 in the Bill of Rights. Our message today is that the country isn’t threatened by a mushroom cloud associated with Saddam, but rather by that Watergate cloud that Patrick Fitzgerald noted is hanging over Dick Cheney.

Today, we should be calling one of the most progressive democrats in Congress, Jerry Nadler. Rep. Nadler serves on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Please call his office today, and request that he back HR 333. Tell him that you want VP Cheney impeached for the lying this nation into the war in Iraq, and for the abuses of power associated with the Plame scandal.

Here are three phone numbers:

202-225-5635 (Washington, DC)

212-367-7350 (Manhattan)

718-373-3198 (Brooklyn)

If you are interested in more information on Rep. Nadler, here is his web site:

http://www.house.gov/nadler/biography.shtml

Thank you for your continued efforts to honor and protect the Constitution.

[Klukie]

1. will do....

Thank you for these posts.

[H2O Man]

4. Thank you.

I appreciate your help. It is important that progressive democrats strike while the iron is hot, and that we keep pushing this. In the Nixon quote, we see that Nixon was confident that people's interest would fade in five days. I think we've seen DUers aren't the type of people that lose focus!

[orleans]

20. and here is a list of TOLL FREE SWITCHBOARD NUMBERS FOR CONGRESS

1-800-828-0498

1-800-459-1887

1-800-614-2803

1-866-340-9281

1-866-338-1015

1-866-220-0044

1-877-851-6437

[druidity33]

56. i called today

I had forgotten my scribbled list of toll-free #'s that you posted the other day...
i wanted to call Delahunt, Pelosi and Conyers... so i looked in the phonebook in the Blue pages... only found a toll #.


and when i asked the switchboard operator what the toll free # was, she said they didn't have one and then sneered at me (literally, and loudly) over the phone and said, "those numbers are given out by LOBBYISTS!". Then i though, well why isn't there a toll-free # for Congress, and said to the operator, "Don't you think you should have toll-free #'s?" and she said "We've never had them before".

:shrug:

[madokie]

2. one more rec from me as I see impeachment the only way out of this

[H2O Man]

5. Impeachment

is the prescription that the Founding Fathers recommending to cure royalism, as John Nichols points out. Thank you for your help!

[madokie]

12. I email and I call, I scream and I cry, nothing seems to help ease this pain I have

but I have confidence that we will win this one and when we do it will set the stage to get some changes made to make it almost impossible to ever find ourselves in a predicament like this again, if only we do though that is, take the intuitive to make the changes needed.

Thanks for all you're doing in helping to keep me and us focused on the job at hand.

[calimary]

44. And from me! Because it IS the only way out of this.

At this point, what else has worked?

Besides, bush/cheney NEEDS to be stopped - before they stop everything we love and hold dear, and for which many of us or our parents and grandparents shed blood.

[EFerrari]

3. Kick

[H2O Man]

6. This morning I counted

over 300 articles that have appeared in newspapers and on political web sites across the country in the past 4 days. That means that over 300 doors have been opened, allowing people to write responses to everything from pro-impeachment articles to general reporting on the Kucinich resolution to the reactionary knee-jerking on the right wing.

It's enough to keep us busy all week end!

[EFerrari]

23. Yes, it is. Good!

:kick:

[spanone]

7. A KICK FOR ACTION #4

rep. kucinich has made 'impeachment' a mainstream word again.

even if it isn't happening at this moment, it has people discussing it.

now is the time to srtike.

[H2O Man]

9. Thanks!

The people in Rep. Nadler's offices are some of the nicest, most intelligent people that DUers will speak to when lobbying Congress. I had a great conversation with one of his people about the need to include Cheney's abuses of power in the Plame scandal.

[Me.]

8. As Nadler Is My Rep, I Have been Calling Him Steadily Over The Last Weeks

He has been against impeachment, which I don't understand. He represents one of the most liberal sections of the country, so what is the deal? I would love if a lot of people would call and make the point. We keep wondering what the deal is, could it be Pelosi strong arming people?

[H2O Man]

10. I cannot stress enough

how important it is to call, even though he is "officially" opposed to impeachment right now. There is a heck of a lot going on behind the scenes right now. Rep. Nadler is a good man, and he has an understanding of the Constitutional issues involved in this.

DUers should call, and be polite but firm. Impeach Dick Cheney.

[sce56]

70. Yeah Call Them Out On It

These names are those on the Judiciary committee that voted to table HR333!

Call them out on it make your own board at http://www.shipbrook.com/onnotice/

[pberq]

11. Done - thanks for the talking points!

[H2O Man]

49. Thank you.

I certainly do appreciate your help!

[NewJeffCT]

13. Can we get a list of who else is on the subcommittee?

thanks

[PleaseSayItAintSo]

15. House Judiciary link

http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembership.aspx

[NewJeffCT]

17. Thanks, and welcome to DU - and here is the subcommittee link

thanks

http://judiciary.house.gov/committeestructure.aspx?committee=7

[Zookeeper]

32. Welcome to DU, PleaseSay!

Thanks for the link!

:hi:

[PleaseSayItAintSo]

14. Corrected phone number for Nadler

202-225-5635 is the office number for Rep Nadler.

I called the original number in the post this morning and it is the number for Rep Davis (D-AL07), who is a member of the Judiciary Committee. The staffer was very nice, took my comment, told me "we're ONLY hearing about H. 333 these days" and transferred my call to Rep Nadler's office. Nadler's staff took my comment, too.

I'm calling all Dem and Repug Judiciary Committee members again this morning. Of course, I'll also call Pelosi, Hoyer and Rahm's offices again.

Whee-haw!

[H2O Man]

19. VERY IMPORTANT!

Thank you for the correction! What the heck is wrong with me sometimes? Lack of coffee? Freudian impulses to call more than one congressman? Or simple dull-wittedness? Probably a combination.

I'll ask Skinner if he can make the correction, as it is too late to edit here. But your help allows me to make the needed correction on other forums.

Thanks again!

[Maraya1969]

16. I called the DC number just now and I swear she answered with "congressman Davis"

:shrug: The woman who answered seemed very happy when I asked that "the congressman" support HR333 and impeach Dick Cheney.

I just don't know who I was talking to.

[H2O Man]

18. My error:

See post #14!

Very sorry -- but it's good to call Rep Arthur Davis, too!

[antigop]

21. K&R. Will do. Thanks, H2Oman. n/t

[H2O Man]

48. Thank you!

I appreciate your help!

[H2O Man]

22. Thanks, Skinner!

I had made an error on a phone number, and the time ran out for editing. I asked Skinner for help, and he fixed it. I appreciate his help, and will be more careful in the future. For punishment, I am going to call the office of one of the republicans on the Judiciary Committee.

[Gregorian]

52. Haha.

What a beautiful day. I have bookmarked this thread so on Monday I can make a call.

Things are progressing. I think we'll know more in a week. I am saying this by virtue of what is happening in my life. I am buying a pretty "difficult" piece of land. It's an interesting experience for me. I say that for many reasons. I just finished reading the nonindustrial timber management plan that comes with it. A hundred pages of soils, trees, plants, animals, riparian, and something I've never heard much before- fluvial information.

I met with a wonderful man today. It's such a switch from my previous interactions. Even the planning department was a refreshing experience. Just a small office, with no one in it but a couple of people. We walked right in. He's going to drill a test well. And he lives on the same street as this property. Later I went to his house, and we had an address asigned to the property, and I played with his kitten that was hanging out in the teepee they had made.

I'm excited. And I believe the parallels are uncanny. But next week should be the full revelation. It's just a hunch. I felt like posting this, even though it's very much off topic, and personal. I'm not proud. But I found a place to live where I think I may be happy. Maybe the same is going to be true for our country. Soon.

I just want to add something. In a similar way to what we are seeing in our parties, I was faced with the discovery that the owner of this property had just felled a redwood tree that was about five feet in diameter. It's on the place I'm buying. And I was pretty shocked. It was illegal logging. And the timber plan is full of testimony from community members who are obviously disturbed by this individual, who has been doing all kinds of things. It shows people are watching and observing. Later I had a forester discuss the future of the property with me. And his terms were also revealing. As though the trees were nothing more than cash income. Take them down. Turn the property. Subdivide it, and walk away with money. I was appalled. But it's not something I'm unfamiliar with. We have two people like that in the White House. And many Americans who also support that mentality. Arrogance, and what I consider to be a near violent kind of behavior.

I'm fortunate to be able to see this. Most people are at work. Most don't know it's even happening. Well, I feel I've overstepped my boundaries here. This isn't about me, and I've made it that way. I'm excited. I think I'm going to have my own forest. It's exciting.

[H2O Man]

53. Very good!

I had a feeling that piece of land was calling you.

[Gregorian]

54. Oops. Check out my post again.

I edited it. Nothing much.

I haven't been happy for fifteen years. It's a foreign feeling. I'm guarded. As nothing lasts forever. But I love trees. And this is good.

[H2O Man]

55. Yep.

My response is still the same. (grin)

There are many trees on this property. Some are small ones that my son planted; others are part of "the woods." One of my favorites is a huge old dead tree, that serves as the home for all types of living things. I could have had it cut up for fire wood years ago, but it is beautiful.

[Gregorian]

57. Beautiful.

I love this planet. I have been disturbed by the destruction I have seen. My father always sees perfection in things. I learned to see that perfection from him. That's beautiful land you have. It was a right. But now it's a privilege to own. Own is a strange word. But it is the case. I live for that feeling of just being with the beauty. To see that perfection in an insect. Anyways...

[dmr]

69. You two make me smile

Loving the land. Loving the trees. Sad that someone could just ax a beautiful redwood like that.

I love to watch and listen to the oaks, maples, firs and pines that surround my home. The way they sway in the wind, and the swishing and rustling of their branches and leaves. In the winter the snow weighs the branches of the firs - Oh my, how beautiful is that? I measure the snow by the stump that once was an old elm. The woodpeckers, robins, cardinals and today two mourning doves hopped around outside pecking whatever they peck on the ground, driving the kitties inside insane, which is usually the job of the various squirrels. Yup, I do enjoy the trees and all things surrounding them.

Anyway, don't want to hijack this important thread. I've made the calls today (Friday), and will again Monday and on to however long the phone calls and letters are needed.

[Gregorian]

73. We're all enjoying this together.

That's wonderful.

I haven't felt this optimistic in a long long time. I have been isolated for many years. But I can see that we are all connected. My backyard is someone else's front yard. Whether it's taking care of the planet, or the network that binds our society together. I know it's not a good time for everyone. And things, economically, are looking bleak. But that is what our purpose is. To support each other.

I know it's possible.

[Bonobo]

74. I called Conyers, Nadler and my own guy yesterday, Neal.

Keep up the good work, H20Man.

[H2O Man]

75. Thank you.

The people on DU who have shown a loyalty to the Constitution of the United States by calling, faxing, writing letters, and e-mailing their elected representatives are part of a growing national movement. This is democracy in action. Thank you for your effort!

[elmerdem]

24. Thanks H2O Man!

I have made calls for the past 3 days & your constant encouragement has helped motivate me to continue!

Thanks for all the knowledge & motivating words you have shared throughout everything (plame case, libby trial, watergate parallels, & impeachment motivation). You are one of the true gems of DU, not overly emotional, not reactionary, just intelligent, practical, & committed to helping to save this country. Thank You!

[PleaseSayItAintSo]

28. Yup, thanks

I've made my calls to ALL the members of the committee and Pelosi, Hoyer and Rahm.

Staffers have been great - mostly - even in Repug offices. They're still reporting receiving "tons" of calls on H. Res. 333.

Thanks H20 Man and elmerdem for your encouragement.

[H2O Man]

30. Thank you.

I certainly appreciate that.

[Annces]

25. Power of mind

Positive thoughts.

[H2O Man]

29. That's so important.

It is fascinating to read the thoughts of many of our friends on DU, who are stuck on "No!" They have been lied to, frightened, tricked, and deceived. Their minds are barred from understanding the Power of Ideas.

In the past week, the determination of "Yes" is overcoming the resistance of "no." Yes, we will try our best. And yes, we can open doors.

[Annces]

33. I agree

I consider it a good lesson that you are good at.

And you never know where the tipping point is, which is why Cheney trys to quiet people who speak out, and who bring the see-saw the other way, like Joe Wilson or Kucinich.

[EFerrari]

26. Kick

[Me.]

27. Give The Entire Group A Piece Of Your Mind

link to entire house judiciary committee here:

ttp://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3701243

[H2O Man]

50. Good idea.

It is important that we make the calls, and continue to make the calls. If a person feels most comfortable making them all in a day, or in two days, or calling one or two a day, it's all good.

[blogslut]

31. done

The fellow listened...and then he had to go, but he appreciated my thoughts on the matter.

sigh

[H2O Man]

51. Great!

They are hearing us. Thank you for calling.

[antigop]

34. OK, done. n/t

[Zookeeper]

35. I just emailed every Democratic member of the Judiciary...

Committee.

I really have a fire under my behind about this issue. We MUST impeach!

:patriot:

[H2O Man]

60. Thank you.

I appreciate your help. We have a good group of dedicated people on DU, and together we are making our voices heard.

[Zookeeper]

76. Thank YOU, H20 Man, for your work on this! n/t

[crispini]

36. K&R

[BelgianMadCow]

37. Back to the top

:kick:

[DearAbby]

38. Kicking this for better viewing :) n/t

[Renew Deal]

39. Wait, where is action 1, 2, 3?

[BelgianMadCow]

46. Here's two and three

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2234811&mesg_id=2234811

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

40. k&r

[AikidoSoul]

41. I sent a message with all the contact tel nos to my list

This is a very important action to take.

Thank you H2O man for all of your excellent work.

Kick and recommend

[H2O Man]

61. Thank you.

I believe that aides to representatives were talking with one another about the numbers of people who called, faxed, and e-mailed with requests for impeachment. That's important.

[T.Ruth2power]

42. K&R

[sss1977]

43. thank you

That was actually my first phone call to a congressman requesting my voice be heard. Thank you for your posts H20, and I hope my phone call helps in some way in encouraging Nadler to see the light of Impeachment.

[H2O Man]

62. That's great!

I'm glad that you made the phone call. When I read posts like yours, I have a great appreciation for what retired federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega told us at a teach-in on impeachment: that we are all ordinary people who become extraordinary citizens when we call or write our elected officials. I thank you for being an extraordinary citizen, who is taking part in the patriotic effort to protect our Constitution.

[Pierogi_Pincher]

71. I caught the last half of Bill Moyer tonite, and the very last segment

was from an interview w/ Bishop Desmond Tutu in 1997 (?). He so eloquently put forth this same that ordinary people become and are truly 'stars' when they accomplish otherwise 'extraordinary' feats. His words made me cry. He is, without a doubt, an extraordinary human being. I bless him.
P_P

[calimary]

45. Yes, I'm SURE I want to recommend this thread.

I'd rather be able to recommend it several dozen times, if you really wanna know.

[H2O Man]

63. Thank you.

This has been an exciting week. I'm proud to be on the same team as you and the other DUers who are taking a stand for democracy.

[Pierogi_Pincher]

47. THX H2O Man. Rec'd!

Called NY office--she couldn't take comments--said to call Wash. Did that a few minutes ago & Rep. Nadler's mailbox was full, so I will make another attempt tomorrow?
For all you do, this @->->-- 's for you!
With my gratitude,
P_P

[H2O Man]

64. Thank you.

I appreciate that you are sticking with this, and making the calls. I think it's a good sign that Rep. Nadler's mailbox was full. His office pays attention to things like that!

[KoKo]

58. Thank you ...........it's important to keep at this...no matter how discouraged some of us are...

:shrug:

[H2O Man]

65. Right.

Even when people are discouraged, it is important to make the phone calls, and to send the e-mails, to write the letters-to-the-editor, and to exercise all of those "democratic muscles" defined by Amendment #1.

Our enemies want us to be discouraged, and to put off exercising our Amendment #1 muscles. They want democracy to be weakened. Not on our turn. We know that there will be wins and loses, days that we feel what ABC sports used to call the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. That is part of the deal when we fight for what is important.

[David Zephyr]

59. A most helpful post, H2O Man

We the People. :thumbsup:

[H2O Man]

66. We the People!

I like that! Thank you!

[me b zola]

67. k&r

:kick:

[exdem08]

68. Thanks, but leadership doesn't care

Thanks for your post. I have been calling my rep and the Dem. leadership almost every day for a year, also writing. They don't listen and don't care. They have caved on every issue of importance and enabled this White House to have everything it wants, from Supreme Court justices to continued wars.
I am SICK of our Democratic leadership. Can anyone please tell me why we should vote for their continued treachery in 08? I've been a Democrat 35 years and leaving the party. No, not to vote repuglican. But I will not vote for a Democrat in 08. Having your own party stab you in the back is worse than having the repuglicans do it.

[KoKo]

72. kick for weekend...........