John Nirenberg, a history professor from Vermont, is walking from
Boston to Washington DC to demand that Nancy Pelosi put impeachment in
motion. He has a website,: www.marchinmyname.org,, will be walking
from Norwalk to Stamford next weekend, and will be on Scott Harris's
show on 89.5 fm at 9:30 Monday night.
Any of us can enjoy him, walk with him, talk to him, learn from him,
and help him. If you want to walk with him or share a meal with him,
he is walking along Rte 1 on this schedule:
December 1 Boston, Mass send-off
2 Wrentham area
3 N. Attleboro
4 Providence, RI
5 E. Greenwich
6 Wakefield area
7 Charleston
8 Pawcatuk
9 New London, CT
10 Old Lyme
11 Clinton
12 Branford
13 Milford
14 Bridgeport
15 Westport
16 Stamford
17 NYC
26 Philadelphia, PA
January 5 Baltimore, MD
10 Washington DC
If you want to meet up with on his path, first check the website above
to orient yourself, then call him on his cell phone, 802-380-8638.
Please do not call him before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m.. He usually
walks from 7 a.m. to 3:30 pm and is glad to talk on the phone while he
walks.
If you know any reporter or radio interviewer, please call John and
try to make arrangements with the press people you know.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday the 15th John should reach the Westport Bridge.
It would be wonderful if you would escort him on his walk to the
bridge from Fairfield or if you would walk with him from the Bridge to
Stew Leonard's (2.6 miles); then they'll be driven to the Norwalk City
Hall. Dan DeWalt (802-348-7701), the impeachment organizer who
mobilized Vermont for its 41 town impeachment resolutions and the
votes of its legislature, will probably be with him on this stretch;
Wendy Newton (413-585-0127), John's organizer from Westhampton, Mass.
should be with him too. John will probably make it to the Vigil for
Peace at the Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Avenue, Norwalk, sometime
between 12:30 and 2. After the Norwalk City Hall, they'll be driven
back to Rte. 1 and continue walking toward Stamford.
On Sunday the 16th, John will backtrack a bit to speak at the
beginning of the Fairfield Green Party Nominating Convention at the
Norwalk Library at 1:15; the Convention starts at 2: I hope the
Convention will nominate a candidate with a platform on which
impeachment will be the most prominent blank. (If the Convention
doesn't, because I've promised that the 4th district will have an
impeachment candidates, I'll run as an independent.)
Wendy Newton says:
"Please come to the bridge on the 15th.
Please ask everybody you ever knew, everybody you ever saw on the
bridge, to come on the 15th at 10 AM to support John.
Urge people who "always meant to go" to be there, this one time.
Tell all these people to tell all their people? Please help with any
network you're involved with. Got press? Got radio?
John was interviewed on WPKN while walking in Rhode Island on Tuesday,
and will probably be on again.
I'm bringing some PDA & Mass-Impeach friends down from Northampton.
Please send John's website to everybody you can think of.....and talk
this up wherever you go.
Contact me anytime. If anyone wants interviews, John has a cellphone
with him and is delighted to talk about his march.
http://www.marchinmyname.org/
Thanks, Wendy Wendy Newton 211 North Street – Five Northampton, MA
1060-2386 413.585.0127"
I'll keep you posted on changes—for instance, if John decides to go to
the Stamford Peace Vigil (which is earlier and further away than the
Norwalk vigil,) or if other well known people, such as Cindy Sheehan,
decide to show up.
Lots of other significant things are happening, but I'll just add one
today: a letter from Dr. Bob Bowman forwarded by Harold Burbank:
Patriot News e-letter December 2007
The Patriots
Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret., National Commander
1494 Patriot Dr, Melbourne, FL 32940
home: (321) 752-5955
web site:
www.thepatriots.us
email: HQ@thepatriots.us
Contents:
1. The struggle to prevent war with Iran
a. Text of Open Letter to Generals & Admirals
2. The case for Impeachment
3. Form a local chapter of "The Patriots"
4. The "Constitution Project"
5. New Guidelines for Event Organizers
6. Remember "The Patriots" in your will
7. The Elephant in the Living Room: 9/11 Truth
8. Check out our constantly changing web site
a. Text of recent speeches and articles
b. Articles from S&SN over the last 25 years
c. links to chapter web sites & contacts
d. help in organizing a speaking event
e. video & audio files of recent events
f. Dr. Bowman's stand on nearly a hundred vital issues
g. lots more
=============================================================
1. The struggle to prevent war with Iran
Preventing an unprovoked US attack on Iran (especially one
with nuclear weapons) has been a high priority for us for the last few
years. The recent Intelligence Estimate concluding that Iran halted
its nuclear weapons program in 2003 confirms our contention that there
is no immediate threat from Iran. Here is the complete text of Dr.
Bowman's Open Letter. Though it has been reprinted many times, we
still don't know if the Pentagon brass have seen it. Please copy it
and pass it on, along with a link to our web site www.thepatriots.us .
Duty, Honor, Country 2007
An Open Letter to the New Generation of Military Officers Serving and
Protecting Our Nation
By Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret., National Commander, The Patriots
Dear Comrades in Arms,
You are facing challenges in 2007 that we of previous
generations never dreamed of. I'm just an old fighter pilot (101
combat missions in Vietnam, F-4 Phantom, Phu Cat, 1969-1970) who's now
a disabled veteran with terminal cancer from Agent Orange. Our
mailing list (over 22,000) includes veterans from all branches of the
service, all political parties, and all parts of the political
spectrum. We are Republicans and Democrats, Greens and Libertarians,
Constitutionists and Reformers, and a good many Independents. What
unites us is our desire for a government that (1) follows the
Constitution, (2) honors the truth, and (3) serves the people. (See
www.thepatriots.us )
We see our government going down the wrong path, all too
often ignoring military advice, and heading us toward great danger.
And we look to you who still serve as the best hope for protecting our
nation from disaster.
We see the current Iraq War as having been unnecessary,
entered into under false pretenses, and horribly mismanaged by the
civilian authorities. Thousands of our brave troops have been
needlessly sacrificed in a futile attempt at occupation of a hostile
land. Many more thousands have suffered wounds which will change
their lives forever. Tens of thousands have severe psychological
problems because of what they have seen and what they have done.
Potentially hundreds of thousands could be poisoned by depleted
uranium, with symptoms appearing years later, just as happened to us
exposed to Agent Orange. The military services are depleted and
demoralized. The VA system is under-funded and overwhelmed. The
National Guard and Reserves have been subjected to tour after tour,
disrupting lives for even the lucky ones who return intact. Jobs have
been lost, marriages have been destroyed, homes have been foreclosed,
and children have been estranged. And for what? We have lost allies,
made new enemies, and created thousands of new terrorists, further
endangering the American people.
But you know all this. I'm sure you also see the enormous
danger in a possible attack on Iran, possibly with nuclear weapons.
Such an event, seriously contemplated by the Cheney faction of the
Bush administration, would make enemies of Russia and China and turn
us into the number one rogue nation on earth. The effect on our
long-term national security would be devastating.
Some of us had hoped that the new Democratic Congress
would end the occupation of Iraq and take firm steps to prevent an
attack on Iran, perhaps by impeaching Bush and Cheney. These hopes
have been dashed. The lily-livered Democrats have caved in, turning
their backs on those few (like Congressman Jack Murtha) who understand
the situation. Many of us have personally walked the halls of
Congress, to no avail.
This is where you come in.
We know that many of you share our concern and our
determination to protect our republic from an arrogant,
out-of-control, imperial presidency and a compliant, namby-pamby
Congress (both of which are unduly influenced by the oil companies and
other big-money interests). We know that you (like us) wouldn't have
pursued a military career unless you were idealistic and devoted to
our nation and its people. (None of us do it for the pay and working
conditions!) But we also recognize that you may not see how you can
influence these events. We in the military have always had a historic
subservience to civilian authority.
Perhaps I can help with whatever wisdom I've gathered from
age (I retired in 1978, so I am ancient indeed).
Our oath of office is to "protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and
domestic." Might I suggest that this includes a rogue president and
vice-president? Certainly we are bound to carry out the legal orders
of our superiors. But the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)
which binds all of us enshrines the Nuremberg Principles which this
country established after World War II (which you are too young to
remember). One of those Nuremberg Principles says that we in the
military have not only the right, but also the DUTY to refuse an
illegal order. It was on this basis that we executed Nazi officers
who were "only carrying out their orders."
The Constitution which we are sworn to uphold says that
treaties entered into by the United States are the "highest law of the
land," equivalent to the Constitution itself. Accordingly, we in the
military are sworn to uphold treaty law, including the United Nations
charter and the Geneva Convention.
Based on the above, I contend that should some civilian
order you to initiate a nuclear attack on Iran (for example), you are
duty-bound to refuse that order. I might also suggest that you should
consider whether the circumstances demand that you arrest whoever gave
the order as a war criminal.
I know for a fact that in recent history (once under Nixon
and once under Reagan), the military nuclear chain of command in the
White House discussed these things and were prepared to refuse an
order to "nuke Russia." In effect they took the (non-existent)
"button" out of the hands of the President.. We were thus never quite
as close to World War III as many feared, no matter how irrational any
president might have become. They determined that the proper response
to any such order was, "Why, sir?" Unless there was (in their words)
a "damn good answer," nothing was going to happen.
I suggest that if you in this generation have not had such
a discussion, perhaps it is time you do. In hindsight, it's too bad
such a discussion did not take place prior to the preemptive "shock
and awe" attack on Baghdad. Many of us at the time spoke out
vehemently that such an attack would be an impeachable offense, a war
crime against the people of Iraq, and treason against the United
States of America. But our voices were drowned out and never reached
the ears of the generals in 2003. I now regret that I never sent a
letter such as this at that time, but depended on the corporate media
to carry my message. I must not make that mistake again.
Also in hindsight, President Bush could be court-martialed
for abuse of power as Commander-in-Chief. Vice President Cheney could
probably be court-martialed for his performance as Acting
Commander-in-Chief in the White House bunker the morning of September
11, 2001.
We in the U.S. military would never consider a military
coup, removing an elected president and installing one of our own.
But following our oath of office, obeying the Nuremberg Principles,
and preventing a rogue president from committing a war crime is not a
military coup. If it requires the detention of executive branch
officials, we will not impose a military dictatorship. We will let
the Constitutional succession take place. This is what we are sworn
to. This is protecting the Constitution, our highest obligation. In
2007, this is what is meant by "Duty, Honor, Country."
Thank you all for your service to this nation. May God
bless America, and sustain us in this difficult time. And thanks for
listening to the musings of an old junior officer.
Respectfully,
Robert M. Bowman, PhD,
Lt. Col., USAF, ret.
1494 Patriot Dr,
Melbourne, FL 32940
home phone (321)
752-5955; cell (321) 258-0582
email: bob@thepatriots.us
==============================================================
2. The case for Impeachment
A few brave souls on Capitol Hill are calling for
impeachment, but the movement doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The
leadership of the Democratic Party seems to have made a calculated
decision that if they can possibly keep Dick Cheney and George W. Bush
in office until November 2008, then Democrats will sweep the
elections. And they may be right. But there are more important
things than partisan politics.
Never in our history has there been such a strong case for
impeachment. The number of "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed
by Cheney and Bush is staggering.
Many of their offenses involve usurping the Constitutional
powers of the legislative branch and building an "imperial
presidency." Many involve deliberately and arrogantly violating the
law, including the Constitution itself. Many involve abrogation of
our freedoms as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Any decent
Constitutional lawyer would be able to draw up Articles of Impeachment
including dozens of offenses for which there is undisputable proof.
However, I propose bringing impeachment proceedings on
only one count — deceiving the Congress and the nation into an
unnecessary and illegal war of aggression in Iraq. (An equally strong
case could be made for the war in Afghanistan, but that's another
count for another day.)
Hardly anyone denies that there is a mountain of proof of
this charge. The only argument against proceeding seems to be that
there is so little time left in their term of office that it doesn't
make sense to spend the time and money involved. I disagree.
Reasons for impeaching Cheney and Bush (regardless of
whether the Senate ever gets around to convicting them) are as
follows:
(1) There are still sixteen months left in which this
fascist cabal can do even more evil than they have already done.
Among the possible deeds they may do if not prevented from doing so is
a "false flag" attack against one of our own assets (a city or one of
our carriers in the gulf), blaming it on Iran, and using this
deception to get us into yet another disastrous war, possibly
involving the use of nuclear weapons against Iran's underground
facilities. It will be much easier for the generals and admirals in
the Pentagon to refuse such orders if Cheney and Bush are under
impeachment.
(2) Impeachment will send a message to future presidents
that if they become dictators, violate the Constitution, and ignore
the will of the people, they will NOT get away with it. We will not
let them quietly serve out their term and retire to a ranch in
Paraguay. WE WILL TAKE THEM DOWN!
(3) Impeachment will send a message to the people of the
world that the American people do not support the evil that has been
done in our name. We are now the number one rogue nation on earth.
Moreover, we apparently reelected the perpetrators. If we are to
recover our standing in the family of nations, we must make it clear
that this administration is an aberration that will not be tolerated.
It is not sufficient to just elect a Democrat and hope all
will be well. In all likelihood, it will not. Democrats are not
immune to the allure of power, and all too many of them serve the same
big money interests that control most Republicans.
If we want our Republic back, we the people must insist on
our representatives using the tool provided in the Constitution to
protect us from tyranny — impeachment.
If not now, when?
=================================================================
3. Form a local chapter of The Patriots
If you agree with our drive to "Take Back America", then
consider forming a local chapter of The Patriots. We will help in any
way we can, and will provide the chapter with a web site. Just send
us information about your chapter (Congressional District; contact
name, address, phone number, & email address; and any other
information you have) and we'll get you started. We will provide free
hosting of your web site if you like.
==================================================================
4. The Constitution Project
Some of us carry a pocket copy of the Declaration of
Independence, US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Amendments to the
Constitution. It's amazing how few Americans know what their rights
under the Constitution really are. How can we get our government to
start following the Constitution if we don't know what it says?
We are therefore starting a project to increase awareness of the
Constitution. We have provided a link to the text on our web site.
We are also hoping to raise enough funds to provide every member of
The Patriots with their own copy. We also plan to provide chapters
with many copies they can distribute.
An aware electorate will not put up with abuses like the
so-called "Patriot Act," the Military Commissions Act, Presidential
Directive 51, and other infringements on our freedoms as Americans.
===================================================================
5. New Guidelines for Event Organizers
Go to www.thepatriots.us and click on "Events." That page will
tell you all you need to know to organize a speaking event for Dr.
Bowman in your community. Such events provide the bulk of our income
to support the activities of The Patriots through the year. They are
vital in bringing in new members and bringing us closer to the
critical mass needed to "Take Back America." Such an event will also
help you gather members for a local chapter.
====================================================================
6. Remember "The Patriots" in your will.
One of the best ways to keep us going is to remember "The
Patriots" in you will or living trust. A bequest to The Patriots will
be most appreciated. Remember, we are a 501c(3) non-profit
organization. All gifts to us are tax-deductible.
=====================================================================
7. The Elephant in the Living Room: 9/11 Truth
The corporate media will not address the issues of 9/11 Truth,
except for occasional "hit pieces" putting us down. It's true that
there are a few "kooks" in the movement, but the vast majority are
highly educated, highly credible, and highly rational. See for
example http://patriotsquestion911.com . I (Dr. Bowman) don't know if
anyone in the Bush Administration was complicit in the attacks. It's
quite likely that at least President Bush himself was quite clueless.
But we know there has been a cover-up. Why, we don't know. We're not
sure what they're covering and who they are protecting. We just know
we have not been told the truth. Those of you who share these
troubling thoughts may be interested in a three-minute DVD on our web
site. It's all about World Trade Center Building 7. It's so short
and to the point, we have successfully used it in Congressional
lobbying. Take a look, and feel free to download and copy it. You
may not think it's a "smoking gun," but it's as close as we have. It
should at least open people's eyes to the fact that there's something
fishy about the official conspiracy theory we've been subjected to.
It usually leaves folks wanting more information ... and there's
plenty available.
===================================================================
8. Finally, do go to www.thepatriots.us every week or so, and keep
informed. Together, we can take power away from the global robber
barons and return it to the people.
Thanks!
` Bob
----------------------------------------------
Dr. Bob Bowman
