Update
As further proof of the power of, well, us, when I wrote this, towards the bottom I noted the signature tally at 84,107.
It is now 84,511 @ 8:54P EST. A few hundred might not seem like a lot but consider over the course of hours and days. You do the math.
Update II
I worked all day and am finally sitting down to eat dinner and relax. I'm going to call it a night, personally, but if you manage to get this on the rec'd list, let me thank you now and if not, as long as this helps drive home the message that we can have a strong impact, than I consider it a success regardless.
Have a good night!
It's not often that I write diaries and usually when I do, they're pretty atypical of my approach to politics: feh, meh, what can I do as an individual, all wrapped up in a healthy dose of liberal snark.
That changed a little bit today since I noticed several diaries over the last couple days regarding Wexler's website asking for signatures to his petition for/to hold(ing) impeachment hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney.
It started with a diary the other day looking for 10,000 signatures. Then there was a flurry, a few which I will name and link here.
Friday, Dec. 14th: Wexler calls for Impeachment Hearings (Sign up!)
Following the release of an online op-ed advocating for Cheney impeachment hearings by Representatives Robert Wexler (D-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), all Members of the House Judiciary Committee, Wexler has launched an ambitious online effort to mobilize support for immediate impeachment hearings for Vice President Dick Cheney. Wexler, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, has launched www.WexlerWantsHearings.com to mobilize grass roots and netroots
Sunday, Dec. 16th: Updated: Wexler Impeachment Petition Tops 67,000 Sigs
In just two days a massive amount of people have responded to the Wexler Wants Hearings petition Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) have put forth calling for immediate hearings on the impeachment of V.P. Dick Cheney.
And the numbers continue to rise at a fast, steady pace.
Today, Monday Dec. 17th: Wexler Hits 50,000 Impeach Sigs in One Day, Going for Half-Million
(UPDATE, NOW 80,000)
It's not being reported in the corporate media, which also refused to publish an opinion piece penned by six-term Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). But a whopping 50,000 people responded in just one day to Rep. Wexler's call for people to sign his on-line petition supporting an immediate start to hearings on Rep. Dennis Kucinich's Cheney Impeachment bill (H Res 799). Among the corporate media refusing to publish the piece by three U.S. congressmen are the NY Times, the L.A. Times, and the Washington Post.
What I want to point out first is the next couple of paragraphs from that last diary.
As of Sunday morning, 54,000 people had signed the petition at WexlerWantsHearings.com calling for action now. Names are being added at a rate of one every one or two seconds.
Wexler has said he wanted at least 50,000 signatures. But why stop there? If people get behind this, and if the impeachment movement spreads the word, he could easily get closer to 500,000 signatures over the next few days.
And if each of us were to send out a call to sign to ten of our friends, then we'd have half a million...
Think about this for a minute. Wexler puts out the call to get 50,000 signatures. Diaries here and probably elsewhere put out the call and the signatures begin to swell. I alone published on my own website three separate posts today alone just tracking today's signature collection while at work and within a short time.
What I noticed?
Just to further illustrate the speed with which people are signing up, at 3:12 pm today, there were 79,819 signatures.
As I reload the site as I write this (which is being overloaded by visitors clogging the tubes just to get there) the current count is 81,089.
That's 1,270 new signatures in 1 hour and 21 minutes by my clock as it's 4:33 pm where I am.
It is now 8:12PM EST, by my clock and checking Wexler's website, the current signature tally is 84107. So from 3:12p to now, 4288 people signed onto the petition. We'll call it 5 hours.
If we really pushed this around the clock, put this on our blogs, emailed our friends and family, at this rate, it's possible to achieve probably around 20,000 signatures a day. That's if we can really push this hard and far.
Suffice to say, I was not only surprised by the movement I saw on this today, despite the other very important issue today regarding FISA and retroactive immunity for telecoms, but admirable to the response to the call and my hope is we can continue this trend. And with the FISA bill tabled until after January, it leaves a little breathing room for some good old fashioned netroots action.
What say you? - Join Congressman Wexler's Call For Cheney Impeachment Hearings