by Jeff Cohen
Published on Monday, May 16, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
Looking for an easy way to protest Bush foreign policy week after
week? And an easy way to help alleviate global poverty? Buy your
gasoline at Citgo stations.
And tell your friends.
Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only one is a
democracy with a president who was elected on a platform of using
his nation's oil revenue to benefit the poor. The country is Venezuela.
The President is Hugo Chavez. Call him "the Anti-Bush."
Citgo is a U.S. refining and marketing firm that is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Money
you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela -- not Saudi Arabia
or the Middle East. There are 14,000 Citgo gas stations in the
US. (Click here http://www.citgo.com/CITGOLocator/StoreLocator.jsp
to find one near you.) By buying your gasoline at Citgo, you are
contributing to the billions of dollars that Venezuela's democratic
government is using to provide health care, literacy and education,
and subsidized food for the majority of Venezuelans.
Instead of using government to help the rich and the corporate,
as Bush does, Chavez is using the resources and oil revenue of
his government to help the poor in Venezuela. A country with so
much oil wealth shouldn't have 60 percent of its people living
in poverty, earning less than $2 per day. With a mass movement
behind him, Chavez is confronting poverty in Venezuela. That's
why large majorities have consistently backed him in democratic
elections. And why the Bush administration supported an attempted
military coup in 2002 that sought to overthrow Chavez.
So this is the opposite of a boycott. Call it a BUYcott. Spread
the word.
Of course, if you can take mass transit or bike or walk to your
job, you should do so. And we should all work for political changes
that move our country toward a cleaner environment based on renewable
energy. The BUYcott is for those of us who don't have a practical
alternative to filling up our cars.
So get your gas at Citgo. And help fuel a democratic revolution
in Venezuela.
Under the cover of the war on terrorism, President Bush wants
to
spend $10 billion on Star Wars this year. That's enough to provide
health insurance to all uninsured kids in our country.
Could it ever work? Nobody knows. The President is in such a
rush
that the first phase of the Star Wars program can't even be
operationally tested. We have to take it on faith.
If you'd like to send a fax (text below) to your Senators urging
an
end to funding for Star Wars, just click here:
Background on Star Wars: The Bush administration plans to deploy
a
national missile defense system in California and Alaska by September
2004. America's taxpayers have already sunk $130 billion into
this
program, with nothing to show for it. This year's budget request
by
the administration for Star Wars is another $10.2 billion. Thomas
Christie, director of the Pentagon's testing office, has admitted
to
Congress that there is no way to determine whether the system
will
work.
The budget deficit is growing, the war in Iraq is worsening,
and
critical humanitarian programs at home and abroad are being cut.
Nonetheless, President Bush wants to spend over $10 billion this
year
alone on Star Wars-a program that has yet to be tested and would
contribute nothing to our battle against terrorists.
Our country, including our military, has many more pressing needs
than Star Wars, even if it were sure to work.
Please, take a realistic look at our country's priorities and
cut all
funding for Star Wars.
Below is an email I've been sending around that covers most of
what I've been thinking. I've only been on this for a few days
and am
trying to refine the message. I'm leaning towards trying to get
the
media to start interviewing John Bonifaz (see more about him below).
I
had never heard of him before, but apparently he's a very highly
respected lawyer and thinker. I've got a very big list of email
addresses of political activists and friends numbering close to
1400.
Plus another 400 journalists.
If they are writing and emailing Jim Lehrer, Peter Jennings,
Ted Koppel
et al, plus local journalists and TV anchors, there's a chance
we can
start getting Bonifaz some air time. And if we can, at the very
least
it will serve as one more nail in the Neo-Conservative coffin.
I feel like they are sinking fast. Our job is to increase the
speed of
their free fall and cause them to crash on the rocks with such
force
that their ugly heads will never rise again. The term "impeachment"
-
or at least "high crimes and misdemeanors" mentioned
publicly could
speed that descent.
Here's what I've been sending around:
I saw John Bonifaz speak the other evening at the New School
in San
Francisco. He was very compelling. (More about Bonifaz at the
bottom
of this email.)
He presented what I think is a great opportunity to make further
inroads
into defeating Bush.
I'm in the process of writing a letter to urge my Congress people
and
national and local Media people to start discussing the possibility
of
impeachment openly. If not, impeachment than illegal and
unconstitutional activities by the White House, i.e. high crimes
and
misdemeanors.
I believe that if we can get the media to even mention the word
impeachment (or the term "high crimes and misdemeanors")
it will, at the
very least, serve to deepen the crack in White House credibility.
Please let me know what you two think about the idea and the
letter.
"Dear [Ted Koppel or Representative Pelosi]:
I urge you to consider opening a public discussion about White
House
high crimes and misdemeanors.
I believe that the reckless and illegal behavior of a small group
of
Neo-Conservatives has gotten this country into a horrible mess,
potentially even more dangerous than Viet Nam.
I believe they did so by violating the Constitution, by lying
to the
American people, and by sending false documents to Congress to
justify
declaring war.
I suggest that you examine the following:
1.) Is it unconstitutional for a President to declare war? Or,
as the
Constitution states, is Congress the only entity that can do this?
The Founders, I believe, were very explicit about this - ironically,
because they feared a king-like executive who might lie to the
people in
order to wage personal wars.
Congress may have colluded by voting to give up the right to
wage war,
but, nonetheless, was it illegal for Bush to assume that power?
2.) Did the Bush Administration lie and repeatedly and deliberately
mislead Americans about the imminent danger from Iraq?
Serious scholars are beginning to talk about the fact that this
war is
the result of unconstitutional behavior. I urge you to report
on this
discussion of the possibility that high crimes and misdemeanors
caused
America to go to war.
There have been three previous impeachments in the U.S. Andrew
Johnson
for alienating Congress; Nixon (resigning to avoid it) for covering
up a
crime; Clinton for lying about a sexual affair. Lying is an impeachable
offense. Clinton lied. The argument can be made that he was deservedly
impeached.
But no people died as a result of Clinton's lies.
Six hundred plus Americans and thousands of Iraqis have died
as a
result, I believe, of Bush lies. A whole region has been destabilized.
And no end is in sight.
Future scenarios are frightening: if a President can get away
with
lying to the public in order to declare war, what else does he
think he
can get away with?
. Kidnapping a democratically elected President of an independent
country?
. Starting more wars that will kill boys and girls, sons and
daughters?
. Creating a Big Brother society in which the state not only keeps
track of the books we take out of the library, but who we associate
with, who we criticize, etc. (Patriot Act II)?
Perhaps you are uncomfortable using the term "impeachment"
at this time.
But shouldn't you be openly discussing illegal behavior on the
part of
public officials?
Isn't it irresponsible to the future of freedom and democracy
in America
to do otherwise?
Charles Kalish
San Francisco
Some more info about Bonifaz:
John C. Bonifaz is an attorney and author of Warrior-King: The
Case for
Impeaching George W. Bush (NationBooks-NY, January 2004, foreword
by
Rep. John Conyers, Jr.) an accounting of that case and its meaning
for
the United States Constitution. In February and March 2003, Mr.
Bonifaz served as lead counsel for a coalition of US soldiers,
parents
of US soldiers, and Members of Congress (led by Representatives
Conyers
and Kucinich) in a federal lawsuit challenging the authority of
President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld to launch a war against
Iraq
absent a congressional declaration of war or equivalent action.
He is
also the founder of the National Voting Rights Institute.
PRESIDENT ARISTIDE SAYS 'I WAS KIDNAPPED'
'TELL THE WORLD IT IS A COUP'
DemocracyNow! 3/1/04
Multiple sources that just spoke with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide told Democracy Now! that Aristide says he was "kidnapped"
and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember
Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST.
"He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he
said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. She said he
had been threatened by what he called US diplomats. According
to Waters, the diplomats reportedly told the Haitian president
that if he did not leave Haiti, paramilitary leader Guy Philippe
would storm the palace and Aristide would be killed. According
to Waters, Aristide was told by the US that they were withdrawing
Aristide's US security.
TransAfrica founder and close Aristide family friend Randall
Robinson also received a call from the Haitian president early
this morning and confirmed Waters account. Robinson said that
Aristide "emphatically" denied that he had resigned.
"He did not resign," he said. "He was abducted
by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson
says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to
the Haitian president.
Miami riot police fire on protesters outside a
Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting. Authorities made dozens
of arrests. Photo by Alan Diaz.
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
I received a few moments ago an emergency call from Robert
Irminger, a delegatefrom IBU/ILWU to the San Francisco Labor
Council (AFL-CIO) who has been in Miami over the past week at
the anti-FTAA demonstrations.
Brother Irminger called from outside the Miami-Dade County Jail,
where dozens of young protesters are being brutalized by the
police and prison guards. This is the basic information provided
by Brother Irminger, on the basis of reports from activists just
released after posting bond and from some of the legal
observers:
- There were approximately 250 people arrested on Thursday
and Friday at the various anti-FTAA actions. All misdemeanor
arrests were taken to the "PGK" jail (7000 NW 41st St.),
while all
felony arrests were taken to the Miami-Dade County Jail (1320
NW 13th St.)
-Among those arrested was a young African American man, who
was pepper-sprayed directly in the eyes and not allowed to wash
out his eyes at any time.
- A young Hispanic man was clubbed so badly by police batons
he cannot raise his arms or feel any sensation in his fingers.
- The people arrested were all stripped of their clothes and
blasted with pressure hoses every two hours.
- A young woman who was arrested was forced to perform
fellatio on a police officer in the jail.
These are just some of the horror stories that are beginning
to
emerge from the Miami jails. No, this is not Baghdad under
Saddam Hussein. It is the US of A under George Bush and John
Ashcroft.
The arrested activists and their legal team are urging all
supporters of democratic and labor rights to protest this
unconscionable police brutality by the Miami authorities and to
demand that all the charges be dropped.
Please contact the following two people with this protest
message and this demand:
Mr. Alex Penelas
Mayor
Miami-Dade County
Office: 305-375-5071
Mr. Manuel Diaz
Mayor
Miami
Office: 305-250-5300
That is all the information available at this moment. People
can
call Brother Irminger directly to his cell phone no., which is
:
415-637-3671.
Also, information on this police brutality should be posted shortly
to the Indymedia
website.
Thanks for acting promptly in defense of our most basic
democratic rights,
In Solidarity,
Alan Benjamin
OPEIU Local 3 delegate
to SF Labor Council
ILC Support Committee/USA
¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤
MUMIA NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW!
August 22, 2003
We are forwarding the following email on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal,
an African American revolutionary journalist who has been languishing
on death row in Pennsylvania for 21 years. Mumia is known and
loved worldwide as the "voice of the voiceless" because
he has defended the rights of the poor, the oppressed and working
people everywhere. Mumia has supported every anti-war demonstration
and you have probably heard some of his solidarity messages played
at many rallies. Mumia needs the support of all of us as he continues
to fight for his freedom and more immediately, his right to decent
health care. Please read the following information on the critical
health crisis that Mumia is facing right now and respond as quickly
as you can.
FORWARDED: A MESSAGE FROM INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED FAMILY AND
FRIENDS OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
It is with great concern that we report to you that Mumia has
developed a potentially serious health condition affecting his
feet, which have swollen painfully, making him unable to walk.
Mumia suspects it may be due to blood clotting, a situation which
can be very dangerous.
Health conditions are serious matters for prisoners, and blood
clotting can be fatal. Please flood the prison's phone lines and
demand that Mumia be allowed to be examined by an outside doctor
of his choice.
SCI Greene prison: (724) 852-2902
During the Day from 8:00am to 5:00pm, ask for Superintendent
Folino
During the Night, 5:00pm to 8:00am ask for Captain Hall. If gone
during late night, ask for current Shift Director.
In light of Mumia's health condition, please also contact these
elected officials who are supportive of Mumia and ask that they
put pressure on SCI Greene Prison and demand that Mumia be allowed
to be examined by an outside doctor of his choice.
Remind them that even simple health conditions can turn serious
in prison conditions, and that sickness brought about by incarceration
is one of the leading killers of prisoners. Mumia's condition
should be considered very serious until proven otherwise. If the
swelling of his feet is indeed being caused by blood clotting,
this is potentially life threatening situation.
Congressman Chaka Fattah: Go to e-mail form by going to http://www.house.gov/htbin/wrep_findrep
and typing in
4601 Market, Phila, PA 19143-4616 to get to email form.
¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤
Letter from State Senator Rodney Ellis -
Democracy under attack in Texas
August 18, 2003
Dear friends,
I am writing to you from a hotel room in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where I and 10 of my colleagues in the Texas Senate have been
forced to reside for the past 20 days. If we return to our homes,
families, friends, and constituents, the Governor of Texas will
have us arrested.
I know, it sounds more like a banana republic than the dignified
democracy on which we have long prided ourselves. We are effectively
exiled from the state due to our unalterable opposition to a Republican
effort -- pushed by Tom Delay and Karl Rove, and led by Texas
Governor Rick Perry -- that would rewrite the map of Texas Congressional
districts in order to elect at least 5 more Republicans to Congress.
You may not have heard much about the current breakdown in Texas
politics. The Republican power play in California has obscured
the Republican power play in Texas that has forced my colleagues
and me to leave the state.
Recognizing that public pressure is the only thing that can break
the current stalemate, our friends at MoveOn have offered to support
our efforts by sharing this email with you. In it, you will find:
Background information on how the situation in Texas developed;
Analysis of what's at stake for Democrats and the democratic process;
and
How you can help by contacting Texas politicians, signing our
petition, contributing funds, and forwarding this email!
The Republican redistricting effort shatters the tradition of
performing redistricting only once a decade immediately after
the Census -- making redistricting a perpetual partisan process.
It elevates partisan politics above minority voting rights, in
contravention of the federal Voting Rights Act. It intends to
decimate the Democratic party in Texas, and lock in a Republican
majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. And Republican
efforts to force a vote on this issue by changing the rules of
legislative procedure threaten to undermine the rule of law in
Texas.
We do not take lightly our decision to leave the state. It was
the only means left to us under the rules of procedure in Texas
to block this injustice. We are fighting for our principles and
beliefs, and we can win this fight with your support.
Sincerely,
Rodney Ellis
Texas State Senator (Houston)
Background
During the 2001 session of the Texas Legislature, the legislature
was unable to pass a Congressional redistricting plan as it is
required to do following the decennial Census. A three judge federal
panel was forced to draw the plan. Neither Governor Rick Perry
or then Attorney General John Cornyn, both Republicans, objected
to the plan, which was reviewed and approved by the U.S. Supreme
Court.
The 2002 Congressional elections, the first held under the new
redistricting plan, resulted in a Congressional delegation from
Texas consisting of 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans. However,
five of the 17 Democrats prevailed only because they were able
to win the support of Republican and independent voters. All statewide
Republican candidates carried these five districts. Most experts
agree that the current plan has 20 strong or leaning Republican
districts and 12 Democratic districts.
Meanwhile, the 2001 redistricting of Texas legislative seats
(which was enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislative Redistricting
Board, after the legislature again gridlocked in its efforts)
resulted in wide Republican majorities in both the Texas House
and Texas Senate. Now Tom Delay has made it his priority to force
the Republican-controlled Legislature to enact a new redistricting
plan to increase the number of Republican-leaning Congressional
districts. Republicans believe they can manipulate the districts
to elect as many as 22 Republicans out of the 32 member Texas
Congressional delegation. They achieve this by packing minority
voters into as few districts as possible and breaking apart rural
districts so that the impact of independent voters will be reduced
and suburban Republican voters will dominate.
During the regular session of the Texas Legislature, Democratic
members of the Texas House of Representatives exercised an unprecedented
parliamentary move to prevent the House from passing Tom Delay's
redistricting plan. While Democrats are in the minority of the
House of Representatives, the state constitution requires that
at least 2/3 of the House be present for the House to pass a bill.
Because it was clear that the Republicans would entertain no debate
and brook no compromise in their effort to rewrite the rules by
which members of Congress are elected, the Democrats were forced
to break the quorum to prevent the bill from passing. Because
the Republican Speaker of the House and Governor called on state
law enforcement officials to physically compel the Democrats to
return, the lawmakers removed themselves to a Holiday Inn in Ardmore,
Oklahoma -- outside the reach of state troops(1). In there effort
to apprehend the Democrats, Tom Delay officially sought the help
of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation
and the Department of Justice.
The House Democrats (nicknamed the "Killer D's", based
on an earlier episode in Texas history in which a group of Democratic
state senators called the "Killer Bees" broke the quorum
in the Senate over a similarly political stalemate) succeeded
in stopping Delay's redistricting plan during the regular session,
returning to Texas after the legislative deadline had expired
for the House to pass legislation. However, because the Texas
Legislature meets in regular session only every two years, the
state constitution gives the Governor the power to call a 30-day
special legislative session at any time between regular sessions.
Despite statewide protests from Texas citizens who oppose Tom
Delay's redistricting plan, the Governor has called two special
sessions(2) already this summer to attempt to force the legislature
to enact a new plan.
The first called session expired in a deadlock, as 12 of 31 Texas
Senators(3) opposed the plan. Under Senate rules and tradition,
a 2/3 vote is required to consider any bill on the floor of the
Senate, giving 11 Senators the power to block a vote(4). The Republican
Governor and Lieutenant Governor then determined they would do
away with the 2/3 rule, and called another special session, forcing
11 Democratic Senators to break the quorum and leave the state.(5)
These Senators have spent the past 22 days in Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
The Governor has indicated he will continue calling special sessions
until the Republican redistricting plan is enacted, despite the
fact that the Republican-controlled Texas Supreme Court recently
rejected the Governor's writ of mandamus filing to compel the
Senators to return to the Senate. Meanwhile, eleven Democratic
state senators are exiled from their state, unable to be with
their families, friends, and constituents, for fear of being arrested
as part of a partisan power play by Republicans. In the most recent
indignity, Republican Senators voted to fine the absent Democrats
up to $5,000 per day, and to revoke parking and other privileges
for their staffs as long as the Senators are away.
What's at stake
At stake, on the surface, is whether Tom Delay will succeed in
exploiting Republican control of the Texas Legislature to add
to the Republican majority in the United States Congress. But
deeper issues are also at stake.
If the Republicans succeed in redrawing the Texas Congressional
lines to guarantee the election of five to seven more Republicans,
it will ensure that Republicans hold the majority in the U.S.
House of Representatives for the entire decade and will likely
result in Tom Delay becoming Speaker of the House.(6)
The Republican advantage would be gained by removing many African
American and Hispanic voters from their current Congressional
districts and "packing" them into a few districts that
already have Democratic majorities. The voting power of these
minority voters would be dramatically diluted by the Republican
plan, in contravention of the federal Voting Rights Act. If the
Republicans succeed, over 1.4 million African American and Hispanic
voters will be harmed. It would be the largest disenfranchisement
of minority voters since the Voting Rights Act was passed.
Redistricting exists for the purpose of reapportioning voters
among political districts to account for population shifts. The
purpose of this reapportionment is to ensure a roughly equal number
of voters in each district, to preserve the principle of "one
man, one vote."(7) For this reason, redistricting has always
been conducted immediately following the U.S. Census' decennial
population reports. Tom Delay now proposes a new redistricting
plan two years after the Census report simply because Republicans
gained control over the Texas Legislature in 2002 and now have
the power to enact a much more Republican-friendly plan than the
one drawn by the federal courts two years ago. This is an unprecedented
approach to redistricting, one that subordinates its original
purpose of ensuring the principle of "one man, one vote"
to the purpose of perpetual partisan politics. Redistricting,
in this model, would never be a settled matter, and districts
would constantly be in flux depending on the balance of political
power in the Legislature.
The Texas Legislature has traditionally been defined by a spirit
of bipartisanship and cooperation. This issue has polarized the
legislature in a way that threatens to destroy that tradition.
The Republicans have effectively exiled their Democratic counterparts
in a power play that makes our state look more like a banana republic
than a dignified democracy. The arbitrary decision to discard
the 2/3 rule in the Senate sets a precedent that undermines that
body's tradition of consensus and cooperation. The deployment
of state law enforcement officials to apprehend boycotting legislators
erodes the separation of powers between the executive and legislative
branches of government, and diminishes legislators' ability to
represent their constituents as they see fit. The unilateral Republican
effort to penalize Democratic Senators and their staffs
What is needed
The Democratic Senators currently in Albuquerque have two critical
needs. The first is to generate increased public awareness of
the situation. By all reason, every day the Senators are out of
the state this story should get bigger. Instead, news media have
gradually lost interest in the story. The California recall has
dominated the attention of the national media, and the Texas media
has largely lost interest in the story -- out of sight, out of
mind. Without public attention to this story, the Republicans
have all the leverage -- if it does not cost them politically,
it costs them nothing(8) to continue calling special sessions
until the Texas 11 are forced to come home.
The second critical need is funding. The cost of hotels, meeting
rooms, staff support, and public relations efforts is mounting.
In addition, the Senators must defend themselves legally against
Republican efforts to compel their return, while also filing legal
claims against the Republican power play. The Senators are actively
raising money for the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus Fund to offset
these costs and prepare themselves for a stay of indefinite duration
in Albuquerque.
Notes
1. A recent Department of Justice investigation chronicled Republican
state officials' illegal attempts to use federal resources --
including anti-terrorism resources from the Department of Homeland
Security -- to compel the Democratic lawmakers' return. See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51520-2003Aug12.html
for a news report on the Justice Department investigation, or
http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/03-08a/final.pdf
for a copy of the complete Justice Department report.
2. At a cost to taxpayers of over $1.5 million per session.
3. House Republicans passed a redistricting bill in the special
session despite an outpouring of public opposition in hearings
across the state. All 12 Democratic state senators opposed the
plan, along with Republican state senator (and former Lieutenant
Governor) Bill Ratliff.
4. The "2/3 rule" requires the Senate to reach broader
consensus on difficult issues than a simple majority vote. It
is a combination of official Senate rules and tradition. The rules
of the Senate require a 2/3 vote to suspend the "regular
order of business" to consider a bill that is not the first
bill on the Senate calendar. By tradition, the Senate has always
placed a "blocker bill" at the top of the Senate calendar,
so that every bill requires a suspension of the regular order
of business to be considered. The process requires compromise
and consensus to achieve a 2/3 majority on each bill. One Texas
insider has said that the 2/3 rule is "what separates us
from animals."
5. In fact, the Governor and Lt. Governor attempted to "surprise"
the Senators by calling the second special one day early and "trap"
them in the Senate Chamber. The Senators were able to escape the
Capitol with literally minutes to spare.
6. Republican party activist Grover Norquist, head of the Washington
D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform, was quoted as follows in
the August 17 Fort Worth Star Telegram: "Republicans will
hold the House for the next decade through 2012 if Texas redistricts…It
depresses the hell out of the Democrats and makes it doubly impossible
to take the House and probably depresses their fund raising…Anything
that helps strengthen the Republican leadership helps DeLay become
speaker someday if he wants it."
7. Established in the landmark case Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186
(1962)
8. Notwithstanding the millions of dollars it is costing taxpayers.
________________
Dear MoveOn member,
Impeachment. The 2000 Election. The California Recall. The pattern
is becoming clear: there's a group of men in power who will do
anything to consolidate that power, including undermining our
democratic institutions. We've got to fight back. In Texas, they
are fighting back. And while the world is focusing on the California
mess, they are fighting alone. They need our help.
A partisan plan pushed by Karl Rove and Tom Delay will redistrict
up to 7 Democrats out of Congress. Right now, 11 Democratic State
Senators are hiding across state lines -- with the Texas Governor
calling for their arrest -- to prevent this illegitimate plan
from being strong-armed into law. They have put their reputations
and careers on the line for all of us. A letter below from State
Senator Rodney Ellis explains the situation in detail. Please
read it, and then please help us launch a hard-hitting ad campaign
to fight back in Texas. Whether you donate $5 or $5000, you will
be helping to hold accountable reckless leaders who think they
can get away with anything. Please contribute to this effort now:
The Texas special session that was called to gerrymander the
Texas congressional districts ends early next week, and the pressure
is building. These courageous leaders need to see real support
now, or they won't be able to hold out.
Our numbers our great enough now to fight back effectively against
these attacks on democracy. Please get even more people involved
by forwarding this email to everyone you think would like to help.
Thanks,
--Zack and Wes
MoveOn.org PAC
August 20th, 2003
¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤
Update re "Reject Nomination of Bush and
Blair for Nobel Prize"
This is a thank you & update for the "Reject Nomination
of Bush and Blair for Nobel Prize" Petition on ThePetitionSite.com
(http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/302184339)
Your
opposition to this nomination is being delivered to The Norwegian
Nobel Prize Institute Committee along with 98,537 others. The
Committee is currently considering the nominations, and will have
your letters to help influence their decision.
In fact, new evidence has come to light that an investigation
of
Bush & Blair's rationale for war in Iraq would be more appropriate
than a Nobel nomination. Many of you have heard in the news that
some of the information used as a rationale for war in Iraq may
have been false. Recent statements by the CIA* suggest that
President Bush knowingly used unreliable information about Iraq
during his 2003 State of the Union address to increase public
and
congressional support for war. We all need to know if this is
indeed
true, especially in light of this Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
Support a thorough investigation behind the evidence used as
justification for war in Iraq. We are trying to gather 75,000
signatures
and we need your help. HELP NOW: http://www.care2.com/go/z/7310
In essence, it is a matter of trusting our leaders & decision-makers
to tell the absolute truth. It is important to know if we can
TRUST
President Bush to act responsibly and carefully, especially during
these times of terrorism and instability. If the allegations are
true that
Bush intentionally misrepresented the threat that Iraq posed to
the
world in order to gain support for military intervention, then
not only
does it make a mockery of the Nobel Peace Prize, but it also makes
it harder to trust our leaders when our lives are on the line.
An independent committee should investigate the truth behind
the
information that led the U.S. to war in Iraq. We can not allow
our loved
ones and our country to be exposed to danger unless it is TRULY
a
necessity. We must know if we can entrust our lives and those
of our
loved ones to the decisions of President Bush. More upheaval and
unrest lies in our future, and we must know whom to trust.
Sign this petition to call for an INDEPENDENT BIPARTISAN Commission
to help discover the truth! http://www.care2.com/go/z/7310
Once you have signed, please forward this petition to your friends
and
family! This effort will succeed by word of mouth and every person
counts.
Thank you,
Ingrid Baker
The PetitionSite Team
& Care2.com
* "CIA officials warned members of the President's National
Security
Council staff the intelligence was not good enough to make the
flat
statement Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa..." (July
10, CBS News).
¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤
Vote to impeach
Tally
for Bush impeachment
House Representative Congressman John Conyers on the Judicial
Committee is asking you, through his legislative assistant Alexia,
to fax or email if you
want Bush impeached.
Fax to ATTN. : ALEXIA, assistant to Hon. Congressman John Conyers
MESSAGE FROM ALEXIA: FAX OR EMAIL, CAUSE PHONES ARE RINGING OFF
HOOK
Message from Alexia:
The phones are currently ringing off the hook, so please send
a brief
message stating whether you are for or against impeachment via
email or
fax: e mail: john.conyers@mail.house.gov
OR Fax: (313) 226-2085
--------------
They are NOT introducing articles of impeachment now.
A Gallup International poll published this year found
"... in 28 of 37 countries surveyed, including traditional
allies such as France, Germany, Span and Britain... U.S. foreign
policy now had a negative effect on their country."
(Source- The Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2003 P. A6 "Court
of Public Opinion Becomes Key Battleground" by Ronald Brownstein
¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
¤ ¤
Resist Gas Prices
We are going to hit close to $3.00 a gallon by the summer. With
the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need
to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of
gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing
their gas! And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.
Since we can't just totally stop buying gas,
we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to
force a price war.
Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from
the two
biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they
are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their
prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will
have to follow suit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon
and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do!! Now, at this
point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach
millions of people!!
I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you
send it to
at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to
at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, by the time
the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have
reached over THREE MILLION consumers!
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends
each,
then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one
level
further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again,
all you have to do is send this to 10 people and DON'T purchase
ANY gasoline from EXXON and MOBIL. That's all.
How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email
out to ten
more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people
could
conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you
didn't
think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together
we
can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass
this
message on.
PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE
$1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.
A University of California, Hastings College
of Law, San Francisco,
Professor, George Bisharat, had recently written an anti-war Op-Ed
--Impending War on Iraq - American
Jihad which appeared 2/13/03
in the San Francisco Chronicle.
He came under fire from a pro Israel group
who is asking the Dean
to remove him for his "anti-semetisism". There is nothing
against Jews
or Israel in the article except his view that Israel may be a
beneficiery
of this war.
Please read and call the dean to uphold
the right of free speech of the
professor. Following is contact information. Thank you.
The Bush administration has refused
--in spite of Congressional approval-- to send the U. S. contribution
of $34 million to the U. N. Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)
to support family planning, AIDS prevention, and prevention of
female genital mutilation.
So the League of Women Voters and others
are asking that 34 million Americans contribute a dollar each
to UNFPA.
And here's a link to the UNFPA web site:
www.unfpa.org
To the government
of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico
We, the undersigned,
join the members of the Mexican organization, MAY OUR DAUGHTERS
RETURN HOME, to call on the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, the Mexican government, and human rights activists worldwide
to use all measures possible to bring an end to the violence in
Juarez, México, that has resulted in nearly 300 deaths
and 500 disappearances of young women since 1993.
We also take note that the murdered
and disappeared young women of Juarez are also victims of the
negligence of their local, stateand federal government, in that
to this day, no adequate response to this tragic violence has
been made by Mexican politicians or law enforcement. We also note
that law enforcement in Juarez has actually attempted to repress
the efforts of those in Juarez who are organizing protests in
solidarity with MAY OUR DAUGHTERS RETURN HOME.
Finally, we also want to make known that the murdered and disappeared
young women of Juarez lived and worked in highly unsafe conditions
without proper public services. Many of them worked in maquiladoras,
or assembly plants, owned by multinational corporations that pay
no taxes to the Mexican government. The maquila industry currently
is being used by 70% of the labor intensive Fortune 500 companies
expanding between 10% and 20% per year and currently accounts
for over 3,107 businesses employing over 1,056,284 persons with
an annual business volume in excess of $37 billion of inputs and
supplies of which 98% is of U.S. origin. About 90% of the maquilas
are located along the US- Mexico border with over one third concentrated
in Juarez.
There are currently 340 maquiladoras in Juarez that employ over
220,000 people. Among them are many American companies such as
Ford, Alcoa, General Motors, DuPont, and Contico. These corporations
do not provide any protection to their largely female workforce
when employees are travelling to and from work, very often in
the middle of the night.
We request that these multinational
entities that are reaping millions of dollars in the state of
Chihuahua to provide financial assistance for the insurance of
public safety. We call these companies to assist the Mexican government
and human rights organizations and to stop the killings of these
innocent women once and for all.
SIGN
HERE -- as of 3/8/03 this petition is still active
PLEASE
HELP US SEND THIS PETITION TO YOUR FRIENDS IN MEXICO AND ALL
OVER THE WORLD. THANK YOU!
The
END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN JUAREZ Petition was created
by and written by Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa
y Coco Fusco
This petition is hosted at PetitionOnline as a public service
Ramsey Clark, former
U.S. Attorney General during the Johnson Administration, has drafted
articles of impeachment setting forth high crimes and misdemeanors
by President Bush and other civil officers of his administration.
I want my representative
in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote to impeach President
George W. Bush, Vice President Richard B. Cheney,
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Attorney General
John D. Ashcroft for high crimes and misdemeanors, and to have
the case prosecuted and tried in the U.S. Senate.
Second, join and/or donate money to the American
Civil Liberties Union. You may not agree with every case the ACLU
takes to court, but you won’t find a more steadfast defender
of the Bill of Rights anywhere. Find them online at http://www.aclu.org/.
While you’re at there, take the ACLU’s “How Free
Are We?” quiz at http://www.aclu.org/Quizzes/QuizIntro.cfm?quizID=4.
See if you can get a perfect score now that you’ve read this
essay.
Third, send an email to the Center for Public
Integrity and to the producers of NOW thanking them for breaking
this story. Here’s a sample message that you can use or modify.
I am writing to
express my heartfelt thanks and admiration to the Center for Public
Integrity, to Bill Moyers, to the producers of NOW, and especially
to the brave unnamed patriot who valued the Bill of Rights over
his or her own person well-being and, at great personal risk, leaked
a draft of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 out of
the Justice Department.
Fourth, start the debate over the Patriot
Act that the Bush administration wants to avoid. Send the following
email message to the major news outlets demanding that they investigate
and cover this important story. Here’s what you can say:
On Friday, February
7, the PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers broke an important story
about a document recently leaked to the Center for Public Integrity
by an insider at the Justice Department. That document, titled the
Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, turns out to be a draft
of a new bill, much like the Patriot Act, that would grant the executive
branch sweeping and unprecedented powers to spy on Americans with
little or no judicial oversight. It would also enable polluting
and otherwise irresponsible corporations to hide incriminating documents
behind the veil of “national security” simply by handing
them over to the Homeland Security Department. Such a bill should
obviously not pass without a thorough and informed debate. Please
investigate this story immediately and bring it to the attention
of the American people so that such a debate can begin before we
find ourselves in a war with Iraq or in the midst of some other
national crisis. The document can be found on the Web at http://www.publicintegrity.org/.
Fifth, write your representative in the House
and both of your Senators to let them know you’re mad as hell
and you’re not going to take it anymore. Demand a rollback
of the Patriot Act and state unequivocally that you will not tolerate
any further infringements upon your civil liberties. If you need
help finding your representatives’ contact information, check
out our Getting Started page at http://www.theemailactivist.org/GetStart.htm.
Here’s a sample of what you might say:
Dear Senator (or
Representative) ________________,
The Patriot Act of 2001 was passed through
Congress so hastily that it was not well-considered nor even read
by a great many of the representatives who voted for it. Now I’ve
come to learn from the PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers that the
Justice Department is hard at work on an even more draconian version
of the Patriot Act called the Domestic Security Enhancement Act
of 2003. This bill can be read online at http://www.publicintegrity.org/.
The original Patriot Act already challenges
far too many of our Constitutional rights to go any longer without
a thorough revision and a rollback of many of its features. The
proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 is an even greater
threat to our civil liberties. If we were to adopt it, we could
no longer honestly call ourselves a free society. I am writing you
today to demand that you spearhead a debate and a revision of the
Patriot Act of 2001 and also that you commit yourself publicly to
opposing any further infringements of American civil liberties in
the name of fighting terrorism.
Sincerely,
(Your name and address)
Sixth, commit yourself to a regime change
right here at home. Start working now for the Democratic Party (http://www.democrats.org),
the Green Party (http://www.greenpartyus.org/),
or any political organization you can think of that might bring
down the Bush administration in the next election, if not beforehand.
There are also dozens of “Impeach Bush” petitions online.
Type “impeach bush petitions” into a search engine like
Google.com and sign every damn one of them that comes up.
As always, we thank you for your dedication
to true democracy and to the Bill of Rights, especially in these
dangerous times when our leaders in the White House equate dissent
with treason instead of with patriotism.
