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Excerpts from the New York Times
Friday, January 21, 2005
Never before had the Park Service granted a protest group dedicated space for the inaugural parade, organizers said ... Ramsey Clark, an antiwar figure who served as attorney general under President Lyndon B. Johnson, appeared early and told the crowd that the Bush administration had "made the world a more dangerous place. It's because of what we've done and what we're doing right now," Mr. Clark said, adding, "Impeachment now is essential to the integrity of the U.S. government and the people of the United States."
Dear ImpeachBush/VoteToImpeach.org member,
The response to our massive presence on the inaugural parade route has been overwhelming.
The large bright yellow and black impeachment signs were all over the inaugural parade route, as well as in the antiwar bleachers. CNN carried the story “Thousands of demonstrators chanted ‘Impeach Bush’ as the presidential motorcade passed.” There was widespread coverage on other television networks, the New York Times, Associated Press and in media all over the world.
More than 10,000 people cheered as Ramsey Clark addressed the crowd at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. Thousands more were held two blocks away behind a Secret Service check point at 3rd and C Sts. and blocked from gaining access to the rally site but even there people held their own spontaneous demonstrations.
We have included below the text of Ramsey Clark’s address to the January 20 CounterInaugural demonstration.
The impeachment movement got a huge boost through this important effort. Thousands of people took off one, two or even three days of work in order to get on buses and to travel by car caravan to Washington DC from all over the country. In Washington DC, volunteers worked night and day, overcoming all of the logistical hurdles that were designed by the National Park Service and the Bush/Cheney Presidential Inaugural Committee as a method for preventing the demonstration from taking place. Many people who could not come sent a financial contribution to help cover all of the expenses. Everyone should feel very proud. There has never been an inaugural day like the one on January 20 because of the efforts of the ImpeachBush/VoteToImpeach.org members and other people of conscience.
The next few months are critical. We intend to use all available avenues to promote the impeachment movement so that Congress will feel the pressure of this growing movement.
We can keep this work going because of the tremendous support from individuals from around the country who believe that impeachment is an essential tool to save the constitution and to hold Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others in the government accountable for their crimes. We are depending on your support to help this effort grow. You can make a contribution now by clicking here for access to the online donation form and the secure server, where you can also get information to write a check.
Ramsey Clark’s address
to the January 20, 2005 CounterInaugural demonstration
at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave.
Let me warm you up for a minute by telling you about how cold it was on January the 20th of 1961, literally. The Potomac River was frozen over and I remember seeing a guy ride across it on a motorcycle. And my feet haven't thawed out yet. I stood up for about 12 hours out here. There was over 20 inches of snow. And the best scene of the inauguration was when a buffalo with a rider came charging down Pennsylvania Avenue, reminded us that this country can be a beautiful place where the buffalo roam, but no more.
We're the ones that are here really to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We have to take the Constitution back. Back from Crimes Against Peace, from War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. You know the Nuremburg Tribunal called the War of Aggression the supreme international crime, and it is. And George W. Bush has waged a war of aggression against Iraq. He's killed more than 100,000 people. Were their lives worth nothing? Can we have a moment of silence in memory of all the people who died in Iraq because of the criminal acts of George W. Bush in waging this war of aggression.
Every moment of their lives is fraught with danger right now because of us. The world is the most dangerous place it's ever been now because of what our country has done and is doing. And we have to take it back. We can't wait four more years.
There can't be any more Fallujahs. Fallujah is the 21st century equivalent of Guernica. We just went in and destroyed that city. Drove the people out, killed them, thousands, we don't know how many. They won't even bother to count whose been killed or how many or estimate how many. They just keep killing. Almost every day we're reading about another check point where some family got wiped out cause they didn't do what they were supposed to do according to the military there.
Abu Ghraib is unbelievable in the innocent times of 1961, that we would torture people that way and on the instructions of the President of the United States and his highest legal advisors. Torture is okay, they said, go for it fellows. If we can't renounce that and remove it from office then the Constitution doesn't work anymore.
We've got to do more than take back the Constitution. There has to be accountability for what has happened. The Constitution says that the President, Vice President and other officials of the United States shall be removed from office upon impeachment for and conviction of high crimes and misdemeanors.
If you care about the Constitution you’d better start talking to your member of the House of Representatives and say impeachment now is essential to the integrity of the United States government and to the future of the United States. We've had more than 500,000 people sign on to ImpeachBush.org/VoteToImpeach.org. We need to get 5 million and we need to get 5 million on there quick.
And then the Congress will react. The Congress understands something when the people demand it. And the power is in the people. It always has been. The question is whether the people have the will to exercise it.
I think the imperative challenge of the American people now is to live up to the Constitution and demand the impeachment of George W. Bush and other officials of the government who are responsible for these crimes.
We encourage you to forward this email to a friend and urge them to participate in the impeachment movement by voting online at www.ImpeachBush.org.
--All of us at ImpeachBush/VoteToImpeach.org
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