time to impeach the president?

[2eclipse]

i don't post political stuff all that often, but i have just finished listening to fresh air and i'm extremely concerned. please check out this NPR story for details.
it is an interview with a pulitzer prize winning journalist who has written a new book called the way of the world detailing how the executive branch of our government has used the CIA to run a mis-information campaign against the american people in order to get us to back war in iraq on false premises. the long and the short? they new that there were no weapons of mass destruction before we went to iraq and deliberately deceived the american people. this is an impeachable offense, and there is a law SPECIFICALLY against the CIA running misinformation against the american people. the journalist has recordings to back up the claims of his books.
i have to admit, i have believed this all along, and been against the war all along, so this doesn't come as a big surprise to me or to many of you. what concerns me is that maybe we have become blase about the whole thing. how will bush/cheney ever be brought to justice if there is no public momentum for impeachment? dennis kucinich has brought up impeaching the president several times and the proposal keeps being cast aside. i am going to write letters to my representative. if any of you care about this issue and feel the same way, i hope you will as well.

Comments

[rengetsu.livejournal.com]

I only caught part of that story... honestly when it first came on I was like, didn't we already know all that? that's kind of old hat... so I guess I missed the part about trying to impeach the president.

what really sickens me is that they were trying to impeach clinton over something that was honestly IMO really trivial, and yet Bush/Cheney are getting away with killing massive amounts of people with no consequences. disgusting.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

actually there isn't a whole lot in the story about impeaching anyone. it's mentioned briefly. most of what i wrote about that comes from my outside knowledge of what's in the news.
but it is the BASIS for a real reason to impeach bush.
that and war crimes for holding non-combatants as though they don't have rights under the geneva convention (which in my opinion is at least as bad).
i agree. the republicans were looking for excuses to impeach clinton. bush has EARNED it.

[dragonintherain.livejournal.com]

the whole thing is frustrating. no one seems to want to touch bush in any way. i mean, i remember people protesting stuff in front of the white house. now? you have to watch what you say/do.

[patchhat.livejournal.com]

who does one complain to? where does one complain to? in what form does one complain and not sound like a squeaky wheel crackpot? i'm all for impeachment, but being a non-politically oriented individual, i have no idea how one goes about actually making a difference in the world of politics.

it's not that i'm not willing to speak out, but i don't feel like squawking for the sake of squawking. if i'm gonna squawk, i want the right people to hear it and take it seriously, because it's likely that i will only squawk once.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

which is why i'm advocating sqwaking in a letter to your local house and senate representatives. i have written a bunch of letters to them since i moved up here and i have ALWAYS gotten a response - usually a letter about the issue i've written to them regarding and their voting record on it. a letter is not a guarantee. i'm only one constituent...but so far every representative i've written to has treated my concerns seriously.

[patchhat.livejournal.com]

as i said above..."being a non-politically oriented individual, i have no idea how one goes about actually making a difference in the world of politics."... allow me to expand this statement for clarification.

i r a dummy when it comes to how politics work. it's not that i don't care, or wouldn't try if i knew how, but i seriously don't know -anything- about this particular process. i admit, i would be a better person if i knew how my country was run... but i just don't care to study politics. politics (at least in it's current governmental form) disgust me and i avoid them when i'm able. yes, for the most part i stick my fingers in my ears and go la-la-la... i'm not proud of this, but i admit it.

i don't know who my "local house and senate representatives" are, i don't know what they do, where they are, or what they need to hear to get the desired response from them. i don't know what a constituent is, or why that would be more important than a concerned citizen. chances are good i didn't vote for the person in the office i'm writing to. i usually vote for those offices, but i never pay attention to who wins the election.

oh sure, if i knew who they were, i could jot off a list of irritations at them (squawking), and they would nod, smile, think "this isn't my department", and send back a pleasant letter to assuage me. nothing is accomplished if the right words don't reach the right people. i would much rather know a)to whom i am speaking, b)what their powers and responsibilities are, c)why they even care what i think or want, and d)what form of communication i need to present my concerns in.

as an example, if a letter resembled this note i'm writing now went to a congressman, it would be dismissed out of hand because the tone is informal and loaded with conversational grammar... it's pro'lly a little argumentative too(sorry 'bout that). if the letter was too formal, or too general, or addressed issues not in the congressman's sphere of influence, it would pro'lly be dismissed as a form letter. if i knew the target audience, and the proper content of the letter, i would most likely speak up, but i'm not willing to delve deeply enough into the politics i despise to find this information myself.

if i must, i can write a really snazzy letter... and just because i despise the current condition of things doesn't mean that i'm not willing to try... i'm just sayin' that, left to my own devices, i don't have enough information to assist you in making that change, and it's very doubtful that i would pursue that course on my own.

you said "i am going to write letters to my representative. if any of you care about this issue and feel the same way, i hope you will as well." i do care, i do feel the same way, and if you want my help, i'm willing to help, but this little peasant needs schooling before i'm -able- to help. i also suspect that there's alot of others out there in the same boat... willing, but not able, due to lack of specific information and no idea where to get this specific information.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

gotcha.
when i write my letters i will forward a copy to you. if you like, you are welcome to take my name off, add yours, make whatever changes you want, and send a copy. congressmen and senators don't care if they get form letters. especially since they use them all the time for responding. all the information you are looking for is free online.

[patchhat.livejournal.com]

thank you, that would be a helpful way for -me- to participate, and i would welcome the information. personally, i wouldn't just replace the name... that's wrong on a number of levels... and like i said, i -can- write if'n i'm inspired to.

i kinda figured the info would be online... but online is a big place and my google-fu is not strong. i just don't care to go digging.

more helpful to me would be to inform me about a) b) c) and d) from the above post. also, is my representative the same as yours?

the most helpful, at least in my mind, would be to put answers to these questions in a post here. if everyone can see the basics, anyone that cares to could help in the letter writing. i may be in the minority of being a political dummy, but i'll bet you a dollar that there's someone reading this string that doesn't know who to write to or how to write to them.

last question, does e-mailing these people put you on spam lists? would snail mail be better received or harder to ignore? the "delete all" button seems to be a quick response to a flood of issue laden e-mails.