for Congress. Apparently some papers have reported this but I have not
seen the articles yet. David Bedell's press release is good (see below
at 1), but do not expect it to be printed without alteration. Do not
expect the event to have been well reported and do not expect
quotations to be accurate.
For the next week or so my postings are likely to be brief and I
probably will not find time to answer everything I have received since
Sunday morning. There's a lot of organizing to do. If you would like
to take over some work on this listserve, please let me know.
2) Tonight at 9 pm Pbs aired Frontline's program, "Cheney's Law." It
is the most informative single tv program I have seen on the Cheney
and his effect on the Bush Administration. You can watch it on
Pbs.org; go to "Cheney's Law" on Frontline and you will also find a
lot of background information and documentation not included in the
program itself. Our understanding of what the Constitution says is on
checks and balances and limitations on powers is exactly contrary to
Cheney's. Cheney is so extreme on secrecy and the absolute powers of
the presidency—the purity of "imperial presidency," i.e.,
dictatorship—that eventually even John Ashcroft sided with us. (This
is the complete message.)
3) Please contact the ACLU to pass a resolution to impeach. See below.
Richard Duffee
Detailed Material:
1) Press release on nomination:
Here is David Bedell's press release and the ACLU message:
1) GREEN PARTY NOMINATES RICHARD DUFFEE IN 4TH DISTRICT
Candidate Will Challenge Shays and Himes
NORWALK, CT—On Sunday afternoon, members of the Green Party met at the
Norwalk Library to select a candidate for Congress from the 4th
District. They nominated Richard Duffee of Stamford, a retired lawyer
and impeachment activist.
He will run for the seat currently occupied by Republican Christopher
Shays, which is also being contested by Democrat Jim Himes.
Another candidate, solar energy engineer/designer Gerald Falbel of
Stamford, sought the Green nomination but failed to garner support.
Several caucus participants voted for the option "None of the Above"
in lieu of a candidate, but the majority supported Duffee's
nomination.
When asked his reasons for running, Duffee cited the need to reverse
the current Iraq war policies, to prevent war against Iran, and to
counter the Bush administration's environmental legacy and failure to
address global warming or public safety threats such as the nearby
Indian Point nuclear power plant.
Congress Has Failed to Impeach
Above all, however, Duffee decided to run because Congress has not
used its power of impeachment to end what he describes as the criminal
activities of George Bush and Dick Cheney. "I believe the current
Congress has not taken seriously the oath of office to defend the
Constitution. We are in a constitutional crisis that cannot end until
we repudiate empire and imperial presidencies and return to our
Republic.
"We need a government based on trust, openness, honesty, and
disinterested public action. It is clear that Bush and Cheney regard
us not as citizens, but as subjects, using all the techniques of
ruling an empire—secrecy, deceit, betrayal, fraud, mystification, and
violence. These are inherently incompatible with the moral
prerequisites for maintaining a Republic based on the rule of law.
"Christopher Shays is guilty of breaching his oath of office by
supporting a criminal president and vice president. He may be guilty
of crimes against peace in his pursuit of the Iraq War."
Duffee has started a campaign blog at http://richardduffee.blogspot.com.
Minor parties such as the Green Party have to petition their way onto
the ballot, and if they do not run a candidate in any given year, then
they lose their ballot line for that office.
For the Congressional seat, Duffee's supporters will have until early
August to collect at least 2100 signatures of voters in the 4th
District.
* * *
Richard Duffee on the issues:
• Health care: "There's nothing wrong with the Canadian single-payer
plan—the vast majority of Canadian citizens are happy with
it—including the doctors."
• Jobs: "We can make jobs the way FDR did in 1932, this time by hiring
people to do insulation, solar power, wind power, geothermal,
retrofitting, and so on, and making it available to everyone at cost
the way the GI bill made housing available to veterans after World War
II."
• Foreign policy: "We should comply strictly with all the provisions
of international law we created but now disavow. We should comply with
the United Nations Charter, the Nuremberg rules, the Geneva Accords,
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the 1996 International Court of
Justice opinion that nuclear weapons are illegal, and fully fund the
UN, help it reform so it can function, and behave as a normal
law-abiding nation—which Article 6 of our Constitution says we are
supposed to be."
• Global warming: "Global warming is lethal. Several factors—loss of
rainforests, collapse of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica,
exacerbation of El Niño—may make exponential heat spikes that will
cause drought so severe that no one can survive it, flooding great
enough to wipe out vast coastal areas and whole nations, horrific
storms, sudden freezes, and such chaotically unpredictable weather
that no agriculture can succeed."
(2) "Cheney's Law" notice is complete above. Go to Pbs.org.)
3) Tell ACLU to Impeach
The Central Susquehanna Chapter of the ACLU joined the Southern
California and several Florida chapters in urging the national board
to request the House Judiciary Committee to begin investigations into
whether impeachment against VP Cheney and President Bush is warranted.
Has your local ACLU chapter passed a similar resolution? If not,
contact them <http://www.aclu.org/affiliates/>
demanding they do so. Also, contact the national organization
<http://aclu.org/contact/general/index.html>
demanding they do the same!
Resolution
Central Susquehanna Chapter of Pennsylvania
American Civil Liberties Union
WHEREAS: Vice President Richard B. Cheney and President George W.
Bush may have deliberately, knowingly, and maliciously violated the
provisions of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth
Amendments of the Constitution of the United States. And,
WHEREAS: Vice President Richard B. Cheney and President George W.
Bush may have deliberately, knowingly, and maliciously violated the
provisions of Article One, Section 9 (The right of habeas corpus) of
the Constitution of the United States. And,
WHEREAS: The American Civil Liberties Union is among the leading
organizations to preserve the protections and guarantees under the
Constitution of the United States of America. And,
WHEREAS: The American Civil Liberties Union among other
organizations has documented violations of the Constitution of the
United States of America. And,
WHEREAS: The federal courts have ruled against the Bush -- Cheney
Administration in several constitutional cases. And,
WHEREAS: Vice President Richard B. Cheney and President George W.
Bush have directly or indirectly acknowledged to having directed
numerous actions that are contrary to the principles and Constitution
of the United States of America, including the use of torture on
prisoners, the creation of "extraordinary rendition," the
implementation of warrantless and illegal wiretapping, the suppression
of freedom of expression and due process, and the destruction of
evidence. AND,
WHEREAS: The ACLU of Southern California and the Florida chapters
(ACLU of Florida, ACLU of Monroe County, ACLU of the Treasure Coast,
ACLU of Central Florida) of the American Civil Liberties Union have
filed resolutions to urge the National Board of the American Civil
Liberties Union to strongly urge the Congress of the United States to
determine if there is sufficient evidence to draw up Articles of
Impeachment against Vice President Richard B. Cheney and President
George W. Bush.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Board of the Central Susquehanna
Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union joins with its
colleagues of the Southern California chapter and of the Florida
chapters in urging the National Board of the American Civil Liberties
Union to call for the convening of hearings by the Judiciary Committee
of the House of Representatives to determine if sufficient evidence
exists to pursue Articles of Impeachment against Vice President
Richard B. Cheney and President George W. Bush. AND,
FURTHER, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Board of the Central Susquehanna
Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union makes its wishes known
to the ACLU of Pennsylvania and to the National Board of the ACLU.
AND,
FURTHER, BE IT RESOLVED: That the Board of the Central Susquehanna
chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union independently calls for
the impeachments of Vice President Richard B. Cheney and President
George W. Bush.
Dated this Eleventh Day of January in the year of two thousand and
eight.
(Signed, on behalf of the Central Susquehanna Chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union)
ANTHONY TOLUBA, President
DAVID YOUNG, Vice-President and Secretary
WALTER M. BRASCH, PH.D., Senior Vice President
PAULA COCHRAN, Vice President
NATHANIEL MITCHELL, Vice President
MARGARET G. MITCHELL, Communications Coordinator and Member of the
Board
THE REV. ROBIN H. JARRELL, M.DIV, Member of the Board
JOSEPH MANZI, Member of the Board
DOUGLAS STURM, PH.D., Member of the Board
(You can contact the Ct. Civil Liberties Union at
32 Grand Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
860-247-9823 (main)
860-728-0287 (fax)
info@acluct.org)
