Impeachment Summit

On February 17th and 18th, Impeach for Peace (IfP) co-sponsored the National Impeachment Summit in New York City. I (Jodin Morey) joined prominent figures in the movement (Laura Flanders, Ramsey Clark, Cindy Sheehan, etc.) and representatives from various organizations (World Can't Wait, After Downing Street, Code Pink, PDA, the Green Party, National Lawyers Guild, 911 Truth, etc.) to discuss impeachment.

There were many workshops offered during the summit, some simultaneously, so I was not able to attend all of them. I have grouped them into three categories: reasons for impeachment, strategies for impeachment, and post-impeachment plans. Since everyone reading this is well aware of the reasons for impeachment (http://impeachforpeace.org/evidence), I won't belabor that point. The most valuable results from the summit came from the discussions on strategy. The session covering the last category, post-impeachment, I found to be unproductive.

Here are some important strategies that were presented by representatives of the various organizations, including the 6 projects that the summit organizers agreed to pursue together. WCW brought to the discussion the importance of mass public mobilization, which will pressure our media and congress people to consider impeachment (video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDb9soswDCo). Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General and long-time activist brought to the summit a wealth of knowledge and a useful historical perspective (video of Clark's speech: http://impeachforpeace.org/impeach_bush_blog/?p=251).

Laura Flanders relayed details about a protest that had occurred the week before in Vicenza, Italy in which 100,000 people took to the streets against the Bush regime's policies. While I was encouraged by the international support for our movement that Laura's speech revealed, my overwhelming feeling was disappointment over our nation's inability to mobilize this kind of resistance.

My experience in working with impeachment organizations has included divisive interactions. During my workshop on impeachment strategies, I tried to set what I felt were healthy ground-rules for cooperative interactions within the impeachment movement. I have seen organizers criticize each other's projects and have seen the subsequent fractures within the impeachment community. I also discussed how each of the co-sponsoring organizations has a different framework that has led them to impeachment. Inherent in those differing frameworks, is the potential for disagreement. This includes disagreeing on where we go after impeachment. I then went on to express how we need to be focusing on our common goal of impeachment instead of these differences which are irrelavent to our immediate task. I also spoke about the need to support everyone's projects, even the ones we don't think are necessarily effective. I drew on the analogy of an avalanche, how no snowflake feels responsible. My point was that we should all be humble about our place in the movement because no one knows what might turn the tide and initiate proceedings.

Someone in the workshop mentioned a technique for securing a meeting with your representative. They described how after a number of failed attempts, they decided to have their local impeachment-friendly church set up an appointment with the representative. This proved to be successful.

One of the benefits of leading the workshop was the opportunity to present my pet project, the Do-It-Yourself Impeachment. I won't go into all the details here except to say that the DIY Impeachment is the only way an individual citizen can directly initiate the impeachment process. Details and an entertaining video can be found at:
http://impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html

The other presenter, Ron Fischer, of ACERSNow.org presented his "Progressive Action Plan to Replace President Bush and Others [with Well-Qualified Candidates] Now." He presented a comprehensive plan for using the legal system to hold the Bush regime accountable. His plan had a level of detail, including the definition of particular legal terms that I have not seen anywhere else. He described how to use impeachment by way of grand jury. For more information go to:
http://ACERSNow.org

We also discussed other strategies for impeachment including the state-by-state method, pressuring representatives, protesting in the streets, and others.

David Swanson offered a well-reasoned and strategic framing of the current status of the impeachment movement. He provided useful impeachment talking point that can be found at:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=taxonomy/term/17
He discussed the importance of pressuring the media to get the word out about impeachment.

I attended a media group workshop led by David. He brought up the idea of local organizers holding an editorial board meeting for members of the press in their area. One purpose would be to educate the press by giving them polls in support of impeachment as well as information on the impeachment process. Another would be to let them know that the local organization is a resource for the latest local impeachment news. Because local impeachment events often have national significance, but local groups don't often have the ability to get a story out to the national media, it was suggested that the national media group (whose formation was proposed by David) be a clearinghouse to which local organizations could send their impeachment news.

I contributed information on how to get impeachment news marketed on the web. It was discussed that news that has a sensational aspect to it, tends to get more coverage. It was also discussed that "flash mobs" (protests that come together and disassemble instantaneously as a result of a text message or e-mail) aren't necessarily a great idea. They are often touted as a good way to avoid a police presence, but this may not be a beneficial strategy. A police presence brings valuable media attention. Another problem is that you limit your number of participants.

Jonathan Tasini, former senate candidate and organizer for PDA, spoke about how impeachment would be politically advantageous to any candidate or party who embraces it, and therefore can be used to draw in Republicans.

Dan Dewalt, the citizen who initiated the impeachment resolutions in Vermont, described his success and offered advice for those in other states seeking to do the same.

Mike Zmolek, former legislative aid for Cynthia McKinney, discussed the difficulty in convincing members of the House of Representatives to pursue impeachment given the political nightmare McKinney endured after she introduced to the U.S. House an impeachment resolution late last year.

Many organizers organizations are supporting a boycott from April 15 to 22 of major chain stores in an effort to pressure "the system" to end the war and impeaching Bush. To find out more go to:
http://wearenotbuyingit.org

There were six common impeachment projects that were agreed upon by many of the impeachment organizations. They were:
1. March on the Pentagon to demand impeachment and an end to the war, March 17. More info:
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3870&Itemid=223

2. Gather fifty prominent Americans for a press conference on the Capitol Steps to demand impeachment.

3. Hold Town Hall Meetings across the country, modeled after the Vermont Town Meetings. Another idea was to hold tribunals or impeachment debates. For an example see:
http://www.492cafe.org/audio/events/2006_04_27-bush_crimes/

4. Organize a bus tour from Washington DC to college campuses across the country. For more information see:
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3838&Itemid=40

5. Develop artistic projects to accompany the recently launched "Bush is Over" campaign. This is modeled after the "War is Over" ad campaign created by John Lennon during the Vietnam War. There was a Newsweek poll that found that 58 percent of Americans wish Bush's presidency were over. For more information go to:
http://bushisover.org

6. Hold local impeachment events across the country on April 28, including assembling crowds to spell "IMPEACH!" For more information go to:
http://a28.org

The final session of the conference explored the differing views on what should follow the defunct Bush regime: remaking the country with a progressive democratic, green or communist framework. I felt that discussing the ways in which the various organizational frameworks differ distracts us from our common cause. Once impeachment has occurred, we can revisit the basis for continued cooperation.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood gave a rousing speech comparing the impending impeachment to the anticipated liberation felt by African Americans during the anti-slavery movement. (video: http://impeachforpeace.org/impeach_bush_blog/?p=250). The audience erupted in response to the energy and joy with which Rev. Yearwood presented his vision of liberation from the Bush administration. They clapped, shouted, shook their fists and jumped up and down. The inspiration reminded me of speeches given by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The experience made me conclude that our movement could use more inspirational moments. It also reinforced the value of including fun in our impeachment events to sustain us through this process.