Mike Michaud signs on, support for impeachment grows.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this in my email this morning:

Maine Congressman Mike Michaud calls for impeachment hearings!!

On December 21, Maine Congressman Michael Michaud sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers requesting that the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begin impeachment hearings of Vice President Cheney.

This is a very big development and one of the reasons 15,000 of us signed the MaineImpeach petition.

Mainers have been pushing our two Congressman to support impeachment of Dick Cheney and George W Bush for months now and it is great that our efforts have begun to pay off.

You can call Mike Michaud to say thanks at one of the following numbers:

Rep. Michaud's Lewiston office -  207- 782-3704

Rep. Michaud's Bangor office - 207- 942-6935

Rep. Michaud's DC offce - 202-225-6306

If you are in Maine, or even if you're not, please call Congressman Tom Allen's office and ask him to support impeachment as well.  Mainers have already sent him petitions, rallied in Portland and gone to his office to voice their concerns, but so far Allen has refused to support impeachment even though he has admitted that he believes the Bush administration has committed impeachable offenses.  

But he is currently trailing in the polls for his Senate run against Susan Collins.  The last one I saw had him down 20 points.  Michaud and Collins are both from the Northern part of Maine which tends to be more rural and conservative.  Michaud's seat is not in jeopardy, and if he is supporting impeachment in the conservative part of the state, Tom Allen should be in no danger by doing so either.  It could be just the thing to separate him in the voter's minds from the Bush-enabling Susan Collins.

You can call Tom Allen at:

Portland Office - 207-774-5019

DC Office- 202-225-6116

And if you haven't seen Congressman Wexler's efforts to start impeachmnet investigations, you can add your name to his petition here.  179,000 citizens so far and counting.

Keep the pressure on and throw the bums out!

•  He's a Blue Dog, too.

  by ablington on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 08:53:49 AM PDT

  •  I haven't always been thrilled....

    with his votes and I've got into it with his staffers before on a couple of issues, but in recent months he really has taken a stand against the Bush administration, and it hasn't seemed to hurt him a bit in his fairly conservative district.  I'm actullay pretty amazed that he was willing to take this stand when the very liberal Allen still refuses.

    I'm glad to see him standing up, and I gotta give credit where credit is due.  

    by cometman on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 08:58:53 AM PDT

    •  I was surprised

      and pleased to see him take this stand!  

      by EJP in Maine on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:04:10 AM PDT

    •  He walks the line well for his district

      He is definitely conservative on some issues, but has been good about being on the right side of the big issue, de-funding the war in Iraq, committing to a decent streak of "no" votes over the last couple of years.   He also seems to be receptive to learning both sides of issues, and in this case, much credit goes to MaineImpeach who took the time to organize signatures and undergo a successful dialogue with him over the last year.  

      He's not perfect, but will also give him much credit - he's taking an popular position with his constituents, while going against the pressure of the Beltway thinkers in his party.

      by crodri on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:17:02 AM PDT

      •  He does seem to try and walk....

        a fine line.  I'm don't know if that is because he bought into the beltway 'wisdom' that anything that looks like criticism of Bush would hurt him in his conservative district, or because he really believed in some of the things he was voting for.

        But lately he seems to be figuring out that the beltway crowd don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, and has been much more critical of the Bush administration.

        by cometman on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:31:41 AM PDT

        •  He is a work in progress...

          Despite his shortcomings, it is encouraging that he is willing to change his mind on issues.  If this is a sign that he responds well to logically-presented arguments done in a polite respectful manner, then there's no end to his potential.  Now we should figure out what Tom Allen's objections are and address those...

          by crodri on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 10:04:05 AM PDT

        •  I think

          he's pretty lockstep in his beliefs. For what it's worth, he ran against a pro-choice Republican and won in 2002 and underperformed largely because of skepticism on his pro-life views.

          I vacation in the Maine 2nd and have friends there. It's a very moderate district, very skeptical of the far left and far right. Before Michaud and Baldacci, the district was represented by Senator Snowe. Snowe pretty much fits in this district. It usually votes the way the independents do, and recently that's been Democratic.

          The irony is there are some issues where this district is WAY off to the left and right on. It's about as right-wing on immigration as parts of Orange County, California and as left-wing on the Iraq war (and war in general) as maybe Seattle.

          by nrafter530 on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 11:54:19 PM PDT

•  Impeachment hearings on Cheney

  are realistic, "doable" and necessary.  This will not distract or hurt Democratic electoral politics.  We need this for the country and the constitution.

  They have to get this stuff out in the open.  So support Wexler.  Pressure Conyers and tell Pelosi her table will have some docoration soon.

  by dogheaven on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:00:42 AM PDT

  •  If anyone wants to put the pressure....

    on Pelosi, Conyers or their own Congressperson just call the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to talk to your representative.

    If anyone has the toll free number handy, feel free to post that too.

    by cometman on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:11:31 AM PDT

  •  Absolutely,

    What's more, I believe the Country as a whole is missing the significance of what the Chairmen of the 9-11 Commission said in their NYT editorial.  They said that perhaps the most important congressional investigation in history was obstructed.  

    For the rest of history, if we do not stand up now and demand a special prosecutor into the broad issue of obstruction of the investigation, then we will not be able to trust the conclusions of the 9-11 Commission.  How can we allow this?  How much did we spend on that?

    Basically the Commission was obstructed from the beginning in a hundred different ways and as everyone who can do something tends to do with this administration, the Commissioners let it happen.

    Now what do they have for all that work?  Nothing unless they and everyone else that cares about this Country demands a thorough and impartial investigation.  I believe that would result in the impeachment and detention of many people.  Better not close Guantanamo too quickly.

    by philipogog on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:39:58 AM PDT

•  Yes there is still time to impeach.

  The length of time for impeachment depends primarily if not entirely on the investigation time. Impeachment proceedings take time but they are priviledged and can get to the head of the line of other bills.

  So it is only the time for the hearings and the investigatl.ion that consumes the most time. Since there are several books out there that have already complied the evidence for impeachment, on charges beyond the three that Kucinich has offered to get impeachment started, the Judicial Committee hearings could be completed within 2 to 3 months max with the House voting on it within a week.

  Thus, the trial in the Senate could begin as early as April.

  If Democrats continue to keep impeachment off the table, then the Democratic candidates should have the heat turned up on them by being asked to go on record the if they were elected whether or not they would order the Justice department to begin an investigation into criminal charges against Bush and Cheney.

  by Gregory Wonderwheel on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:19:08 AM PDT

  •  If they delay impeachment hearings.....

    the Democrats could end up with egg on their faces once again.

    Remember several weeks ago when Kucinich brought up the issue and the Dems got played as the republicans voted to support Kucinich?  Well, noone seems to particularly care for W or Cheney and support for impeachment is already pretty high among the general public despite the fact that the corporate media has barely mentioned the issue.  If things start to look really bad for the republicans for the 2008 elections, it would not surprise me to see them push for impeachment so they can paint the Dems as weaklings who won't stand up for the rule of law.

    It would be hypocritical as hell, but that's never stopped them before.

    by cometman on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:26:55 AM PDT

•  http://wexlerwantshearings.com

  For heaven's sake, sign up if you haven't already.

  Congressman Robert Wexler:
  "The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens."

  http://wexlerwantshearings.com

  Impeachment is on the table.  Let's make it happen.  Go and sign Wexler's petition, PLEASE, and SPREAD THE WORD.

  by bincbom on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:24:00 AM PDT

  •  binc,

    Add to that list the obstruction of the 9-11 Commission.

    by philipogog on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:42:15 AM PDT

•  Wow

  have never like Michaud much, but -

  way to go, Mike!

  by Debbie in ME on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 09:35:28 AM PDT

  •  Michaud

    is actually pretty lefty, abortion aside.

    He's one of the few who doesn't support any more funds for the war btw.

    by nrafter530 on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 11:27:25 PM PDT

•  I wouldn't be surprised

  if they try to back the GOP into an impeachment corner this year with impending elections and make a campaign issue out of it.

  Nevertheless, I don't expect the GOP to ever back impeachment. I think they've pretty much given up on 2008 and are focusing on 2010, the last national elections before redistricting and the first midterms with the new (probably Democratic) President.

  by nrafter530 on Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 11:26:47 PM PDT