Peter Phillips / CommonDreams.org – 2006-04-05 21:50:49
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0327-29.htm
National Impeachment Movement Ignored by Corporate Media
Peter Phillips / CommonDreams.org
(March 27, 2006) — If a national movement calling for the impeachment of the President is rapidly emerging and the corporate media are not covering it, is there really a national movement for the impeachment of the President?
Impeachment advocates are widely mobilizing in the US. Over 1,000 letters to the editors of major newspapers have been printed in the past six months asking for impeachment. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette letter writer George Matus says, “I am still enraged over unasked questions about exit polls, touch-screen voting, Iraq, the cost of the new Medicare…. who formulated our energy policy, Jack Abramoff, the Downing Street Memos, and impeachment.”
David Anderson in McMinnville, Oregon pens to the Oregonian, “Where are the members of our congressional delegation now in demanding the current president’s actions be investigated to see if impeachment or censure are appropriate actions?” William Dwyer’s letter in the Charleston Gazette says, “Congress will never have the courage to start the impeachment process without a groundswell of outrage from the people.”
City councils, boards of supervisors, and local and state level Democrat central committees have voted for impeachment. Arcata, California voted for impeachment on January 6. The City and County of San Francisco, voted Yes on February 28.
The Sonoma County Democrat Central Committee (CA) voted for Impeachment on March 16. The townships of Newfane, Brookfield, Dummerston, Marlboro and Putney in Vermont all voted for impeachment the first week of March.
The New Mexico State Democrat party convention rallied on March 18 for the “impeachment of George Bush and his lawful removal from office.” The national Green Party called for impeachment on January 3.
Op-ed writers at the St. Petersburg Times, Newsday, Yale Daily News, Barrons, Detroit Free Press, and the Boston Globe have called for impeachment.
The Nation (1/30/06) and Harpers (3/06) magazines published cover articles calling for impeachment. Garrison Keillor, and Richard Dreyfuss both have come out for impeachment.
As of March 16, 32 US House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors to House Resolution 635, which would create a Select Committee to look into the grounds for recommending President Bush’s impeachment.
Polls show that nearly a majority of Americans favor impeachment. In October of 2005, Public Affairs Research found that 50% of Americans said that President Bush should be impeached if he lied about the war in Iraq.
A Zogby International poll from early November 2005 found that 53% of Americans say, “If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.”
A March 16, 2006 poll by American Research Group showed that 42% of Americans favored impeaching Bush.
Despite all this advocacy and sentiment for impeachment, corporate media have yet to cover this emerging mass movement. The Bangor Daily News simply reported on March 17 that former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark has set up the website Votetoimpeach.org and that other groups are using the internet to push impeachment.
The Wall Street Journal, on March 16, editorialized about how it is just “the loony left” seeking impeachment, but perhaps some Democrats in Congress will join in feeding on the “bile of the censure/impeachment brigades.”
The corporate media is ignoring the broadening call for impeachment — wishing perhaps it will just go away.
Television news and talk shows have mentioned impeachment over 100 times in the past 30 days, mostly however in the context of Senator Russ Feingold’s censure bill and the lack of broad Democrat support for censure or impeachment. Nothing on television news gives the impression that millions of Americans are calling for the impeachment of Bush and his cohorts.
The Bush Administration lied about Iraq, illegally spied on US citizens, and continues war crimes in the Middle East. Despite corporate media’s inability to hear the demands for impeachment, the groundswell of outrage continues to expand.
Peter Phillips is a Professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and Director of Project Censored a media research organization. He is co-editor with Dennis Loo from Cal Poly Pomona of the The Case for Impeachment of Bush and Cheney scheduled for release this summer by Seven Stories Press.
FAQ’S ABOUT IMPEACHMENT
Q — What can ordinary people do? Isn’t it up to the House to impeach?
A — Under the US Constitution, ultimate authority is vested in WE THE PEOPLE. The members of the House are our Representatives, and they are supposed to represent the will of the people. Polls show that the majority of voters want Bush and Cheney impeached if they lied us into war in Iraq, and/or wiretapped illegally. There is plenty of evidence to warrant investigation into impeachment by the House.
Q — Since Congress is Republican, how can we expect them to impeach?
A — All 435 seats in the House are up for election this November. It’s the job of WE THE PEOPLE to make sure that an impeaching candidate is running in every district, and gets elected, so that we will have an impeaching Congress coming in.
Q — If Bush is impeached, wouldn’t Cheney become president? He’d be worse.
A — John Conyers’ HR 635, 636, 637 call for censure of Bush and Cheney both, and investigation into impeachable offenses of both men. Cheney will not survive an impeachment inquiry.
Q — Who is next in line? Wouldn’t it be Hastert, Republican Speaker of the House?
A — Yes, right now, but if we elect an impeaching Congress, then the new Speaker will probably be a progressive Democrat. The most senior Democrat is John Conyers.
Q — With Bush controlling the media, isn’t impeachment an impossible dream?
A — Through word of mouth and the internet, the impeachment movement is growing rapidly. News of it is now breaking into the mainstream media. We have 7 more months to build it. How can we fail, with more news of impeachable offenses coming out almost daily?
Q — What good will getting rid of Bush and Cheney do? The whole system is corrupt.
A — If we can put a progressive, impeaching Congress in place, we will have cleaned out much of the corruption. We will have a Congress beholden to the people rather than to the corporations. The new Congress, after changing the Executive Branch, can undo much of the harm that the Bush administration has inflicted on the world, and can start to deal with real problems, like global warming.
Q — You are starting to make sense. Is there a way of doing this?
A — As we get more organized, we are identifying the candidates in every district, and will support and publicize impeachers through the internet, word of mouth, radio call ins, etc, until the mainstream media has to take notice. Impeaching candidates for Congress may be progressive Democrats, Greens, even an occasional Republican. Where there is no impeacher running, we will run and support a write-in candidate, who will bring impeachment into the debate.
Q — What can I do to help?
A — Find your nearest grassroots impeachment group and join it. You can check at www.impeachBush.meetup.com or http://www.pdamerica.org/impeach-wg.php
Help educate the public, make sure that local Congressional races include impeaching candidates, get city council resolutions passed. To stay informed, www.afterdowningstreet.org has the latest information, as does www.impeachpac.org
Impeachment is peaceful, legal and democratic. The people, united, can never be defeated.
In the name of the Prince of Peace, Carol Wolman
