BradBlog: A Conversation with John Conyers

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Our exclusive interview with the good congressman follows…


BRAD BLOG: I wanted to interview you about your new book, and because I’m doing a series of interviews called “Democracy in Crisis” for The BRAD BLOG, since you seem to be fighting for democracy more than anyone I know…

REP. JOHN CONYERS: Well, as a matter of fact, the title of my study that’s being published is “Constitution in Crisis” so we are on the same wave-length. We’ve got a 371-page book that revises the first material we put out at the end of last year, and my committee staff on the Judiciary cannot be praised too much for the work they did. The book came about as a result of President Bush’s failure to respond to a letter submitted by 122 members of Congress and individual signed petitions of well over 500,000 Americans asking him in July of last year, whether the assertions set forth in the so-called “Downing Street Minutes” were accurate. We couldn’t get any response from him.

So what we started to do was to track all the reported information that suggested that we had a serious crisis. We got no information from the Intelligence Committee. There is no information (in the report) that is classified or confidential. As a matter of fact, we document everything that we say, and of course the whole thing boils down to whether the Bush administration made misleading statements about the decision to go to war, whether the intelligence was in fact manipulated, whether this administration facilitated and countenanced torture. They gave their approval to it. And there was the problem of classified information that was used to out a CIA agent, and finally the violation of federal surveillance and privacy laws. Unlike the other crises that we’ve had — like Watergate or Iran-Contra — the majority party has not been interested in basic oversight or even in questioning the administration directly. The media has been incredibly intimidated, although they are beginning to come out of that now. We’ve had some very serious problems that, to me, reach the magnitude of what happened in the Civil War, when habeas corpus was suspended; what happened after WWI, during the Palmer raids; the anti-immigrant activity of the Department of Justice, the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII; and COINTELPRO that came out of the White House which was spying on people who opposed the Vietnam War.

BB: Like when the FBI eavesdropped on Martin Luther King…

JC: We think that these raw acts of wrongdoing that we’ve documented are as serious as any of the ones I’ve just mentioned.

BB: In your book, you list 26 different categories where the U.S. Constitution was violated by this administration, and in some cases numerous violations occurred within the same category. In your opinion, which violation was the most egregious?

JC: You know, if you ask me on different days I’d probably list different ones. The major thing that personally agitates me is that we’ve been misled into the wrong war against the wrong nation, to the terrible disadvantage of the people that were in that country. A further source of agitation is what it has done to us as a country, a country that was upholding the rule of law, and that supported international treaties and the Geneva Conventions. These things had caused America to be held in high esteem. It seems to me that this esteem has about dissipated, that the respect that many nations and many, many people around the world had for us all went down the drain. To accomplish that dissipation the Bush Administration committed a number of violations, at least a couple of dozen. So what we do now is document them, and do more than just a staff study, to see where it leads us in terms of revealing just how cynical and manipulative this present administration has been. We put this together not just to continue to gripe about them, but to also see what it is we ought to do in the future to make sure this never happens again.

The complete interview is at: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3312

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1. Related:

Democratic Opportunites This November

As we enter the final months before this year's elections, Democrats are poised to make gains in the House. We have tremendous opportunities to pick up seats that have been held by incumbent Republicans for plenty of years. Political prognosticator, and University of Virginia professor, Larry Sabato concludes that "Democrats are almost exclusively the party on the offensive, and they stand to gain seats in bunches if there is a macro-wave on November 7th." He focuses on three states where we seem to have very good chances to pick up seats in bunches.

Connecticut: "...ll three of Connecticut's incumbent Republicans--Reps. Rob Simmons, Chris Shays, and Nancy Johnson--are facing tough fights for their political lives... One thing's clear: the three Democratic House challengers here aren't at all hurt by the fact they are endorsed by both Lieberman and Lamont, who together may account for upwards of 90 percent of all votes cast in the pitched Senate battle."

Indiana: "You can always count on the ordinarily red state of Indiana to produce at least one hot House race, but this year, three Republican incumbents (of seven in the state) face tight contests to hold onto their seats. We always knew southern Indiana GOP Reps. John Hostettler and Mike Sodrel would be near the top of DCCC target lists, but sophomore GOP Rep. Chris Chocola of north-central Indiana is now also marked for defeat by energized Democrats; both state and national Republicans are unpopular there, and several polls have even shown Chocola running behind."

Pennsylvania: "Much like Connecticut, the suburban region of southeastern Pennsylvania features a trio of endangered House Republican incumbents in a place where statewide races could strongly influence down-ballot outcomes. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell is the solid favorite to be reelected in no small part because of his strength in the Philadelphia suburbs, and GOP Reps. Jim Gerlach, Curt Weldon, and Mike Fitzpatrick could all be swept away--though Gerlach is by far the most imperiled. Indeed, the Keystone State could also be a key element of a Democratic takeover of the House."


I'm going to be closely watching the races in these states and helping out where and when I can. If you are from one of these states and are able to help out through volunteering or other means, you have a chance to help return the House to a Democratic majority. To learn more about the races in these states the DCCC has information here on >Indiana, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

http://www.conyersblog.us/

[Totally Committed]

2. I so admire John Conyers...

he is a true patriot and a hero. Thank you, BradBlog for the interview. It does my heart good to read his words.

TC

[KoKo]

3. It's enough.....for investigations that should go on for a decade if we

ever wrest our country back from these criminals. Crimes that go beyond anything we've ever seen that stretch into every part of our society. Media complicity with aiding and abetting a rogue government, Wall Street excesses and criminality that if investigated end up with a "slap on the hand" or a short sentence. It's just overwhelming.

John Conyers and Henry Waxman. They've cataloged it all.