Whither the impeachment movement? By Carol Wolman

[Demeter]

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_carol_wo_071011_whither_the_impeachm.htm


Many in the impeachment movement are suffering from burnout. It's been a long haul these past 6 ½ years, and we're all tired, impoverished by Bushonomics, discouraged by the endless war and rumors of war. Yet we can’t stop fighting for truth and justice; the stakes are too high. The very future of life on the planet hangs in the balance.

We have to take stock of the current situation and decide on the best strategy. How should the impeachment movement allocate energy at this point? We need a strategy that’s focused, peaceful and legal, so as not to provoke repression, and potentially effective. Here's how I see things right now: the country is still in limbo, hasn’t yet succumbed to fascism, thanks to our efforts and the efforts of many like-minded people around the US. The power struggle between the Bush/Cheney dictatorship and the rule of We the People under the US Constitution continues, and the outcome is far from certain...The Bush/Cheney gang of criminals have apparently made several attempts recently to mount a false flag operation, or attack Iran, or both. They are looking for an excuse to suspend the Constitution and establish martial law. Their efforts have failed, because alert, loyal, patriotic Americans have pulled the plug. There was a lot of buzz that something would happen over Labor Day weekend. Whatever was planned was aborted by three brave airmen who leaked the story of the illegal transport of nukes. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/marine_nuclear_B52_070904w/#Scene_1
There's another story making the rounds- www.english.pravda.ru/opinion/feedback/20-09-2007/97410-american_spy_satellite
We know there's a struggle within the American military over whether to attack Iran. The story goes that the group which opposes reportedly shot down a master satellite over Peru last week, a satellite which was to coordinate a nuclear attack on Iran. The attack was thwarted. The satellite impacted in the Andes and was reported as a meteorite, but the crater is far too large, and the people in the area appear to have radiation poisoning. (I've been told that the source of this story, Sorcha Faal, is a disinformation agent who writes in Pravda to confuse American bloggers, but I don't see why Bush/Cheney would want such a story put out.)






It's been clear to me for months that our attention needs to focus on the 2008 Congressional elections. Most of Congress needs to be replaced, starting with Pelosi. Cindy Sheehan is challenging her and intends to win. I'm challenging Mike Thompson in CA District 1, and encouraging Carol Brouillet to take on Anna Eshoo again. We need a new broom coalition for a clean sweep of Congress...This is well worth doing. Cindy Sheehan points out that the new Congress convenes two weeks before Bush/Cheney leave office, and a determined group could impeach during that time. Also, Bush and Cheney can be impeached after they leave office, stripped of their benefits, and made to face criminal charges. I believe the job now of the impeachment movement is to keep the focus on impeachment, and make it the main issue of the 2008 Congressional campaign. This can be done by finding good, viable candidates, of any party, who will challenge incumbents in both the primary and the general elections on the issue of impeachment.

As the current Congress sees that we are serious, they will get more serious about impeachment, in an effort to save their seats. The whole climate of the country will change if we can mount and coordinate a strong challenge to incumbents who are keeping impeachment off the table.
If We the People control the House of Representatives, we can block war funding no matter who is president, and no matter what the Senate makeup is. The House has the power of the purse.
If we control the House, we can block any law that weakens environmental protection, weakens regulation of food and drugs, any law which diminishes funding for education and health and public welfare. We may not be able to get our agenda done, but at least we can prevent further harm. We can start to redirect federal money to domestic priorities, and cut the military budget.

Winning the House for We the People is difficult, but not impossible. It means bypassing the two major parties, which many people want to do. Progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans can challenge incumbents in the primaries, with Greens, other third party members, and independents following up in November. All of us can form a new broom coalition that transcends party lines, with the goal of sweeping Congress of corporate and Bush/Cheney influences and restoring it to its true function, upholding the Constitution and serving We the People.

We don’t need a majority. All we need is a bloc of votes in the House big enough to prevent either Democrats or Republicans from getting a majority. Fifty seats would be plenty. We would function as a caucus, across party lines.





Peace, Carol Wolman

CoChair, Impeach Bush-Cheney

Green candidate for Congress CA District 1


Authors Website: http://voteCarolWolmanforCongress.com

Authors Bio: Carol S. Wolman, MD is a psychiatrist in Northern California. A lifelong peace activist, she has written extensively on the psychology of our times. She is actively working to impeach Bush and Cheney, and suggests you join or form a local group at http://impeachbush.meetup.com/ She ran for Congress as a nonpartisan write-in candidate in CA district 1, and is a coordinator of The Longhouse Coalition.

[Demeter]

1. Kick for the weekend!