~ Ellison at his swearing in ceremony (reuters)
Exclusive for ImpeachforPeace.org by Mikael Rudolph
Four members of ImpeachforPeace.org met with the Honorable Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN 5th) in his Minneapolis offices Saturday morning, April 22nd to discuss the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Early in the meeting, Ellison made clear that his opinion hasn’t changed since he introduced a Resolution for the impeachment of President Bush as a Minnesota State Legislator by saying: “Impeachment should be on the table”.
In Washington D.C. attending sessions of Congress during the week, Ellison regularly travels home to be with his wife Kim and four children each weekend, taking some time to meet with his constituents as well.
~ from the Ellison Campaign Website
Running a bit late, Ellison explained that he had just gotten a haircut because he “wanted to look good for our meeting”, turning his head side to side to show off his barber’s work. One member of IFP quipped: “It was well worth the wait”.
As everyone settled into their chairs and the laughter subsided, the mood quickly grew more serious as the topic of Ellison’s vote for the Veterans’ Health & Iraq War Accountability Supplemental was discussed, which some in the local and national peace movement felt was a betrayal of Ellison’s commitment to seeking an immediate end to the Iraq War. A sharply critical letter from an IFP member not present was read and a framed graphic called “The Impeachment Casualty Candle” was set up on the table as a reminder to everyone present of the ultimate price already paid by so many of our troops and the high stakes still facing many American families, not to mention Iraqi families:
~ Graphic courtesy Sgt. Daniel Fearn, “The Impeachment Grunt”
(IFP website reader’s responses to his vote on the ‘Supplemental’ can be found in the comments following this article of March 27th, 2007: War Critic Rep. Ellison (D-MN) Explains ‘Yes’ Vote on War Funding Supplemental)
Ellison heard the criticism and handled it well, acknowledging and empathizing with the frustrations and anger of those who want the war over and our troops home immediately yet he made it clear that many in the Peace Movement had communicated to him that they understood and supported the strategy of confronting and isolating what even the President’s own Intelligence Agencies have identified as failed Iraq policies by passing a bill with a plan to end the war at some point.
Ellison called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who had gathered just enough of a consensus among fellow House Democrats to pass the measure, “a remarkable leader” who is quickly proving herself to be a gifted “cat herder” of the various caucuses in the Democratic Party.
The topic quickly shifted to impeachment, with Rep. Ellison affirming that he is “with the impeachment movement”, yet making clear that in order for him to consider supporting impeachment hearings, the charges spoken into the Congressional Record must be strongly grounded in verifiable facts and evidence as well as understood by and backed by the majority of the American people.
Not eager to be assailed by the radical right’s bevy of partisan media shills as “the poster child for loonie leftists”, Ellison said that the most important thing he and his fellow members of Congress need from constituents is that they “keep the drumbeat up” for impeachment.
Ellison named fellow Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) as “a good friend”, saying “we talk every day” during the week in Washington. With Kucinich reputedly poised to introduce Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney this week, Ellison was measured in his commitment to join Kucinich. He made clear that he was supportive of the idea, but not if it only becomes a symbolic gesture. Ellison is only interested in seeing impeachment proceedings actually becoming a reality.
Stressing that he had not yet seen what specific charges Kucinich is intending to bring up against the Vice President, Ellison, formerly a criminal defense attorney, seemed as committed to guaranteeing the habeas corpus for Cheney that the Vice President regularly denies others.
Looking at his blackberry, Ellison said “maybe I’ll give Dennis a call this weekend”.
Noting that he has an activist’s heart, when asked what efforts and strategies in support of impeachment might be most effective, Ellison suggested sending John Nichol’s book The Genius of Impeachment, which he had read and appreciated, to members of Congress, starting with those on the House Judiciary Committee. ImpeachforPeace.org is listed in Nichol’s book among the resources in Appendix 3, page 209.
Five filled out and signed Do-It-Yourself Impeachment Memorials were given to the Representative. Ellison had not heard of the DIY Impeachment and he was very interested in hearing that the Jefferson’s Manual, which is an integral part of the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, allows for the initiation of articles of impeachment by an individual citizen.
The following Democratic HJC members were identified by Ellison as pivotal “swing” votes who may need a strong and clear message from their constituents and other citizens in order to support any impeachment push:
Hon. Jerrold Nadler
(D) New York, 8th
Hon. Howard L. Berman
(D) California, 28th
Hon. Zoe Lofgren
(D) California, 16th
Hon. Linda T. Sánchez
(D) California, 39th
The 71 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus as well as the 73 Out of Iraq Caucus members are among those more likely to be ready to join Kucinich’ desire to get to the bottom of Vice President and former Halliburton CEO Cheney’s true motivations for pushing for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Cheney’s wishes can be traced back at least as far as 1998 when he was a co-signer of the Project for a New American Century’s document: Rebuilding America’s Defenses.
Many Democrats are in both caucuses, including Rep. Ellison.
The Lies and False Intelligence Leading up to the Invasion of Iraq in March of 2003 will most likely be at the crux of Kucinich’ charges, because there is ample evidence as laid out in the linked article by IFP’s Jodin Morey, but also because the country has grown increasingly unsupportive of President Bush, and distrustful of the reasons we were given as justification for going into Iraq.
As low as Bush’s approval rating has plummeted, Mr. Cheney’s support from the American public has wallowed even deeper.
Asked about the possibility of impeachment actually occuring, Ellison immediately replied “yes, it can work”, but noted that by August all eyes will be looking forward to the next election cycle and by then the window of opportunity for justice and accountability for the Bush Administration may have passed. He made clear that the public must be informed enough to see impeachment as warranted and necessary, but then act on that knowledge by communicating their desires for accountability through impeachment to Congress. This must take place to such a degree that Speaker Pelosi and others have no choice but to honor the wishes of our nation’s citizens and to allow impeachment to go forward.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) of whom Ellison also expressed great respect, was named as being a pivotal figure in deciding whether the numerous investigations of the Bush Administration, now totalling over a hundred, were collectively revealing enough evidence to warrant the initiation of impeachment hearings. Any efforts to inform Rep. Waxman that impeachment is warranted and desired by the American people was encouraged.
Representative Ellison generously gave more than twice the time alloted by his schedulers, but then had to leave to attend an afternoon event one of his children was involved in.
As he drove east on Plymouth Avenue past the IFP members chatting in the parking lot, he beeped the horn on his economy car and waved, eyes remaining forward on the road. Two stickers were affixed to the rear bumper, one an AM950 Air America Radio red, white and blue emblem. The other was green but none of those standing in the parking lot were able to positively identify it as it faded into the distance.
The consensus from the group? Probably ‘a Wellstone’.
[Editor’s note: The Reddit rating on this article has been locked at zero by either hackers or Reddit itself. Test it by clicking the arrow either up or down and refreshing. Whoever is doing this has been doing it to a number of our impeachment-related posts for a couple of months. Within a day or two they release it, but by then dozens, if not hundreds of opinion/votes have been negated. Either Reddit should fix this problem or it will rapidly become apparent that they cannot be trusted as a rating system.]
Fellow Americans:
A very bad thing is happening to our country. Our own B-A-D-D countrymen are witlessly in league with worldwide insanity. I say B-A-D-D to stand for formal and informal fellowships constituting the “Brotherhood of Arrogance, Deception, and Denialâ€.
Very unfortunately, the B-A-D-D is heavily represented in the Bush Administration. And among its supporters, right Vs wrong in politics, religion, and business is regularly subject to B-A-D-D -ly limited habits of perception.
Under Bush’s B-A-D-D leadership, supported by his B-A-D-D political associates in Congress, our soldiers are dying needless deaths, suffering needless wounds, and needlessly taking second place to B-A-D-D political ambitions. And, when allegiance to a political party comes first, it won’t matter how many kids die under B-A-D-D leadership; and peace will not be found, even as the entire biosphere is falling into a “failed stateâ€.
Consequent to B-A-D-D concepts easily hiding in universal customs of thought, confusion regularly forms the heart of B-A-D-D company. And as B-A-D-D motives reach to dominate the world, superior reasoning is too easily upended, on all sides of all conflicts.
Craftily scripted to be spouted in public, the Bush Administration is determined to have darkness taken for light; which is of course, their typically B-A-D-D reaction to truth. The Bush Administration is B-A-D-D to the bone; that is, so long as the bones are those of our soldiers, and not the B-A-D-D bank accounts they really serve.
America is in a state of emergency, and impeachment is vital to our survival. In Congress, the “good†must act for the B-A-D-D to change, or change will come too late! One for all and all for one, dump Bush now, or dump the world through negligence.
Rev., Prof. Gola Wolf Richards, http://www.MottoCitizens.com
Peace people
We love you
K-bear,
You really should try to watch something besides Faux news. It’s been revealed this week (what many of us knew all along) that viewers of this fake news network are the least informed (or most misinformed)citizens in the country.
I know it’s hard to keep up but Npr and Pbs will try to explain the truth more closely if you’ll listen in. No reading required.
Let’s examine the Kumchutcae Berry logic:
EVERYONE ROUNDED UP DURING MILITARY OPERATIONS IS GUILTY.
Once again:
The U.S. military NEVER makes mistakes.
And finally:
Bush is right all the time … ergo sum…
I DON’T HAVE TO EVER USE MY BRAIN FOR ANY REASON… ALL I HAVE TO DO IS OBEY!!!
Perhaps you might consider going back to high school logic and debate… you might learn that you can’t trust everything you read – even if written by a White House press office staff member.
Duh?
Kamchatka Bear…
PLEASE POST AGAIN…
You are the best entertainment on our site!!!
Now let’s review… I suggested a fact-based film entitled: “The Road to Guantanamo”… Kamchatka Bear, who lives in some sort of Orwellian parallel universe to the truth where up is down and war is peace, didn’t bother to see it or even acknowledge my suggestion…
…yet came to immediate conclusions based upon…
ummmmm…
well…
based upon…
umm…
based upon…
(still waiting for a single fact to back up anything posted…)
Kamchatka Bear…
(for the record, I am not name-calling in response to being called a “dolt”.)
Please bring one simple fact to the table… just one…
Are you COINTELPRO? Paid by the Neocons? That would at least explain your intellectual numbness.
Otherwise…PLEASE…
Bring a single new fact to the debate or give it up and go away.
Your lack of intellectual investment is almost O’Reilly-like in its vapidity.
On second thought…
Stick around and let me paste a label to your extended forehead:
“FOR AMUSEMENT PURPOSES ONLY’
“I would like to see everybody that didn’t read the so called patriot act before they passed it…Impeached, spied on,& tortured.
The so called patriot act is UNAMERICAN! ”
so you are no better then the “warmongers” you are debating here… you are worse though because you are proposing it as a punishment to people who exercise their free speech as opposed to us proposing it to people who would rip that freedom from your dead and bloody throat…
“You perfectly clarify the problem in your statement. You pre-judge those that are arrested or detained and assume that they are guilty. The vast majority of those rounded up after 9/11 were tortured for years and then released without charges. Many were conclusively proven to be completely innocent. Do you tend to pre-judge people? Is this acceptable to you? Why do you refuse to grant the same rights to others that you assume for yourself??”
First of all those people were captured during MILITARY OPERATION you dolt. When someone tries to kill you will try to make sure that you don’t pre judge them? hello? any common sense?
Secondly I grew up in a muslim country next to Afganistan… don’t be preaching to me about prejudging militant islamists.
This is disgusting… you guys are like wahhabis. It is your IDEA that you are in love with. IDEA that Bush is wrong, and no logic no facts are sufficient. There is a definition for people like you – religious fanatics!
I would like to see everybody that didn’t read the so called patriot act before they passed it…Impeached, spied on,& tortured.
The so called patriot act is UNAMERICAN!
Much respect, and you have my support because you stand up and fight back.
Impeach. Indict. Try. Convict. Imprison. Execute.
//GENEVA CONVENTION VIOLATIONS = geneva rules apply to foreign nation’s troops, not a bunch of rabid murderers with hateful ideology from multiple countries//
You perfectly clarify the problem in your statement. You pre-judge those that are arrested or detained and assume that they are guilty. The vast majority of those rounded up after 9/11 were tortured for years and then released without charges. Many were conclusively proven to be completely innocent. Do you tend to pre-judge people? Is this acceptable to you? Why do you refuse to grant the same rights to others that you assume for yourself?
I highly recommend the film: “Road to Guantanamo”. Try taking an evening off from drinking the Limbaugh/Hannity/O’Reilly kool-aid and watch it. Careful, you might learn something.
~~~
“terrorist combatants”?
Is that your idea of a new legal term under international law?
Have you ever heard of the term “inalienable rights”?
~~~
Sidebar: Why are you Bush Worshippers all afraid to post with your real names?
This site is spouting the most irresponsible propaganda imaginable. Look at the “evidence” for impeachment under the supposed false reasons for the Iraq war. The president did NOT say that Iraq had bought yellowcake from Niger…but that they SOUGHT to buy it. Check out what he actually said in his State of the Union Address. The highest Iraqi nuclear official met with officials from Niger in 98 or 99…and this is still supported by British intelligence to this day. And Joe Wilson never said that this meeting didnt happen. He only “debunked” phony documents which we knew were phony right away. Those documents were not what the president was basing his statement on. And there were also credible indications that officials from Niger also traveled to Iraq at a later date (after the meeting in 1998).
And all your blathering about Geneva conventions??? Prove to us that terrorist combatants fall under any intelligent interpretation of these accords…and we might go along with it. But they dont…because these men are not fighting for an established army, have no uniforms, hide in civilian populations, and disregard every other part of the accords when it suits them.
The fact that the president according the Iraqi insurgents Geneva protections was a GIFT.
So a Blow Job is a crime?
Jodin,
I am going down the list here…
help me out am I missing something.
ILLEGAL WAR = Robb-Silberman Commission and Senate bipartisan panel both concluded that Bush didn’t lie about the intelligence on Iraq.
ILLEGAL SPYING = spying on people who call AQ is illegal? wow…
GENEVA CONVENTION VIOLATIONS = geneva rules apply to foreign nation’s troops, not a bunch of rabid murderers with hateful ideology from multiple countries
ILLEGAL RELEASE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION = are we talking about that chick who was declassified years ago by a Russian spy and Armitage (sorry for wrong spelling) leaked out? Armitage was against the war and acted out on his own accord..
Mike: First of all, you’re incorrect. No crime need be committed. Only abuse of power. Secondly, bush has committed many crimes, see:
http://impeachforpeace.org/evidence/
“impeachment proceedings against these war criminals”
what are the war crimes?
Until Colin Powell comes forth,and divulges the truth,nothing will be
accomplished.George Bush,and Dick Cheney have shredded the constitution
and made a mockery of our democratic society!
Please initiate impeachment proceedings against these war criminals!!!!
Thank You,
Bud Smith
wow… good job guys. Now you are all huggie with the congressman who is a personal pet for CAIR – terrorist front organization (at this moment CAIR is working on suing the “JOHN DOES” who reported suspicious activity of the “flying imams”). Thank you for letting the rest of us know whose side you are on!
P.S.: Next time you are on the plane and the skinny imams are asking for seat belt extensions while chanting Allah Akbar and demanding to be reassigned evenly all throughtout the plane you’ll know who to thank – CAIR and their personal pet Ellison.
Good job, Mikael, and the others who met with Keith Ellison.
YOu do know a president has to commit a crime to be impeached. Impeachment is when you find someone committing a crime in office and then you try them and if you find them guilty they can be impeached. No Crime no impeachment.
Joshua,
As the writer of this article and one of the four at the meeting, I can assure you, Mr. Ellison can be counted on to continue striving to do the right thing. Trust that he will try to make a difference in whatever way he can, but he, and all our elected officials MUST HEAR FROM AMERICAN CITIZENS or they are paralyzed by a lack of support.
Show Rep. Ellison and all the rest how much you care. Call them today.
Impeach.
Mikael
Dear Jodin and Impeach For Peace,
Really, really outstanding work. Kudos for first being able to meet with Ellison and second for so eloquently making your case for impeachment. He really sounds like he’s “in our corner.”
I excitedly await the moment later this week when we can mobilize the country via email, phone, in-person contact and via the media. It will be very exciting and exhilerating. Thank you all for doing more than your fair share,
Joshua Schulman P.T, World Cant Wait in N.Y.