Raleigh meeting and July 4th flyer draft

Raleigh town meeting

 

The Raleigh town meeting was earlier tonight, 7-9pm.  I arrived near the end and counted about 48 people.  Ajamu Dillahunt had to cancel, so the speakers were Al McSurely and Stan Goff.  A former NC (?) Secretary of Labor and a candidate for the State Supreme Court came also.  It was probably mostly an older crowd, but there were also young people.  The group was mostly or all white though, which I assume doesn't reflect the racial makeup of Raleigh.  This time we got a video recording of the event, and I think the filmers want to put it on Orange County's cable access channel, The Peoples Channel.  GRIM, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC), Stan, and the Green Party tabled.  The September 30th impeachment rally in Charlotte (1-6pm in Freedom Park) is being organized by the Action Center for Justice, Charlotte Coalition for Peace & Justice, Charlotte CodePink, Charlotte NOW, Freedom Group, and the NC Green Party.  It will feature speakers Nadia McCaffery, David Swanson, Ann Wright, Jacek Teller, Tim Pluta, and Bill Grass, along with performers the Bellyfull, Hardcore Lounge, Peter Moore, and Michael Sharpe.  I heard that there was a regional impeachment meet-up yesterday in Winston-Salem, so maybe the Winston-Salem meeting isn't July 26th.  July 18th at 7pm at the Durham Main Library there will be a presentation about the reasons to doubt the truthfulness of the official account of 9/11.  GRIM should have a regular meeting coming up in early July, but it doesn't look like anything has been set up.  We need to organize and advertise regular meetings to build the group I think.   

 

July 19th day of action

 

After the meeting I spoke with Andy Silver and he suggested that we organize a local event for the July 19th day of action on impeachment (see www.articlesofimpeachment.net/).  So far there are two events announced in this State, in Charlotte and Stokesdale.  I could easily reserve a space in Durham or elsewhere for this and help with publicity.  If GRIM gets behind this we could have several events throughout the Triangle. So far we don't have any events planned for July and another event in Durham would be good for building the impeachment movement here.  I assume we will have more town meetings in the fall, especially to reach students.  As Al said at the Raleigh meeting, we will continue to organize and have meetings regardless of what happens in the midterm elections (one point of discussion was whether the Democrats will gain seats in Congress and whether there will be electoral fraud by Republicans like in the apparently stolen elections of 2000 and 2004).   

 

July 4th flyering campaign

 

Below is a draft flyer for July 4th impeachment publicity.  Comments?  This is a Durham-specific flyer and will need to be chaged now that the Raleigh meeting has passed.  Since the upcoming events are all out of this area, having some local July 19th events would be a good way to further emphasize that this is a local movement.  Andy suggested that we need to work more on Etheridge.  I focus on Price since I live in his distrcit, but it would be great if my petition and other materials were adapted to lobby other Congress members (or local officials like the Durham City Council).  If you want the Word version of this, email me at southplumb at gmail dot com.       

 

 

 

Impeach Bush and Cheney! 
 

Their crimes:

• Violation of Americans' civil rights.
• Warrantless wiretapping and surveillance.
• Misleading Congress and the public to justify the occupation of Iraq.
• Authorizing war crimes and torture in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
• Undermining Congressional and court oversight.

 

What can regular citizens do?   

-  Attend the Raleigh town meeting on impeachment June 29^th, 7-9pm at 3313 Wade Avenue, the Charlotte teach-in July 19^th, the regional meeting in Winston-Salem July 28th, or the regional rally in Charlotte September 30 ^th.   

-  Sign the petition to Rep. Price (online at www.petitiononline.com/dsmnc/petition.html and at the Durham Food Co-op, Internationalist Books, and The People's Channel) and write to Price to support House Resolution 635 (online at thomas.loc.gov).    

-  Ask the Durham City Council, County Commissioners, and State Legislature to pass impeachment resolutions (contact info. at www.lwvodc.org/Contents.html). 

-  Ask civic groups you belong to to pass resolutions.   

-  Advocate impeachment in letters to newspapers.  

-  Wear orange on Fridays (campaign blog: orangetoimpeach.blogspot.com).  

For more information about the non-partisan effort in the Triangle see:

www.grassrootsimpeachment.com , www.impeachbushcheney.net, and downingstreetactionnc.blogspot.com  

Mark July 4^th by joining the movement to reclaim our democracy! 

Raleigh impeachment meeting Thursday, June 29th

Information about the next impeachment town meeting is below.  I thought this was in July.  Maybe the Winston-Salem event is in July. There will be a rally or other large event in Charlotte in late September I think.   

 

> 3313 Wade Avenue, Raleigh, NC
> See impeachbushcheney.net for map
> Thursday, June 29, 2006
> 7:00PM
>
> Public Discussion
> Featuring
> NC Justice Center Activist Ajamu Dillahunt
> Special Forces Veteran Stan Goff
> Civil Rights Attorney Al McSurely
> Singer/songwriter Janet Bratter
>  The Raging Grannies
>
> IMPEACH BUSH and CHENEY
>
> Sponsored by:
> NC Grassroots Impeachment Movement
> http://www.impeachbushcheney.net/#hearings
> 929-3316

July 4th project + radio coverage of the Pittsboro event

July 4th is a revolutionary, democratic, and civil rights holiday, so advocating impeachment of a criminal and unjust leader is a good way to mark and resconsecrate that day.  Also, July 19th is an impeachment day of action and July 23rd is the anniversary of the Downing Street Miknutes, one of the 8 DSM.  GRIM is planning to table in Carrboro and possibly elsewhere on July 4th, and I'm plan to suggest a publicity campaign.  One part would be a flyer listing some of the reasons impeachment is necessary (the Iraq War, war crimes and violations of international law, and violations of Americans' civil rights), upcoming events, and how to join the effort.  Ways to help include attending the July 29th event in Raleigh and other events, (in Durham) writing to Mayor Bell, the City Council, and the County Commissioners in support of local impeachment resolutions (the Orange County County government and governments in Raleigh also haven't passed resolutions yet), writing to State legislators (since they can influence Congress directly according to a previously obscure rule), writing to newspapers, getting groups to pass resolutions, wearing orange on Fridays, and signing and circulating the impeachment petition ( www.petitiononline.com/dsmnc/petition.html, available on paper at the Durham Food Co-op, Internationalist Books, The People's Channel (?), and the Friday peace vigil in Chapel Hill), hopefully to be delivered to Price or his office again later in the summer.  Do people have other ideas for campaigns or things to include in a flyer?

 

The update about Pittsboro is that at 7:30pm Wednesday there was a segment on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (?) Radio One about the Pittsboro town meeting!  I think it is online at www.cbc.ca/dispatches .  Wow, international coverage!     

Article on the Pittsboro town meeting

Below is an update (from www.impeachbushcheney.net/article2.htm) about the last town meeting, held in Pittsboro in May.  The Raleigh town meeting will be July 29th and a meeting is being planned in Winston-Salem.  GRIM now has its own website, www.grassrootsimpeachment.org (www.impeachbushcheney.net is a separate site associated with GRIM, like this blog). 

 

Impeach Bush rally held in Pittsboro By Cara McDonough, Chatham News May 25, 2006 Normally the Superior Courtroom in Pittsboro is reserved for issues of a serious nature. Last Tuesday night was no different. Only the crowd expressed their message not only with passionate speeches and statistics, but harmonicas, guitars and a group of singers known as the Raging Grannies. (The name speaks for itself). The North Carolina Grassroots Impeachment Movement, which has already won support with the Chapel Hill and Carrboro town councils, brought their cause to Pittsboro last week. The group supports activist groups across the county that are standing up to the current administration. Outside the court room visitors could grab fact sheets and bumper stickers being handed out by Wes Hare of Chapel Hill's Peace is Patriotic group. The rally, which drew about 50 people, included entertainment from singer-songwriter Janet Bratter as well as the Chapel Hill group The Raging Grannies. Bratter began the evening with her song, "Little Boys With Poison Toys." The Raging Grannies next took the stand, singing several tunes, most notably their famous impeachment song to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." "We are calling for impeachment, all the live-long day/We are calling for impeachment just to send those crooks away," they sang, wearing flowered hats, and accompanied by a kazoo. But though amusing at times, the rally was a serious call to action. Chatham's own Rev. Carrie Bolton, in her first public engagement since suffering a stroke eight months ago, told the crowd that "we need to stop all the lying." "Mr. Bush, take your seat in the corner and let someone else take over," she said to the those in attendance, who expressed their agreement vocally and with a standing ovation. "What this administration has been about is destruction, destruction." Kent Kanoy, who ran unsuccessfully against incumbent David Price in the primary race for the 4th District U.S. Congressional seat, said he ran on a platform for impeachment and is now urging Price to do the same. Kanoy said that he ran for office because the cause was great enough that he felt he had to do something. "I tossed my hat in the ring. I've never held political office in my life. I'm not a political activist," he said. He also read a letter he sent to Price soon after the primary election, encouraging the current house representative to stand up to the Bush administration. Attorney Al McSurely, who recently accepted an award from the NAACP for his civil rights work, spoke about the importance of the grassroots mission. "We're talking about high crimes and misdemeanors," he said. "The case for impeaching Bush and Cheney is clear." He said he believed 60-70 percent of the American people would agree to impeachment. "Impeach means to charge. That's what we want to do. It's not as bad as everyone thinks it is," McSurely said. Waiting until the next presidential election just isn't an option, he said. "January 2009 is what some people want to do. January 2009 to clean up this mess – no," McSurely said. "This is a crisis and we have to do something. We can't wait." For more information on the grassroots movement visit www.impeachbushcheney.net .