A Letter to Mail to Rep. John Conyers' District Office or Fax to Him in DC
Submitted by davidswanson on Wed, 2008-06-04 13:53. Activism Impeachment
DC FAX: (202) 225-0072
TO: Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
669 Federal Bldg., 231 W. Lafayette
Detroit, MI 48226
Mr. Conyers, these selected quotes are from an article you wrote for The Black Scholar, Vol. 6, No. 2, Oct. 1974. You were 45 at the time and involved in the Nixon investigations…
Passages especially relevant to our present situation have been underscored.
From “Why Nixon Should Have Been Impeached.”
“If the system has worked, it has worked by accident and good fortune. It would be gratifying to conclude that the House, charged with the sole purpose of impeachment, exercised vigilance and acted on its own initiative. However, we would be deluding ourselves if we did not admit that this inquiry was forced on us by an accumulation of disclosures which, finally and after unnecessary delays, could no longer be ignored.
“Perhaps, ironically and certainly unintentionally, we have ourselves jeopardized the future of the impeachment process….Now, with our inquiry, future Congresses may recoil from ever again exercising this power. They may read the history of our work and conclude that impeachment can never again succeed unless another President demonstrates the same, almost uncanny ability to impeach himself.
“If this is our legacy, our future colleagues may well conclude that ours has been a pyrrhic victory, and that impeachment will never again justify the agony we have endured. It is imperative, therefore, that we speak to them clearly: impeachment is difficult and it is painful, but the courage to do what must be done is the price of remaining free.”
As your title suggests, Mr. Conyers, President Nixon was never actually impeached. He resigned before an impeachment vote could be taken by the full House. One theme implicit in your essay is that Nixon should not have been allowed to resign and then pardoned, without punishment. Indeed, that outcome gave future executives the sense that they too were above the law and that they too could act without impunity against the Constitution and against this democracy. Nixon escaped, and now far worse than Nixon is here.
You have detailed the crimes of the current executive in your indictment, published as Constitution in Crisis. Since then an additional “accumulation of disclosures” of wrongdoing by the president and vice-president have come forth which can “no longer be ignored,” to use your own words above.
Mr. Conyers, you were 45 when you wrote that very articulate essay, from which we have quoted only a small portion. What have you learned since you were 45 that prevents you from exercising your oath today to uphold and defend the Constitution? What has changed, except for the severity of the offenses? Certainly not your oath or the clear dictates of that Sacred Document.
Mr. Conyers, do you still believe that “the courage to do what must be done is the price of remaining free?”
Will you do what must be done? Will you hold this criminal White House accountable?
Signed___________________________ Address__________________________________
______________________________________________________
Activism | AfterDowningStreet.org
Submitted by davidswanson on Wed, 2008-06-04 13:53. Activism Impeachment
DC FAX: (202) 225-0072
TO: Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
669 Federal Bldg., 231 W. Lafayette
Detroit, MI 48226
Mr. Conyers, these selected quotes are from an article you wrote for The Black Scholar, Vol. 6, No. 2, Oct. 1974. You were 45 at the time and involved in the Nixon investigations…
Passages especially relevant to our present situation have been underscored.
From “Why Nixon Should Have Been Impeached.”
“If the system has worked, it has worked by accident and good fortune. It would be gratifying to conclude that the House, charged with the sole purpose of impeachment, exercised vigilance and acted on its own initiative. However, we would be deluding ourselves if we did not admit that this inquiry was forced on us by an accumulation of disclosures which, finally and after unnecessary delays, could no longer be ignored.
“Perhaps, ironically and certainly unintentionally, we have ourselves jeopardized the future of the impeachment process….Now, with our inquiry, future Congresses may recoil from ever again exercising this power. They may read the history of our work and conclude that impeachment can never again succeed unless another President demonstrates the same, almost uncanny ability to impeach himself.
“If this is our legacy, our future colleagues may well conclude that ours has been a pyrrhic victory, and that impeachment will never again justify the agony we have endured. It is imperative, therefore, that we speak to them clearly: impeachment is difficult and it is painful, but the courage to do what must be done is the price of remaining free.”
As your title suggests, Mr. Conyers, President Nixon was never actually impeached. He resigned before an impeachment vote could be taken by the full House. One theme implicit in your essay is that Nixon should not have been allowed to resign and then pardoned, without punishment. Indeed, that outcome gave future executives the sense that they too were above the law and that they too could act without impunity against the Constitution and against this democracy. Nixon escaped, and now far worse than Nixon is here.
You have detailed the crimes of the current executive in your indictment, published as Constitution in Crisis. Since then an additional “accumulation of disclosures” of wrongdoing by the president and vice-president have come forth which can “no longer be ignored,” to use your own words above.
Mr. Conyers, you were 45 when you wrote that very articulate essay, from which we have quoted only a small portion. What have you learned since you were 45 that prevents you from exercising your oath today to uphold and defend the Constitution? What has changed, except for the severity of the offenses? Certainly not your oath or the clear dictates of that Sacred Document.
Mr. Conyers, do you still believe that “the courage to do what must be done is the price of remaining free?”
Will you do what must be done? Will you hold this criminal White House accountable?
Signed___________________________ Address__________________________________
______________________________________________________
Activism | AfterDowningStreet.org
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