DU lets make this a priority ask that John Ashcroft be charged with. . .

[wndycty]

. . .CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS!

-snip-
Senator Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, challenged Ashcroft to say whether he was invoking executive privilege in refusing to give Congress the Justice Department memos. Ashcroft said he wasn't invoking executive privilege.

``You might be in contempt of Congress, then,'' Biden replied. ``You have to have a reason. You better come up with a good rationale.''
-snip-

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aynk7_r_cQik&refer=us

Please write the following people calling that John Ashcroft be charged with CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS:

United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Orin Hatch
Washington DC Office
104 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Contact

Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Bldg
(at Constitution and Delaware)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
[phone]
http://leahy.senate.gov/contact.html

Edward M. Kennedy
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202/224-4543 FAX: [phone]
[e-mail]

Joe Biden
201 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Dick Durbin
Washington, DC
332 Dirksen Senate
Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.htm

PLEASE NOTE: I have only included the Chairman, the ranking member and the 3 Senators who brought up the whole CONTEMPT issue.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. will do...but i'm sure that Biden, Kennedy, Fienstien, and Fiengold.....

and Durbin"s staffers have already been given the orders to draft up the papers

[ClassWarrior]

16. Just called my Sentor's office...

The great Russ Feingold.

[Kanary]

32. That's Ok.. in fact, that's good.....

They can use phone calls to back up the support for this action.

Kanary

[proud patriot]

2. I agree n/t

[wndycty]

3. Keep this kicked . . .

. . .and e-mail it far and wide.

[Mandate My Ass]

4. This is a slam dunk

That cretin made sure his contempt for Congress was
plainly evident. Time to take the wind out his sails.

[wndycty]

5. Kick it loud, kick it proud. . .

. . .e-mail it everywhere!

[tishaLA]

6. And email it to friends.

[Just Me]

7. Will do!!! Aw, man, I hope "Contempt of Congress" is a headline,..

,...splashed over every front page of every major news publication. Oh, please, please, please!!!

:bounce:

[Zen]

8. Please immediately draft papers to cite Attorney General John Ashcroft for

Contempt of Congress. His illegal withholding of critical memo's from your committee can not go unchallenged.

Sent to Orrin Hatch

[Scoopie]

10. Yeah... like my Senator

who happens to be the Senate Majority Leader and all around BushCo. lapdog (Bill Frist) will listen to me on this issue!

I would help, but I'm doubting it would be worth my energy and my efforts would be better spent elsewhere. (I have a great campaign slogan for Harold Ford Jr. if he happens to run against Frist, btw).

Keep up the good work where you can, though!

:kick:

KICK IT!

[anarchy1999]

12. Call all the rest and thank them. They work for you too.

Inspire and motivate them, if your Senator won't hear your voice another Senator or Represetative will listen. Make your voice be heard!!!!

[anarchy1999]

9. I just called them all and said thank you.

Do it. You'll feel good and they appreciated hearing, thank you.

Even Hatch's office. Say it loud and say it clear......

CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS!!! Contempt of Congress is Contempt for the citizens of the US! Let it ring through the halls.

Senator Leahy's staff asked me if I had called Senator Cornyn's (TX-R) office yet. I just laughed, she understood and thanked me for calling.

[Kanary]

15. Please, could you include here the toll-free numbers for Congress?

I've managed to misplace it..... GRRRRR!!!

I know that calimary has one of the numbers in her sig....... I had two numbers....Wish I could find them!

Thanks...

Kanary

[Walt Starr]

11. kick

:kick:

[tom_paine]

13. KICK!

:kick:

[LincolnMcGrath]

14. KICK

[napi21]

17. I didn't hear Biden but I heard Finestine, she was GREAT!

Dianne doesn't get upset very often that I've seen, but she was pissed at Ashcroft today! He didn't look much like a happe camper either!

When I was listening to this idiots responses, he sounded like a criminal trial lawyer trying to defend a guilty client. He kept talking about intent and interpretation and real meaning of the law. I know he's a lawyer, and perhaps that's a good performance in the courtroom, but he was appearing before a lot of other LAYWERS! I suspect that's the thing that pissed them off, that he actually thought he could get away with this smoke and mirrors.

If Biden is after him, there's no doubt there will be a dust storm. Whether it will have any great success depends on other Congressmen and if they persue the issue.

Contact all your officials and tell them you want blood!

[wndycty]

18. kick

:kick:

[Mandate My Ass]

19. Oh yeah

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

contempt of Congress


The deliberate obstruction of the workings of the federal legislative branch. For example, a witness under subpoena who refuses to testify before Congress can be cited for contempt of Congress.

[napi21]

23. I'm sure your right, but was Ashcroft under subpoena?

I thought he was "invited" because he is AG.

[MsMagnificent]

44. I don't see the difference whether invite or subpoena...

...Additionally, shouldn't this type of testimony along with STATE OF THE UNION assertions be AUTOMATICALLY held as spoken under oath??

Or did I misunderstand your point?



For some reason my signature won't show up, so:

It's the Stupid, Stupid!

[greekspeak]

20. Who all is on this committee

If my senators are on this committee, I will gladly call Washington as soon as I can. I have tons of carry over minutes but they are dems so I doubt I will get much run around.

[napi21]

24. Here's the link to the Committee members.

http://judiciary.senate.gov/members.cfm

Hatch is the Chairman

[Mandate My Ass]

21. Reno held in contempt in 1998

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/burton080798.htm

Panel Votes to Hold Reno in Contempt

By George Lardner Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 7, 1998; Page A01

A House committee voted yesterday to hold Attorney General Janet Reno in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over Justice Department memos subpoenaed in a dispute over her failure to appoint an independent counsel to investigate 1996 campaign fund-raising abuses.

It was the first time a full House committee had ever voted to hold an attorney general in contempt. All 24 Republicans on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee voted for the resolution. Eighteen Democrats and independent Bernard Sanders (Vt.) voted no.

Republicans on the panel hailed the move as historic and said it was soundly based on precedents dating to the 1920s Teapot Dome scandal. Democrats denounced it as an exercise in "raw intimidation" aimed at forcing Reno to turn over her department's investigation of 1996 presidential campaign financing to an independent counsel.

[Triana]

22. letter...

John Ashcroft's abject refusal to provide Congress with copies of or access to the torture memos relating to the Abu Ghraib and Guantanimo prison abuses is not only incredibly arrogant, but is directly in Contempt of Congress, as Senator Biden stated.

I hereby request that Congress collectively cite AG Ashcroft for Contempt, as this cannot and should not go unchallenged.

That information belongs to the people of the United States, in whose names the torture and prisoner abuse at Guantanimo and Abu Ghraib prisons, and in whose names these incredible violations of the Geneva Conventions was done.

Those photographs, those abuses, those images -- ARE US in the eyes of the world. Therefore, both the United States Congress and the people of this country have EVERY right to know how and why such abuses happened in their names - in our country's name.

This contemptable and arrogant refusal on the part of AG Ashcroft to provide the memos in question therefore should NOT stand.

Best Regards,

[jus_the_facts]

25. here's my letter....copied to all my reps and senators too.

Dear Sir,

Please follow through with yours and Sen. Biden's attempt to force Ashcroft to release those documents....

...."....Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches this jewel...nothing will preserve it but downright FORCE...whenever you give up that force you are inevitably ruined." Patrick Henry

...since 2000 our Liberty has been raped and tortured....we're either going to enter a new dark age...or the end is quite literally nigh for our existence on this Earth....I wasn't alive to experience the horrific times you...your family...our country...and the world went through back in the early 60's and 70's so I can't compare then to now....but so much has been allowed to happen under this pResident of the WH that my cynicism has left me with the inclination that our grand experiment in democracy has been all for naught....I still have to endure my own Father tellin' me how your family isn't any different from the Bushes....and since 2000 my elected Democrats from Louisiana have been votin' with the right...more so than not...and it's shaken my hardcore Dem ideology to it's foundations...please restore the faith in our ideals...please continue to do everything in your power to bring these criminals to justice for their crimes against humanity once and for all.....as that is the only thing that can save us and the world itself from complete and total annihilation from the greed that these people have wrought upon us all.

Thank you for your time and all your efforts....the times I've been able to see you and Senator Byrd on CSPAN has given me some hope that all is not lost....please encourage our other Democratic Representatives and Senators to make a STAND and speak only the hard cold FACTS about what's happening with this misAdministration....please for your own children and grandchildren.....STAND and FIGHT for US!

".....in the end....we will remember not the words of our enemies...but the silence of our friends." MLK,jr.

Thanks again....take care of yourself and STAND for us...please.

Peace'n'Love to your and yours....

Always,

Amber Bell-Democrat
Louisiana

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." Albert Einstein

"It is enough that the people know there was an election...the people who cast the votes decide nothing...the people who count the votes decide everything." Josef Stalin aka the GOP/PNAC of today!!

[ClassWarrior]

26. punt!

n/t

[wndycty]

27. You punt, I'll kick, will someone pass

:kick:

[ClassWarrior]

28. Haven't you heard?

Reagan passed.

[ClassWarrior]

29. Place-kick for the Gipper

[wndycty]

30. LOL

I am trying to take the high road this week, but that was funny.

[anarchy1999]

31. Keep this up all night long and throughout tomorrow.

Call them all and say thank you. Ring it through the halls of Congress!! CONTEMPT!!! Courtesy of Ashcroft and the Bush Administration delivered to us, the people. Contempt for the Constitution.

[Disturbed]

33. CONTEMPT for The American People!!!

CONTEMPT of The Constitution of the USA!!!





What is a war crime?
By Tarik Kafala
BBC News Online


Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines war crimes as: "Willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including... willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power, or willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, ...taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."


This, international lawyers say, is the basic definition of war crimes.

The statutes of The Hague tribunal say the court has the right to try suspects alleged to have violated the laws or customs of war in the former Yugoslavia since 1992. Examples of such violations are given in article 3:

* Wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity
* Attack, or bombardment, by whatever means, of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings
* Seizure of, destruction or willful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences, historic monuments and works of art and science
* Plunder of public or private property.

The tribunal defines crime against humanity as crimes committed in armed conflict but directed against a civilian population. Again a list of examples is given in article 5:

* Murder
* Extermination
* Enslavement
* Deportation
* Imprisonment
* Torture
* Rape
* Persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1420133.stm


*This is BushCo. This leads into BushCo's approval of War Crimes.

If this is not followed through the conclusion will be that the USA is no longer a Representative Republic but a Dictatorship!

[wndycty]

34. Kick

:kick:

[MsMagnificent]

45. Wow!

Someone in the media (although, FAR from surprisingly, not in THIS country!) actually brought up "War Criminal"!!
And LONG before this latest!

I'm impressed!

Now, to watch the international news and see if it's brought up yet again...

God Bless the Queen! :D

[northofdenali]

35. Done and forwarded to all on my email list.

Great proposal - happy to participate.

[many a good man]

36. Kick!

:kick:

[GreenPartyVoter]

37. Hatch? Seriously?

---------------------
An open letter to John Kerry and the DNC:
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/OpenLetter.htm

[Cocoa]

46. yes Hatch, of course

what sense does it make to respond to dems fighting, to respond with boilerplate dem bashing?

Please write to Hatch, it could actually accomplish something. Ashcroft is the least popular Bushie, and RWers are almost as pissed at we are at the Bushies' contempt of congress.

[salin]

54. Many GOP on the Hill are not thrilled with the treatment they get

from the WH. Remember bushjrs "visit to the hill" to shore up support after the tortue scandal broke? Lots of reports of grumbling - bush came up spoke - cheerled and left without taking a single question... *grumble, grumble* many examples. But its hard to go against such a disciplined and brutal administration... until there is this really easy target - Ascroft - consistently goes over the top - is not well liked on or off the hill... they can be brutal against Ashcroft AND take a swipe (vicariously) at the WH.

[Cocoa]

56. John Warner for one

I never for a minute thought he would pursue this in the Armed Services Committee, but I wrote him anyway. And it looks like he's working with Levin, despite a lot of flak from the hard core Bush defenders.

[anarchy1999]

38. I think it is going to be a long night. Any volunteers?

N/T

[FreakinDJ]

39. Kick

[shanti]

40. kick

:kick:

[pansypoo53219]

41. darn.

i thought you were gonna say sedition.

[LincolnMcGrath]

42. KICK

[wndycty]

43. Kick

:kick:

[proud patriot]

47. Alright calls havew been made

:hi:

[anarchy1999]

51. Thank you!!!!

We all need to keep it up!!!! Thanks for saying hi and making the calls, never doubted you wouldn't be there for a minute.

[playahata1]

48. DUTY DONE. Just hit up both Bob Graham and Bill Nelson (Florida)

My e-mail to my Senators:

Dear Mr. Graham (and Mr. Nelson)

If you TRULY believe in the Constitution that you and your fellow Members of Congress have sworn to affirm and uphold and defend, you MUST move forward with Contempt of Congress proceedings against Attorney General John Ashcroft for his refusal to turn over Justice Department memos regarding the torture of prisoners in Iraq.

Mr. Ashcroft is a danger to the Republic because of his contempt for not only Congress, but also the Constitution he, too, has sworn to affirm and uphold and defend. He has routinely disregarded not only the respective functions of the three branches of government with regards to the prosecution of the military action in Iraq -- and please be reminded that there has been NO formal declaration of WAR in this instance -- but also the Bill of Rights and other Constitutional protections domestically. He is a more-than-willing participant/enabler in the erosion of the First Amendment -- from the Religious Right's trying to impose its particular brand of Christianity (his own Assemblies of God doctrine and dogma, for example) on everyone, to the regulation/restriction of what Americans can read in school and at the library and at home, watch on television and at the movies, and view at the nation's museums.

Mr. Ashcroft has nothing but contempt and disresepct for anyone -- from Senators to Congresspersons to ordinary citizens -- who objects to what he says and does within the scope of his duties as Attorney General, not to mention anyone who does not subscribe to his particular religious beliefs. In fact, he regards such people as "traitors," "Godless," and "un-American." Mr. Ashcroft may honestly believe that he is doing his duty in the name of protecting the American people. On the contrary, through his words and his actions, he has helped put this nation in danger on a scale unprecedented in its history.

It is up to you and your fellow Members of Congress to remind Mr. Ashcroft that he has a responsbility to the people he has sworn to serve and protect -- and that does not mean ONLY those who stand to profit financially from the blood and sacrifice of those men and women who have put their lives at risk in Iraq. He also has a responsibility to those who do not share his particular brand of politics, his particular concept of a Supreme Being, or his particular vision of what being an American is all about.

If you and your fellow Members of Congress have any principles and courage and compassion left in you, THAT is what you must do, for the sake of this nation. Peace and blessings.

[playahata1]

49. KICK!

Time to go to work!

[playahata1]

50. kick

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

52. Not gonna happen.

No way the republican leadership in congress is going to allow this to happen. And most Democrats aren't going to do something this incendiary so close to the election (It makes more sense when you realize that Ashcroft has *high* approval ratings.)

It's unfortunate, but I think you're probably wasting your time.

[anarchy1999]

53. Thanks so much for your huge dose of negativity, now, go visit

www.grannyd.com and then get back with the rest of us, or go on over to FR!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

67. Hey, I'd love to see it.

But it ain't gonna happen. Nobody wants to haul a popular AG up in front of congress during an election year. The screams of "politically motivated grandstanding" will be loud and constant, even if they aren't true. Why, oh why, would you want to detract from the Kerry campaign with this sort of thing? Hopefully the stupid bunghole will be gone in six months. Bringing him up on contempt of congress charges isn't going to win you a single vote.

[IXLNXS]

55. Sounds great but......

Unless you cut off the head, Bush, you'll only end up with presidential pardons anyways.

Turn your attention instead to the issues during Bush's presidency that not only bordered, but crossed the line of treason.

[ClassWarrior]

58. Pardons come after the fact.

Indictments and resignations are a lot more immediate - which is EVERYTHING from a PR perspective.

And who says we can't pay attention to the treasonous matters AS WELL??

[ClassWarrior]

57. Kicked just for you.

Now pick up the phone and do something about it!


And while you're at it, call the press:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1747559

[tom_paine]

59. KICK!

[buddhamama]

60. kick

i'll get working on my letters
but will probably call too,
for effect.

[in_cog_ni_to]

61. Done!

I wrote all of them and can't WAIT to see if they charge the asshole!

[anarchy1999]

62. I just called Cornyn and Hutchinson, Senators to be proud of, not.....

It was tough, but rewarding. Everyone that feels like their voice is not being heard needs to make the call. Your voice is being heard. Finally. Today when I called their office's the staff on the phone are shaken. They all sound to be very young and there apparently is a firestorm happening. Neither of the 3 offices I called were near as arrogant as they have been in the past.

This is important. They need to hear from us all. "We're mad as hell, and we aren't going to take it anymore"!

And yes, frogs falling from the sky might be next.........

[wndycty]

63. Kick

:kick:

[in_cog_ni_to]

64. kick

We need to flood the Senators with emails or phone calls! They need to know we take this seriously. Email them! Call them!!!

:kick:

[many a good man]

65. Kick!

Do it now if you havent't yet...

:kick:

[anarchy1999]

66. Taking it up again!

It's time......

Maybe, just maybe the tide is turning.........

Way lots to wish for, but maybe it is so.........

[playahata1]

68. kick!