The crowd then erupted in a chant of "Impeach for peace! Impeach for peace!"

[laststeamtrain]

As the 110th Congress was sworn in...about a hundred demonstrators gathered outside in a rally calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush and an end to the war in Iraq. With the Capitol Dome in the background, speakers denounced U.S. policies in Iraq and Guantanamo, and also highlighted domestic issues such as warrantless electronic surveillance and the abandonment of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Flanking the stage were a dozen demonstrators dressed up in orange jumpsuits and black hoods to represent the thousands of detainees being held in secret CIA prisons around the world, and at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern was among the speakers as was "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan, who yesterday disrupted a press conference by House Democratic leaders touting their proposed ethics reforms.

<snip>

The crowd then erupted in a chant of "Impeach for peace! Impeach for peace!"

<snip>

More demonstrations in the nation's capital are planned for the coming weeks, including one tomorrow at the American Enterprise Institute, where Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) will publicly call for the U.S. to send tens of thousands more troops to Iraq. Next week, on the fifth anniversary of the first prisoners arriving at Guantanamo Bay, a demonstration is planned against arbitrary detention and torture, during which more than a hundred activists will risk arrest by committing civil disobedience.

<more>

http://consortiumblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/110th-congress-greeted-with-calls-for.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. Hats off to these protesters! They are so right on! My profound thanks to

them. The on-going deaths and the grave wound of the Iraq War and torture cannot be ignored, in our joy at the Democrats' majorities in both houses of Congress, and particularly at the inauguration of the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi of the beautiful smile. The protesters remind us of the extraordinary crisis in our nation, with SEVENTY PERCENT of the American people wanting this war ended, Tyrant Bush planning more war and asserting ever more dictatorial powers, and the Democrats seemingly powerless to address this gravest crisis in our history. It is difficult to imagine them addressing it with impeachment "off the table." Perhaps they have some strategy for doing so--or are subject to fears and constraints that we know not of. Certainly possible with this dangerous Junta in the White House. I tend to think the Democrats' public timidity is connected to Diebold/ES&S and untoward Bushite corporate influence on who can get elected, or who can be removed if they get out of line. A few triumph over that unamerican power--and are themselves, and speak fairly freely, and received a lot of genuine votes (are invested with legitimacy)--but many seem unduly UN-representative of the views of the American people, and our putridly non-transparent election system is no doubt the cause, or part of the cause, in my mind. Also, only one third of the Senate was up for reelection this time, and the Senate contains a lot of dinosaurs--warmongers and corrupt corporatists.

The hundred demonstrators are, in fact, more representative of the American people than this Congress. And I welcome their efforts to pressure this Congress to BE more representative. WHEN do We, the People, get heard? We've been shouting it out since before the war began--when 56% of us opposed it (Feb. '03)! Now 70% oppose it. WHEN does it end? When does this illegitimate President get held to account, for the longest list of "high crimes and misdemeanors" this country has ever seen--including how he started this war, and why?

It's great to have a bit of recognition of the peons at the bottom of the ladder--we, the majority--with a raise in the minimum wage, but we all know that that isn't the main problem. Illegitimate elections and illegal war are the problem. Massive thievery and war profiteering, multiple tax cuts for the rich, and the President ripping up the Constitution are the problem. The President attaching "signing statements" exempting himself and his Junta from the laws of Congress is the problem. Global corporate predators and energy price gougers and the Bush Oil Cartel are the problem. I imagine we'll see SOME action on these matters, but I DON'T see the American people and our interests being well enough represented. I see grave problems ahead with this unchecked Junta, and not much being done about it. I do think we will restore democracy in the end, but it will be the result of actions like these protesters, keeping the pressure on, that does it. We need to push our leaders hard, and stay on them every minute, and we need to restore TRANSPARENT elections, and will more than likely have to do it at the local/state level, through intense grass roots efforts. If we have learned nothing else, in the last six years, it is that democracy is up to us. No one else will create it for us. WE are the leaders we have been waiting for.

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Impeach for peace!