Yes, it's another diary about impeachment. To be honest, I have my doubts about why we should bother at this point, especially since Bush/Cheney's days in office are numbered.
But today, an event held in Highland Park, Illinois left me with little doubt about why we must call for impeachment.
Please join me below to read why.
On Sunday, September 9th at the stroke of 12:00 p.m., the free speech corner in Highland Park, Illinois was filled with 50-60 people, all listening intently to a town crier's "Hear ye, hear ye!" call & ringing bell. Sponsored by the North Shore Women for Peace, our town crier read out a review of the rights & responsibilities of American citizens as set forth in the Constitution of the United States & called for us to "Impeach the President & Vice President" for defying the U.S. Constitution & U.S. laws:
1. by deceiving Congress, the media, & the American public about the reasons for going to war in Iraq;
2. by secret spying on Americans without search warrants or judicial review;
3. by claiming presidential authority to detain indefinitely anyone, including U.S. citizens, as 'enemy combatants' without charge, without counsel, & without the right of habeas corpus;
4. by the torture & abuse of military detainees in Guantanamo, Iraq, & Afghanistan;
5. by covert abduction of detainees to secret prisons in other countries to be interrogated through torture;
6. by undermining the Constitutional separation of powers by changing hundreds of Congressional laws with 'signing statements,' & acting in defiance of Congressional subpoenas;
7. by abusing presidential power in keeping secret their actions from legislative, judicial, & public scrutiny.
Jed Stone, a criminal defense lawyer in Waukegan & frequent lecturer on criminal law, constitutional issues, & expert on impeachment, spoke next. In the first minute of his speech, he had already answered the question of "Why bother?"
Mr. Stone said, "If we were to ask the most conservative of conservatives whether someone should be held responsible for their misconduct, what do you think their answer would be? Of course, they'd say 'Yes!'" (Try asking that question to people you know who oppose impeachment.) And so, shouldn't the president & vice president of our country also be held responsible for their misconduct to our people, our country, & our world?
Mr. Stone went on to say that each one of the seven reasons (listed above) is a compelling reason to impeach. Collectively, they present an overwhelming case for impeachment & for us to say, "Enough is enough!"
So where do we go from here? As Mr. Stone pointed out, many times events like the one held today end up preaching to the choir. He reminded us about the teach-in against the war at the University of Michigan in March, 1965 when only 75 people showed up. A few years later, over one million people marched in Washington, D.C. against the war.
What is, is up to us. It's up to us to take these seven (or more!) reasons with us to work, to church, to school -- wherever we go -- to talk about them with everyone. We must continue to call/write our congresspeople. If they ignore us, we must call/write them again.
We must educate people about the misconducts of our president & vice president. We must teach impeachment. This is what democracy is. We are democracy.
The "IMPEACH!" sign will remain at the Free Speech Corner in Highland Park for one month. It's conveniently by the train tracks so that many commuters will see it every time they pass.