Reps. Conyers and Pelosi,
I write you today with a heavy heart. There was a time when I could
call myself a Democrat proudly, because I truly believed that the
Democratic party stood for the values that I believed in, that is for
equality in justice and opportunity (regardless of social status)
most importantly the ideals that were secured in the Declaration of
Independence and in the Constitution of the United States of America.
We both know fully that what we now call America is the result of a
glorious experiment in social democracy. The ideals enshrined in the
founding documents of our republic are ones that have outlived the
social context of the times in which they were written. Women and
african-americans now enjoy the right to fully participate in
elections, and of course the latter of the two now enjoys (in theory)
equal access to all of the freedoms originally guaranteed only to
whites. This experiment, however, has always teetered on the
precipice. We are, after all, only guaranteed the rights we are
willing to fight for.
Likewise you are well aware of the fact that 'high crimes and
misdemeanors' (i.e., impeachable offenses) were intended to include
political offenses and not necessarily violations of criminal law per
se. Since this is a political season, and one in which your
opponent's party brand is perhaps the weakest in a generation or
more, would it not be politicaly expedient to use this to the
advantage of the Democratic party? At a time when the presidential
candidate of the Republican party is being forced to hold joint
fund raisers with the sitting president in private settings in order
to avoid publicity, would it not be beneficial to force all
Republicans to go on record stating whether or not they personally
endorse some of the most outrageous actions of perhaps the most
unpopular presidency in history?
Perhaps it may not look fruitful at this time to pursue impeachment,
but I would urge you to look at the individual charges, and ask
yourself how many people would be willing to endorse those actions in
an election year when they could be so quickly used against them?
For example, how many Republicans would be willing to endorse the
imprisonment of 10 year old children, and possibly their exposure to
'enhanced interrogation techniques'?
The Republicans have seen fit to virtually shut down congress this
year through an unprecedented number of fillibusters, so how can they
possibly complain about any time lost to the investigation of such
serious actions, especially when ample evidence already exists (re:
FISA, McClellan's testimony, etc.) to support some of the charges.
In fact, I believe your failure to hold the Bush adminstration
accountable for its actions has emboldened the Republicans to pursue
their obstructionist agenda. I by no means imply that all 35 charges
should be pursued, but surely the 5 or so most important charges, ones
that could be covered in the short amount of time remaining, could be
carried forward. Republicans will, of course, cry foul about the use of
impeachment this late in an election year, but you can reply that the
charges are serious enough, and with all the filibustering you couldn't
get anything else done anyway.
I stated in the opening of this letter that I have stopped calling
myself a Democrat, but I have and will always vote my progressive
conscience, and this morning I wrote my first ever check to a
politician. Although Rep. Kucinich does not represent my district, I
am proud to offer him what little support I can manage at this point
in time. I will gladly offer the same to any who dare to step up and
offer a public defense of the Constitution I hold so dear in spite of
whether or not it is politically expedient. As to the future,
whether or not I am able to call myself a Democrat is firmly in
your hands.
Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Here is a link to an article (of course overseas) giving an overview of all 35 counts
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