Marcy Winograd posted a report on AfterDowningStreet.org about a meeting Chairman Waxman held with an impeachment delegation in his Los Angeles office on August 7:
Only six months ago, Congressman Waxman ruled out impeachment, this time he indicated he would go forward with an open mind, all the while praising participants for their passion and urging them to lobby the members of the House Judiciary Committee.
What do you think we've been doing for 7 months, Chairman Waxman? We don't need to be told who to contact, we know who to contact. We've been imploring Democrats to start Impeachment hearings, but they won't. We've asked them by phone. By email. By fax. On blogs, and face to face in Congressional offices coast to coast. We've begged them politely, we've begged them with barely restrained fury, we've begged them to enforce the Constitution in every pleading, imploring, respectful form of communication imaginable.
We're doing everything we can to end this Bush/Cheney rampage against the Constitution, Chairman Waxman. Can you say the same?
In response to the pleas of the 14 Impeachment activists in the meeting:
Waxman insisted that a successful impeachment trial would necessitate strong and convincing evidence to persuade both Democrats and Republicans that high crimes had been committed. In the next breath, Waxman recited a litany of Bush and Cheney's crimes, everything from the Iraq war to the outing of a CIA agent to illegal wiretapping. "You sound like you are delivering the opening argument for an impeachment trial," said Winograd. With good humor, Waxman nodded and smiled.
With all due respect, Chairman Waxman, I'm not sure what there is to smile about. Never in more than two-centuries of American politics have so many pathological liars, abusers of power, brazen hypocrites, and brutally ignorant White House hacks created such a hellish mess of corruption, squalor, and betrayal. Never in the history of American warfare has there been such a mind-numbing fiasco as this bloodbath in Iraq. Never in the span of 43 presidencies has there been such a threat to American democracy as George W. Bush.
Your caution about Impeachment is not warranted, Chairman Waxman. When he was advised by politicians to be cautious and non-confrontational as a bloody war and a lying president from Texas destroyed the faith of Americans in their government, Martin Luther King Jr replied, "If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight."
We have been dragged down a long, dark, and shameful corridor of time, Democrats. We've endured seven years worth of shame, thank you very much. You were handed control of Congress last January, but you have squandered the power you were given. Because of your unreasoning fear of Mr. 25 Percent, this shameful corridor of time we're trapped in is not getting lighter, it's getting darker and bloodier with every day that passes.
There will be no escape without Impeachment. An entire nation has been shamed and disgraced by a criminal president and vice-president, Chairman Waxman. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are dead. Our Constitution has been shredded, our laws have been broken, our government has been corrupted, our Treasury has been plundered, our Army has been shattered, and Democrats just send letters as George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney destroy our democracy with a smirk and a sneer.
40 years ago, Dr. King spoke truth to power on behalf of a suffering nation, until an assassin silenced him. But his determination and moral courage still live on in the hearts of every American who cherishes justice. We've been speaking truth to power for years, Chairman Waxman, so we deserve more from you than a smile and a suggestion to call the House Judiciary Committee.
Do determination and moral courage still exist in the hearts of Congressional Democrats, Chairman Waxman? If so, I suggest you all start demonstrating some when you return to Capitol Hill in September. If you don't summon the determination and moral courage to Impeach, these Bush White House assassins of American democracy are going to silence the Constitution forever.