“One year ago in Detroit,” said Congressional candidate Brad Newsham, “Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers performed an outrage-ous act of political courage. Even though her husband, John Conyers -- chair of the House Judiciary Committee and one of America’s most powerful politicians ­ is staunchly anti-impeachment, Ms. Conyers introduced a pro-impeachment resolution that the Detroit council unanimously approved. Now we’re asking her to step up again. We want her to run for her husband’s seat in Congress.”

Shirley Golub produced the play "I", The Impeachment Trial of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney which premiered May 17th and will run through this weekend (May 30th & 31st). The play is excellent, but sadly shows that Congress has aided and abetted the Bush/Cheney regime all this time, can hardly convict them without convicting themselves, unless there was a reverberating, enormous general outcry, and pressure placed on Congress, and the media. Very soon in the June primary, Democrats in Pelosi's District need to get out and vote, a vote for Shirley Golub and Impeachment could launch hearings, halt a war against Iran, and help us redeem this country from its criminal path.

     

Carol Brouillet mentioned that she had received an email from the wife of one of the engineers on her radio show, suggesting a show on "Denial" and that even structural engineers experienced cognitive dissonance on 9/11 and were unable to process the visual evidence with descriptions which denied physical reality, and that we needed to recognize collectively that the "War on Terror is a Fraud." She reiterated that the 9/11 Report is a big lie, based on tortured evidence, and with enormous omissions, such as the disintegration of WTC Building Number 7, which was not hit by a plane and that the Report fails to even mention, and can't explain. It has taken years for pilots, engineers, and the country to begin to recover from the trauma of 9/11 and begin thinking more rationally about the lies that they have been told.

     

Carol also praised Shirley Golub's wonderful play "I", The Impeachment Trial of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, but cautioned that in the play, it clearly showed how difficult it would be for Congress to convict Bush and Cheney without convicting themselves for their unwavering support of the policies. We don't want the Democrats to do the "War on Terror" better than the Republicans, which is what is happening now. She emphasized that in order to have peace, we need the truth about 9/11, a real investigation, and to discover precisely what role Cheney and Bush had in the events of that day. She finished by applauding and thanking everyone for their courage and support of impeachment, truth and peace.

     

The media was conspicuously absent from the Press Conference, with the exception of the activist media, who also took photos, filmed, applauded, held signs, passed out literature. The "eye candy" included a large "Impeach the Terrorists!" banner, two giant heads of the current President and Vice President, giant photos of the early Beach Impeach's that Brad Newsham organized where a thousand people spelled it out very clearly for Pelosi what was demanded of her by her constituency and the country.

     

Cynthia Papermaster, from Code Pink, who organized a large impeachment event with David Swanson last April at the Grand Lake Theater, was the moving force behind the California Impeachment Coalition. She strongly believes that we can initiate hearings in Congress and that impeachment could follow quickly. While there is a long list of crimes that the Administration has committed which could be considered "impeachable offenses," there are many which are unique to president Bush and Vice-President Cheney which do not implicate the rest of Congress. Strategically we need to apply pressure where have the most leverage and can get the best results. For the country, the best thing would be to impeach Bush and Cheney, and not encourage other Presidents to continue along their path.

Bill Callison and Gene Ruyle, a member of the Peace and Freedom Party, shared their commitment toward impeachment, Truth and Peace, and values which transcended party lines that were shared by all.

     

Carol Wolman was particularly eloquent about the need for impeachment and mentioned the New Broom Coalition and the Longhouse Coalition, both national coalitions, dedicated towards impeachment, and gaining new members.

 "The need for impeachment is my original motivation in running for Congress. As a parent and a senior, I worry about the future. I am watching the economy, the environment, the public sector, the quality of life deteriorate rapidly since Bush took office. Meanwhile, the US government, Bush and Cheney with the collusion of Congress, spends billions of our tax dollars daily on illegal, immoral attacks on other countries. Mike Thompson, by refusing to vote for impeachment and by consistently voting for military spending bills, is part of the problem.

 "As a psychiatrist, I am watching the country being hypnotized by madmen who believe that they, and some of us, can survive a nuclear war. By threatening to nuke Iran, they have turned Iran's military allies, Russia and China, against us. Bush and Cheney have openly threatened us with World War III. This is insane and suicidal. "As a patriotic American, I am watching in horror as our precious freedoms and civil liberties are trampled. Mike Thompson has done nothing to repeal or amend the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act, the Military Commissions Act, which render any opponents of Bush and Cheney vulnerable to being labeled "enemy combatants" and to being "disappeared", without even the protection of habeas corpus. The legislation for fascism is all in place, and Mike Thompson has allowed it to happen. "We need a clean sweep of Congress." We thanked all our supporters, urged everyone to become or support impeachment candidates in every Congressional District.

For more information please visit www.calimpeachmentslate.com

Words above by Carol Brouillet, pictures by Tian Harter.

     

After everything was said and done, and we were packing up, a political reporter came out of the Chronicle Offices and asked a few questions. I vividly remember Brad explaining to him that as SF cabbie he had many many fares that were convinced that something is wrong with the current administration. The steady drumbeat of their voices from his back seat is what convinced him that it was his duty to put his name out there as an impeachment. It was something he could do. Congress needs to pay attention to this issue.

I took the picture of a gas station because I thought "what a coincidence, gas is $4.15 and here we are in a place where everybody has area code 415 on their land line phone numbers."