Dump Dick Day Video Contest: $1,000 Prize......... And Other Temptations

[babsbunny]

Dump Dick Day Video Contest: $1,000 Prize


August 9th is the 33rd anniversary of the historic day when President Richard Nixon resigned in the face of impeachment. Please plan now to mark the day with ceremonies, solemn or fun. We need to remind America that the proper use of impeachment did not traumatize our nation, but healed it - everyone agreed "the system worked."

Bush and Cheney have now surpassed Nixonian levels of disapproval in the polls, and for good reason. They openly committed the same abuses for which the House Judiciary Committee passed articles of impeachment against Nixon (such as refusing to comply with subpoenas). They openly violated laws put into place in response to Nixon's abuses (such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). They seized unconstitutional power in ways Nixon never attempted (such as by rewriting laws with signing statements). And Cheney and Bush committed far more serious crimes, including misleading the nation into war, kidnapping, torture, and murder.

When Congress finally stood up to Nixon, he was gone in 3 months. (And that was with evidence of crimes still needing to be discovered, unlike today when it is already known). The Democrats won the biggest victories in recent memory in the elections that followed their decision to uphold the Constitution. In contrast, when they took the impeachment of President Ronald Reagan off the table, in order to win elections, they proceeded to lose.

$1,000 Prize for Best Video

We’re holding a contest for the best video using the precedent of Nixon to make the case for impeaching Cheney. The winner will be determined by a popular vote and will receive a $1,000 cash prize.

To enter, simply join the Dump Dick YouTube group and add your video. Be creative. Be funny. Tell everybody you know to vote for your video. It can be as simple as talking into your webcam for two minutes or it can be a major Hollywood production if you've got the budget. But hurry--the deadline for submissions is high noon on Dump Dick Day (that's 12:00PM ET on August 9th).

To vote, watch any or all of the videos posted to the YouTube group and give them a rating of one to five stars. Voting will remain open until noon on August 11. If there’s a tie, we’ll put up a poll online where you can vote for the finalists.

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Kucinich Accepts Over 100,000 Petitions Urging Cheney Impeachment

Congressman Dennis Kucinich on Thursday received petitions from people throughout the country who support impeaching Vice President Dick Cheney. Kucinich introduced H. Res. 333, which proposes articles of impeachment against the Vice President on April 24, 2007. Petition signatures in support of impeaching Vice President Cheney have been collected at http://www.impeachcheney.org by a coalition that includes Brave New Films, A28, AfterDowningStreet, Backbone Campaign, True Majority, Iraq Veterans Against the War, BuzzFlash, Democracy Rising, Democrats.com, Grass Roots America, Hip Hop Caucus, ImpeachBush.tv, Impeach for Peace, Impeach Space, The Nation, National Lawyers Guild, OpEdNews, The People's Email Network, Progressive Democrats of America, Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, Velvet Revolution, World Can't Wait. The coalition presented Congressman Kucinich with 113,000 signatures, plus additional petition signatures from some individual groups.

Working Assets, the only wireless company fighting to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, has collected over 50,000 of its members' signatures to submit to their Congressional representatives calling for his impeachment. True Majority has collected 49,000 signatures. Democrats.com and AfterDowningStreet have collected an additional 28,000 signatures in support of impeaching the Vice President. And Impeach for Peace has brought together thousands of hand-written memorials, in accordance with the rules of the Jefferson Manual, from individuals around the country urging the impeachment of Dick Cheney. Representatives from several of these organizations took part in Thursday's event.

There are currently 16 co-sponsors of H.Res. 333: Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA), Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Rep. Al Wynn (D-MD).

WATCH A VIDEO OF KUCINICH ACCEPTING THE PETITIONS:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/25369

KUCINICH WILL ENTER YOUR NAME IN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD IF YOU SIGN NOW:
http://democrats.com/impeach-cheney-congressional-record

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Does Your Representative Support Impeachment? Just Ask!

I ran into Congressman Donald Payne Tuesday evening and asked him if he would sign on to cosponsor H Res 333, articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. He said yes immediately and brought his legislative director in on the conversation. They both said yes, as a matter of course, as if all they'd been waiting for was someone to ask them. Now, I know that's not quite the case, and that citizens of New Jersey have been lobbying Payne and other New Jersey Congress Members intensely. Still, it makes me wonder how many Congress Members might back impeachment if people just got to them, face-to-face, and asked.

Well, here's your chance to find out. Congress is taking the next month off. Congress Members will be in their districts. They'll be near your house. They have offices near your house. Now is the time to ask them to cosponsor H Res 333 or introduce their own articles of impeachment against Cheney. If they agree to cosponsor H Res 333, you should contact Congressman Dennis Kucinich's office and let him know. If they do not agree, you should make a bunch of big posters that say "Honk to Impeach" and stand on the street corner in front of your Congress Member's office. Or you should sit in their office, read the Constitution out loud, and refuse to leave. August is your time to make your message clear. 54% of Americans want Cheney impeached, and 40% do not. See how many of that 54% you can bring with you to your representative's office.

More information: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/cheney

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FAIR Takes on the Media's Coverage of Impeachment

Read this analysis from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3149