Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
April 29 Logistics
The March for Peace, Justice and Democracy will kick off in Manhattan, just north of Union Square and proceed south along Broadway to Foley Square, where we will hold a Peace and Justice Festival.
http://www.april29.org/article.php?id=3211
Listen to the new Neil Young album…
http://www.hyfntrak.com/neilyoung2/AFF23082/
Neil Young's 'Living With War' Shows He Doesn't Like It
By Jon Pareles / New York Times
Neil Young unleashes a digital broadside today. His new album, "Living With War" (Reprise), was recorded and mostly written three to four weeks ago and as of Friday can be heard in its entirety free on his Web site, www.neilyoung.com, and on satellite radio networks.
Mr. Young half-jokingly describes "Living With War" as his "metal folk protest" album. It's his blunt statement about the Iraq war; "History was a cruel judge of overconfidence/back in the days of shock and awe," he sings, strumming an electric guitar and leading a power trio with a sound that harks back to Young albums like "Rust Never Sleeps" and "Ragged Glory."
Some songs add a trumpet or a 100-voice choir, hastily convened in Los Angeles for one 12-hour session. During the nine new songs he sympathizes with soldiers and war victims, insists "Don't need no more lies," longs for a leader to reunite America and prays for peace.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=6669
Impeach the President
By Dan DeWalt / Author of the Newfane, Vermont impeachment resolution
On Monday, May 1, the anniversary of the staging of George W Bush's "mission accomplished" speech, Ellen Tenney, of Rockingham Vermont, will bring petitions from three towns calling for the Congress to start impeachment hearings. She will be hand delivering them to the Speaker of the House, Room 235 in the Cannon office building. Copies of these resolutions will also be given to each member of the House. All are welcome to join Ellen and help deliver resolutions to the House members.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=636
Be It Resolved: You Can Impeach the President
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622
OFFICIAL IMPEACHMENT TEXT
WHEREAS, Jefferson's Manual section LIII, 603, states that impeachment may be set in motion by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush has intentionally misled the Congress and the public regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war against Iraq, in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1001 and intentionally conspired with others to defraud the United States in connection with the war against Iraq in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush has admitted to ordering the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush has conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Convention, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of the "supreme Law of the Land"; and
WHEREAS, George W. Bush has acted to strip Americans of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention of citizens, without access to legal counsel, without charge and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a U.S. citizen as an "enemy combatant", all in subversion of law; and
WHEREAS, In all of this George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the State of ___________ and of the United States.
Be it resolved that George W. Bush, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622
1) This ending is for use by Cities and Towns.
WHEREAS, it is the uniform practice of the US House of Representative to receive petitions or resolutions from primary assemblies of the people;
Be it resolved that George W. Bush and Richard Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States;
Be it resolved further by the City of _________ , That our senators and representatives in the United States Congress be, and they are hereby, requested to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of the President George W. Bush, to the end that he may be impeached and removed from such office.
Be it resolved further, That the Clerk of the City of _________ be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, under the seal of the City of _____________, a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the City of _________, and that this resolution be entered in the United States Congressional Journal. The copies shall be marked with the word "Petition" at the top of the document and contain the authorizing signature of the _________.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622
2) This ending is for use by County Democratic Committees.
WHEREAS, Jefferson's Manual section LIII, 603, states that impeachment may be set in motion by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State;
Be it resolved that George W. Bush and Richard Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States;
Be it resolved further that the _______ County Democratic Committee requests that the State Legislature submit these charges to the U.S. House of Representatives under Jefferson's Manual section LIII, 603 as grounds for impeachment.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622
3) This ending is for use by State Legislatures.
Please make appropriate changes for your state, which may have an Assembly instead of a House of Representatives.
WHEREAS, Jefferson's Manual section LIII, 603, states that impeachment may be set in motion by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State;
Be it resolved that George W. Bush and Richard Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States;
Be it resolved further by the House of Representatives of the State of _________ (the senate concurring), That our senators and representatives in the United States Congress be, and they are hereby, requested to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of the President George W. Bush and Richard Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from such office.
Be it resolved further, That the Secretary of State of the State of ________ be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to each Senator and Representative in the Congress of the United States, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, under the great seal of the State of _____________, a copy of this resolution and its unanimous adoption by the legislature of the State of _____________, and that this resolution be entered in the United States Congressional Journal. The copies shall be marked with the word "Petition" at the top of the document and contain the authorizing signature of the Secretary of State.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622
You Can Impeach the President
By Dan DeWalt
In mid January of this year, in a moment of quixotic zeal, I wrote a five point resolution calling for the impeachment of G W Bush. With 5% of the towns registered voters signing on, it went to the selectboard and was included in the warning for Newfane Town Meeting on March 7.
By the end of Town Meeting day, five towns across Vermont had overwhelmingly adopted this resolution. My phone started ringing within an hour or two, and a day and a half later, I had given more than 30 interviews to media outlets, from FOX and CNN radio to several Boston and local Vermont radio stations, from a Massachusetts ABC-affiliate to Bloomberg News, the Washington Times (snake in the grass), Boston Globe and Reuters.
I soon found out that Vermonters had already been hard at work drafting the “Rutland Resolution," which is an impeachment resolution to be passed by the state legislature, and forces the federal House of Representatives to forward it to the Judiciary Committee. We are continuing our efforts and are making headway, with over half of the state's Democratic County Committees passing it. The state Democratic Committee will be considering this on April 10. Several legislators have expressed a willingness to go along, if not to lead.
I also discovered that all across the country, this call for accountability is being received with welcome and relief. People who have identified themselves as Republicans, evangelicals, many veterans, many elder Americans, contacted me or Newfane to say that they are supporting us and appreciate our speaking out.
Those who support this effort can bring it to their home towns. Whether you have Town Meeting, town council, county supervisors, or any other local political structure, you can petition them to adopt a resolution. Gathering signatures to persuade them may be easier than you would imagine. Support for this president’s actions is very thin. As more revelations dribble out from the mainstream press, more Americans are willing to reconsider their willingness to be unquestionably led by this malignant administration.
Already efforts are underway in California, Hawaii, Indiana, Arizona, Utah, as well as more in VT, just to name some locations where initiatives have sprung up in response to our Town Meeting actions.
If you want to read a concise primer on how to take on an initiative in your town, go here.
Dan DeWalt is a woodworker and selectboard member in the town of Newfane, Vermont, and the author of a successful town resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=622
Old Broads Beat the Rap
Grannies acquitted for anti-war protest
By Joan Wile / Founder & Director, Grandmothers Against the War and proud Times Square Granny Jailbird 18
April 27 is a very joyful day for me. On that day, sixteen years ago, my first grandchild, Jake McCloskey, was born. And yesterday, April 27th, I and 17 other members of the Geritol crowd won a very significant victory in New York City's Criminal Court.
Represented by the great civil liberties attorney, Norman Siegel (pro bono, I might add), we established that when we attempted to enlist at the Times Square Recruiting Station on October 17 and were arrested and put in jail for a miserable few hours, we were not committing a crime, as claimed by the City of New York legal establishment. We were acquitted on the count of disorderly conduct by Judge Neil F. Ross, who, I suspect, did not want to go down in history as the grinch who condemned a group of respectable old ladies to a sentence which might have included jail time.
But, more than that, Judge Ross realized that we did not block access to the recruiting center door, as was claimed by the prosecution, and that, consequently, the police had no right to order us to disperse. He concluded that we were engaged in lawful peaceful protest and were quite clearly not criminals. (Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly, take note. Do not again arrest hundreds of people engaged in peaceful protest and keep them up to 48 hours in filthy circumstances, as happened during the Republican Convention.) With all due respect to those currently incarcerated for mugging, robbery, rape, murder, dope dealing and other assorted breaches of the law, we will not be joining you, at least not now.
What an irony if we had been convicted for exercising our Constitutional right while the really epic criminals continue their lives of crime. I, of course, refer to the Bush Crime Family, so named by the other wonderful Mike, Mike Malloy on Air America. Now there's a case I'd like to see in court! It took six days to come up with a verdict for two relatively minor offenses. How many days would it take to try that gang of murderers, traitors, thieves, leakers of government secrets – if I list all their crimes and misdemeanors I'd take up the entire Web Page, so I'll leave it with a huge ETCETERA.
It is really amazing that we 18 women of a certain age (why do people have to beat around the bush with that expression – we're OLD, period) actually got through the trial with nary an absence or even a pause in the proceedings. At our age, we might be forgiven for having to excuse ourselves rather frequently, especially under stressful circumstances. But, we persevered throughout the entire week and the hours seated on the hard wooden benches -- not conducive to comfortable sitting for aging rumps.
Each of us got a chance to testify and express our opposition to the war and to Bush and his gang, our concern for our young Americans fighting in Iraq and for all the innocent Iraqi people suffering so much, mostly as a result of our illegal attack. Our oldest granny, Marie Runyon, 91, an extremely colorful character with a long history of anti-establishment activism, was given enough latitude to announce, during her testimony, that "we did it to tell that son of a bitch in the White House to STOP it!"
In Norman Siegel's brilliant summation, he stated: "These 18 defendants are people of conscience who on October 17, 2005, acted on principle in the great American tradition of peaceful nonviolent protest. They walk in the shoes of great Americans who have made this nation and this City as great as we are."
We are elated in the knowledge that perhaps we have been instrumental in putting the war on trial and awakening an apathetic public to the precarious position we, and indeed the whole world, have been placed. To slightly paraphrase the clueless, foolish and Code Red Alert highly dangerous current resident of the White House, "OUR Mission HAS been accomplished!"
But, there really is nothing to feel elated about. Our kids are still dying and being horribly maimed in Iraq. Iraqis are still dying and being deprived in every conceivable manner. We can't take the time to congratulate ourselves but must continue as Universal Grandmothers to try and save the next generation.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=637
Join our rally in Washington, DC on April 30th, 2006, 2:00 - 4:30 PM.
The Rally to Stop Genocide will feature leading voices in the effort to stop the genocide in Darfur, including a broad spectrum of prominent faith leaders, political figures, human rights activists, celebrities, and survivors of genocide.
http://www.savedarfur.org/rally/
Eyes Wide Open, AFSC’s widely acclaimed exhibit of boots and shoes honoring the casualties of the Iraq war is returning to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. after a tour of more than 70 cities.
This year, the exhibit anchors a larger four-day event (schedule below), Silence of the Dead – Voices of the Living: A Witness To End the War in Iraq, co-sponsored with organizations of veterans, military families, and others.
http://www.afsc.org/eyes/
June 1st to 3rd:
24-Hour Vigil at the White House With Cindy Sheehan, Susan Sarandon
http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=894
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