|
|
|
|
|
|
Quote of the Day |
"It just seems like people are panicking.
I don't think it's going to be too bad." |
~ James Ivery, an Alexandria, Va., resident, on a massive snowstorm headed to Washington that is expected to dump 30 in. or more; many supermarkets are running out of basic food items.
|
|
| Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!! |
View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message
|
| Arrgy |
 Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 1:22 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
 |
|
Weed Whacker
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 21163
Location: Obama Nation! |
This was great news to me...
Yesterday, Congressman John Conyers delivered 560,000 petition signatures to the White House—including more than 360,000 from MoveOn members—demanding that President Bush address smoking-gun evidence of deception in the Downing Street Memos.1
After holding nearly four hours of hearings about the Downing Street Memos on Capitol Hill, the Congressman went over to The White House accompanied by a dozen leading Democrats. They marched solemnly towards The White House gate as swarms of media clicked, filmed and shouted questions. As they approached the gate to White House grounds a lone, young Bush staffer met the delegation—he literally trembled when Conyers said they had come to deliver the signatures of 560,000 Americans demanding the truth about Iraq. The White House staff refused Conyers entrance to see the president but accepted the petitions.
MoveOn members made a huge difference here—shooting up the number of petition signers at a critical time in the drive to bring attention to the Downing Street Memos.
And thanks in part to your pressure and Congressman Conyers' high profile hearings andpetition delivery, the media has finally begun to cover the scandalous Downing Street Memos—we counted 1,600 news stories in Google today. The Seattle Times, Denver Post, Boston Globe, CNN, ABC and hundreds of other media outlets have been forced to report on the memos.2
Howard Kurtz, media columnist for The Washington Post, wrote about the surging coverage of the Downing Street Memos, noting that:
A wide range of critics, including the ombudsmen of the NYT and WP, says the press bobbled the ball on the Downing Street Memo. The memo may not be the slam-dunk about the Bush administration fixing intelligence that its supporters believe—the British author cites no specifics as proof—but it was a newsworthy and provocative development, as the press is belatedly realizing.3
Now the press is taking notice because they couldn't ignore it anymore.
You played a big role here. Thanks so much for everything you do.
–Tom, Matt, Justin, Micayla and the MoveOn PAC Team
Friday, June 17th, 2005
Sources:
1. "Bush pressed to answer 'Downing Street Memo' questions," Associated Press, June 16, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=750
2. Google News search for 'Downing Street Memo'
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=751
3. "Backlash on the Left," The Washington Post, June 15, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=752
Also...
We're doing it! The banners and signs of ImpeachBush.org were on prominent display yesterday on the doorstep of the White House as Congressman Conyers and hundreds of others rallied outside of the White House to denounce Bush's pattern of lies and deceit. Photos of ImpeachBush.org banners were picked up all over the mass media last night. The tide is turning. Bush is scrambling to "explain" Iraq to a population that is turning against the administration and its lies and criminal conduct. We are going to turn up the heat in the months ahead.
June 16 - John Conyers
Help us take the next steps by making the most generous contribution you can today. Click here for access to the online donation form and the secure server, where you can also get information to write a check.
The grassroots movement for impeachment has made itself into a force too powerful to ignore. Yesterday (June 16) Congressman John Conyers held a hearing at the Capitol followed by a rally at the White House demanding the Bush Administration answer the questions raised by the Downing Street Memorandum.
It is hardly news to those who have been working to demand impeachment of Bush and other officials of the administration for High Crimes and Misdemeanors that the administration lied to the people of the United States in their pre-planned and duplicitous rush to war. But for the politicians and media who have tried to ignore the plain reality of this criminal conduct, the truth is becoming unavoidable. The hearing was broadcast coast to coast by Pacifica radio, which also invited a representative from ImpeachBush.org to provide commentary on the impact of the Downing Street Memo as evidence of impeachable offenses.
June 16 - Maxine Waters
The response to the September 24 mobilization in the last few days has been incredible. People in big cities, small towns and every place in between are telling us that they want to be part of and help support this massive demonstration in Washington D.C. It will be the action of the people at the grassroots that will make everything else move forward. This is what led to the eventual expose and resignation of Nixon three decades ago. The people move first, then the elected officials and the media can't help but take notice.
_________________
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.
Albert Einstein
I want to be Robin Hood but I can't |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| Croze |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 1:37 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
tRiCkStEr
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 24888
Location: Motown
 |
Just got this in my inbox as well. Warm fuzzies all around!
_________________
"I'm getting too old for this scary shit"
~Indian Bob
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Draconis |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 2:28 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
tRiCkStEr
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 11435
Age: 41  Leo
Location: San Jose, Ca.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Arrgy |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:18 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
Weed Whacker
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 21163
Location: Obama Nation! |
He has an uphill battle with those emboldened bastards on the hill. They are doing everything to silence him.
Was his forum ever televised on C-SPAN?
_________________
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.
Albert Einstein
I want to be Robin Hood but I can't |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Anomalous Howard |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:23 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
High Flier
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 5140
Location: Taurus/Littrow |
Yeah!
Impeach that ass.
Once they start digging, there will be no end to what they find.
_________________
Expect Resistance,
The future is unwritten. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Joyful |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 9:02 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
High Flier
Joined: 17 May 2005
Posts: 3009
Age: 56  Gemini |
It's about time!!!!
_________________
"In His presence is fullness of joy." JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND SAVIOR!
  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Indiamoss |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 10:23 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
High Flier
Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 3085
Location: By the Big Apple |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| the gardener |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 10:25 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
tRiCkStEr
Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 11044 |
He's a few thousand daze late and a few billion dollars short but-
right arm dude! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Crow Woman |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 10:26 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 24829
Location: Obamalot
|
I feel on the verge!!!
Go Conyers!
Go Conyers!
Go Conyers!
_________________
~We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For~
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Hecate100 |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 11:01 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
High Flier
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 4325
Age: 42 Gemini
Location: Wherever I go, there I am
|
I admit I was overcome with joy at hearing people say "impeachment" so boldly during the DSM hearings. We're closer than ever to roasting these bastards!
Conyers is DA MAN!!!!
_________________
Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. -- Thomas Paine
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Croze |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 11:08 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
tRiCkStEr
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 24888
Location: Motown
|
You can always send him a note of thanks & support:
http://www.house.gov/conyers/
 
_________________
"I'm getting too old for this scary shit"
~Indian Bob
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| unibonger |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 11:12 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
Airborne
Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 1960
Location: Hemptown, Cannabis County |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/16/AR2005061601570.html
Democrats Play House To Rally Against the War
By Dana Milbank
Friday, June 17, 2005; Page A06
In the Capitol basement yesterday, long-suffering House Democrats took a trip to the land of make-believe.
They pretended a small conference room was the Judiciary Committee hearing room, draping white linens over folding tables to make them look like witness tables and bringing in cardboard name tags and extra flags to make the whole thing look official.
Rep. John Conyers Jr., center, and other Democrats held a mock Judiciary Committee hearing as a protest against the war in Iraq.
Rep. John Conyers Jr., center, and other Democrats held a mock Judiciary Committee hearing as a protest against the war in Iraq. (By Pablo Martinez Monsivais -- Associated Press)
Suggest a Sketch
What scenes of Washington politics would you like Dana Milbank to write about? E-mail your suggestions of people, places or events -- along with your name and hometown to Sketch@washpost.com.
Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) banged a large wooden gavel and got the other lawmakers to call him "Mr. Chairman." He liked that so much that he started calling himself "the chairman" and spouted other chairmanly phrases, such as "unanimous consent" and "without objection so ordered." The dress-up game looked realistic enough on C-SPAN, so two dozen more Democrats came downstairs to play along.
The session was a mock impeachment inquiry over the Iraq war. As luck would have it, all four of the witnesses agreed that President Bush lied to the nation and was guilty of high crimes -- and that a British memo on "fixed" intelligence that surfaced last month was the smoking gun equivalent to the Watergate tapes. Conyers was having so much fun that he ignored aides' entreaties to end the session.
"At the next hearing," he told his colleagues, "we could use a little subpoena power." That brought the house down.
As Conyers and his hearty band of playmates know, subpoena power and other perks of a real committee are but a fantasy unless Democrats can regain the majority in the House. But that's only one of the obstacles they're up against as they try to convince America that the "Downing Street Memo" is important.
A search of the congressional record yesterday found that of the 535 members of Congress, only one -- Conyers -- had mentioned the memo on the floor of either chamber. House Democratic leaders did not join in Conyers's session, and Senate Democrats, who have the power to hold such events in real committee rooms, have not troubled themselves.
The hearing was only nominally about the Downing Street Memo and its assertion that in the summer of 2002 Bush was already determined to go to war and was making the intelligence fit his case. Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador whose wife was outed as a CIA operative, barely mentioned the memo in his opening statement. Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq, said the memo "only confirms what I already suspected."
No matter: The lawmakers and the witnesses saw this as a chance to rally against the war. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) proclaimed it "one of the biggest scandals in the history of this country." Conyers said the memos "establish a prima facie case of going to war under false pretenses." Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) concluded that "the time has come to get out" of Iraq.
The session took an awkward turn when witness Ray McGovern, a former intelligence analyst, declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration "neocons" so "the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world." He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation," McGovern said. "The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic."
Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), who prompted the question by wondering whether the true war motive was Iraq's threat to Israel, thanked McGovern for his "candid answer."
At Democratic headquarters, where an overflow crowd watched the hearing on television, activists handed out documents repeating two accusations -- that an Israeli company had warning of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and that there was an "insider trading scam" on 9/11 -- that previously has been used to suggest Israel was behind the attacks.
The event organizer, Democrats.com, distributed stickers saying "Bush lied/100,000 people died." One man's T-shirt proclaimed, "Whether you like Bush or not, he's still an incompetent liar," while a large poster of Uncle Sam announced: "Got kids? I want yours for cannon fodder."
Conyers's firm hand on the gavel could not prevent something of a free-for-all; at one point, a former State Department worker rose from the audience to propose criminal charges against Bush officials. Early in the hearing, somebody accidentally turned off the lights; later, a witness knocked down a flag. Matters were even worse at Democratic headquarters, where the C-SPAN feed ended after just an hour, causing the activists to groan and one to shout "Conspiracy!"
The glitches and the antiwar theatrics proved something of a distraction from the message the organizers aimed to deliver: that for the Bush White House, as lawyer John C. Bonifaz put it, the British memo is "the equivalent to the revelation that there was a taping system in the Nixon White House."
Of course, Democrats controlled the real committees back then -- though Conyers was not deterred. "We have a lot of work to do as a result of this first panel," he told his colleagues. " 'Tis the beginning of our work."
And Conyers rebuttal
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Congressman_Conyers_hammers_the_Washington_Posts_D_0617.html
Congressman Conyers hammers the Washington Post's Dana Milbank
RAW STORY
The following letter was carbon-copied to RAW STORY.
#
June 17, 2005
Mr. Michael Abramowitz, National Editor; Mr. Michael Getler, Ombudsman; Mr. Dana Milbank; The Washington Post, 1150 15th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20071
Dear Sirs:
I write to express my profound disappointment with Dana Milbank's June 17 report, "Democrats Play House to Rally Against the War," which purports to describe a Democratic hearing I chaired in the Capitol yesterday. In sum, the piece cherry-picks some facts, manufactures others out of whole cloth, and does a disservice to some 30 members of Congress who persevered under difficult circumstances, not of our own making, to examine a very serious subject: whether the American people were deliberately misled in the lead up to war. The fact that this was the Post's only coverage of this event makes the journalistic shortcomings in this piece even more egregious.
In an inaccurate piece of reporting that typifies the article, Milbank implies that one of the obstacles the Members in the meeting have is that "only one" member has mentioned the Downing Street Minutes on the floor of either the House or Senate. This is not only incorrect but misleading. In fact, just yesterday, the Senate Democratic Leader, Harry Reid, mentioned it on the Senate floor. Senator Boxer talked at some length about it at the recent confirmation hearing for the Ambassador to Iraq. The House Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi, recently signed on to my letter, along with 121 other Democrats asking for answers about the memo. This information is not difficult to find either. For example, the Reid speech was the subject of an AP wire service report posted on the Washington Post website with the headline "Democrats Cite Downing Street Memo in Bolton Fight". Other similar mistakes, mischaracterizations and cheap shots are littered throughout the article.
The article begins with an especially mean and nasty tone, claiming that House Democrats "pretended" a small conference was the Judiciary Committee hearing room and deriding the decor of the room. Milbank fails to share with his readers one essential fact: the reason the hearing was held in that room, an important piece of context. Despite the fact that a number of other suitable rooms were available in the Capitol and House office buildings, Republicans declined my request for each and every one of them. Milbank could have written about the perseverance of many of my colleagues in the face of such adverse circumstances, but declined to do so. Milbank also ignores the critical fact picked up by the AP, CNN and other newsletters that at the very moment the hearing was scheduled to begin, the Republican Leadership scheduled an almost unprecedented number of 11 consecutive floor votes, making it next to impossible for most Members to participate in the first hour and one half of the hearing.
In what can only be described as a deliberate effort to discredit the entire hearing, Milbank quotes one of the witnesses as making an anti-semitic assertion and further describes anti-semitic literature that was being handed out in the overflow room for the event. First, let me be clear: I consider myself to be friend and supporter of Israel and there were a number of other staunchly pro-Israel members who were in attendance at the hearing. I do not agree with, support, or condone any comments asserting Israeli control over U.S. policy, and I find any allegation that Israel is trying to dominate the world or had anything to do with the September 11 tragedy disgusting and offensive.
That said, to give such emphasis to 100 seconds of a 3 hour and five minute hearing that included the powerful and sad testimony (hardly mentioned by Milbank) of a woman who lost her son in the Iraq war and now feels lied to as a result of the Downing Street Minutes, is incredibly misleading. Many, many different pamphlets were being passed out at the overflow room, including pamphlets about getting out of the Iraq war and anti-Central American Free Trade Agreement, and it is puzzling why Milbank saw fit to only mention the one he did.
In a typically derisive and uninformed passage, Milbank makes much of other lawmakers calling me "Mr. Chairman" and says I liked it so much that I used "chairmanly phrases." Milbank may not know that I was the Chairman of the House Government Operations Committee from 1988 to 1994. By protocol and tradition in the House, once you have been a Chairman you are always referred to as such. Thus, there was nothing unusual about my being referred to as Mr. Chairman.
To administer his coup-de-grace, Milbank literally makes up another cheap shot that I "was having so much fun that [I] ignored aides' entreaties to end the session." This did not occur. None of my aides offered entreaties to end the session and I have no idea where Milbank gets that information. The hearing certainly ran longer than expected, but that was because so many Members of Congress persevered under very difficult circumstances to attend, and I thought - given that - the least I could do was allow them to say their piece. That is called courtesy, not "fun."
By the way, the "Downing Street Memo" is actually the minutes of a British cabinet meeting. In the meeting, British officials - having just met with their American counterparts - describe their discussions with such counterparts. I mention this because that basic piece of context, a simple description of the memo, is found nowhere in Milbank's article.
The fact that I and my fellow Democrats had to stuff a hearing into a room the size of a large closet to hold a hearing on an important issue shouldn't make us the object of ridicule. In my opinion, the ridicule should be placed in two places: first, at the feet of Republicans who are so afraid to discuss ideas and facts that they try to sabotage our efforts to do so; and second, on Dana Milbank and the Washington Post, who do not feel the need to give serious coverage on a serious hearing about a serious matter-whether more than 1700 Americans have died because of a deliberate lie. Milbank may disagree, but the Post certainly owed its readers some coverage of that viewpoint.
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Croze |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 11:28 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
tRiCkStEr
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 24888
Location: Motown
|
Dear Representative Conyers,
I wanted to thank you for your courage & tenacity in this matter. I am so proud of you and your Herculean effort to bring this horrific crime to the light of day. Sir, you are a warrior!
Among the signatures you took to the White House was mine.
Keep fighting the good fight! You are in my prayers!
Yours truly,
xxxx xxxxxxxxx [croze]
_________________
"I'm getting too old for this scary shit"
~Indian Bob
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Crow Woman |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 11:32 am Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
Site Admin
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 24829
Location: Obamalot
|
Most excellent Croze!!
_________________
~We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For~
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Chaiyah |
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 12:18 pm Post subject: Conyers going forward with impeachment...YEA!!!
Description: |
|
|
Amethyst
Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 25365
|
Where there is life, there is hope.
My prayers go with Representative Conyers.
He is doing the Creator's work--to bring infamy, perfidy and crime to an end in the US Federal Leadership.
Godspeed.
_________________
"You are a child of the Universe no less than the trees and the grass. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should" Desiderata |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
  |
Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next |
Page 1 of 3 |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
 
|
|
