This morning, I sent out my email letter to my Senators and Representative requesting that the Congress work only on a very few specific issues dealing with Katrina, Iraq, Plame, Able Danger, and impeachment.
I am a "diary virgin" after lurking for a long time and finally joining up as an actual user some weeks back. Be kind and failing that, at least be constructive.
The letter follows after the fold.
Honorable Senator/Representative :
I write this message out of a deep and deepening concern for our country and the direction it is heading. In accordance with my concern and extending the Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) H.R. 505 regarding investigation of the WHIG, I have several thoughts about what the Congress of the U. S. should be working on and conversely, what it should not be working on as well. Here is the list, in no particular order:
1. Meaningful and full relief for the still desperate situation of the folks hit by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.
2. Pushing for a real plan for our troops to be removed from Iraq, along with real plans for the Iraqis to effectively run their own country, police force, and army. This should include having the United Nations and/or NATO provide a coalition to support a peaceful transition. Of course, it also means that any permanent base(s) the U. S. are manning, building, and/or planning need to be abandoned.
3. Pushing for and actually receiving a full and transparent accounting into the manipulation, cherry-picking, spinning, concealing, withholding, and any other "irregularities" of the pre-war intelligence on WMD and Al-Queda in Iraq that (mis)led both the Congress and the U. S. citizens to overwhelmingly grant the "use of force" in Iraq. In other words, the "Phase II" of the current investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee must be finished in a transparent, quick, and non-partisan manner. This must also include a thorough investigation into all of the various committees, groups, and organizations within and with connections to the executive branch such as WHIG, OSP, and PNAC, and all their members that were likely involved.
4. Pushing for Congressional investigation into the outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Wilson. This should be done in conjunction and cooperatively with U. S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation that has already resulted in the indictment of I. Lewis Libby, the former Chief of Staff to Richard Cheney.
5. Pushing for Congressional investigation into the "Able Danger" information about 9/11 being ignored and/or suppressed.
6. Stopping all other business except for essential government services:
a. No nominations will be considered, including the nomination of Samuel Alito for the SCOTUS. I would also like the Congress to suspend all nominations from the Bush administration, including any recess appointments that try to slip by over the upcoming holiday recesses.
b. Accepting NO AMENDMENTS to budget bills or any other bill that cannot be filibustered or otherwise blocked because of their fundamental essentialness to the running of the government.
If all of the work above is completed and it leads to the incontrovertible evidence that the Bush administration willfully and with forethought lied to both the citizenry and the Congress of these United States, there is one and only one action that is available and it is to bring impeachment proceedings against the POTUS and/or the VPOTUS for what surely is a "high crime" against the U. S. A.
In summary, there is no more important work that this to begin restoring our faith in our government's ability to lead, handle challenges, and keep us safe as well as protect others from our current wanton disregard for human rights and every other international law and agreement we have signed (eg: the Geneva conventions for treatment of prisoners).
Thank you for your time and service to this country.