We've Opened the Door, How Do We Keep It Open? Original article and tons and tons more can be found at:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/35070
Submitted by davidswanson on Sun, 2008-07-27 12:55.

• Activism
• Impeachment

By David Swanson

Your hard work has resulted in Congress cracking open the door to impeachment, justice, and peace. How can you keep it open?

A lot of us have our own favorite impeachable offenses - mine is the Iraq war - but a lot of them are not about to go anywhere in Congress. The impeachable offenses that appear to have the most traction among congress members (i.e. very little) are:

1. The numerous violations of laws combined with the announcement of the intention to violate those laws through signing statements. (I say it in this longwinded way, because just abbreviating it to "signing statements" allows people to pretend to miss the point.)

2. The numerous refusals to comply with requests, subpoenas, and contempt citations.

It has always been predictable, and predicted, that these would have the most traction (because nonpartisan, non-controversial, no congressional complicity, no investigation needed, clearcut and simple), and it has become clear that - as predicted - they DO in fact have the most traction.

We'd all LOVE to nail these fascist bastards for our favorite offenses, but we'd also all HATE for them to get off scott free, thereby establishing a precedent for future presidents; and when they nailed Al Capone for tax fraud everybody understood exactly why they'd done so.

What is needed is pressure on every member of Congress to themselves pressure Conyers, including by signing Wexler's letter at http://wexlerwantshearings.com So, please call your Representative every day at (202) 224-3121, focus on the issues that have the most traction, and urge them to ask Conyers to hold a real impeachment hearing. Remember that in an impeachment hearing the excuse of "executive privilege" is not allowed. A subpoena must simply be obeyed or those who refuse to obey it can be impeached.

Of secondary value is trying to get your Representative to introduce new articles of impeachment or new resolutions calling for impeachment hearings. So, any lengthy communications with your Rep should include that ask.

The third most important thing to do is to contact media outlets and urge them to cover impeachment, and contact polling companies and urge them to poll on impeachment.

The fourth most important thing to do is to support pro-impeachment candidates for Congress and make certain the incumbents know about it. Don't just send a check. First send a photocopy of it to the incumbent letting them know why they aren't getting one.

Now is the time to move on this with everything we've got. We've opened the door and must not allow it to close again.

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