. . .that we know he can be. The excuse he gives most frequently for submitting to Nancy "off the table" Pelosi's edict is that "we don't have the time."
Bush and Cheney are waging war on the Constitution in plain sight. There is no cover-up to uncover. Everything needed to make a number of cases is public record. There are so many to choose from. They just need one (and if that goes down in the Senate, vote out another). Staffers are more than capable of gathering key documentation and lining up testimony. There is no reason that a set of charges couldn't be moved through committee with lightening speed.
So "We don't have the time":
- isn't a valid excuse, and
- even if it turns out that articles move at a snails pace for some reason, how long is "too long" to fight for the treasured principles embodied in our Constituion?
We can help Chairman Conyers (and other members of Judiciary) break free of Pelosi's "off the table" edict. Below you find the info I've pulled together to assist citizen lobbyists targeting John Conyers/Judiciary.
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General
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Email is fine, but if it's convenient, Fax your letter. A call can be more effective than email or Fax. (See key staff and numbers below)
eFax has a has a "try it free" option:
http://home.efax.com/s/r/gen-efax-plus5?VID=33675&CMP=KNC-33675FreeDon't send "snail mail" -- your letter can be delayed for weeks by their screening process.
If you send your letter via Congress.org, you can your letter in the "letters to leaders" section.
Check out others letters to Conyers at:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/letterslist/?id=327Or you can search by topic at:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issuesaction/letters/For a fee ( $8.95) Congress.org will hand deliver your letter (may or may not have an advantage over Fax).
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/extraimpact/extraimpact.tt************************************
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
DC Office
************************************
202-225-5126 (Phone)
202-225-0072 (FAX)
John.Conyers@mail.house.gov
Rinia Shelby
DC Scheduler
Cynthia Martin
DC Legislative Director
************************************
House Committee on the Judiciary
************************************
202-225-3951 (Phone)
202-225-7680 (FAX)
Contact form:
http://judiciary.house.gov/contact.aspx**************************************************
Want to do more? More Contacts and Suggestions
**************************************************
Fax a letter to the attention of a specific staffer. Your message will have better shot of getting their attention. A couple good names are provided in "Additional Key Staff" below.
Like talking to people?
Ask for a staffer by name when you call. You may get no further than voice mail (may want to have the message you would want to leave written dow.) If you reach the person, asking questions and challenging their answers/rationalizations can be more productive than just expressing your views. See "Possible starting points for discussion" below.
Are you close to a local office?
Consider dropping in to deliver a letter in person. If you'd like to talk to someone, ask if a staffer might have a couple minutes for you.
Are you up for a more formal meeting?
Depending on where you want the meeting to take place, FAX a request to the Distinct or DC Scheduler. Find someone to join you to make it easier. If you can't get to an office, you could request a conference call. Sample Meeting request here:
http://january6th.org/mtg-request.pdf************************************
Additional Key Staff
************************************
__________________
Joel Segal
Senior Adviser
202-225-5126 (Phone)
202-225-0072 (FAX)
joel.segal@mail.house.gov
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Segal|wikipedia]
Joel Segal is one of the co-founders and a current board member of the Progressive Democrats of America<1>. He recently resigned the position of Co-Chairman due to a heavy work schedule during the mid-term elections. He serves as a senior advisor to the Chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, Congressman John Conyers of Michigan.
Joel Segal's reputation in Washington D.C. is that of a well connected and powerful progressive organizer.
__________________
Perry Apelbaum
Judiciary Chief of Staff & Counsel
202-225-3951 (Phone)
202-225-7680 (FAX)
From Washington Post 26-Dec-06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/24/AR2006122400625_pf.htmlhttp://www.thehdi.org/1_US-UN_Programs/10_Dele/870_20th_Summary
Involved in military and UN issues. Someone worth asking about where Conyers or other members stand on the CIA-run prisons where abductees are subjected to "incommunicado detention and torture." (BBC " EU endorses damning report on CIA," 2-Feb-07
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6360817.stmFinal Committee Report and EU Parliament Resolution
26-Feb-07
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/tempcom/tdip/pe382246.pdf************************************
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
District Offices
************************************
If you are in Michigan, you may do better to contact a local office. If you are close enough, you might consider "dropping in" or requesting a few minutes with Chairman Conyers or a member of his staff by FAXing a request to the local scheduler as described above.
"District Weeks" are a good time for local visits. The House schedule is available at
http://www.house.gov/daily/hpg.htm. Upcoming District Weeks: 19-Feb to 23-Feb; 2-Apr to 13-Apr.
************************************
Main District Office -- Detroit
************************************
313-961-5670 (Phone)
313-226-2085 (FAX)
Scheduler: call for name
Federal Building, Room 669
231 West Lafayette
Detroit, MI 48226-2776
************************************
Trenton District Office
************************************
734-675-4084 (Phone)
734-675-4218 (FAX)
2615 West Jefferson
Trenton, MI 48183
************************************
Judiciary Subcommittee Chairman
************************************
The subcommittee chairman don't get targeted very frequently. If you are not a constituent, make it clear that that you're contacting them in their role as Subcommittee Chairman.
__________________
Rep. Jerome Nadler
Chairman
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties
http://judiciary.house.gov/committeestructure.aspx?committee=7Nadler's page on Congress.org
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?id=411__________________
Rep. Bobby Scott
Chairman
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
http://judiciary.house.gov/committeestructure.aspx?committee=6Scott's page on Congress.org
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?id=599************************************
Sample meeting request at
http://january6th.org/mtg-request.pdf************************************
************************************
Possible starting points
for discussion
************************************
1) Last week, Chairman Conyers said "No longer will Congress stand while the president wages a war that defies logic, common sense, and human decency." Then we hear him support the Speaker's declaration that impeachment is off the table.
Outside Washington, this sounds idiotic -- not something we would ever expect to come from the Chairman . The leadership is not just "standing for" the wars Bush and Cheney are waging on the Constitution and in the Middle East, they are being steamrolled. Bush and Cheney have no qualms about violating the Constitution and revered treaties. Wagging the Congressional finger and hitting them with your purse are as doomed as Bush's surge. We hear that these actions are a "first step" but every day the leadership refuses to impeach -- the only thing that has shot at stopping them -- there insanity does more irreparable harm.
2) Try to nail them down the Chairman's impeachment "threshold."
For example:
=> Bush and Cheney publicly and repeated claim to Un-American and Un-Constitutional unitary authoritarian power -- what is the Chairman unwilling to impeach on that. What more could they possibly need?
=> The Bush's CIA is running prisons overseas where abductees are subjected to "incommunicado detention and torture." He has made it fair game for opponents in armed conflict to torture Americans.
=> What more could the Chairmam be looking in his investigations of "rule by signing statement." What does he expect to accomplish? Bush and Cheney ignore revered treaties. They won't miss a beat in the face of "oversight."
Impeachment is a political process, not a legal process. If he believes Bush is nullifying the will of the people, why isn't he impeaching. Consent of the Governed is the sole moral principle on which our Constitution, and therefore the nation, is founded.
3) A Jan 27 Newsweek poll found that 58% of Americans want the Bush Presidency over right now. After the election, even with the incessent efforts to stifle support for impeachment by trying to convince Americans it is impossible, only 44% said "Impeachment should not be a priority" (and that incuded a significant number of Dems who would support impeachment but for the "off the table" edict.)
How much more public support/political will could the leadership possibly we be waiting for.
4) The biggest problem the Democratic Party has is the public perception that they are weak. The leadership is feeding that perception. The impotence of Congress has become a joke. The "weak Dem" drums are beating on the Right.
.
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