Fellow blogmates, Washington Saturday September 15th and other anti-war and impeachment groups are now reporting that while the momentum for the September 15th  Peace/Impeachment demonstration grows, the Bush Administration is going to extraordinary lengths to suppress the mobilizing for this mass demonstration.

Three anti-war activists were arrested in front of the White House today after the U.S. Park Police moved to suppress a press conference called to protest the fines and threats against the ANSWER Coalition for putting up anti-war posters promoting the September 15 March and Die-In in Washington DC.

The press conference became a chaotic scene as U.S. Park Police interrupted the event on the basis that there was no permit for a folding table that was used as a speaker’s stand for media microphones. As U.S. Park Police officers surrounded the group, an officer on horseback rode into the crowd to disperse the media and onlookers.

The arrested were Tina Richards, CEO of Grassroots America and mother of Iraq War Veteran Cloy Richards; Adam Kokesh, the Co-Chair Elect of the Iraq Veterans Against the War and member of Veterans for Peace; and Ian Thompson, an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition.

Updates soon, still reading my emails,

Tish

Also reported here by the Centre for Research on Globalization.

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100 Transportation Centers for the March here.

Counterpoint to the "Official Version" on Iraq here.

John Lennon

Woodstock (Jimi)

Janis (Ball and Chain)

An objective of our Constitution Day Redress campaign will be not only to awaken, but also to educate Congress. A little explored dimension of the Constitutional crises is that our representatives do not know all of the options available to them. It is our responsibility to make sure that they do. According to Los Angeles writer  Linda Milazzo, citizen lobbyists are more knowledgeable than electeds:

Three weeks ago, a delegation of patriot lobbyists went to Congressman Henry Waxman's office (D-CA) to discuss impeachment and the war in Iraq. During that meeting, the group informed Waxman, Chairman of the critically important House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, that he had the option to use "Inherent Contempt" to force Bush's cronies to testify in Congress or face arrest and imprisonment until they do.

Shockingly Waxman, whose Bush Administration subpoenas are squelched by Bush's Executive Order, was unaware of his option of "Inherent Contempt." 

The citizen delegation also provided Waxman with evidence legitimizing the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. They further recommended to Waxman that he view the John Nichols/Bruce Fein program on impeachment that aired on Bill Moyers' Journal on PBS. It was a widely seen, highly acclaimed and informative program detailing Congress's obligation to invoke articles of impeachment when there is evidence of abuse of power -- which Nichols and Fein provide ample proof of in their case against Bush and Cheney. As chairman of a powerful investigative committee, it is incumbent upon Waxman to use every tool available to self-educate on the job. If the unelected citizen lobbyists can take the time to view this video, then the paid elected official should be obliged to do the same.

Earlier today, fellow blogmates, I posed the question: Do Bush-Cheney plan to declare martial law?  There appeared to be some opposition to my posing the question. 

In my search to better understand the issue, I discovered that the Veterans for Common Sense website posted an item yesterday that a

news report from CBS affiliate, KSLA-TV, of Shreveport, Louisiana, has confirmed the federal government is training so-called Clergy Response Teams (CRT’s) to quell dissent should martial law ever be declared in the US. [emp. mine]

The rest of the report appears here.

As a firm believer in the separation of Church and State, I am now even more interested in researching the question I posed this morning.  I will report my findings as they become available and, as always, I welcome yours.  Tish

It's a question, fellow blogmates. What do you think?

According to peace activist, Dr. Carol Wolman, they do, with devastating effect:

We the People are still sovereign, as long as the US Constitution is in effect. This is why Bush is so eager to initiate martial law. The Constitution empowers us, We the People. We still have the power to fire Bush and Cheney, via our elected Representatives in Congress. Calling for impeachment is perfectly legal, and can’t possibly be considered a terrorist action, a pretext for calling the military, an undermining of our young people in uniform, or anything else that would provoke an armed confrontation with the state.

Under martial law, We the People would lose all rights, and would no longer be sovereign. Our property could be confiscated, our young people conscripted to be killed in foreign lands, our very persons "disappeared" without a trace, and with no legal recourse. We can be labelled felons and made to work for nothing, as prisoners are forced to do.  This is slavery.

Bush-Cheney are itching to declare martial law. As more and more rats leave their sinking ship, they act unconcerned, knowing they hold the trump card, suspension of the Constitution and declaration of martial law. Any excuse will do- a bird flu epidemic, a hurricane like Katrina, demonstrations turning to riots, or an event like 9-11, which they could easily engineer again. And then there’s always the plan to nuke Iran, with resulting attacks on the US from Russia/China.

It’s obvious to all by now- we have to get them before they get us. Impeachment or enslavement, that’s our choice.   

I do not know if Dr. Wolman overstates her case, but I do know that (1) I am level-headed; (2) I don't need the threat of impending martial law to determine that now is a reasonable time to act; (3) September has begun, and (4) with it, daily actions are planned across the nation to exercise our rights to redress our government.

Impeachment is legal, peaceful, and available for use against would-be dictators under the US Constitution.  Let us use the remedy provided to us by the Founders to preserve and protect the legacy of freedom with which we have been entrusted.

Yours for fruitful Redress in September,

Tish