Impeachment Resources and Links

This web page is an index to information, resources, and links related to impeaching Geoge W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

The impeachment movement is growing rapidly, both locally and nationally.  We expect to update this web page regularly, so check back to see what's new.

If you have submissions to add to this, questions, or corrections, please send them to C. Lee Taylor:

c.lee.taylor {at} gmail.com

Click on any of the links below for more information on that topic.

Talking with your Friends about Impeachment

Below is an edited version of the presentation that I gave at the end of the Impeachment Town Hall Meeting, Sep. 4, 2006.

To display this in a format suitable for printing, click on the (faint) printer icon in the upper right corner of this window.

This is the introduction to the workshop that Kris Graham and I did that day, on how to talk with your friends, neighbors, and co-workers about impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

It stresses the principles of framing the discussion from a positive point of view, as discussed by George Lakoff ("Don't Think of an Elephant") and Jeffrey Feldman "Framehop is Open").

 

Impeachment Workshop

Talking with Friends & Associates about Impeachment Sep. 4, 2006



Introduction & Purpose of this Workshop


I'm Bill Crosier, and this is Kris Graham.  We are the co-chairs of the Progressive Action Alliance.  PAA is the main organizer of this event.

The PAA mission is to promote progressive candidates, ideas, and issues through action, advocacy, education, and networking.

I'm not here to plug PAA, though.  I'm here because I care about what's happening to our country.

I'm not a politician.  I've never run for office nor been paid for political organizing.  I'm just an ordinary American, like you, who feels the US government has been hijacked and who wants to stand up for what's right.

I don't want to have to tell my grandchildren that I stood by while our country and its Constitution went down the toilet because of what thieves did in the White House.

I don't want to tell my grandchildren that I did nothing but complain, as our leaders took us down a path that depleted our resources, destroyed our environment, caused the rest of the world to hate us, neutralized the Bill of Rights, rigged the elections, and effectively installed a fascist monarchy here.

How many of you have been discouraged because you've been to protests but nothing has improved?  I don't want to stop people from protesting, but today, I want to talk about another approach that we can all take.

If we only complain to those who feel the same as we do, it won't do much good. It's easy to go to a protest or meeting like this, but that alone isn't going to get the crooks out of the White House.  We need to step out of our comfort zone and begin talking more with those around us, who haven't been keeping up with how our leaders have been betraying us and alienating the rest of the world.

I'm not asking you to risk losing your job, to give away your savings, or for you to do something you feel is wrong.  On the contrary, I want to encourage you to stand up for what's right.

We know that the US has had a long history of misdeeds, both in how the government treats people here, and in foreign relations.  But the misdeeds of previous presidents pale in comparison with the combined assault on our freedoms and liberties, and on the future of the world, by the Bush-Cheney regime.  And we can't fix the various problems here as long as we have criminals running the government.

I want to be able to tell my grandchildren that I was part of a grassroots movement that worked to restore support for US and international law, for ending preemptive war, and for bringing our country back from the brink.

How many of you want to be able to tell your grand kids this, too?

I want my country back.  I want my country back.  I want my country back.

But we're not going to get it back unless we can connect with those folks who sit in front of the TV and who never look at a newspaper, who never listen to KPFT and other alternative media, who never hear the speakers at a protest, and who never read the online blogs.

We're going to get our country back by talking with people, ordinary people, one on one.  We're going to get our country back by talking with them, not to them, about values, values we share, and why that means we have to get new leaders for this country.




Framing the Discussion about Impeachment


George Lakoff, Jeffrey Feldman, and other linguistics experts have talked about the importance of framing when talking about issues.
  Here's an example that Lakoff uses. Do this for the next 10 seconds: "Don't Think of An Elephant". 

How many of you were able to do this? 

Lakoff says when someone tells you "Don't Think of An Elephant", that it's impossible not to do so, at least part of the time.  We think of a large animal with a trunk, and not about monkeys or goldfish or cantaloupes.  The image of the elephant defines the frame. 

Bush and Cheney and their media buddies are experts in this. 

They know how framing works.  When they say "war on terror", how do people respond? 

They respond with the feeling of fear, and the need for protecting themselves and their family, going after the terrorists, and so on.  That's the frame Bush & Cheney want.

 Who remembers Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
 Maslow said that after humans meet 'basic needs', we seek to satisfy successively 'higher needs' that occupy a set hierarchy.
 What is the most basic need?
 The basic needs are for physiological necessities and safety.  These include protecting ourselves and our families from threats, and providing security.
 Higher needs include love and belonging, status/respect/recognition, and actualization/spiritual needs.  These include doing what's right.

Maslow says that the higher needs only come into play after the basic needs are met. Do the people doing the thinking for Bush understand this?
They know this very well, and that's why they keep the frame on terror, on threats to the US by evil-doers, and on other things that induce fear and compromise our feeling of safety.




Remember This

I say, it's time to stop talking about that frame.  We need to change the frame of the discussion.  We need to talk about:

• standing up for what's right
• making the US strong by protecting its Constitution and leading the world by example
When people invoke the terror frame, we should instead talk about how to strengthen the US by doing what's right rather than being a bully to the rest of the world.

We should talk:

• about standing up for truth
• about respect for laws and the rights of individuals, and
• against bullying.
Talking about this, and about strengthening the US in this way, is an important frame that everyone can relate to, and that we should embrace and use whenever possible.
(repeat)




Which frames?

What frames should we avoid getting sucked into?

• fear and terror
• protecting the US from immigrants/gays/whoever's not a right-wing-religious zealot
• strength means militarism, etc.

What frames should we use?

• Do what's right, moral, and fair
  
• Defend the Constitution
  
• Restore U. S. values
• Tell the truth
• Lead the world by example
• Make US strong &  safe by making friends rather than enemies who will may to hurt us
  
Standing up for the Constitution, for fairness and what's right, and for restoring US values is an important frame that is very powerful.  It will be difficult for anyone who believes in the US to argue against that frame.  The Constitution's Bill of Rights, that so many people have forgotten about since they went to high school, is one of the most important documents in the world, and has been a model for constitutions of many other countries.  The major thrust of the Bill of Rights is to limit the power of the President and national governement and is the main reason why we don't have the problems of monarchies and other dictatorships.  Standing up for the Constitution means standing up against tyranny and government oppression, and for the rule of law. How many of you know at least three people who are not sure that Bush and Cheney should be impeached?  How many of you are willing to start a new kind of conversation with them, about standing up for what's right?



What We Should Do


• Talk with our neighbors, co-workers, and friends who watch Fox News and think that's all they need to understand what's going on.  We need to remember that they are not bad people just because they may be uninformed and brainwashed by the Bush regime and by corporate media that wants us to feel good about what they see on TV so they'll keep watching the commercials.
• We need to help our friends understand why we need to change direction, why it's important to THEIR values, and why Bush & Cheney must go.
• But first, we must listen to our friends and ask how they think this country is doing, and then talk about values we share and how we can stand up for them.
  

What We Should Not do:

• Lecture (as I'm doing now).
• Blame others (Congress, the press, the military)
• Talk without listening to the other person's concerns.
  

Talking about Impeachment, Step-by-Step

Here's what we should do, when talking one-on-one with someone else:


• Say you're concerned about the direction this country is headed.
• Ask what they think, and Listen
• Reflect back the concerns & feelings of others
• Relate their concerns to your values
• Make a strong values statement (I believe in...)
• Relate your values to US policies -- what they could/should be, & what they are not
• Explain how standing up for what's right can strengthen, not weaken, the US
• Ask again what they think, listen, and dialog


Here is an example of how you can do a dialog like this.  In it, one of us plays the part of the Fox News junkie who only knows the fear and terror frame.  The other keeps bringing the frame back to defending the Constitution, telling the truth, leading the world by example, etc.Watch for how examples of reflective listening -- how you can show the other person you are listening to their concerns, but without  getting trapped into responding in the fear and terror frame.


(example dialog)

In a minute, I want you to do this:
Pair up with someone near you (or go into another room if you want) and practice this kind of one-on-one dialog.  Take turns being the person who feels Bush & Cheney must go.  Do this for about 20 minutes total, with half the time taking each role. Refer to the suggestions on your agenda if you need them.
First, do you have any questions?

After your one-on-one practice dialogs/role-plays, we'll briefly discuss how this went and share ideas on how to make this more effective.

[practice dialog -- see below]

How did this go?
What was difficult?
What worked well?
What suggestions do you have to make this work better?

How many of you will talk with at least two of your friends about this in the next week?  How many of you will talk with at least five of your friends about this in the next month?  That's how we're going to get Bush and Cheney out.  We're going to talk with people we know about standing up for values, and how that means throwing the crooks out.



 

Impeach Bush & Cheney T-Shirts

Want to wear a shirt that sends a powerful message for regime change here at home?
We have two shirts that we designed, and which we hope will help to get the general public thinking more about why we need to get the criminals out of the White House. These shirts are ones that we hope you'll want to wear when you go shopping, to restaurants, to neighborhood and cultural events, and other places -- not just to political gatherings.  You'll be impressed with how many smiles, thumbs up, and other positive responses that you get.
 

If you didn't get them at our Sep. 4 Impeachment Town Hall Meeting, you can get some for yourself and friends (they make good gifts!) at the PAA monthly meetings (2nd Thursday of each month) and at some of the events we attend and of course at all the events we sponsor.

Here's a description of the two shirts:

1. Our "First Aid for Democracy" design has that phrase across the top, along with a red cross with "IMPEACHMENT" in the middle. In each corner there is a different issue to help reach the public: Lying, Spying, Torture, Katrina. This shirt is white, with all the graphics in red. The frame we're using for this shirt design is that our country is sick and impeachment is the cure.

2. Our "Defend the Constitution" design has the following text:

Defend the Constitution.
Restore U.S. Values.
IMPEACH the Bush-Cheney gang

This "Defend the Constitution" shirt is light blue, with all the graphics in black. The frame we're using for this shirt design is supporting some universal values that everyone can relate to, and this means throwing Bush & Cheney out.

Each shirt also has the URL (web address) for the PAA web site. The shirts are 100% cotton, and available in sizes from adult small through XXX-Large. All are printed in a T-shirt shop in Houston Texas. Except for the XXX-Large size, the shirts are manufactured by American Apparel, a sweatshop-free shop that makes all their shirts in their downtown Los Angeles factory. You can see photos of the shirts by clicking the links below.

We're asking for a donation of $12-$20 for each shirt. If you want a shirt but can't come to a PAA meeting or other event where we have a table, contact Bill at

 

Impeachment -- Sample One-on-One Dialog

This is a sample dialog, from one person to another, that was presented during the Impeachment Town Hall meeting, Sep. 4, 2006.

To display this in a format suitable for printing, click on the (faint) printer icon in the upper right corner of this window.

This is an example of how to talk with your friends, co-workers, and neighbors about impeachment.

It uses the principles of reflective listening and framing, as summarized in workshop at that meeting, in the introduction to this dialog.

The dialog below emphasizes Bill's role in how to lead a dialog on impeachment. In a real dialog, you should let the other person talk more (at least 50% of the time) so you don't sound like you are lecturing.

In this dialog, Kris plays the part of the Fox News junkie who only knows the fear and terror frame. Bill keeps bringing the frame back to defending the Constitution, telling the truth, leading the world by example, etc.

Watch for examples of reflective listening -- how you can show the other person you are listening to their concerns, but without getting trapped into responding in the fear and terror frame.

Also watch for how you can respond to what the other person is saying -- how you can repond in the frame of standing up for the Constitution, for truth, for positive values that let you bring the discussion around to the need for throwing Bush & Cheney out.

Sample dialog on impeachment 

 

Bill: You know, Kris, I'm getting really concerned with what's happening to this country. What do you think about the direction we're headed?

Kris: I think we're doing pretty well. I have a good job and just bought a new TV, although the price of gas is certainly going up. I worry about what the terrorists may do next, though. Every day it seems they've done something terrible.

Bill: It sounds like you're doing OK personally, but aren't sure what our government should be doing to make the US strong.

Kris: Yes, but I don't like the people who keep saying awful things about President Bush. He's just a regular guy like us, but I know he's a man of God and I trust him to do what's right.

Bill: You don't like people who criticize Bush, because you think we should respect the President and trust him to do what is best.

Kris: Yes, that's right.

Bill: I believe in respect for our government, too. I believe what's really made our country strong, and the reason why it has been able to do so much for so many people, is because of its Constitution and Bill of Rights. I have a lot of respect for the way our founding fathers stood up to King George and made sure our Constitution would prevent the problems they fought for in the US revolution.

Kris: Yeah, but they didn't have to worry about terrorists that speak a different language and have a different religion than us. Those are the people we need to watch out for. There are evil-doer's who want to bring the US down, who want to attack our cities, who want to destroy the US way of life.

Bill: But what did our founding fathers do? I think they were right to make our country strong by standing up for the rule of law, and by making sure we wouldn't have a king who could do whatever he wanted.

Kris: But things are different now. They didn't have to worry about nuclear weapons in the 1700's.

Bill: It seems the US is doing all it can now to make the people of the Middle East hate us. I don't see how what we are doing is making us safer.
I believe in a strong democracy based on ethics and the rule of law. I believe in leading the world by example. I believe our leaders should tell us the truth if they want to invade another country, and that they should follow the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that our forefathers fought so hard to give to us.

Kris: But we have to protect ourselves. The Constitution won't do that. We have to stand up to the terrorists and get them before they get us. We can't just ignore them and hope they'll go away. Our country is being threatened by them.

Bill: We don't seem to be making friends with what we're doing in Iraq. I want to support the troops and our country. But that's not the same as supporting whatever the President wants to do. We invaded Iraq because of lies about non-existent WMD's, and since then we've been torturing prisoners and making the people of Iraq hate us. Putting our troops in a hazardous situation that seems to be breeding terrorists as long as we're there doesn't seem like a way to protect ourselves. Doesn't the situation in Iraq seem like a mess to you?

Kris: Yes, but we're in there and we have to finish the job. I don't think we should cut and run.

Bill: I believe in standing up for what's right, not for staying and make an awful situation worse. I feel we're falling into a hole and it's going to be very difficult to get out. I believe we should not abandon our principles just because Bush and Cheney find them inconvenient. Don't you think our government should support rather than restrict the protections we have in the Constitution, and not subvert them for political reasons?

Kris: I want to stand up for what's right, too. But I just don't know what to do.

Bill: I believe that our leaders should follow the law, provide an example for others in the Middle East and here, and work to leave this country in better shape for our children and grandchildren. I can't see how Bush and Cheney have been doing any of this. They seem to be more interested in protecting the profits of the oil and health insurance companies and Halliburton, not in protecting us.

Kris: Well, I don't know what direction Bush and Cheney are leading us, but they'll be gone in another two years anyway, so it doesn't matter.

Bill: Cheney wants to nuke Iran. Bush wants to pick and choose what laws he follows. They both say torture is OK. Bush even put in writing a statement that he doesn't have to follow the law that Congress passed about this. When they can thumb their noses at Congress and basic values we all share, something is terribly wrong.

Kris: Well, they'll be gone in 2008.

Bill: Nixon kept up the pretense that all was right up until the very end, when the Republicans in Congress convinced him to resign because they knew he'd be impeached. After he resigned and Ford took office, the country breathed a sigh of relief. Bush and Cheney have done much more than Nixon ever in trampling on the Constitution and our laws, and making the US weaker.

Kris: Well, I don't know much about that. But I know Bush is a man of God. I trust him.

Bill: I don't trust someone who lied to us about WMD's and false connections between Iraq and Al-Queda, about what he was doing for Katrina, about why he can ignore the Constitution and laws passed by Congress, and who feels it's OK to spy on anyone regardless of whether there's any evidence they are doing anything wrong at all. It feels like the US is falling into a hole, and becoming a monarchy where the king can do anything he wants. This isn't the country I know and love.

Kris: What do you think we should do?

Bill: Protect the Constitution. Restore US values. Throw the crooks out. Have Congress investigate the lies and violations of law by Bush and Cheney. Impeach them and throw them out. Throw them out.

Impeachment Action Ideas - How to get involved

Here are some ideas and suggestions for how we can get Bush and Cheney removed from office, submitted at (and after) the Impeachment Town Hall meeting in Houston on Sep. 4, 2006.

Send us your ideas

If you have other ideas and suggestions, please send them (preferably with links to where we can find more information on the web) to C. Lee Taylor: c.lee.taylor {at} gmail.com

Action ideas for promoting impeachment

• Talk with your friends, neighbors, relatives, and co-workers about your concerns with where this country is headed, about defending the Constitution and US values, and how that means that Bush and Cheney must go.  We discussed this at the workshop at the end of the Sep. 4 Impeachment forum -- see "Talking with Your Friends about Impeachment" for details on how to do this effectively, and an example dialog.
  
• Join or work with an organization that supports impeachment, ending the occupation of Iraq, etc.  One, of course, is this group -- the Progressive Action Alliance We have general meetings the second Thursday of each month, and committees/action groups that meet in person and by e-mail as needed. 
  Besides the PAA, many other impeachment-friendly groups are listed on our Links pages on our web site -- Click on the "Links" tab at the top of this or any web page on our site to find one that interests you.
• Join an e-mail list that's dedicated to supporting impeachment and related topics.  Examples:
• PAA-Impeach e-mail list
• PAA Announcements list
• PAA General Discussion list
• After Downing Street.org list (click on e-mail signup at the top of their home page)
  
• Wear a T-shirt that lets other people know they aren't alone in wanting the crooks out of the White House, and that can help get those on the fence to start questioning why they should support someone who's leading our country down the toilet.  We have extra T-shirts in two styles that we sold during the Impeachment Town Hall Meeting, and we'll have them at PAA meetings and selected other events we attend.  You can also make your own.  See the PAA Impeach T-shirt designs.
  
• Freeway blogging -- Many people in the Houston area and across the country are exercising their free speech rights in the new town square -- our freeways -- and are able to reach thousands of drivers per hour with simple messsages on impeachment, peace, etc.
• Houston freeway blogging
• National freeway blogging
• Volunteer to work for a progressive candidate.  Many in the Houston area are listed at the HCDP web site, along with links to their web pages.  There are several good ones listed there who are running for the US House of Representatives.  Also, don't forget that the State legislature can introduce articles of impeachment, and the state attorney general can bring suit against anyone who breaks the law.  That's one reason why candidates like David Van Os (running for Attorney General), and who recognizes that Bush and Cheney are war criminals, can make a difference.
  

Impeachment Links on the Web

AfterDowningStreet.org (click on "Impeachment Resource Center") - a great site, updated several times per day, with lots and lots of resources on impeachment.

ImpeachPac.org - A Political Action Committee, that supports candidates who have made impeachment part of their campaign.  (However, there are numerous other candidates, including Congressional candidates in our area, who say they will support impeachment, even if they aren't actively promoting it on the campaign trail.)

Center for Constitutional Rights - they produced the 27-minute video that we showed at the beginning of our Sep. 4 Impeachment Town Hall Meeting. You can order the video and/or action kit (with a book that goes into much more detail than the video here. (Be sure to check that the web form is secure (encrypted) if you enter your credit card number to order a video or book -- it wasn't encrypted when I went there.)


ImpeachBush.tv - More good resources

The Impeachment of George W. Bush - Former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman's  excellent article in The Nation magazine -- it is a great summary of reasons why he should be impeached and removed from office, with lots of good facts that you can give to the uninformed.

The Case for Impeachment - Why we can no longer afford George W. Bush - an essay by Lewis H. Lapham from the March 2006 issue of Harper's Magazine.

 

Letter to Attendees of Sep. 4, 2006 Impeachment Forum

Thanks to all of you who attended our Impeachment Town Hall meeting in Houston on Labor Day. I know you could have been doing lots of other things on Monday. I was excited to see so many people come out on a holiday for this event!

Thanks especially to all the volunteers who helped with planning, publicity, sign-making, refreshments, music, PA/sound, audio & video recording, set-up, clean-up, logistics, and more for this event. It was good to see different organizations with tables and literature there, too. We had a number of people who helped with this event who could not even attend because of other plans. Now that's commitment!

I also want to thank the folks at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, who were so helpful in making this event a success.

I'm glad so many of you expressed interest in follow-up and building the movement for impeaching Bush and Cheney, and removing them from office.

We're not adding you to any e-mail lists without your permission. However, I encourage those of you who are not already on some of our e-mail lists to join, if you'd like to share your ideas and keep up with planning, online discussion, and/or announcements for other events and activities. Details are below.

If you missed part of the event on Monday, or if you have friends who may be interested:

* Wally James will have Ann Wright's speech on during the first part of his program, The Progressive Forum, this evening, Sep. 7, 7-9 PM, on KPFT 90.1 FM. If you are not in listening range, you can listen on the web at http://kpft.org You can also listen to it at any time after the end of the show (for the next 2 months), in the archives at http://archive.kpft.org -- Look for Progressive Forum, Sep. 7.

*Art Browning recorded the video and audio of most of the Town Hall Meeting, including Ann Wright's presentation, for the Greenwatch TV program. This program is on Wednesday evenings on Houston Community Access cable TV (channel 17 in most areas). The Impeachment event won't be on that program this week, but watch for announcements of when it (and what parts) will be shown.

KPFT also had portions of Ann Wright's speech on their morning and afternoon newcasts this week. In addition, a reporter from news radio station KTRH interviewed both me and Ann Wright (for quite some time), although I don't know if any of that aired or when (I couldn't find any reference on their web site). Someone from the People's Weekly World was there and wrote an article which I saw. I also saw at least a couple people who I think were print journalists but I didn't get a chance to talk with them.

If you have photos from the event, please let me know and I'll tell you where to send them so we can post them in our PAA gallery. (Don't e-mail them directly to me.) If you'd like to share stories about the event or ideas for working towards impeachment, please join the PAA-Impeach e-mail list and share them with others.

You can also post stories and photos on the Houston Indymedia web site, and I encourage you to do so: Click on the "Publish your News" link in the upper right column at http://houston.indymedia.org/

A few items were left behind at the Impeachment forum. If you are missing something, or ended up with something that isn't yours, let me know and I'll try to match these up.

As I promised during the last session of the event Monday, here are some sources of additional information related to impeachment:

Impeachment Resource and Links: http://www.paa-tx.org/impeach_resources_links

The resources and links include:

Talking With Your Friends About Impeachment: http://www.paa-tx.org/impeach_workshop_060904

Sample Dialog on Impeachment: http://www.paa-tx.org/impeach_dialog

(The above two items were from the workshop at the end of our Sep. 4 Impeachment forum.)

Impeach action ideas/how to get involved: http://www.paa-tx.org/node/2346
This will be a growing list, that we started at the end of the Impeachment forum. Send your suggestions to Lee Taylor at c.lee.

Impeachment Links on the web: http://www.paa-tx.org/impeach_links
(I know there are lots of others, but these seem especially good. Let me know if you'd like me to add more to that page.)

You can get to all the above, plus whatever else we add, from our main PAA Impeach page:
http://www.paa-tx.org/impeach

If you don't save this e-mail, remember that you can also find all these links by clicking on "Impeach Resources and Links" in the left column of the PAA home page at http://progressiveactionalliance.org

In addition, there is a never-ending list of events posted on the various online calendars. Links to some of the most popular ones for activists in the Houston/southeast Texas area are listed in the upper right column of the PAA home page. I consider almost all of these events and meetings to be good places to talk with people about impeachment, to share ideas, and to help find others who are likely to be interested in helping with this movement. However, I can't attend every meeting or event myself, and I urge you to go to events and meetings, too, and talk with folks about impeachment whenever you can.

To stay connected and to be able to share your ideas with others interested in impeachment, especially with others in the Houston and southeast Texas area, I urge you to join the PAA Impeach e-mail list.

We also encouage everyone, at a minimum, to join the PAA announcements list for important information (mostly summaries of upcoming events, not just about impeachment). We sometimes send important announcements only to that list, and we limit the number of messages there to an average of about one per week.

For a summary of these lists or to subscribe, go to:

PAA Impeach list (low to moderate volume): http://paa-tx.org/mailman/listinfo/impeach_paa-tx.org

PAA Annoucements list (low volume, announce-only): http://paa-tx.org/mailman/listinfo/announce_paa-tx.org

PAA General Discussion list (high volume, averaging 10-20 msgs/day): http://paa-tx.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_paa-tx.org

Subscribing to any and all of the PAA e-mail lists are free, and we do not have any paid advertisements of any kind. All expenses are paid by donations and by extra funds we raise at events like the Impeachment forum.

Thanks again, everyone!
Bill Crosier
Progressive Action Alliance co-chair