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michigandem's Journal  I've slept and can now face the world! The following link should let you see the pictures I have from yesterday's Downing Street Memos Town Hall Meeting. At the risk of over-communicating, remember that this was the meeting hosted at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI by Congressman John Conyers. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/santamike2 Please let me know by comment or email if these pictures cannot be seen. -Mike Short I should be posting photos tomorrow. I and my friends took a bunch. -MS A few stray thoughts to wrap up my blog today. The attendance must have been about 300 +/- today. I think it would have been more if we'd had more seating. It's a real pity we had no news people here from the various networks -- no CNN, no ABC/CBS/NBC crews, no CSPAN. There may have been some members of the print media, but I did not see them. We did have a film maker from Hawaii adding to his footage for a film about the Downing Street Memos, I'm looking forward to seeing that film. Although the topic was the Downing Street material, our speakers today took a larger view. Their talks ranged from the lies building up to the invasion of Iraq, the betrayal of Valerie Plame (and by extension, her husband Joseph C. Wilson), to the discovery of the memos, to other topics -- large and small which I'm not able to detail due to being tired and having been distracted by typing while other important things were being said. (Next time I'm going to tape the meeting on my dictaphone.) The underlying message of all the speakers is that we must all, to the extent our strengths permit, get out and spread the message that we've been had. This is a message I personally agree with, and will work to spread. Our government, the one "of the people, by the people, and for the people," is in fact in serious danger of perishing. Our various brothers and sisters have been tricked into sacrificing an increasing amount of their freedoms in the vain hope of buying safety. We all (I hope) see this vicious trap for what it is. We need to work to help our families, friends, and neighbors see these truths. Even if (somehow) we never are able to throw this rascal out of the White House, we must work now to reclaim the House and/or the Senate so that we can have a real say in the country's policies and course. You say that the Democratic Party hasn't done enough to moderate the Bush agenda? Well then, step up and make your voice heard. More than 50% of the precincts in MI have no elected representatives of the Democratic Party. (And I imagine that this may be true in many other states.) The position of Precinct Delegate permits the holder to vote in the local Congressional District and State Democratic Conventions. Yes, you can help to build the platform of the party! Or if you just can't see yourself as a Democratic Party member, find a local, county, congressional, or state candidate you can support, and then do so. Make a few calls, write a couple letters, take some literature around your neighborhood. Find an activity sponsored by the political organization of your choice. (Progressive Democrats of America, Democracy for America, Move On, or others are all fine groups.) If each of us does something to make this country better, it will be better. And you'll make this old man proud. Thanks for reading and commenting. Until next time, I'm Mike Short Current mood:  tired.
People are walking all over it so I'll pulling the plug. More later from home. John Conyers summed up quickly and then asked for people's questions. Then he introduced Robert Sedler. He is speaking about the constitutional process of impeachment. He said that the power to impeach had been twisted by the Republicans when they worked to impeach Bill Clinton. The true basis of impeachment as set up by the framers of the nation was a rejection of the judicial process. (In the case of an elected officil.) Impeachment means questioning. The process is to have the President, Vice President, and other federal officers questioned by the House of representatives. The Senate tries the case if evidence warrants it. If the offending officer is convicted, he/she is removed from office. A more full transcript of this meeting will be found at http://www.johnconyers.com or http://www.conyersblog.us Check it out! The editor of the Michigan Citizen newspaper (Bankole Thompson) addressed the meeting next. I love this quote, "The price of having honest men keep quiet is having dishonest men rule over them!" He spoke out against the way our news organizations have been co opted (willingly or not) by the administration. This includes both domestic and foreign organizations (like the BBC). He also says that he doesn't think the Democratic party did enough to avoid or oppose the war in Iraq. He thinks they (we) still aren't doing enough. The audience in large (a loudly) agreed with him about this. If we can just use this energy..... We are taking loads of picture here. We'll upload them as soon as we are able. I intend to keep this BLOG up for a minimum of 30 days. Al represents a "Caucus" of peace activists organizations (nearly 2 dozen of them) in defense of national peace and justice. He's calling on us all to bring the light and power of the truth to save lives and in fact the very soul of our nation! John Conyers introduced a former CIA case officer (Jim Marcinkowski) who told us how concerned he is by the people who have -- or at least are attempting to get -- a lock on the media. Who try hard to make dissent unpatriotic. He explained that having undercover CIA agents is necessary because they help to protect us. They are the ones who get us the info we need to make plans and spoil the efforts of those who'd hurt us. We can't get this info any other way -- they won't just give it too us! Exposing an agent not only costs us the "asset" it puts people's lives at risk. When Valerie Plane (?) was outed (for sheer vengeance against a man who was telling an inconvenient truth) the Bush administration not only put her at risk -- they lost and continue to compromise our network of agents. The "network" is running scared that they might also be outed. They have no confidence that it won't happen to them too. Failing to bring this episode to a close will continue to undermine out ability to find the very information we need to keep ourselves safer. More later.... |
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