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Saturday, November 22
Resolution Opposing Possible Bush Pardons
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 22 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Resolution Opposing Possible Bush Pardons
AfterDowningStreet.org
 Here's a resolution, hot off the presses from Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee: H.RES.1531, "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the pResident of the United States should not issue pardons to senior members of his administration during the final 90 days of his term of office," Sponsor: Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] (introduced 11/20/2008). There is a petition promoting this resolution, through which you can write to your representative and senators here.
Please urge Senator Russ Feingold to introduce in the Senate the same resolution that Nadler has in the House.
Never before has a pResident pardoned himself or his subordinates for crimes he authorized. The idea that the pardon power constitutionally includes such pardons ignores a thousand year tradition in which no man can sit in judgment of himself, and the fact that James Madison and George Mason argued that the reason we needed the impeachment power was that a president might some day try to pardon someone for a crime that he himself was involved in. The problem is not preemptive pardons of people not yet tried and convicted. The problem is not blanket pardons of unnamed masses of people. Both of those types of pardons have been issued in the past and have their appropriate place. The problem is the complete elimination of any semblance of the rule of law by pardoning one's own subordinates for crimes you instructed them to commit.
Yes, of course, there's something absurd about knowing that a president authorized crimes, not impeaching him, not prosecuting him, not proposing any action with any teeth at all, but formally objecting to the idea of him issuing pardons of his own subordinates for crimes he authorized. But this is where we are. State, local, civil, foreign, and international prosecutions are likely ways of holding Bush, Cheney, and gang accountable, and pardons can't interfere with them. Pardons can't interfere with impeachment. But if we allow these pardons, we not only guarantee no federal prosecutions, and not only give Congress an excuse to drop its investigations, but we also establish the precedent that from here on out any president can violate any law and then pardon the crime. This is simply to end the idea of law. We cannot allow that.
We need to work with Congressman Nadler and Senator Feingold to promote awareness of what is wrong with self-pardons. In this way we can prepare the American public for the appropriate response when the pardons come. The appropriate response will be to demand:
1. Immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney, even if they are out of office.
2. Overturning of the pardons, as Bush's lawyers told him he could do to Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, which was a far more minor abuse of the pardon power.
3. Legislation banning self-pardons and pardons of crimes authorized by the president.
4. A Constitutional Amendment banning self-pardons and pardons of crimes authorized by the president.
5. Prosecution of Bush, Cheney, and their subordinates for their crimes.
Please sign the petition:
http://democrats.com/nadler-pardons
Friday, November 21
Public Human Rights Forum Dec. 10 in Cedar Falls
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 21 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Public Human Rights Forum Dec. 10 in Cedar Falls
 A public forum on Human Rights will be held Wednesday, December 10, from 7:00 – 8:30 PM at the Area Education Agency 267, conference room G, 3712 Cedar Heights Drive in Cedar Falls. This is one of a series of forums being held across the state
Plan to attend and participate in a dialogue on Human Rights. The purpose of the forum is to recognize the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Dolly Maier, Ph.D., will be the introductory speaker. Dr. Maier is a Professor of History at UNI and was a Research Analyst for the UN Rwanda Tribunal. There will be a power point presentation by Katy Hansen, Director of the Iowa United Nations Association. The power point will be used to highlight the Articles of the Declaration especially relevant to justice issues such as the right to a trial, and arbitrary arrest and detention.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has provided the foundation upon which many additional international human rights treaties and covenants have been established. As a consequence we are living in an era in which human rights concerns have been elevated to a central position both locally and worldwide. Achievement of those rights now engage not only governments and international bodies, but also citizen advocacy groups.
The program is sponsored by the United Nations Association of the Cedar Valley, Peace and Justice Center of the Cedar Valley, the League of Women Voters, Waterloo Human Rights Commission and the Waterloo and Cedar Falls branches of the American Association of University Women. Statewide sponsors are the Iowa United Nations Association, Amnesty International Iowa, American Friends Service Committee, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility, Cedar Valley United for Peace & Justice, Working Families Win, and the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.
Plan to attend and join us in a discussion on Human Rights. For more information call 319- 266-7756.
Thursday, November 13
It's Time to Get Back to Work on Election Integrity
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 13 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
It's Time to Get Back to Work on Election Integrity
 Political activist Ellen Olenska sets the stage for what needs to be done in order to restore integrity to our elections systems, i.e., get rid of electronic tabulations.
The Oregon mail-in system should be the model, and all votes could be linked to Social Security numbers to ensure accuracy and prevent fraud. All computerized systems, monitored in total secrecy by private corporations, not by the American people, have been proven failures, and most Americans rightly believe that they exist at all for the purpose of stealing elections. The Help America Vote Act was developed at the Crawford ranch in the summer of 2002 where Diebold CEO, Walden O’Dell, a major Bush fundraiser, was a frequent guest. O’Dell was given multi-million dollar government contracts in exchange for creating a voting system, unverifiable and linked to central computers, that in the end proved capable of changing vote tallies and erasing and/or flipping votes. Such a system had the potential to give Karl Rove his “permanent Republican majority”.
For an excellent history of how and how many elections have been stolen using electronic voting machines, there's this disconcerting article by Michael Jay over at the Huffington Post:
Mark Crispin Miller said it: There are two types of people in the world; those who address election integrity issues, and the happy people....
We've since seen the evidence on Ohio from Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, authors of How the GOP Stole America's 2004 Election & Is Rigging 2008 and Richard Hayes Phillips, author of Witness to a Crime, which includes photos of 30,000 doctored ballots and poll books. (This evidence was introduced to Congress by Rep. John Conyers.) I watched Dan Rather's special report, in which whistle blowers from Sequoia elections systems told how the company changed their paper standards prior to the 2000 election, solely so as to send unworkable ballots to heavily Democratic Palm Beach, Florida.
I learned that the "HAVA" laws introduced after the 2000 election debacle, ostensibly to fix things -- especially through electronic voting -- were substantially written by the disgraced Republican lobbyist and felon Jack Abramoff.
Read the full article here. Be forewarned; it's not for the faint of heart.
Saturday, November 8
Local Gatherings: PEACE IN OUR TIME
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 08 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Local Gatherings: PEACE IN OUR TIME
 There are major signs of real change and discouraging signs of the same old militarism emerging from the Obama transition team. After Downing Street is tracking this news online here.
United for Peace and Justice and other peace and justice groups will soon be urging local groups and coalitions and newly-forming collections of citizens to schedule meetings between now and January to meet at length with our newly-elected or re-elected U.S. representatives and senators.
Not only do we need to communicate the public demand to FULLY end the occupation of Iraq AND the occupation of Afghanistan, but there is an opening right now for us to advocate a shift of resources from killing to living.
Find out what your representative wants to fund, build a coalition with labor, environmental, and other domestic groups, and talk about how much money is going into wars and wasteful militarism. Ask your senators to insist that Bush not negotiate a treaty in Iraq without the constitutionally-required approval of the U.S. Senate. Watch for details on this and other actions at online here.
Saturday, November 1
Oxfam, 1Sky Host Town Hall Meeting to Confront Climate Change - Ames, Nov. 3
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 01 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CDT
Oxfam, 1Sky Host Town Hall Meeting to Confront Climate Change - Ames, Nov. 3
 WHAT: The band, O.A.R. (Of a Revolution), will host a town hall meeting with Oxfam America and 1Sky, to discuss climate change with young people on Iowa State's campus right before their concert and the general election
WHEN: Monday, November 3 from 12:30-2:00pm
WHO: Iowa Oxfam Action Corps organizer Ellen Walsh, 1Sky Field Organizer, Anjuli Kronheim, band members of O.A.R., and the Ames and Iowa State Community discussing climate change
WHERE: MShop in basement of Memorial Union on Iowa State's campus
Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 120 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice. For more information, visit: www.oxfamamerica.org.
1Sky is a new national highly-collaborative campaign working to bring local groups together to galvanize a movement in support of the bold federal action on climate change that science and equity demand. For more information about the 1Sky campaign, visit www.1sky.org.
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