Proceedings of the ITMFA Summet.

Debsweb: Family Values

I don't hold to traditional family values in large part because the values my family had... well, they were traditional. For traveling Irish Salesmen.

But I did pick up values here and there, and one big one is "what goes around, comes around." That may well be a univesal truth. Certainly those who believe in the concept of Karma do.

Oh, and it also fits the concept of thermodynamics.

Debsweb: Family Values:

What bothers me the most about this is that it was so widespread. So many people went along with the program, never questioning themselves or their orders but all too willing to put to the question anybody that fit a certain profile. By deciding that people were guilty and trying to get information by any means necessary to confirm their suspicions, any moral high ground was lost to the dustbins of history. Just like every other debacle of this Bush league administration, no one could have anticipated that the truth would eventually come out.

Well, it's out now and even some of Bush's staunchest supporters are willing to question the administration's behavior.

House minority leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told reporters yesterday that he supports a thorough congressional inquiry.

"I think that we need to get to the bottom of why the tapes were made, why they were destroyed, under what authority were they made, and under what authority were they destroyed," Boehner said.

I'm thinking of teaching Shadow some doggie tricks, now all I have to do is figure out how to use the Demowienies ability to roll over and play dead as an example.

I think we should look very hard at late-date converts as well as those who manage to praise Bush with faint damns.

Why ain't this administration in jail? There's no sensible answer to that question.

So many amendments, so little concern.

UPDATE: We have video! (Courtesy of OwellianNation)

You know, there should be some political blowback for this.

The 74-year-old retired mathematician who is fighting Kensington officials over his right to sell buttons urging President Bush's impeachment was arrested yesterday at a farmers market and charged with trespassing.

Alan McConnell, who had been selling his "Impeach Him" buttons at the Howard Avenue market for about a half-hour without a permit, lay down on the pavement after Montgomery County police asked him to come with them. After McConnell failed to respond to a request that he "please stand up," four officers each grabbed one of his limbs and carried him to the front seat of a squad car.

Now, many have dismissed this as a non-issue from a common-sense viewpoint. These people were speaking from the perspective of organizers of public events in public spaces that require permitting and juried vendor selection.

Comment at Impeach Bush Blog by Mimi Morris — July 22, 2007 @ 1:47 pm

I'm totally in favor of impeachment, but this is a manufactured grievance. As an organizer of a long-running (and *very* progressive) event that relies on both city permitting and juried vendor selection, I recognize that what this guy is doing is jumping the line.

If he wants a booth from which to reach the patrons brought in by the market's organizers, he can go through the same process all the other vendors did. If the event's organizers choose not to give him a booth (which they won't, since what he's selling is not produce) he has every right to reach the same number of potential buyers by standing on the adjacent sidewalk, offering his buttons to people as they come and go from the farmer's market.

But to insist on his alleged right to do business within the permit area without having gone through the process is simply stealing access to an audience built by someone else for another purpose — and that would be true even if he were not aggressive about it.

It's not about free speech. If he were giving the buttons away free, he *might* have a case…but maybe not. The Sixth Circuit just decided a case two years ago that gave ballot petitioners the right to circulate in crowds gathered by permit holders in public parks, but AFAIK event permit holders still have the right to ask anyone who is even giving away materials to do so outside the permit area.

And that's as it should be. Imagine how you would feel if, having spent months or years building an audience and organizing a political or cultural evvent designed to raise money for good folks who cooperated in your process, some corporation decided to bring in a squad of salesmen to disrupt traffic flow and siphon off the interest of your cutomers.

Permitting of public spaces is one of the few areas where public policy actually works for the common good. Please rethink the knee-jerk reaction that assumes this well-intentioned man was wronged. Considering how many times he was asked to take his business outside the area, it should be clear that he was seeking this confrontation. Noisy self-made martyrs do our common cause no real good.
There are plenty of actual free speech violations going unheeded. This isn't one of them.

But according to one supporter also commenting further down-thread, that's not the case with the Kensington Farmer's Market.

1. As a Kensington resident I supported Alan's efforts and the demonstration on Saturday. Alan did not need a permit. There are no rules for the Kensington Market. I know this becuase I asked the person in charge of the market at the Town of Kensington who admitted they do not have rules written down. So they make them up as they go. Alan has been selling buttons at the market for over a year!

   He is also not in people's faces, he simply asks passers-by if they would like a button. No more aggrssive then those who man booth at the mall.

   Comment by Pam — July 23, 2007 @ 8:58 am

So, if that is the case, the question returns to whether this is selective enforcement of arbitrary rules. Again, IF so, that's definitely an issue that is worth dramatizing in order to resolve in court. Furthermore, it appears that the conflict is between the Mayor of Kensington and McConnell.

Three weeks ago, McConnell was issued a trespassing warning after being asked to leave the market. McConnell has said that he sold the buttons at the market for months without a license. Last week, Fosselman canceled the market because he was concerned that McConnell's "potentially aggressive" supporters might endanger the safety of customers. On Thursday, two Montgomery County police officers issued McConnell an updated trespassing warning, while a Kensington official gave him a citation for selling at the market without a permit. That ticket carries a possible $500 fine.

McConnell got another of those citations yesterday before his arrest, but he continued to sell his buttons for $1 apiece even as Kensington code enforcement officer Louise Hamilton filled out the ticket. Hamilton said the mayor requested that she come to the market to see whether McConnell was selling his buttons without a license.

Meanwhile, those who oppose holding Bush accountable for his constitutional vandalism are weighing in.

1. You and those like you are misguided and un-American. I support your being watched and, if deemed necessary, rounded up and either imprisoned or deported.

   Comment by Mike — July 22, 2007 @ 10:35 am

Ya know, buddy, if this were Stalinist Russia, Communist China or Cuba, you'd be right. That would be the "patriotic" thing to do. Me, I support the vicious mockery of any such would-be Stalinist until they do something unfortunate enough to permit us to round them up and imprison them, with the option of voluntarily renouncing their citizenship in favor of emigration to a country that better supports their authoritarian point of view.

But most folks, commenting on various sites, simply said "get a permit." The question is, though, CAN you get a permit? Is it reasonably priced? Is the process itself designed to discourage First Amendment activity? Remember, commercial speech is still protected speech. Indeed, we must ask, has the permitting process become politicized? Seeing that this conflict seems to have become a personal power-struggle between the Mayor and the elderly McConnel, it seems to me something worth investigating.

In particular, the canecellation of the market because of concerns that McConnel's supporters were "potentialy aggressive" sets off my bullshit alarm. It strikes me more as potentially being ploy to pressure other venders into supporting the mayor's agenda.

Just because a town is left-leaning, it does not follow that it's government is, especially within unelected positions. The intent of infiltrating local government by stealth in order to monkey-wrench liberal agendas is something Ralph Reed has spoken about at length to his Christianist-Conservative supporters. More on that here.

And remember what these buttons say. "Impeach Him." It IS a loaded issue, and it does make some folks hot under the collar. Including, say, Mayors and Permiting enforcement officials.

The fact that McConnel was arrested for trespassing tends to suggest to me the possiblity that they prefer to try him for a technical violation, rather than the one they were really upset about. Indeed, I wonder about the charge itself,

If you can control the permitting and licensing process, you can bankrupt people who disagree with your political views in a nearly invisible way, so this is a question that needs to be asked. Now, thanks to the good professor, is likely to be a matter of fact to be determined in a court of law.

Even if that is not true, it's the height of sloppiness to simply assume that it would have been possible to simply apply for and get a permit to sell buttons. If nothing else, the possibility of pure administrative indifference and/or incompetence should have crossed some minds.

While I'm not a constitutional scholar, it strikes me as extremely dubious that such a venue could exclude the sale of political materials without running afoul of the Constitution in some way, if the venue is administered directly by the town of Kensington. Were it simply the venue organizers, perhaps it would pass the constitutional sniff test, but once any government becomes involved, it's an iffy proposition.

The other thing that disturbs me about this story is the lack of attribution. "Some people said" he was being "too aggressive." Really? Who? And what, by chance, would this person's political viewpoint be? Note that he's been doing this very thing for months and months. Surely, if the matter is as serious as the arrest would seem to imply, it's serious enough for the facts of the "offense" to be clearly communicated to the media - and on to us. But I feel less informed now than when I was completely ignorant of the entire matter, an hour or so ago.

In the final analysis, when there are conflicts between public policy in public spaces and the rights of free speech, free press and freedom of assembly, the letter of the law should not impede the spirit of constitutional intent. Any restrictions on individual liberty need to be narrowly drawn, with unassailable public policy grounds for such restrictions.

And remember also that the McCain-Fiengold campaign finance reform bill was struck down by the Supremes as an unreasonable limitation on PAID political speech - so if it's true for a few hundred thousand dollar television ad, it should also be true for the choice to buy a one dollar button.

tag: Washington Post, MSM, reporting, Constitution, first amendment, Impeach Buttons, Kensington, Alan McConnell, Washington Post, Sloppy Reporting.

Is George Bush an agent of a Foreign Power?

clipped from news.yahoo.com

BAGHDAD - Nearly half of the foreign detainees held in Iraq are Saudi citizens, and lists of their names were given to Saudi officials during a recent visit by an Iraqi delegation, national security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie said in remarks aired Monday.

Last week, al-Rubaie said before leaving for Saudi Arabia that the majority of the suicide bombers and "those who drive the vehicles to blow up our innocent civilians, Iraqis, are Saudis." Al-Rubaie, who headed the delegation, said then "we need to stop the flow of suicide bombers, we need to stop the fatwas (religious edicts) coming from Saudis to justify the killings of innocent Iraqis."

In the interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, al-Rubaie said that he raised the issue of fatwas with officials in the kingdom and "we heard very good news." He did not elaborate.

I think that really should ring some alarm bells about who is behind this war, and who’s going to benefit by it. Seeing as the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi, Bin Ladin is Saudi, Al-Queda is Saudi funded - and Bush wants to attack their mortal cultural and religious enemy, Iran? People have gone to the gallows on thinner evidence. The Rosenburgs, the "Haymarket Martyrs" - and just a whole lot of Texans while Bush was Governor.



I think at the very least, Bush should have to go to the Senate to defend himself against impeachment. While Al Gore's argument against impeachment is persuasive IF you are looking at this as the malfeasance of one man, it is in fact about the subversion of our Republic by a coterie of conspirators over a period of 50 years. Bush is their sock-puppet, no more, but someone has to be the fall guy, to be held accountable for the desecration of the Constitution. If there "is no consensus" about Bush, per se, I think that as testomony illuminates under the slimy rocks that composes his power base, that a consensus will emerge.

However, even if it does not, and literally divides the country in two, that might not be such a bad thing. If there are those who truly prefer tyranny, let them go in peace to explore that path.

If there is no such purge, no such broad cleansing of the government, no widespread dismissal and ultimately prosecution of those involved, no return to the Constitution and the rule of law, there can be no credible government. With all due respect to Al Gore, that leaves us in a position where violent revolution is not merely possible, but the exact situation that caused our Founders to "cross the Rubicon" themselves.

Should we consider ourselves lesser men? Do Democrats and Republicans alike presume we have all been neutered?

Without some sign to the contrary, I must presume that Democrats are all in favor of this handy new concept of a "Unitary Executive" and an impotent, irrelevant Congress. I must further presume that Democrats, as well as Republicans, consider the Constitution a "quaint" and inconvenient limitation on the power and scope of magesterial authority. In short, we will be ruled by a King, with fewer checks upon him than King George III.

I don't believe I can stand for that. How about you?

Bill Moyers talks Impeachment

Bill Moyers Journal . Tough Talk on Impeachment | PBS: "Bill Moyers gets perspective on the role of impeachment in American political life from Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and THE NATION's John Nichols, author of THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT."

This is actually a huge resource, with a ton of related stories and a link to video of the program, and transcribts for those who prefer text.

Have you blogged about impeachment today? Don't you think you should?

Honk to Impeach: July 4th!

PRESS RELEASE / PSA




July 4: Honk to Impeach!

Americans celebrate July 4 as a day of patriotism, but the true spirit of July 4 has been lost. After all, July 4, 1776 was the day our Founding Fathers declared the American Revolution against King George.

So let's use this July 4 to declare our independence from King George W - and let's make some noise!

Local impeachment activists report great success holding signs at busy intersections that say "HONK TO IMPEACH!" Most of the drivers who pass these signs are delighted to honk - which makes them happy and makes our activists happy too. Best of all, the drivers and pedestrians discover how much support there is for impeachment - something they never knew because the Corporate Media won't tell them or even conduct a poll. Here's a great report from Bob Feuer of Great Barrington, Mass: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/honktoimpeach-1

July 4 is an excellent day to "HONK TO IMPEACH" because there's already lots of noise from fireworks and people are relaxed. So here's our plan:

1. Check your local community calendar for the fireworks celebration near you, and note the time and main parking location.
2. Pick an intersection outside the entrance where all the cars will come and go. Visit that intersection if you can to see how the traffic flows and pick the safest spot to stand.
3. Add a marker for your intersection's location to our ImpeachMap at http://www.communitywalk.com/impeach. Be sure to include the time, exact location, and your contact info in your marker description, and use the category "Honk to Impeach"
4. Click the Share/Export link on the ImpeachMap to e-mail it to your friends, get a link to it, or embed it in your blog, website, or profile.
5. Bring signs that say "HONK TO IMPEACH" and "Text IMPEACH to 30644" (see below) and bring extra sign paper and magic markers if more activists show up. Or make a large banner like the one in this video. Or bring the big I-M-P-E-A-C-H letters you used on A28. Bring wooden stakes and staples to make carrying easier. Bring American flags and Uncle Sam outfits to capture the July 4 spirit. Try this sign: "BE A PATRIOT: HONK TO IMPEACH CHENEY AND BUSH"
6. Bring cameras and then upload your photos/videos and publish your reports on ImpeachSpace:
   http://www.impeachspace.com/
7. Keep building our nationwide movement by scheduling a weekly "HONK TO IMPEACH" in front of your local media outlets and Congressional district offices, and post it to our ImpeachMap at http://www.communitywalk.com/impeach

Why hold a sign saying "Text IMPEACH to 30644"? Because we've invented a great new way to enlist more impeachment activists, especially younger people who use their cellphones for text messaging. When they text "IMPEACH" to 30644 they are prompted to enter their e-mail addresses so we can connect them with all the impeachment work we're doing, both nationally and locally. This way the HONK TO IMPEACH events will actually grow the movement.

July 4 will be the launch of the HONK TO IMPEACH movement nationwide this summer. People who have already tried it report a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement and we encourage you to make this a regular (e.g. weekly) event. If you decide to do so, please update your markers on the ImpeachMap following July 4 with whatever location and time you choose for your weekly honkathon. If you need any help, just e-mail me at jacob@a28.org.

Of course moving cars are dangerous so please put safety first. Here are more detailed instructions and tips:
http://www.democrats.com/july-4-honk-to-impeach

When Push Comes To Shove

Without Impeachment................George Bush Skates

by buhdydharma

George Bush leaves the White House for the last time. The ranch in Crawford is sold and Texas is nearly instantaneously overgrown with brush. George moves back to Kennebunkport (why bother going to Paraguay?) and the payoffs he couldn't hide as President begin to roll in. Knowing the arrogance of the man, his ghostwritten book intended to seal his legacy as a Great War President follows shortly.

In the meantime, Iraq is still raging, Afghanistan is still an unholy mess and Darfur is still ignored...and Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind 9/11 is still free. These are now no longer Bush's problem. It is now Hillary's problem, or Barack's problem, or Edward's problem. As is the destroyed economy, the destroyed environment......and the destroyed [American Government rendered ineffective] and littered with Neo-con and Fundy moles.

The post goes on to explain what will happen "inside the beltway," but even now, what goes on in Washington is becoming conditionally irrelevant.

There are so very many frustrating issues that are of significant importance to the various States and local governments that have gone un-addressed for so long that state legislatures are starting to seriously wonder about their addictions to federal dollars.

One extremely interesting case in point; New Jersey rejects Sex-Ed dollars from the federal government on frankly state's rights and individual rights grounds.

new guidelines would require the state to follow all sections, "including one that teaches that monogamous marriage is the only expected standard and that sex outside of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects." A state official had this to say:

Monogamy is not a bad idea, but having the government of New Jersey dictate these things for families is not something we wish to do. It isn't the function of state government to create standards (for sexual activity).

There's growing rebellion regarding the Department of Education and No Child Left Behind - led by that reddest of all red states, Utah.

On Monday, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. fired the first shot in what may become a national rebellion against the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Resisting intense veto pressure from President Bush and federal regulators, Huntsman signed into law a bill that will prioritize Utah's own educational goals over the mandates of the federal act. To preserve its freedom to chart the future of its schools, the Beehive State, Huntsman signaled, is willing to say no to Washington's money.

Increasingly, the various states see that adminstration policies conflict with State polices, and that federal regulatory maneuvering is being used to delay or override laws and policies States find to be reasonable and prudent. From Emissions Standards to Sex Education to Medicaid to NCLB, the states have increasingly decided to go to the mattresses.

"Our message to federal officials: Give up your unfunded mandates or give us the money. Live up to the law's promise. Show us flexibility or show us the money. We begin this federal court battle today – before spending one cent on illegal unfunded mandates this fiscal year. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. Again and again, in letters and meetings, the federal government has rejected our repeated waiver requests unreasonably and arbitrarily. This mindless rigidity harms our taxpayers, but most of all, our children, who are robbed of resources in their classrooms. We will not dumb down our tests – as the federal education officials suggested – or divert money from critical existing educational programs."

"As Education Commissioner, if I believed that the $8 million cost of adding additional tests in grades three, five and seven was educationally beneficial to Connecticut's students, I'd be the first one in line advocating for the expense," Sternberg said. "The cost, however, is not worth the questionable educational benefit. After multiple failed attempts to obtain a mutually agreeable resolution to our reasonable, research-based requests, it is time to seek resolution in another forum – the courts."

And then there's the crisis with the National Guard:

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire watched the events unfold in Kansas, remembering her own worries from 2006.

At the beginning of last summer's wildfire season, she was attending a meeting with other governors from the Northwest. She had a big problem, Gregoire told them. Parts of her state were a tinderbox because of drought. Key segments of Washington's National Guard had deployed to Iraq. And the units that were left—the ones that would be called up to respond in the event of fast-spreading fires—were facing such severe equipment shortages that they sometimes struggled even to adequately train for disasters, let alone respond to them. "I soon discovered that virtually all of the other governors were in the same position," Gregoire recalled.

Not long after that meeting, all 50 U.S. governors—the commanders in chief of their states' National Guards—signed a letter to President Bush imploring him to immediately begin reoutfitting their depleted National Guards. But little changed, and the Guard now has only 56 percent of its required equipment, the lowest level in nearly six years, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The tug of war between the president and the governors over the National Guard seems to heat up every time there is a national emergency. But how much of the rhetoric is simply the finger-pointing and power-jockeying of politics and how much is a frank assessment of how prepared the Guard would be in the event of a catastrophic domestic emergency, be it a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina or a terrorist assault on the scale of the Sept. 11 attacks?

"The problem with the National Guard is not being exaggerated or overstated," said Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, a Virginia-based national security think tank. "It is very real, and it is a very big deal."

It seems obvious to me that responsible State governments must already be in the planning stages to create state emergency response teams that cannot be federalized. State militias, in other words.

New York City - responding to the obvious massive intelligence failures from Federal Authorities who apparently see it as an entirely dispensable target filled with Godless Liberals, have gone even further, creating their own offices of counter-terrorism which do not depend on the political winds of fortune.

Terrorism experts applaud the city's approach in part because of this comprehensive nature. That reflects a growing consensus among security analysts that five years after 9/11, the United States must readjust its thinking and behavior in the fight against terror: It should not only continue to implement on-the-ground security measures, they say, but it should also reaffirm and cultivate bedrock American values that could counterbalance terrorist efforts.

"In the final analysis, our security is not going to be a matter of barriers and bollards and electronic surveillance or keeping shampoo from carry-on luggage," says terrorism expert Brian Jenkins, who created the terrorism unit at RAND Corp. more than 30 years ago. "It is really going to be found in our own courage and our continuing commitment to our own values and the rule of law - our sense of community, our tolerance, our historic traditions of self-reliance and resilience."

That spirit of self-reliance is what motivated New York to create its unique counter terrorism and intelligence units within the police department, as well as to post detectives in 10 different countries.

A suspicious-minded person might wonder if the misuse of the National Guard might in fact be deliberate policy, to make it impossible for states to resist Federal Government takeovers "in case of national emergency," such as a declaration of martial law. (In such a case, martial law would properly be administered by the State's Guard Units - but they do have to be capable of insisting on that point, and it's apparent that Bush would prefer them to be unable to do so.

The other hot-button issue between the governors and the president regarding the National Guard involves the Insurrection Act, the law that governs when the National Guard can be "federalized" for domestic law enforcement without the consent of a governor. A 2006 revision to the act expanded the president's power to assume control of the Guard during domestic events, something that governors say threatens to derail state disaster planning and response. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.), co-chairmen of the Senate National Guard Caucus, have introduced a bill to repeal the changes.

Combine that with revisions of the Posse Comatatus Act of 1878 and the Insurrection Act permitting the federal government to use federal troops or to essentially conscript National Guard units and Ready Reserve units from other states to "suppress domestic unrest" and you have the foundation for the possibility for the federal government to simply take over any state (such as, say, California) by fiat, at least on paper. As Iraq demonstrates, in practice, millage may vary.

And a very significant question remains untested; what happens if there actually comes a time when the President - Bush, or an administration or two down the line - decides to test the resolve of the Governors. What happens when and if the State Guard refuses to comply with the president's orders?

For that matter, there's a more dangerous "what if;" what if the governer caves but a significant minority or even a passive plurality of a state or region's citizens decide to resist a federal occupation?

The root of the problem is that the federal government's bi-partisan disdain for the Constitution, the rule of law and the will of the people, no better symbolized than by Nancy Pelosi's refusal to consider several and various Bills of Impeachment that are the manifestation of huge popular distrust and discontent.

Dave Lindorff: Co-Sponsors for Cheney Impeachment Bill: They Think ...

It remains to be seen whether more members of the House will sign on to Kucinich's bill, or whether other representatives will add new bills of impeachment ... www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/985 - 27k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Daily Kos: New Mexico Legislature to get impeachment bill

Pass the impeachment bill in New Mexico, but do not make an effort to get it before the U.S. House -- yet. Pass it in a substantial number of states (my ... www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/12/14726/1248 - 237k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Kucinich to Sponsor Impeach Cheney Bill - CommonDreams.org Politics

Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) filed a bill of impeachment against President Bush in December of last year, just as the 109th Congress was about to end, ... www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/20/652/ - 81k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Hillary Clinton Proclaims Bill's Impeachment Off Limits ...

33 Responses to “Hillary Clinton Proclaims Bill’s Impeachment Off Limits”. wardmama4 February 26th, 2007 at 1:34 pm. What an insane logic - make this topic ... sweetness-light.com/archive/hillary-clinton-proclaims-bills-impeachment-off-limits - 56k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Rep. McKinney's floor statement on the impeachment of George W ...

MCKINNEY'S FULL REMARKS ON BUSH IMPEACHMENT BILL. By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor and National Correspondent (December 08, 2006) ... www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/16230 - 84k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

This Can't Be Happening!

They could be submitted as bills of impeachment and voted on by the House Judiciary Committee and by the full Congress tomorrow, if there was the will to do ... www.thiscantbehappening.net/2007.05.01_arch.html - 172k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

One Citizen's Bill of Impeachment Activism

One Citizen's Bill of Impeachment. by STUART MARKOFF. A DECLARATION OF DIVORCE FROM, AND IMPEACHMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THESE UNITED STATES CURRENTLY IN ... baltimorechronicle.com/2006/101906MARKOFF.html - 5k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Two States Bills of Impeachment Possible. « Last Bastion of Reason

Two States Bills of Impeachment Possible. Finally, some states with balls are doing the work that we expect from our Congressmen and Senators. ... www.lastbastionofreason.com/2006/03/29/two-states-bills-of-impeachment-possible/ - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

2007-2008 Bill 3194: Impeachment procedures - www.scstatehouse.net ...

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World ... 1895, RELATING TO IMPEACHMENT OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS OF ... www.scstatehouse.net/sess117_2007-2008/bills/3194.htm - 20k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

I think it's pretty clear that this is a litmus test issue for the American People in general; that there is widespread discontent with "government and politics as usual" and that our representatives had damn well better take that discontent as seriously as it merits, returning us to the rule of law, or face an American People who hold all federal officials, elected or otherwise, in utter contempt.

We may recall where that led us in 1776 - with lower levels of public discontent and less direct threat to the practical liberties of ordinary citizens. Google "Causes of the Revolutionary War" if you are a little shaky on the history of that completely avoidable conflict.

Let's take Viral Reality into the so called Real World.

Things Your Media Momma Didn't Tell You - Free Market News Network

The fact that most Americans oppose the war in Iraq, and want the president impeached, is testimony to the native intelligence and common sense of the citizens of this nation.

It sure isn't thanks to the quality of the news we're getting here in America.!

Here are some of the things you don't know if you just depend on the corporate media for your information:

The author, Dave Lindorff goes on to bullet point ten critical stories you never heard about from the mainstream media. YOU probably know about one or more, but your neighbor probably does NOT know about any of them. Go read them for yourself and then forward this link to every friend you have. Why this link? Well, because I have some terribly subversive ideas.

Now that you know about this, you see, as either a Citizen of the United States or as someone with a legitimate concern about what sort of threat this nation could become in the hands of an overt dictatorship, you have an affirmative duty to do something. Therefore, the question, "but what can I do" arises.

The thing that needs to be done is to get these truths off the net and into the wild, bypassing corporate, mainstream media. It could be as simple as printing out a hundred copies of the original story and pinning it to every bulletin board in town, or stuffing a copy under the door of every neighbor in your apartment complex.

You could do something as simple as wearing a T-Shirt, and being willing and able to answer the questions it provokes. To help with that, you could print out business or index cards with the URLS of reliable news sources on the web. (You might tape said cards to libarary terminals and leave bunches at your local cybercafe.) It's good to wear any relevant T-Shirt, but it's better to make your own for this issue.

Why? Because that's a sneaky way of getting the message out there. The MORE t-shirts out there with the same general keywords, and the more services they appear on, the better. You are addressing a whole group of people online who may not think much about politics in the ordinary run - but if an idea hits the front page of a T-shrt site, some small fraction of them WILL start thinking about it.

The same statistical approach applies to wearing that shirt. Hundreds of people will see it if you live, work and play in an urban area; perhaps even more. And, should you be somehow harassed in a newsworthy way for wearing it, that's pure gold - something like that probably WILL be covered in local and even national media.

You could go to zazzle.com, (link to my store) create a postcard or note-card with all the information you'd like, order ten or so, and start passing them out or mailing them to friends. Each one would have the url so that people could buy more to pass out or send to all the snail-mail addresses they have. (I'll add an example later - but if you have any artistic or writing talent, you should create your own. Once you have, please blog about it and link back to this article)

I've got a small selection of free-for-use images you could grab right away and use to make shirts and I'll be putting together a few more. and linking to them here. The one you see here links to the set and, just incidentally, works pretty well for items like buttons and cards.

If you like, you can find it at my zazzle store.

Misleader in Red by webcarve

Get this custom button at Zazzle

As you can see, it overlays really well, and will probably work a lot better using a grainy, low-contrast image of your own choosing.

Another Bush "longtime friend" in trouble

Every time I hear that phraise now, I cringe.

The White House continued to back Gonzales, a fellow Texan and longtime friend of Bush. "The president supports the attorney general," White House spokeswoman Nicole Guillemard said Sunday. She said the White House does not believe Gonzales' statements were inconsistent with what his calendar showed.

Touchingly, she was wearing a pin featuring the Easter Bunny at the time. No, not actually. It was the Tooth Fairy.

Former prosecutors John McKay in Seattle and David Iglesias in New Mexico both said they were rebuked in private conversations for not pursuing Democrats in their states more aggressively in election-year investigations. "It is troubling, connecting those political dots," Iglesias said.

Bud Cummins, who was replaced as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Ark., by a Karl Rove protegee, acknowledged political appointees can be fired for no reason.

"But in this case it looks like that authority was delegated down through (former White House counsel) Harriet Miers, Karl Rove, Judge Gonzales and all the way down to a bunch of 35-year-old kids who got in a room together and tried to decide who was most loyal to the president," Cummins said.

Just to remind you, this is the second blatant crook that has held the AG slot. For the next Senate confirmation hearing, I think the "friendship" litmus test should be applied. If you have known GWB for years, and are a Bush Loyalist in spite of that, ... don't let the door hit your ass on the way out of the hearing room.

As for the prosecutors who were not fired... hm. Maybe we should look into that. Oh, and the operations of the FBI, to see how much political activity they have gotten into, following up on leads provided by Illegal NSA wiretaps of, well, who knows? Of course, that's the beauty of warrentless wiretapping. No embarrassing paperwork.

So let's just assume that Bush has wiretapped all political enemies, real and imagined and impeach from that point.

tag: alberto gonzolez, Bush Cronies, US attorney, wiretapping, impeach, political prosecutions, High Crimes and Misdemenors

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tag: Impeach, impeach the president, t-shirts, stickers, buttons,

Impeach - the commodity

I have said for years and years now - if you want to know what people are talking about - look at who's trying to make money selling "conversation starters."

Here's the results of a cafepress search for "Impeach."

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Lynzi's CafePress Shop products available: 7	Get your official photograph of President G W Bush products available: 19
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Anti-Bush Last Day products available: 73	Lynzi's CafePress Shop products available: 42