ImpeachPAC Forms Citizens Impeachment Commission

ImpeachPAC today announced the formation of a Citizens Impeachment Commission to make 2006 the "Year of Impeachment."

"We are honored by the broad support for impeachment from this distinguished group of true American patriots," said Bob Fertik, President of ImpeachPAC. "Impeachment is not a ’fringe’ position, as the Bush Administration would like Americans to believe. With a recent Zogby poll showing Americans support impeachment hearings by a solid majority of 53%-42%, there is far more support for impeachment than there is for the War in Iraq," Fertik said.

"Despite three rounds of Iraqi elections, 845 brave young Americans died in Iraq in 2005, only 3 fewer than the 848 lost in 2004. Also 30,000 to 100,000 innocent Iraqis have been killed in the wake of the U.S. invasion. George Bush and Dick Cheney are personally responsible for each of those deaths, because they deliberately lied to Congress and the American people to start this disastrous and never-ending war," Fertik added.

ImpeachPAC is a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates for Congress who support the immediate and simultaneous impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for their Iraq War lies. In less than two months, ImpeachPAC has raised nearly $50,000 and endorsed its first candidate, Tony Trupiano of Michigan.

ImpeachPAC’s efforts have forced the Washington establishment to admit that the many misdeeds of the Bush administration - including the latest revelation of warantless wiretapping of American citizens - are valid grounds for impeachment. The question now facing Washington is not whether Bush and Cheney committed impeachable crimes, but whether Democrats and Republicans in Congress will fulfill their solemn Constitutional duty to investigate and prosecute those crimes, as proposed in December by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in H.Res.635.

The goals of the Citizens Impeachment Commission are:

• To put impeachment firmly "on the map" of national politics by demonstrating broad and significant support for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney for lying about Iraq.
• To lobby Members of Congress to introduce Articles of Impeachment immediately.
• To campaign for pro-impeachment candidates and elect a pro-impeachment majority to Congress in November.

Members of the commission (listed below and updated at http://www.impeachpac.org/citizens ) include national activists, business leaders, former government officials, historians and legal scholars, and talk show hosts, editors, bloggers, pundits, and authors. The commission will expand beyond the initial membership below. (# indicates membership on the steering committee; organizations are listed for identification only.)

Activists

 

Medea Benjamin: CODE PINK and Global Exchange

Gene Bruskin: labor organizer

Tim Carpenter: Progressive Democrats of America

David Cline: Veterans For Peace

Steve Cobble: After Downing Street, Progressive Democrats of America

#Karen Dolan: Cities for Peace

#Ronnie Dugger: Alliance for Democracy

Jodie Evans: CODE PINK

Mike Ferner: Veterans For Peace

#Bob Fertik: ImpeachPAC

Kim Gandy: National Organization for Women

#Doris "Granny D" Haddock: activist

Tom Hayden Progressive Democrats of America

Bill Mitchell: Gold Star Families for Peace

#Bill Moyer: The Backbone Campaign

#Jeff Norman: U.S. Tour of Duty

Michael Rectenwald: Citizens for Legitimate Government

Cindy Sheehan: Gold Star Families for Peace

#David Swanson: ImpeachPAC

Jonathan Tasini: labor organizer, candidate for U.S. Senate

Kevin Zeese: Democracy Rising

 

Business Leaders

 

Doug Kreeger: Air America Radio

 

Former Government Officials

 

Elizabeth de la Vega: former federal prosecutor

#Larry Johnson: formerly of the CIA and the Dept. of State

Philip Vargas: federal whistleblower

Ann Wright: US Army Colonel (Reserves)(Retired) and US Diplomat who resigned

in opposition to the war on Iraq

 

Historians and Legal Scholars

 

John Bonifaz: After Downing Street

#Lawrence R. Velvel: VelvelOnNationalAffairs.Com

Howard Zinn: historian, playwright, and social activist

 

Talk Show Hosts/Editors/Bloggers/Pundits/Authors

 

David Allen: DemocraticUnderground.com

Dave Allsopp: DemocraticUnderground.com

#Bulldog: The Bulldog Manifesto

Tom Engelhardt: blogger

Thom Hartmann: The Thom Hartmann Show

Laura Flanders: Air America Radio

Jeffrey Fox: journalist

Justin Frank: author

Susan Griffin: author

Doug Ireland: DIRELAND

Rob Kall: OpEdNews.com

#Susie Madrak: Suburban Guerrilla

#Mark Crispin Miller: author

Brad Newsham: author

#Liza Sabater: CultureKitchen.com

#Jeff Tiedrich: SmirkingChimp.com

Harvey Wasserman: The Free Press

Bernie Weiner: The Crisis Papers